Echoes of Grace: 1997

“You see,” she faltered, “though I have always known the risk of a fisherman’s life, and though his father was drowned at sea twelve years ago, yet somehow I never thought my Jamie would be drowned. I felt so certain he would come back to me! I cried when he went off that last time for two months, but I comforted myself by thinking the time would soon pass. Then I bought some wool and started to knit him a good, thick sweater for the winter.”

She paused to bring out and open a bulky bundle. There was the sweater—her son’s favorite blue. She spread it out silently on the table, but for a moment her grief overcame her and she could not speak.

Then the tears overflowed and fell on the sweater as she said, “It was ready for him, but he never came home to wear it.”

It was a common story, but nonetheless sad. Her boy had been drowned at sea, and every time she looked at the sweater, made with such loving care, she wept at the thought of what “might have been.”

Now turn from this sad mother to another scene—a joyful scene: “a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues . . . before the throne . . . clothed with white robes.”

As we look, we hear the question, “Who are they?”

The answer: “These are they which . . . have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9-14).

That widowed mother wailed in her grief, “He never came home to wear it,” but how must the loving heart of the Lord Jesus be grieved when men and women willfully wander away in the “filthy rags” of their own righteousness, while He waits to clothe them with the white robe of His righteousness!

There is a robe of white for you. Have you claimed it? Are you washed in the blood? Are you forgiven? Are you living for God? Are you ready to meet death?

If not, trust in the blood of Jesus Christ, which “cleanseth us from all sin.” Clothed only with your own good deeds, you can never join the throng of the redeemed.

The white robe is ready for you. Do not refuse it. You may make excuses for not claiming it, but you can find no reason, and you will be “speechless” after you die if you are found without the spotless robe which is given to all who by faith seek pardon through Christ’s blood.

"Let Us Alone"

“Why can’t they let us alone? They never come to the house without tormenting us about our souls. I don’t see the fun of it at all.” So said a young man to his mother, and possibly you have thought the same, even if you have not said it.

“Let us alone,” said the demon in a poor, devil-possessed sinner to the Lord Jesus in the days of old. But Jesus did not let him alone. The demon had to come out. Just think of that wretched man in his terrible misery saying to the only One who could deliver him—and who came for that purpose— “Let us alone!” And yet men follow his example to this day!

If still unsaved, thank God you have a body out of the grave and a soul out of hell. Do not say to Him any longer, “Let us alone.” He might answer your request.

Perhaps you dare to say, like many, “No hurry; I can take salvation at any time.” What a delusion of the devil this is! His first device is, “Let us alone.” When that fails, he says, “Plenty of time, plenty of time.” (He is “a liar, and the father of it.”) No, no, NO! You cannot be saved “when you get around to it.”

“NOW is the accepted time . . . NOW is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). Tomorrow may be too late forever.

It Was Comfortable

George Pullman began his business life working as a cabinetmaker in a carpenter shop. It was during the early days of train travel, and train travel was a tiresome, dirty business. Day and night the travelers sat wearily in their seats, jostled and shaken on the rough train tracks, and with never a place or way to rest or relax.

George Pullman put his cabinet-making skill and his inventive mind to work and designed the first sleeping car. It had seats that could be made into beds at night, curtains that could be pulled for privacy and—eventually—also parlor cars and diners. Travel became a very different thing from those hard early years, and Pullman prospered accordingly.

As the “Pullman Palace Car Company” grew and became rich and powerful, so did Pullman. Nearing the end of his life, possessing millions of dollars, a reporter was sent to interview him. This is the statement he made: “I believe I am no better off, certainly no happier, than I was when I did not have a dollar to my name and had to work hard from daylight to dark. I had only one good suit of clothing then, and I can only wear one now. I relished three meals a day then a great deal more than I enjoy my three meals a day now. I had fewer cares; I slept better, and I may add that, generally, I believe I was far happier in those days than I have been on many days since I became a millionaire. And yet,” he added, “it is a comfortable feeling to be rich.”

According to the millionaire’s confession, the possession of wealth did not increase his happiness. When he worked hard in the carpenter’s shop from daylight to dark he was “far happier.” His sleep was sweeter, his cares fewer and his appetite better. Even though now a millionaire, he could wear only one suit of clothes at a time and was unable to eat more than three good meals a day.

What advantages did he claim to possess that he did not have when he worked for his daily bread in his shirt sleeves?

“And yet it is a comfortable feeling to be rich.” The “comfortable feeling” Mr. Pullman attained did not relieve him from worry and care. It did not guarantee him refreshing sleep, nor did it lead to an improved appetite. “I am no better off, certainly no happier, than I was when I did not have a dollar to my name.”

It is a common belief that the possession of wealth brings happiness. What a mistake! With increased wealth comes increased cares, and with increased cares increased trouble. It is a wicked delusion that the human soul can be satisfied with material prosperity.

A rich farmer spoken of by the Lord Jesus addressed his soul in the following words: “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry” (Luke 12:19). The soul, however, cannot be silenced in that way. Eating and drinking may satisfy animals, but they cannot satisfy the longings of an immortal spirit. Neither wealth, pleasure nor fame can quench the soul’s thirst.

Listen to the testimony of King Solomon: “Whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labor: and this was my portion of all my labor. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:10-11).

Solomon had all that this world could give, but his testimony was that there was no profit “under the sun.” Love and life and lasting joy can only be found in Him who once died for us on Calvary and who is now enthroned in the glory.

Think of His words! “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).

Someday

“Oh, sure, smoke alarms are a good idea. I’m going to install one someday.”

And in the meantime, if a fire breaks out, will he escape in time?

“Flu shots? Yes, I’ll get mine someday.”

If there is a bad epidemic this winter, will he have built up his immunity soon enough?

“Of course I believe in God, and I’m going to be a Christian—someday!”

And once more the question: Will he be in time? Will he turn to the Saviour and make his salvation sure while he still has a life to live? Or will he wait until “someday—” ? Can he really count on “someday” in a world of change and upheaval and—yes, danger? A world where the unexpected, sometimes the almost unbelievable, has become commonplace? Where the most unlikely event may occur at any time, leaving our procrastinator mourning over the “someday” he did not live to see?

The Bible is so clear when it tells us to “boast not thyself of tomorrow,” for we certainly do not know “what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1).

Someday? Don’t count on it! “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

Why Didn't I Pray?

When I was a small boy I had a frightening experience. I had seen the big boys climb up a high stone wall, hang over the edge for a few minutes and then drop to the ground.

To prove that I could do whatever the others did, I decided to make the climb too. I would be like the big boys! Without stopping to think, up the wall I went, there being fairly easy toeholds up the side.

When I reached the top, I dropped down on my knees as the others had. Gently I let myself back over the wall, hanging onto the top with my hands. Glancing down, I came to my senses. What a drop that would be for one small boy!

Scared through and through, I thought how I could save myself, but it was too late. To pull myself up I could not, and to let go looked like certain death. Frantic with fear, I clung to the wall and hung there in midair.

Why didn’t I pray? I could not call on God, for I did not know Him. In fact, I was so far away from Him that the thought of prayer never entered my mind.

In spite of my ignorance of Him, the God of all grace took note of me. In His wonderful, overruling providence, He undertook for me. A man working nearby had been aware of my foolish effort and now saw my helplessness and distress, and he came where I was. Coming down from the high embankment behind the wall, he bent down, took hold of me, lifted me up and set my feet on top of that solid wall. I was saved by one who saw and pitied me and stooped down and picked me up.

This was a lesson I could not forget, and years later God brought it back to my mind. A time came in my life when I was overwhelmed with a sense of sin and guilt in the sight of God. How I longed to lead a godly life! I dared not die in my sins, and nothing I could do gave peace to my soul. In my misery I cried to God, but not until I had learned my own utter helplessness did I find any relief. When I gave up my own efforts for salvation and submitted totally to the saving of the Lord Jesus Christ and the cleansing power of His precious blood, only then did I learn the joy of being “only a sinner saved by grace.”

Bees

“The Son of God . . . loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

Bees are noted for two things—honey and stings. In seeking the honey, beware of the stings! Sins also have their sweets: “the pleasures of sin” which are only “for a season” and always end in the penalties of sin, which are eternal. Doing wrong may be like eating honey, but when conscience convicts, terrible are its stings.

Sins, like bees, are numerous. There are in some hives as many as 30,000 bees. Who can tell the number of sins in our minds and hearts? They are countless. How they buzz around—sins of speech, sins of action, sins of thought. Try to count the bees flying in and out of a hive, and then try to number your sins.

Thousands of bees are inside the hive and out of sight. A friend of ours opened a hive one evening and let us see the black swarms of bees moving within, though not a bee could be seen outside.

We cannot see the sins that are in our hearts and minds, but God can, and He says, “I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them” (Ezekiel 11:5).

Jesus, when on earth, knew what was in people’s hearts. He knows what is in our hearts today. One day He opened the human heart, as my friend opened his hive, and showed some of the evils working within. “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matthew 15:19).

We would not like for the world to know the thoughts within us, yet God says, “I the Lord search the heart.”

Did you ever have a bee follow you and try to sting you? One made for a friend of mine. He started beating the air, until he thought he had beaten his attacker off. When he stopped, I saw the bee was quietly crawling inside his coat. It is hard to get away from sin, and when we think we have succeeded, it may be nearer than ever.

I knew a woman who, when threatened by a swarm of bees, shut the garden gate to keep them out! This was just as effectual as our good resolutions to keep away evil thoughts and desires.

Only the Lord Jesus can save from the sting of sin. A bee cannot sting two persons. Its sting is barbed, like an arrow, and when inserted cannot be withdrawn but is left in the wound. Thereafter the bee is stingless and cannot sting again.

My sins the Saviour stung

And caused His painful death

When on the cross He hung

And yielded up His breath;

My sins can never sting me more,

For all of them my Saviour bore.

“Whosoever committeth sin is the SERVANT OF SIN” (John 8:34).

“The wages of sin is DEATH” (Romans 6:23).

“Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the LAKE OF FIRE” (Revelation 20:15).

Nothing - Everything!

What has the debtor-man to bring

As tribute to the eternal King?

Nothing!

Still let him come to God, and prove

His riches, His abounding love.

What has the sinner-man to bring

As a sufficient offering?

Nothing!

Still let him come to God, whose grace

Has bruised a Saviour in his place.

Come then, poor sinner, come and sing;

Come in your poverty and bring—

Nothing!

God tells you in His grace believe;

God bids you from His grace receive—

EVERYTHING!

Jesus said: “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Matthew 11:28

The Matterhorn

Edward Whymper, a famous Alpine climber, had for many years been ambitious to be the first to scale the Matterhorn. Many times he had reached the great shoulder on the Italian side, but he had never reached the top. In July, 1865, he was prepared for another try, the more eagerly because a party of Italians were to attempt it also on the same morning.

His party consisted of four climbers, with three guides. They were Edward Whymper himself, Mr. Hadrow, Charles Hudson (an English clergyman) and a young climber, Lord Francis Douglas. The guides were two brothers, named Tangwalder, and a famous guide, Michael Croz. All went well. The top was reached, and for the first time man stood on the peak enjoying the wonderful view and—as Whymper described it—“one crowded hour of glorious life!”

Then they roped themselves together again to descend in the following order: Michael Croz, the guide, first; Mr. Hadrow next; then Charles Hudson and Lord Francis Douglas; the senior Tangwalder in front of Whymper and the younger Tangwalder in the rear. Carefully they began letting themselves down the precipice. Michael Croz, out of sight of the rear members, was helping Hadrow to find a footing over the yawning abyss, when a startled cry rang out. Hadrow had slipped and fell onto Croz, hurling him off his slender foothold. Hudson and Lord Douglas were dragged after them, but the experienced climbers above tightened the rope between them and stood firm to bear the shock.

The rope ran its length and the blow came, but the cord snapped like a thread! The horrified climbers above saw their friends spreading their arms and legs in a hopeless attempt to stop their slide over the precipice. They fell 4000 feet to the great glacier below!

For nearly an hour the remaining three stood in horrified silence—paralyzed. The guides began to weep, saying they could never attempt that fearful descent. Whymper, however, nerved them to the effort, and hours later they arrived in Zermatt to tell their sad story.

The broken rope was examined. Why had it not held? Ah! It was only sash-cord! It now lies in the little museum at Zermatt, where I recently looked at it with great interest. Alpine Club ropes are distinguished by a red strand running through them. How was it that an inferior cord was carried on such an occasion? It remains an unexplained mystery.

It has often been said that the truth as to the precious blood of Christ runs like a RED CORD through the Bible.

Certainly the Word of God plainly says that there is no salvation for sinners except through the blood of Jesus. It is written, “Without shedding of blood is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22), and if sin is not remitted or put away and we die in our sins, we are certainly LOST. We must fall into the abyss—the blackness of darkness—the bottomless pit.

Are you joined to the Lord by this unbreakable cord? Or have you some other cord to which you cling? Every other cord will break when the mighty strain comes. Do not trust in your own goodness while the heart is unchanged, or to the good opinion of others. None of this will work. It must be genuine repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus who died for us and whose blood cleanses from all sin. “The blood of Jesus Christ [God’s] Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

If we are joined to Him, nothing can separate us nor break the threefold cord of grace and blood and faith that binds us to Him. “They shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand” (John 10:28) is what He says of those who have put their trust in Him. They are safe—safe for time and for eternity.

Mirages

“The blood of Jesus Christ [God’s] Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7

Mirage—that illusion of lake or land or cliff, or other desired thing, which lures men on and on—sometimes to their death. It has been seen in the North. Stefanson, in one of his books on Arctic expedition, says that “at most seasons of the year one is considerably troubled by mirages, perhaps more in summer than in winter, but in winter also. . . . On my hunts . . . I was deceived not so much by the mere appearance of objects out of all natural proportion as by their apparent motion and their disappearances and reappearances on the level snow surface.”

Once, when he wanted a grizzly in October (when bears would normally be in their holes), he thought he saw one, but after an hour’s search found only a marmot’s tracks.

“In things of this sort,” comments Stefanson, “there is always a certain amount of suggestion. The main reason for such self-deception is that one sees things under circumstances that give no idea of the distance, and consequently one has no scale for comparison. The marmot at 20 yards occupies as large a visual angle as a grizzly bear at several hundred, and if you suppose the marmot to be several hundred yards away you naturally take him for a bear.”

He describes also one of those remarkable mirages or appearances of land that have deceived many Arctic explorers. The fog, lifting suddenly, showed land with cliffs which dropped below the horizon when they tried to approach them.

Byrd, too, in “Discovery,” pictures his first mirages: “A huge berg loomed astern, where we knew none existed. For fully 20 minutes it stood on the horizon with the sun shining on its cliffs. Then the sea seemed to swallow it. When we looked again it was gone. An hour later a mirage lifted a pinnacled berg on our quarter, and the same mysterious lie was solemnly repeated.”

A mirage is an illusion—a delusion—a false impression—a fixed misconception. Many in desperate spiritual need have sought the water of life where there was none. In untold anguish men have struggled for the life that is sustained by draughts of deep, sweet water. They have found no water in human deserts, but when they have given up all hope, they have seen the One who came to this world in search of those who will receive Him. To all such He gladly gives the water of life, of which they may drink and never thirst.

Whosoever drinks of the water of this life shall thirst again, but as the Lord Jesus said, “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14).

Again, Jesus said, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).

A Love Story

I had been in the hospital for several weeks and there was a very ungodly man in the bed next to mine. Though he knew well that his life was rapidly passing away, he insisted that when he died he would be “buried like a dog.” He believed that there existed nothing beyond this life for him, and he only used the name of God in swearing.

One morning I was able to be out of bed for a little while. Seeing me up and partly dressed, he asked, “Will you go to the bookcase and get me some book or other?”

I said I would, if my injured legs would carry me that far. I asked him what kind of book he would like. His answer was, “A good old love story—a jolly old love tale.”

I wished I hadn’t asked him; it would have been better, perhaps, if I had made the choice, but I felt I could not go against my promise.

I managed to get as far as the bookcase. Then I looked up to the Lord for His guidance as to the book I should take back to the poor fellow. The moment I opened the bookcase door, John 3:16 came to my mind.

“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.”

I reached for a Bible that I found in the bookcase, and opening it at John 3:16 I gave it to the man, fully expecting to have it thrown at my head. I knew the kind of man he was, for I had spoken to him of the Bible before.

He stared at me, dumbfounded. I shall never forget his expression when at length he exclaimed, “You are really a knockout!”

I told him that was “the truest love story” that had ever been written, or ever would be.

Within the hour I was ordered back into bed by the nurse. My part was done; God in His wonderful love had used me—one of His weakest ones, both spiritually and bodily—to give my bedridden neighbor “the true love story.” Now it remained for the Holy Spirit to complete the work.

For the next three weeks I was not well enough to be allowed out of bed again. During this time I was happy to see how eagerly my neighbor read the Bible whenever awake. Often when he fell asleep the Bible would be lying open on his chest or be still clasped in his hands. The nurse would remove it while he slept, but as soon as he awoke he would demand it back.

For another three weeks I was in a nursing home, during which time I heard no word to show if my friend had understood and accepted that true love of God.

Back at the hospital, I hurried to see my sick friend. His bed was occupied by another, and they told me the man I had known had died several days before. A nurse told me that he had died rejoicing in the One whose name, at one time, he had hated and cursed. True it is that the goodness of God draws men to repentance, and the “good old love story” of John 3:16 still wins hearts and lives for Jesus.

If you have not received into your heart this “Love Story”—if you are still unprepared for eternity—go to God’s Word and read of Him who loved you and gave Himself for you. May the Holy Spirit bring home the old, old story with conviction to your heart and soul.

“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

That Hand

Down the steep slope of a massive mountainside the guide led his little party of climbers. It had been a wonderful day: first the toil up the mountain and then the glorious air and far-reaching view from the summit. Now the dangerous places had been passed, the climbers were unroped and they were almost in sight of their hotel.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, they came to a standstill before a yawning, deep crevice. It must be crossed. Leaping across to the other side, the guide cried: “Follow me!”

One of the party obeyed, and in a moment he stood beside the guide. Another followed, and another, until all but one man were safely over. But the last man stood with white, set face and horror-stricken eyes staring into the dreadful depth. Tired with the day’s climbing, utterly unstrung, all his nerve failed him as he hesitated there.

“I can’t,” he cried desperately.

The guide stepped forward. Holding out his strong right hand, he said: “That hand has never failed the hand that grasped it.”

In a moment the climber laid his hand in the one stretched out to him, jumped and was safe on the other side.

There is One who stands before us on life’s pathway. He stretches out the hand that was once wounded to weary, sin-stricken, lost and guilty souls. He can truly say, “That hand has never failed the one who has grasped it.”

How is it with you? Do you know this Jesus as your Saviour? Have you trusted all to that nail-pierced hand—to the mighty power of the Saviour of sinners? He is willing and able to “save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him” (Hebrews 7:25).

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” 1 Timothy 1:15

The Door Was Shut

A gospel preacher was speaking at a large open-air meeting. He emphasized the words: “And the door was shut” (Matthew 25:10).

A young man in the audience muttered to another, “Well, what does it matter if that door is shut? When one door shuts, another opens.”

The preacher seemed to know that some in the gathering would reason that way. He added, “Some will say, ‘What does it matter if one door is shut? Another door will open.’ Yes, that is true: if the door of heaven is shut against you, the door of hell will open. If you are shut out of heaven, you must enter hell.”

This is the verse from which the preacher’s text was taken: “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.”

Thank God, the door of mercy is not yet shut. It is wide open at the time this is written—it may close tomorrow! All, without distinction or exception, are invited to enter. There is no time to lose.

Have you entered the open door? You may be very close to it and yet die on the hell side of it. Jesus said, “I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved” (John 10:9).

The mistakes of my life have been many,

The sins of my heart have been more,

And I hardly can see for weeping,

But I’ll knock at the open door.

I know I am weak and sinful;

It comes to me more and more,

But as the dear Saviour tells me, “Come in,”

I’ll enter the open door.

His Love Divine

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 blessed, breaking heart

Call mine from depths afar.

And all my life was changed to light

By love—His love divine—

The judgment for my sins was His,

The love that bore 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.

“The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7

"All You Can Do!"

One hot summer morning I was on my way to a business meeting. I first stopped to pick up my friend, Bruce, and I was surprised when he insisted that I wait long enough for him to summon a neighbor for me to meet.

This neighbor, J. T. Holbrook, was a taciturn sort of fellow, and when Bruce volunteered the information that I was a preacher, I could feel the wall of resistance that J.T. had built up around himself.

Silently seeking the Lord’s guidance, I came straight to the point by asking J.T., “Do you not long to know the love of God in Christ Jesus? Would not your life be happier and more meaningful if you had Christ as your Saviour?”

I saw a puzzled expression on the man’s face, and I asked more directly: “Are you a lost sinner?”

His expression changed completely. First shock, then shame, followed by—was it despair?—registered on his face. His voice came to me almost in a whisper: “Lost? Yes, lost! Man, you hit it on the head!”

Louder, he demanded: “Come in here with me.” With a quick glance at my watch I followed him, hoping to be able to keep to my morning’s schedule.

Inside, the troubled man turned to face me. Almost hysterical, he blurted out: “Man, you said it. I am lost, and how lost God alone knows. I’m just about at the end of my rope, and Satan holds the other end. Now where do I go? Which way do I turn? Who has the answer?”

The poor fellow was now crying, and I knew I must try to point him to the only One who has all the answers. One after another I quoted verses from the Bible which came into my mind, such as:

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).

“Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).

“Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Realizing that J.T. was now quieter, I knelt beside my chair and committed him and his problems to the God of all grace. As I told him good-bye, I wondered if he had understood what he had just heard, but he did not seem inclined to talk further.

However, as I started out he asked if he might ride with us. Gladly we made room in the car, hoping to be able to help him. This was not to be at that time, for at the nearest drugstore he asked to be let out.

All that day I was troubled by thoughts of the weeping man, and constantly I cried to the Lord for him and his problems. Oh, that I might have another talk with him! God answered this prayer by a phone call from J.T. It came after supper as I was preparing to leave for a special meeting. “Mr. Jay,” he said, “if you are the preacher who talked to me this morning, will you come right now and answer some questions?”

Thanking the Lord for answering my prayer, I still felt that I must keep my appointment first. I promised to see him after the meeting. Exclaiming, “You preachers are all alike!” he slammed the phone down.

Immediately after the meeting I drove to the little cottage where I had talked to J. T. Holbrook that morning. Nearing the Holbrook home, I saw that the house was dark, but pacing the sidewalk in front was the figure of a man. By the light of my headlights I soon recognized J.T. While I drew up to the curb he stood there silently watching, and as I stepped out he greeted me almost apologetically with, “I thought you were like the rest: all talk.”

I waited quietly while he seemed to be gathering his courage. At last he spoke: “You preachers! All you can do is quote the Bible and pray, and I had told you I was lost—I still don’t know where I am nor what to do. I’m at the end of my rope! This morning when I left you and went into the drugstore, my mind was made up. Death is easy and cyanide is quick, but old John would not let me have it.

“That had been my final resort—to end it all. But some of those verses this morning have given me second thoughts. Maybe there is something more than death for me—and if there is, please, oh please, tell me!”

Together we went into the house again. With the light turned on, we sat close to each other as we read some of the verses given that morning. Using these same scriptures I sought to show this desperate man God’s way to eternal life. He quickly accepted the fact that his sinful nature as well as his sinful life had separated him from a holy God and that his only hope of salvation lay in genuine repentance for his sins and a living faith in the shed blood of God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

As we talked of the wonderful love that had brought the Lord of glory into this world of sin and sorrow, small noises in the next room betrayed the presence of an unseen listener. I was just rising to leave when this person entered the room, and J.T. introduced his wife. Her eyes shining with joy, she exclaimed, “Mr. Jay, I’ve never heard anything like this. You have made it all so plain and so wonderful. How can we help but love that blessed One?”

Mrs. Holbrook’s wholehearted acceptance of the Lord seemed to be the final touch to break down whatever barriers remained in J.T.’s heart. With his arms around both his wife and myself, we three lifted our hearts in thanksgiving and praise to the Saviour of sinners. “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15).

In Time - Too Late!

The government of Canada once made an offer of amnesty to all illegal aliens. Over one million dollars was spent to invite one and all to come forward and apply for legal permission to remain in the country. It was a sixty-day, last chance, “all-is-forgiven” offer, and about fifty thousand came forward to accept it. Around four thousand applied at the eleventh hour.

One man came just 15 minutes before the deadline. “Now I’m free. I’m happy. I don’t have to hide!” he exclaimed.

HE CAME IN TIME!

Years ago when there had been a rebellion in northern Scotland, King William III made a proclamation that all who came and took the oath of allegiance by December 31 should be pardoned.

The proud chief of one clan decided to return with the rest of the rebels, but resolved that he would be the very last one to take the oath. So he delayed his journey until December 29—just two days before the offer expired.

A snowstorm came up; his travel was slower than he had expected, and before he arrived to take the oath and receive the pardon, the time was past. While others were set free, the clan leader was miserably put to death.

HE CAME TOO LATE!

He started too late and arrived too late. In the same way many people today are in danger of losing forever the amnesty of the gospel. Many are going to be forever too late.

Remember the fatal mistake that the clan leader made! Come to Christ now.

“Now is the

accepted time . . .

now is the day of salvation.”

2 Corinthians 6:2

All Saved, But One

In February, 1940, the Canadian Pacific freighter Beaverburn, under the command of Captain Thomas Jones, was sailing from Liverpool to Montreal. Off the coast the Beaverburn was struck by a torpedo and immediately began to sink.

There was no panic, no confusion. Because of their highly efficient training under Captain Jones—and absolute respect for his commands—the entire crew of 77 was saved, with one exception.

The cook, who failed to go to his lifesaving station, jumped over-board and was lost. All the others, safe in lifeboats, were picked up by a tanker and taken to a seaman’s hospital in Ireland.

How often in human affairs, to obey or not to obey is a life or death decision! In the matter of salvation it is always so. Salvation follows the obedience of faith.

The gospel has not only to be heard but also to be obeyed. It is accompanied by a command: “God . . . now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man [JESUS] whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31).

How simple the answer! It can be wrapped up in one single word: Neglect. “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3).

So, then, to be lost forever, simply close your ear to the glorious gospel—God’s good news—and continue to neglect this great salvation. Your doom will be certain.

It is another simple answer. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

The object is a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ. God pledges salvation to the person who believes on His Son, so that the moment you believe on Him, you may know that you are saved. It is such a simple act of faith, but so marvelously rewarding for time and eternity.

"Ye Killed the Prince of Life"

I see the crowd in Pilate’s hall,

Their furious cries I hear;

Their shouts of “Crucify” appall,

Their curses fill my ear.

And of that shouting multitude

I feel that I am one,

And in that din of voices rude

I recognize my own.

I see the scourgers rend the flesh

Of God’s beloved Son;

And as they smite, I feel afresh

That I of them am one.

Around the cross the throng I see

That mock the Sufferer’s groan,

Yet still my voice it seems to be,

As if I mocked alone.

’Twas I that shed the sacred blood,

I nailed Him to the tree,

I crucified the Christ of God,

I joined the mockery.

Yet not the less that blood avails

To cleanse me from my sin,

And not the less that cross prevails

To give me peace within.

“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).

Predicting the Future

Want to know your future? Let’s sit down here and write out the details. You can Know what to expect.

This earth was created as a place of law and order. If you know its laws, you can use it to your advantage. For example, if you plant radishes, you’ll get radishes. You don’t expect pansies. If you plant wheat, you know you’ll reap wheat. This is nature’s law, and it cannot be broken. The One who wrote that law for nature wrote the same law for us.

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7).

You are positive of getting corn if you plant corn, but you may think you can sow one thing in your own life and reap another. God says, “Be not deceived.”

You may think you can live for yourself. Sure you can—but you’ll also die by yourself. You know: plant corn, get corn.

Can you think evil, read evil, hear evil or watch evil without these becoming a part of you? Sow the wind, and you’ll reap the whirlwind!

Perhaps you haven’t done any outstanding evil. Getting ahead in the world is most important for you. Well and good. But then don’t expect it to benefit you when you leave this world.

“For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Galatians 6:8).

How can you reap life everlasting?

A doctor, and anyone else with a goal in life, has to be willing to sow many long hours of preparation to reap the rewards of his profession. Is it not a tremendously good investment to “sow to the Spirit” for the few years we are on this earth, in order to reap life everlasting?

What is sowing to the Spirit? Doing whatever the Spirit of God demands; living a spiritual life; desiring only to please God.

What pleases God? First of all, one must believe on His Son, Jesus Christ, who died that the justice of God might be satisfied. God gave His Son for you. It grieves Him when you refuse to believe on Him.

Following this, whatever we do must be not for self, but for God’s glory. Does this seem stifling and restricted? It is truly the only happy way to live. How to live by the Spirit may be found in God’s book, the Bible: “Choose you this day whom ye will serve” (Joshua 24:15).

What’s your choice? Not living by the Spirit is, automatically, living for self. If your goal is merely the things of this life, that is all you will reap—things for this life—and after death there will be everlasting loss, everlasting remorse. God isn’t mocked.

Accept Christ today. God requires it of you, but He promises a tremendous reward as well: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

That’s your future. You will reap what you sow!

Found Out and Turned Out

One summer afternoon, a duchess gave a garden party at her mansion near London. Detectives were hired to safeguard the house and guests, many of whom wore valuable jewelry.

The detectives were all men of good appearance, men who would pass without remark among the guests. Furthermore, they were trained to know by sight all the nobility and others likely to be present.

During the course of the afternoon they spotted a guest unknown to them; he was a man with a suspicious manner. Approaching him, they asked politely to see his invitation. Since he did not have the official card, he was asked if he knew the Duchess. He assured the detectives that he knew her very well.

“In that case the Duchess will surely know you,” they replied. “Come this way, and we will see.”

The unhappy man was forced to go and soon found himself in the presence of the Duchess. A detective asked, “Does your Grace know this gentleman?”

She looked carefully at him, and replied that she was not acquainted with him.

At that, rough hands were laid on the pretender and he was unceremoniously ejected. He was found out and turned out.

Why do we tell this story? Because the day is surely coming when many an unconverted choir singer, many an unsaved Sunday school teacher, and many an unregenerate partaker of the Lord’s supper will likewise be found out and turned out.

Do you know the Lord? Yes, replies many a thoughtless professor of “religion.” But do you really know the Lord? If you do, then the Lord will know you, for “He knoweth them that trust in Him” (Nahum 1:7).

The Lord Jesus urges us to “strive to enter in at the strait gate.” It is too narrow for anything but reality.

Soon the Master will rise up and shut the door. To those outside who will cry for admittance, how sad will be the Lord’s answer: “I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniQuity.”

Come to the Lord now. Come as you are. You are invited, and He will receive you. He says, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).

The door is still open. COME!

Under Notice

We four young Christians were spending a few days on the West Coast and arranged to go one day to an island for the purpose of giving out gospel tracts and preaching the gospel in the open air. We happened to be wearing peaked caps, something like a naval officer’s, and with briefcases and papers we arrived on the island looking decidedly official.

We knocked at a door, but could get no answer. At the next door the same thing happened, and the next, and the next. On first arriving we had seen people here and there and doors open, but now every door was closed and no sign of a living person to be seen. What did it mean?

Giving up trying to get an answer to our knocking, we decided to try what effect a hymn would have. We began to sing:

“The Lord’s our Rock, in Him we hide;

A shelter in the time of storm!

Secure whatever ill betide;

A shelter in the time of storm!

“Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land!

A weary land, a weary land;

Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land,

A shelter in the time of storm!”

The effect of our singing was magical. Doors were flung open; the people came out with smiles and listened appreciatively to the singing.

Explanations followed. The hour of our visit was unusual: it was morning and midweek. The island, whose only industry had been mining, had recently changed hands. The new owner demanded the payment of rent from the inhabitants. Their cottages had been built by their ancestors, and they had lived rent-free from generation to generation. They had determined to resist this innovation as unjust.

The owner had given them six weeks’ notice, and this notice expired on the very day our party landed on the island. Naturally, they thought that we must be the eviction officers.

When they discovered our object was not to turn them out of their earthly homes, but to invite them to a heavenly one, they welcomed us and our message and we had a very happy day with them.

Do you know that you, like those islanders, are under notice to move? The eviction officer is death. Closed doors and refusing to answer a knock might work for the cottagers, but you cannot evade your destiny. Are you ready for it?

Though you are under notice to go, here is an invitation for you to come. Go, you must; come, you may! You have no option as to the eviction, but this only emphasizes the urgency of the invitation. Refusing the invitation means that you are in danger of spending eternity in the lake of fire. Accepting the invitation and trusting the Saviour as your own assures you of an eternal home in the Father’s house. Death then could only come, not as an eviction officer, but as the messenger of God, your Father, summoning you to an eternity with Himself in heaven.

“Repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21) are the two hinges on which the door of salvation swings open. Accept the Lord Jesus as your own Saviour. Decide now, and do not wait till the great eviction officer, Death, flings you—a poor, lost, doomed sinner—into an eternity of despair.

“Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” Proverbs 27:1

Two Roads at Once

Two roads at one time? One going east and one going west? Or one going up, and the other down? Can you travel both at once? Do you even think you can?

Well, there was once a man who thought he could, and he tried with all his might to go both ways at once. His name was Balaam, and he lived many years ago, but human nature has not improved with the passing of years. Balaam could well have lived in our time. Certainly there are many today who would say exactly what he did.

“Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!” That was what Balaam said, and a very pious wish he expressed, but how different is the record of his life! He would have gladly cursed God’s people, the Israelites, for money; he “loved the wages of unrighteousness,” and finally he is spoken of as the man who taught Israel to sin.

The poor man wished to “die the death of the righteous,” but nothing at all shows that he wanted to live the life of the righteous. He is a warning to all who hope to come to the end of the narrow road that leads to life and glory, yet remain in the broad road on the way to destruction. No, no one can be on the two roads at the same time.

The death of Balaam came as he was fighting against the people of God: he was slain by the sword on the battlefield. It was a sad end for one who had hoped to “die the death of the righteous.”

It is not surprising that men should desire to die the death of the righteous, but if as many lived the life of the righteous who desire the happy end of the righteous, what a different place the world would be!

The truth is that in things pertaining to God and the Lord Jesus Christ, life and death, heaven and hell, we cannot be neutral. We must be either for or against.

Those who are “righteous” (and the way toward righteousness is first by accepting God’s word that “there is none righteous, no, not one” in themselves, and receiving the righteousness which is given of God) will be in heaven with Jesus Christ, while many who intended to do right will find their way down the slippery descent to eternal destruction.

It must be God’s righteousness, or none at all. You must be a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, or an unbeliever—either on the broad road or the narrow one. On which one are you? Which?

Do not let the indifference and the apathy to divine things that is so prevalent today lead you into the swamp of procrastination. Christ is real! Life and death are real! And—time is short! Choose now—choose the upward road! You will never regret it.

The First Sentence

The judge’s gavel fell. “Three months,” he said, and turned at once to the next case. Three months in prison! An experienced prisoner would have smiled at the “easy time,” but to the young first-timer before the bar, it was a terrible blow.

He was led away from the dock, and soon found himself in prison clothing and in his cell alone. Then his full position dawned upon him; this was the result of his waywardness and sin, and what would the end of it be?

The thought brought him down to his knees, and he cried aloud before God. Then and there he made his decision: from that time on he would quit the service of the devil.

Now that was a good decision to make, but it did not give him the peace of mind he wanted. He discovered, as many have done before him, that resolutions with regard to the future cannot wipe out the sins of the past. There lay his black record. How could he make amends for that?

“You ought to have prayed before you got in here,” sneered the warden, who saw him on his knees. “But perhaps better late than not at all.”

The prisoner ignored his comments. His whole desire was to be right with God.

There were two books in his cell. One of them was a book of instruction on how to live right. The other was a Bible.

To the first the anxious young man turned. He read there that he should fast and pray in order to secure pardon from God.

“I have been praying without fasting,” he thought. “That is why I do not have peace yet. I will fast as well as pray.”

And he did fast. Much of his food was left untasted, and he found himself getting weaker. Soon he was near a total collapse. He seemed to have reached the end of all he could do. He had resolved and sorrowed, prayed and fasted, but he was still a stranger to peace. Then it was that in despair he took up the Bible.

It was not a familiar book to him, and he hardly knew where to start, but God had His eye on him, and the book fell open at 2 Samuel 12. The first sentence that met his anxious eyes was, “The Lord also hath put away thy sin.”

That was enough for him. The heavy burden was eased, the clouds lifted and his astonished heart responded in gratitude to a pardoning God. He soon learned how God could pardon and yet remain the just God, for that long-neglected Book became his cell companion. In it he read of Calvary, of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. He read that marvelous story of redeeming love, and all became as plain to him as the daylight which streamed through the barred window into his cell.

Upon this his soul rested—this firm foundation. Yes, he discovered that God had freely justified him by His grace, and that the precious blood of Jesus, the basis of all blessing, had made him clean in the sight of God. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Through the grace of God, the one-time prisoner of Satan became God’s free man, gladly telling to all around that “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 is the Saviour of sinners,

Christ is the Saviour for me;

Long I was chained in sin’s darkness,

Now by His grace I am free.

Now I can say I am pardoned,

Happy and justified, free,

Saved by my blessed Redeemer,

This is the Saviour for me.

Loved with a love that’s unchanging,

Blessed with all blessings so free,

How shall I tell out His praises?

This is the Saviour for me.

She Sold Her Life's Savings

Recently a woman in Tel Aviv disposed of two old mattresses to a junk dealer who drove past her house.

Fifteen minutes later she remembered that her life’s savings were hidden in one of the mattresses.

She dashed to the police, who found the dealer, slit open the mattress and pulled out 1,300 Israeli pounds in cash, besides gold rings and other jewelry.

While the action of this thoughtless woman made news abroad, and people everywhere may shake their heads at her carelessness, they fail to notice a far greater folly that is perpetrated every day.

We refer to the millions who sell their priceless souls for nothing.

The woman in Israel succeeded in retrieving her earthly fortune from the old mattress she had sold for a song, but when death closes the door upon a lost soul, it is lost forever.

“What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” is the question asked by the Lord Jesus.

“What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36).

Be warned! Perhaps “this night thy soul shall be required of thee” (Luke 12:20). Come to the Saviour now, while there is time.

To lose your wealth is much,

To lose your health is more;

To lose your soul is such a loss

As nothing can restore.

Pay the Penalty

Remember when the policeman stopped you and asked to see your driver’s license?

You knew you had just made an illegal turn. You were nervous—and repentant. He was very polite, but you still ended up with a little yellow ticket. You had to report to the police station within three days.

It was a twenty-five dollar fine, “plus costs”—normal penalty for the offense.

Suppose you say to the officials: “I’m short of money this month. Tell you what I’ll do. I’ll attend church every morning and evening for the next two months.”

“Well, that’s a wonderful idea, sir,” they would say. “But that’s not the penalty.”

“Okay. I’ll try to be a better husband than ever before. I’ll take special care of my children.”

The answer would likely be: “You’re a fine man. There is always need for improving family relationships. But the penalty is twenty-five dollars.”

There is only one thing that would satisfy them: the twenty-five dollars. That was the penalty. The good life and the church attendance will not satisfy. Either you or someone else must pay your debt to the law.

God says the penalty for sin is death. Every other solution is no payment. Either you must pay it or someone must step up and pay it for you.

And that is precisely what has happened. The proof of God’s amazing love is this, that it was “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

For in all the world no other name has been given to men but this, and it is by this Name that we must be saved.

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

Eternity - Where?

Your time on earth is short. Each closing year, each setting sun and each tick of the clock is shortening your days on earth. Time is swiftly, silently and surely carrying you on—on to ETERNITY and to God.

The year, the day, the hour and the minute will soon arrive that will close your life on earth. No future hour will come to bring you back to earth again. You will be there forever—for ETERNITY.

Today, your feet stand on time’s sinking sand; tomorrow, the footprints may remain, but you will be gone. Where? Into ETERNITY.

Today your hands are busy, your eyes are seeing, your mind is active; tomorrow it may all be over—the folded hands, the closed eyes may remain, but you will be gone—gone into ETERNITY.

Others were once as busy as you are, healthy as you are, thoughtless as you are. They are gone—gone into ETERNITY.

Your turn to enter ETERNITY will come soon. Ask yourself honestly, “Am I prepared for ETERNITY?” Let heaven and hell stand before you in all their reality. One of these must be your eternal dwelling-place, and today is the time to make your choice. Tomorrow may be too late—one day behind time. For which are you living? To which are you traveling? ETERNITY—WHERE?

“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

Out of This Life

Out of this life I cannot take

Things of silver and gold I make;

All that I cherish and hoard away,

After I leave on earth must stay.

Though I call it mine and boast its worth,

I must give it up when I quit the earth;

All that I gather and all that I keep

I must leave behind when I fall asleep.

I wonder often just what I shall own

In that other life where I go alone;

What shall He find, and what shall He see

In the soul that answers the call for me?

Shall the great Judge say, when I am through,

That I’ve laid up treasure in heaven too?

Or shall it at last be mine to find

That all I had worked for I left behind?

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave Himself a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:5-6).

What About the Inside?

His name was John—an Indian boy from the Punjab. Not long before, he had been living in the beautiful countryside, but now his home was in hot, bustling Singapore with his aunt and uncle who had adopted him. Overwhelmed with homesickness, he spent most of his waking hours sitting at the front gate gazing into space—the very picture of abject misery.

The only relief came once a week when he went to the temple to take part in the rites of the Sikh religion. Though only fourteen years old, he was extremely religious and rose early every morning to study the Sacred Sikh books.

John’s uncle was a watchman in a large building complex. Living in one of the apartments there was a missionary and his daughter. These also kept a Bible store in the building, so it was not surprising that the kind missionary soon noticed poor John.

But although he felt very sorry for the lonely boy, he could not communicate with him, for the missionary could not speak nor understand John’s language. But love and kindness know no language barriers; these are understood in every part of the world. And John soon learned that in the missionary he had a true friend.

One day another Christian woman entered the picture. She brought along a small tape player and some recordings in John’s own language. By these John heard the gospel for the first time in his life.

Eventually the missionary and his daughter went away, leaving the Bible store in the care of another Christian woman. She too took a kindly interest in John and eventually found work for him in the shop. Here he proved to be a most diligent and useful lad.

John still clung to his Sikh religion. He did his very best to live an upright, highly moral life, hoping to gain merit for life beyond. Indeed, his conduct would have put many Christians to shame.

One evening he appeared dressed in dazzling white, instead of his usual gray and somewhat grimy clothes. His employer was amazed.

“John!” she exclaimed. “Where have you been? You look so beautiful—clean and white from your turban to your toes.”

“I have been to the temple,” John answered reverently. “When I go there I wash and put on everything clean and white. We must be clean to go in the temple, you know, and I don’t eat any food.”

“But, John, you are so beautifully clean and white outside; what about your heart inside?”

John’s head drooped, and his lips quivered while in a broken voice he confessed: “My heart is very black; I can’t make it clean.”

The Christian then told him again—as she had often done before—of the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, which cleanses away all the sin of everyone who in simple faith believes it. John solemnly took it all in but made no decision. He must count the cost first, because for a Sikh to become a Christian is no light matter.

In the following days John’s Christian friends prayed earnestly for him. God heard their prayer, for it was not long afterwards that John came into the shop with a new, happy smile on his face and announced that his heart was now whiter than snow. He had received Jesus as his Lord and Saviour and received the gift of God which is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. (See Romans 6:23.)

You cannot wash out your sins by tears or atone for them by good works, but come, see Jesus at Calvary, and see God turning His eyes to the same cross at which you are looking and saying: “I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins” (Isaiah 43:25).

“Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

Be Sure

Stamp! Stamp! Stamp! The great elephants charged furiously across the broken statues and pottery, grinding them into the dust. Watching villagers breathed a sigh of relief. Their small corner of Cambodia would be free from accidents for a year, thanks to their annual elephant drive to “stamp” the evil spirits that might threaten them.

Across the ocean the Iroquois medicine men twice a year donned frightful masks and went into each lodge scattering ashes on the floor, leaping and groaning and shaking their rattles. That made each lodge safe to live in; all the evil spirits had been chased out.

A huge mask, hanging from the highest gable end of a New Guinea house, is supposed to protect all who live there as well as any others who may enter. Trouble would be frowned away by that ferocious face.

It’s just universal, that longing for insurance against all trouble. We would gladly avoid any sickness or sorrow, trial or grief, but it cannot be. God does not promise even the Christian a trouble-free life, but He does promise to make “a way to escape” in the midst of the trial. Ah, that sounds more hopeful! But there is more: “that [you] may be able to bear it.”

Not what we wanted to hear at all! But it is a great and glorious promise just the same, for He promises His help, His comfort, His encouragement through any circumstance. The Christian can always be sure that he is loved and cared for and that he can claim for his own that wonderful promise: “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27). It is wonderful to be a Christian! Are you?

Go, Chain and All!

A man who was anxious about his soul’s salvation was talking with a Christian. He told him that he felt he was bound by a chain and could not go to God.

“Eh, man!” exclaimed the Christian. “Why do you not go chain and all?”

That was good advice. If you feel that the chain of your sins binds you and that you cannot break it, bring the chain with you and throw yourself and your bonds at the feet of the Saviour. He can set you free. He is the Saviour.

He does not tell you to save yourself and then to come to Him. He tells you to come to Him for the salvation of your soul.

He does not tell you to wash yourself from your sins. He has died that He might cleanse you, and if you come to Him, He will make your sin-stained heart as white as snow and make you fit for the glory of God.

“The blood of Jesus Christ [God’s] Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

“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).

A Whole Bible

Not long ago a man opened the door of a bookstore. In the windows he had seen copies of the Bible and books about it. He walked to the back of the store, where the storekeeper was working, and said, “I am from out of town and was told that you might know where one can get a Bible free. 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 never owned anything but a New Testament, and now I want the whole Bible.”

“When you read your Testament, do you pray over it?” the bookseller continued. “Do you realize it is the Word of God and that you need the Holy Spirit to lead you to the right understanding of it?”

The man felt at once that the bookseller was interested in his soul. To explain and assure him that he had not read his New Testament in vain, he said, “I have been a professor of religion for some time.”

“Ah, but that is not necessarily being a child of God,” the salesman urged. “I am anxious to know if you are a child of God.”

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

“Are you sure of the judgment?”

“Oh, yes, I am sure of that,” and the man began to look very serious.

“Then do sit down here,” continued the salesman, “and tell me on which side of you is the judgment—before or behind?”

“Oh,” he replied, “it is before me, of course. The judgment is only at the end of the world, and that hasn’t come yet.”

“How do you expect to escape it?”

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

“Now let me tell you my story,” said the bookseller. “I also believe that judgment is at the end of the world. But though the end has not come yet, I can tell you that judgment is behind me. Being sure that it is coming, I anticipated it in my mind. I found that, being a sinner, I was ‘condemned already.’ As I viewed my sins in the light of the ‘great white throne,’ I could only see that all hope for me was over—I was lost. So instead of trying to escape, I pleaded guilty. At the same time, however, I saw that it was for these very sins of mine that Jesus had suffered judgment upon the cross. He, ‘the Just,’ had there suffered ‘for the unjust.’

“But I knew that He was no longer on the cross, but up there in the glory! So I could say, ‘Thank God, the judgment is passed for me. Jesus has passed through it in my place.’ ”

Instantly the man’s eyes brightened and, taking hold of the bookseller’s hand in both of his, he exclaimed earnestly, “I see it! I see it!”

With his free gift of a “whole Bible,” soon off he went, as one who had found a new treasure.

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

Death and judgment are behind us,

Grace and glory are before;

All the billows rolled o’er Jesus;

There they spent their utmost power.

Jesus died, and we died with Him,

“Buried” in His grave we lay;

One with Him in resurrection,

Now “in Him” in heaven’s bright day.

The Conversion of an Athiest

“Oh, God! If there be a God, reveal Thyself to me!” It was a cry out of the darkness into which doubt and unbelief had plunged an atheist. He had written a book to try to convince a friend of the foolishness of believing in Christianity. Before sending it to press he sat down to read the manuscript for the last time. Having read it, he asked himself: “If I were a believer in Christ, would these arguments upset my faith?” He answered himself honestly: “No, they would not!”

Throwing himself on his knees, he cried to God, “God, if there be a God, reveal Thyself to me!”

God heard; God answered, we know not how, but he rose from his knees a changed man. Instead of publishing his book, the man was converted to the faith he had tried to destroy. Not only so, but he went out into the world to tell others of the grace of that Saviour-God who had met him and blessed him with the knowledge of Himself. “And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:3).

Have you made the acquaintance of God? Are you at peace? If still in darkness, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” Do you say, “How can I find Him—the light?” He also says, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

That peace, that rest—they are beyond price. Neither you nor I could ever buy them. The One who gives this peaceful rest bought it. No words can tell what it cost Him, for He “made peace through the blood of His cross.” “He laid down His life for us” is the way God tells us the depth of that love.

A Conversation with a Sailor

Caught in a sudden summer shower, I dashed for shelter. A young man was ahead of me, and he promptly started a conversation, saying, “I have just come from Australia on a ship.”

“What kind of life was it on board ship?” I asked.

“Well, the sailors were a wicked, swearing lot. It was awful to hear the way they went on, but I did not mix very much with them. I made friends with the first mate, and he was a religious sort of a man.”

“A religious sort of a man—what is that?”

“Well, I suppose you know people who sing hymns and say prayers, and so on? Some of them will tell you that they know their sins are forgiven.”

“Did your friend, the first mate, say that his sins were forgiven?”

“Yes, and I believe they are.”

“Suppose the ship had gone to the bottom with all on board, what would have become of all those swearing men?”

“They would all be lost.”

“What do you mean—lost for all eternity?”

“Yes. I’m sure they would be.”

“And what would have become of your friend, the first mate?”

“Oh, he would go to heaven.”

“And where would you have gone?”

“Why, I suppose to hell.”

“Do you really believe that? And are you satisfied to go on as you are?”

“Yes, I do believe it. I wish I were a Christian! My father and mother are Christians, and I expect they often pray for me. I could never see nor understand the way for myself.”

I took out my Bible and said, “Do you believe this to be the Word of God?”

“Certainly I do. I never doubted.”

“Then will you simply believe the verse I will read to you from God’s Word?”

“Yes, I will.”

I read 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.”

“Does that mean to say that if I apply that to myself, I shall be saved?”

“Yes, for God says, ‘He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.’ ”

“Then I do here and now believe that Christ died for my sins. This is what I have longed to know for myself. Thank you, thank you for telling me. Oh, won’t I make Mother and Father glad! I am a Christian!”

Someday

“Someday,” you say, “I will seek the Lord;

Someday I will make my choice;

Someday, someday I will heed His Word

And answer the Spirit’s voice.”

God’s time is now, for the days fly fast,

And swiftly the seasons roll;

Today is yours! It may be your last;

Choose life for your precious soul.

Choose now. Just now! Your soul is at stake!

Oh, what will your answer be?

’Tis life or death, and the choice you make

Is made for eternity.

Choose now, just now, for the Lord is here;

Must He for your answer wait?

Choose now, just now, while the call is clear;

Tomorrow may be too late!

“What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent” (John 6:28-29).

Behind the Mask

“My mask is all worn out with teardrops

At night when it’s laid on the shelf;

I may make the world think I’m happy,

But I can’t hide the truth from myself.”

The above lines spoken by a famous clown years ago might well have applied to a young comedian named Sidi Musa.

Sidi was a professional entertainer and singer. He sang and told side-splitting stories wherever he could find a group to listen. His contagious good humor and endless repertoire of funny songs and jokes never failed to captivate, amuse and thoroughly entertain.

To those who knew him, life to Sidi Musa appeared to be one long series of lyrics, laughs and jokes. If one of his many fans had been asked to point out a happy man—a man without a care regarding life or death—he would probably have pointed to Sidi Musa.

But was this really true of him? No! Behind the mask of careless frivolity lived the real Sidi Musa, a young man with an empty heart, an accusing conscience and a sad, gnawing anxiety over the future of his soul. He was in the dark—and he knew it—and he longed for light.

As a religious Moslem, he prayed more than tradition enjoined, even to the point of wearing himself out. What little money he made he spent to buy help from the “reader” class. He appealed to them constantly that they would give him from the Koran a single verse upon which he could anchor his soul. It was to no avail; no such verse was found for him.

One day, driven to despair, he filled his shoes with small pebbles and walked some fifty miles, hoping and praying that Allah would look down with favor upon his self-inflicted penance and give him his heart’s desire—peace.

Perhaps you, like Sidi Musa, are wearing a mask of gaiety and mirth as a cover-up for an empty, sin-burdened heart. You may be “the life of the party,” but your popularity will never remove your dread of eternity or give peace to your soul. There is One and only One who can give you abiding rest and peace. That one is Jesus, and to you He calls at this moment. He would have you know that He has “made peace through the blood of His cross.”

All of poor Sidi Musa’s efforts only proved to him that his prayers, fasts and self-inflicted wounds could bring him no peace. But the Lord Jesus, who loves to give rest to the heavy-laden, sought him out, saved his soul and gave him eternal peace.

Like every conversion to Christ, Sidi Musa’s salvation was a miracle. His restless travels took him one afternoon to a Moorish market where thousands of Arabs were gathered to barter, buy and sell. It was never an easy place for a Christian missionary to preach the gospel. The persecution was keen, and Sidi Musa mingled with the hostile crowd and joined in opposition.

But in spite of the demonstration, Sidi Musa’s ears were quick to pick up the strange and wonderful words of the preacher. Wonderful words of life! They subdued his anger and constrained him to withdraw from the noisy rabble and stand close to the speaker where he could drink in every word of the message.

When the crowd finally dispersed and the missionary departed, Sidi Musa discreetly followed him to his home. There he anxiously inquired if it were really true that one could know, here and now, that he had passed from death to life, and know that he was saved?

When assured by the missionary from the Word of God that it was really true, he exclaimed: “Man, I have prayed and toiled and suffered for this! To think that God grants me eternal life on these terms. It is wonderful, wonderful!”

He believed, and he was saved.

Sidi Musa is now at home with his Saviour, Jesus, but I will always remember his visit to the missionary. Often when I see the heedless, the careless, the prodigal, living in apparent disregard of all the grace and claims of Christ, I think, Let me tell them of the love of the Lord Jesus, for who Knows but that behind that ripple of laughter, that boast, that joKe, there may beat a sin-burdened, inquiring heart.

The Lord 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).

“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

The True Hiding Place

Thunder of hoofbeats across the plain! A thousand horses, ridden by a thousand skillful and daring horsemen, raced and charged back and forth, their flying feet pounding the turf into trampled dust and erasing forever any mark of the site of the grave of the great Genghis Khan. So secret was the burial to be that every person met by the funeral procession was ruthlessly murdered, lest grave robbers should discover the location. As far as is known, they never did. Genghis Khan’s body has been undisturbed, and no one has found it to this day.

Perhaps his followers had heard of the burial of Alaric the Visigoth, who captured and sacked Rome centuries earlier. Dying as he marched on to Africa, he was buried beneath a river. His soldiers forced the inhabitants of a nearby town to divert the river’s course and carve a tomb for Alaric out of the bedrock. Then they restored the river to its normal bed—and slaughtered the laborers to prevent any from revealing the secret.

Where now do these mighty men of old lie?

God knows!

Right. God does know, and when the time comes that the dead, small and great, will have to stand before God, both the great rulers and the unknown laborers who were killed for their sake will have to be judged alike. The most hidden grave will not protect the person buried there. There is only one hiding place from that righteous judgment, and that is the Lord Jesus. Every soul who comes to Him in this day of grace He will hide, for He has said, “I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved” (John 10:9).

“A man [the Lord Jesus Christ] shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest,” that is, the dreadful judgment of God that is coming on all who have not taken refuge in the True Hiding Place.

“The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9).

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.” Proverbs 18:10

Repeatedly Warned, But Would Not Believe

When a great volcano erupted, some 2,500 people were left homeless. After the mountain had somewhat subsided, they returned to their former homes in spite of the fact that now a newly formed huge basin of boiling lava continually emitted sulfurous gases and great clouds of brownish dust. It is also said that the temperature, some distance from the volcano, was nearly 900 degrees. Rumblings were constantly heard, and everything indicated continuance of the activity. The account said: “They are warned repeatedly of their great danger, but they simply will not believe.”

So impressed was the reporter with their carelessness that he repeated: “THEY ARE REPEATEDLY WARNED OF THEIR GREAT DANGER, BUT THEY SIMPLY WILL NOT BELIEVE!”

How like many today! The rumblings of coming judgment are ignored by young and old alike: “They simply will not believe.”

Yet, at any moment the door of mercy may close. The day of God’s grace has nearly run its course. The storm clouds are gathering, and soon God’s judgments will be in the earth. Listen to the warning, and flee for refuge to the Saviour of sinners.

Are you among the many who “simply will not believe”? Your position is far more serious than those near that volcano. YOU are in danger of eternal doom, shut out of the light of heaven and shut into the blackness of darkness for all eternity.

Listen to the words of the Bible: “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:6-7).

“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” Hebrews 2:3

The Question Answered

What is life? What was its beginning? What is its meaning? Where can one find the answers?

The answers still escape students, philosophers and scientists today. For the Christian, the answer is CHRIST. He alone is the answer.

In Russia, a newspaper correspondent sat on a park bench. Next to him was a woman reading a New Testament.

“An interesting book?” he asked.

Startled, she replied, “It is a holy book.”

She went on to explain that she had been a member of the Communist Youth League, for she wanted to learn all about the origin of life, why we live and where we go. From communism she got no satisfaction. Her questions were usually ignored, but eventually she understood the theory that everything was material. Life itself was only matter—a simple matter of biochemistry.

“It was horrible,” she exclaimed, with a shudder of disgust.

The questioner sneered, “And now from that Book you know all about everything?”

She replied, “Yes, now I know! Everything is vanity except the gospel of God. It is like a cool well, full of stillness. In it I find all the right answers, and it gives rest to my heart.”

What a contrast to a young man who “had everything” in this world. Instead of drinking from the “cool well, full of stillness,” he drank deeply of every pleasure that money could buy. Did it bring him joy or peace? No. He ended his life by his own hand. Before dying he wrote his own obituary: “Died of old age at 21.”

But, Jesus Christ is the source of life. Indeed, He supports the life which He brings. Through His death alone, His life is available to all who will make it their own by faith in the once-crucified but now-risen and glorified Son of God.

He has said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6).

“THIS MAN, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12).

“THIS MAN, because He [continues] ever, [has] an unchangeable priesthood” (Hebrews 7:24).

“THIS MAN [receives] sinners” (Luke 15:2).

“Truly THIS MAN was the Son of God” (Mark 15:39).

“Never man [spoke] like THIS MAN” (John 7:46).

Think Seriously About It

At the close of a gospel meeting I asked a man if he were saved. His answer was, “No, but I will think seriously about it.”

He really seemed serious and earnest, but his answer was far from satisfactory.

For instance: suppose a man falls into a swift, running river, and he cannot swim. Just as he passes you, you throw a rope to him from the bank and call to him to catch hold of it. It is his only chance. A moment more and he will be swept beyond its reach.

Instead of seizing it with the grip of a drowning man, he replies, “I will think seriously about it.”

What would you think? You would think that the man had either lost his mind or did not know his danger.

Or suppose that a man has been suddenly and alarmingly seized with illness. He is rushed to the doctor, and the doctor gives him some medication and says, “This is the only thing that can save you. I don’t know whether I am in time with it, but your only chance lies in taking it now. Take it at once. Every moment is precious.”

The patient replies, “Doctor, leave the medicine where I can reach it. I will think seriously about it.”

What would you think of him?

And what conclusion can we come to when a guilty sinner on the road to hell, with death and judgment before him, can say of the good news of the gospel, “I will think seriously about it!”

God says, “Now! . . . Now!” Why do you wait? “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

“He [Jesus] is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him.” Hebrews 7:25

Jesus

I’ve tried in vain a thousand ways

My fears to quell, my hopes to raise;

But what I need, the Bible says,

Is ever, only, JESUS.

My soul is night; my heart is steel—

I cannot see; I cannot feel;

For light, for life, I must appeal

In simple faith to JESUS.

He died, He lives, He reigns, He pleads;

There’s love in all His words and deeds;

There’s all a guilty sinner needs

Forevermore in JESUS.

Though some may sneer, and some may blame,

I’ll go with all my guilt and shame;

I’ll go to HIM because His name,

Above all names, is JESUS.

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Bad Decisions

The river was rising, rising fast. Rain and more rain filled it upstream, and now it was tunneling down the valleys and into the river towns. In Falmouth, Kentucky, the Licking River was rising a foot an hour, and the city “filled up like a kitchen sink.” Most people fled with just the clothes they wore.

As the streets filled with the swirling waters a woman pounded on a neighbor’s door. “Get out fast,” she begged.

He only grumbled, “Leave me alone!” and went back to bed.

In West Point, 150 miles downstream, there was a little more time to evacuate. Coast Guard Lt. Michael Hart had boats on the scene, and they offered help to all. In spite of their efforts, some people refused to leave. Told to leave at once by the rescue boat, one man just leaned back in his chair and said, “I’m not going nowhere.”

About 30 people ignored the final request. By Saturday, the flood had killed 18 Kentuckians. As the last of the Coast Guard boats motored out of town, empty, Lt. Hart said sadly, “People, they just think they have to hang on . . . their emotions get in the way of common sense . . . bad decisions are made. You can’t force help on people.”

No, you can’t—not for time, and not for eternity. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself said, “Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life” (John 5:40).

And nothing has changed. There are still those who say, “Leave me alone!” They align themselves with the unclean spirits of Mark 1:24 who said, “Let us alone; what have we to do with Thee, Thou Jesus of Nazareth?” That’s not very good company to be in!

Wouldn’t you rather listen to the Lord Jesus saying, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28), and just come to Him while there is time?

“He, that being often reproved hardeneth his necK, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” Proverbs 29:1

Incurable

Years ago, when I was a young man, you might have found me lying drunk all night in the streets or out in the fields. Many a time I lay all night in the cold and wet—homeless, hopeless—drunken—not able to make my way to any kind of shelter. That’s how the devil serves his children!

But that couldn’t last, strong as I was. Exposure and continual drunkenness at last wrecked what had once been a fine, husky body, and I was laid low by disease. My old pals took me to a doctor, but he told us all plainly that I was so far gone there was positively no hope. Another doctor repeated the verdict. As a last hope they took me to a hospital. There they said I was incurable and refused to admit me.

At last they sent for the religious people. They prayed and pleaded with me, but I angrily pushed them away and told them to go. I had served the devil all my life, and I would serve him in death too.

But after all the doctors had given their verdicts, there came to me the Great Physician, and He began to mend my poor body in spite of the doctors and their opinions. In a few days I was feeling like a new man, but still weak.

Well, I sat there in my weakness and thought of God’s goodness and mercy to me, a hell-deserving sinner. But He had thought it worthwhile to heal me up a bit and give me strength to live a little longer here. Then I thought, “Well, He has a right to me altogether, and I think it worthwhile to trust Him.” This I did, and He took me as I was, there and then. I got rapidly better, and all these years He has kept me. I have seen many sorrows and gone through deep waters, but He has been my refuge and has upheld me by His grace.

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23

The Great Physician

Christ shows more love to His patients than any other physician ever has before or since. He took that long journey from heaven to earth, coming without His patients sending for Him: “I am sought of them that asked not for Me; I am found of them that sought Me not” (Isaiah 65:1).

He suffered for His patients, that they might be cured: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities . . . and with His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

Christ Himself drank that bitter cup of death which we should have drunk: “Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3).

He takes no fee! He asks us to bring nothing to Him: “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).

He not only cures them, but crowns them. Christ not only raises the sin-sick person from the bed, but up to the throne. He gives not only health, but heaven.

If you have neglected this Physician all this time, now bring your sick soul to Christ to be cured. He laments that though men are sick unto death, yet they will not come or send to the Physician: “Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life” (John 5:40).

Christ came into the world as into a hospital of sick and bedridden souls. In free grace He healed all who came to Him. What man could ever plead, “Lord Jesus, heal me because I am worthy”? God does not find us worthy, but makes us worthy.

If you do not come to Christ to be saved till you are worthy, you will never come: “They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick” (Luke 5:31).

Consider what a little time we have to stay here. Solomon speaks of “a time to be born, and a time to die,” but mentions no time to live, as though that were so short it were not worth mentioning.

Should death surprise you suddenly, there is no cure to be wrought in the grave. Now is the time of healing; now is the day of grace. “Behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

Whose Fault Is It?

A person is dying of a deadly infection. The only antibiotic known to cure his illness is prescribed and brought to his room. He does not refuse to take it, but he puts it off—neglects to take it—and dies. Whose fault is it?

A house is on fire, its occupants are aroused and a ladder is rushed to one of the windows where escape is still possible. A man is seen looking out of the window. He does not refuse the ladder, but he hesitates—he neglects it—and as the floor beneath him gives way, he falls with it into the flames below and is burned to death. Whose fault is it?

A man has fallen overboard. He is unable to swim, but a lifebuoy is thrown to him. He refuses it, thinking he can reach the ship by his own strength. He neglects the lifebuoy and is drowned. Who is to blame?

If you are a dying sinner, God offers the only remedy: salvation through Jesus Christ. You are not in a burning building, but you are exposed to the everlasting flames of the lake of fire. You may be overboard, struggling and sinking in a surging sea, but God has a lifebuoy for you, and that is still His salvation.

Do you receive it or refuse it?

“I do neither,” you say.

Then you neglect, and God’s question is, “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3).

He does not say, “How shall we escape if we steal or get drunk or tell lies or don’t go to church?” No! Neglecting God’s salvation is the great sin of today. It is the God-dishonoring, heaven-forfeiting, soul-damning and hell-filling sin of this privileged moment in which we are living. Look where you will, the words “NO ESCAPE” stare you in the face. There will be no way of escape in eternity, for there is no redemption in hell—no Saviour pleads with souls there—no salvation is offered there.

But, thank God, NOW there is a way of escape. It is called “so great salvation” because it is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Jesus is the salvation of God.

When the elderly man Simeon held the child Jesus in his arms, he exultingly exclaimed, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word: for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation” (Luke 2:29-30). When Jesus walked into Zaccheus’s house, He did so saying, “This day is salvation come to this house” (Luke 19:9).

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

Have you neglected this “so great salvation” for long weeks, months, years—even all your life? Oh, do so no longer! Receive Him now in all the love of His heart, in all the power of His arm and in all His finished work. Yes, receive Him just where you are, just as you are and just now, by simply believing in Him. “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name” (John 1:12).

Gianni

Gianni, 19 years old and full of confidence in himself and in his classical Italian education in philosophy, sat puffing on his cigar and playing poker in the dimly-lit hall where he and his cronies gathered.

Suddenly, the door opened and a short man in his forties entered the room and began to go from one to another passing out gospel tracts. His beaming face radiated a joy that arrested Gianni’s attention. When he came to Gianni he quoted to him the words of the Lord Jesus in John 6:47: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life.”

Impatient to get back to his poker game, Gianni was glad to see the evangelist from New York leave. But the words Leonardo had quoted to him would not leave his mind. All day long he thought of the power and simplicity of that declaration by Jesus. Finally, he lay down in his bed for a night in which he would be able to forget the haunting words quoted by the evangelist.

But sleep did not come easily to Gianni. He lay there thinking of the strangely simple message that Leonardo had quoted. He tried to think of San Antonio, his patron saint, but the words, “He that believeth on Me,” came with fresh force into his soul. He drifted off into a troubled sleep, but soon awakened to hear again in his mind the words, “He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life.”

He tried to think of the Blessed Virgin, but again the words of Jesus, “He that believeth on Me,” burned themselves into his mind and crowded out all thought of anyone but the blessed Son of God.

Finally about five in the morning, after an almost-sleepless night, Gianni got up, dressed and set out on foot to the town of Cassano Iorio to try to find the evangelist. He knew Leonardo was staying somewhere in Cassano, but he had no idea where. Still, he had to find him and learn more about the strange but simple message that had robbed him not only of sleep but also of all his confidence in his religion and his philosophical learning.

Leonardo’s earnest zeal in bringing the message of eternal life to the Calabrian countryside where he had grown up made him a visible, though not always welcome, figure to the people of Cassano and Lauropoli, so it was not long before Gianni was able to find the humble quarters where the evangelist was staying.

With a joyful heart, Leonardo opened up the Scriptures with the young philosopher. That glorious day, Gianni was introduced to the Saviour of sinners, the Lord Jesus Christ. He believed on Him, not on saints or on anyone else, and he could say with joyful confidence, “I have everlasting life.”

How about you, my friend? Do you have everlasting life? On whom are you depending for your soul’s eternal salvation? “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:31).

Gianni invited Leonardo to his home and it was not long before his wife too had trusted in Jesus.

Although Gianni lost his job because of his faith, and although for five years the family lived in rejection by the community, they rejoice to this day in the blessed reality of John 6:47: “He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life.”

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

The Best of Times

“This really must be the best of all possible times to be alive,” read an editorial in the New York Times. Having summed up many modern developments designed for the ease, pleasure and well-being of man, it concluded: “What a splendid time to be alive!”

As a matter of fact, this is the best of all possible times to be alive. Why? Because “now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

Of this present, fleeting day of God’s grace it may truthfully be said, There never was a time like this and never will be again. It is Satan’s work to blind the minds of the unsaved and prevent them from hearing the good tidings of the grace of God.

“If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).

God's Boundary

There is a time, we know not when,

A point, we know not where,

That 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 patience and His wrath.

How far may one go on in sin?

How long will God forbear?

Where does hope end, and where begin

The confines of despair?

An answer from the skies is sent:

“You that from God depart,

While it is called today,

Repent! And harden not your heart.

“God . . . at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past. . . . See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh” (Hebrews 1:1; 12:25).

Destined to Crash

The new condominium looked good—on paper. The architect’s drawings, the plans, the blueprints—how sound and solid it appeared! As the building rose, tall and white against the blue sky, many looked forward to its completion and to the luxurious life it promised.

BUT—the engineers cut construction costs by designing the poured concrete floors too thin. Support columns were left out, solid walls to stiffen the building against high winds were omitted, and when the actual work began, the concrete was poured even thinner.

Floors sagged, support beams buckled and cracked, inspections were skipped, but the workers struggled on until the day it was to be “topped off.”

Suddenly there was a quiver, a tremor, a rattle, and with a roar of collapsing concrete, walls, floors, pillars and men fell. Eleven workers were killed in the crash; twenty-three others were injured.

A state consulting engineer said the “workers were building a structure destined to crash down on them!” From the foundation up, it could not support even its own weight.

Like those workers, many, many people are spending their lives building on a foundation “destined to crash.” “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11). No matter how skillfully they build on another foundation or how many props they put in, it is only a matter of time till all comes crashing down.

As the world rushes on toward the end of the century, stop and check the foundation upon which you are building your life. There is only one safe foundation: the Lord Jesus Christ. To believe and accept His Word is to be “founded upon a rock.”

“Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay . . . a precious corner stone, a sure foundation.” Isaiah 28:16

Perhaps you are thinking, “Oh, if I could only believe in the right way!”

That is not the difficulty. If you would only believe on the right Person, you would be saved. It is not your believing that saves you; it is the Person on whom you believe. Stop being concerned about the character of your believing and get occupied with the saving One, Jesus Christ the Lord.

A drowning man is not concerned as to whether he has gripped the friendly rope in a scientific way. Has he really caught hold of the rope? That is the point. If so, his safety is assured.

Are you really resting on Christ? If you are, His promise applies to you which says,

“He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life.” John 6:47

Which Place?

Think for a moment of these two pictures from the pages of Scripture.

Judas “went immediately out: and it was night,” and he went “to his own place.”

Stephen “looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus.” He was “willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”

In Judas we see a man who had been in close company with the Lord for three years. He had seen all His wonderful works and heard His loving words, yet he turned his back upon Him who was the “light of the world” and he went out from His presence, out into the night. Controlled by Satan, Judas went to his doom—to his own place.

Look at the other picture. Alone, in the midst of a raging crowd thirsting for his blood, Stephen stands undismayed. Full of the Holy Spirit, he looks up. Heaven opens, and in the center of all the glory he sees a Man, the Man Christ Jesus standing on the right hand of God. Lost to everything but that vision, he fears not “them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do” (Luke 12:4).

What can they do? They can set his happy spirit free to go to its own place—the place where Jesus is. Stephen goes in—into the light, into the glory—to be with Jesus.

Tell me now: If God, in whose hand your breath is, were to withdraw for one moment His sustaining power and stop the beating of your heart, how would it be with you?

Still Jesus calls: “Come unto Me.” Have you come?

“Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:37

“Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” Isaiah 45:22

This verse contains the greatest possible blessing God could give:

salvation;

to the greatest possible number of people:

all the ends of the earth;

on the easiest possible terms:

by simply looking;

and is based upon the best possible authority:

because God says so.

Told by a Marine

My friend and I were stationed at Ipoh, in Malaya. We had both just finished a course of training and were due for fourteen days’ leave. The only vacancy for us in Singapore was at the Soldier’s Home. When we arrived at the Home, we were shown to our room and the rules were explained. I remember that we were not very much impressed by the rule that fixed the time of curfew at 11 o’clock, but we thought that we could manage to get around that little rule fairly easily if the occasion arose.

Well, the occasion never arose, as on the first day of our leave riots broke out and everyone was confined to quarters. That left us cooped up in a place that seemed to me to be ankle deep in religious tracts, so we decided that we were not going to have anything to do with religion and would keep strictly to ourselves.

Both my friend and I had been away from home for a long time, and we had easily slipped into all the vices and bad habits of the day. There was certainly no fear of God before our eyes. Coming into a Christian atmosphere was a terrific contrast to our way of life, and I was condemned in my heart as to my way of living.

When we left the Home and started back to Ipoh they packed us off with sandwiches. When we came to unwrap them we found that there were tracts in each package. We really resented that! Deep down inside me I somehow knew that the Bible was true, and if the Bible were true then what it said about God was true. Suddenly I had the awful feeling that it was true that there was a God, and if there was a God then there must be a place called hell where God was going to punish the wicked, and so I would go to hell! All this ran through my mind on the way back to camp. Then I remember looking up into the sky and seeing millions of glittering stars, and I reasoned that all those stars didn’t just happen by chance; they must have been created by Someone, and that Creator I felt in my heart was the God of the Bible.

Some woman at the Home had given me a booklet about God, and when I got back to camp I started to read it. For the first time in my life I learned of the gospel of Jesus Christ. What a revolution went on in my mind as I read that wonderful gospel story! I read that God hated sin but He loved the sinner, and He loved him so much that He gave His only, beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to the cruel death of the cross in order to die for sinners. “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 had always thought that religion was chanting hymns and hearing musty old sermons, but this was a heart-touching story of love and grace that reached out to guilty sinners and offered life and joy simply through believing in a Person. My sick soul grasped at that story of life and hung on as a dying man grasps at the faintest hope of life.

But to think that my many sins could all be forgiven and blotted out of God’s mind forever simply through believing in Jesus Christ was beyond my comprehension. I thought that it was too simple and that God must expect me to do something as well.

There is only one thing to do, I thought. I must start being good! So I stopped smoking, drinking, swearing and other things as well, but this did not help me one bit. I bought a Bible and read it at night when I thought no one was looking. I was afraid that if I took Jesus as my Saviour I would have to live an open Christian life, and then everyone would laugh at me.

I finally understood what I must do: I must simply trust that Jesus bore all my sins and receive Him into my heart as my own personal Saviour—that is, believe that He died for me just as though there were no other person in all the world and then confess Him to my mates.

One night at the evening meal my best friend was talking, and nearly every other word he said was a word of blasphemy against Jesus Christ. It came to me that if anyone used my mother’s name like that, there would be trouble. I wouldn’t stand for it. Yet here I was listening to a man blaspheme the name of the Son of God, the One who had loved me so much that He submitted to the death of the cross for me, and I was so weak and such a coward that I was ashamed to say a word in His defense. I was ashamed to own the name of Jesus.

Utterly disgusted with myself, I prayed to God that He would give me the strength to confess Jesus before my friend. I was trembling and stammering and very much afraid, but Jesus died for me and it was a small thing really to confess Him.

“Look here, Ginger,” I said to my friend, “I believe in God and I believe in Jesus Christ, and I don’t want to hear you use His name like that anymore.” As I said it I believed it in my heart, and the light of God’s salvation streamed in upon my soul. A great peace and joy filled my heart. I WAS SAVED AND I KNEW IT!

Since I trusted Him, He has been to me a Friend, a Friend who never fails. It is worth more than all the riches of the world to be able to pillow my head every night on the calm assurance that I belong to Jesus Christ and that my soul is safe forever in His keeping. Jesus is now the dearest and most precious name I know, and I am not ashamed of Him or His cross.

I found it true “that 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).

"I Know"

“Yes, I know I am not a Christian. I don’t profess to be one,” said a young woman not long ago.

She seemed to think that really some small credit was due her for not pretending to be what she was not, as if, when brought face to face with her Maker and her Judge, she could by her bold answer, “I never professed to be a Christian,” escape the penalty of her indifference.

I hope these words so lightly spoken, “I know I am not a Christian,” will strike you as sadly as they do me. What an awful thing this is to “know”! How strange that anyone can go on eating, drinking, sleeping, playing in all the trifling things of this poor, perishing world, never thinking about what is to follow after this earthly life is over. Then, perhaps suddenly, death comes, and the thoughtless one is snatched away to hear the Lord utter these terrible words, “Verily I say unto you, I know you not” (Matthew 25:12).

Think now for a few moments. Are there some whom you love who are true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ? They can each say, “I know that I am a Christian.”

Now write down the truth about yourself. Will you have to put down, “I know that I am a Christian,” or, “I know that I am not a Christian”? That little word “not” makes the difference.

If the Lord Jesus should come today, do you think that by saying, “I know that I am not a Christian, but then I have never pretended to be one,” you would be allowed to go up into the glory with His people? No! And you know it too.

If still unsaved, now is the time God gives you to be saved.

Saved!

What a charm there is in that word “saved”—saved from eternal death, saved from the dreadful consequences of sin, saved from the fiery wrath of God, saved from the present power of sin and the service of Satan.

But—saved for eternal life and blessedness, saved to enjoy the everlasting fruit of the death of Christ, saved for the glory of God, saved for the infinite delight of Christ, saved for a trophy of divine mercy, saved as a triumph of divine love, saved for the service of God in this dark world, saved to stand before God and the wide universe to the glory of His grace. We are saved by grace. Oh, the matchless grace of God as revealed in Jesus Christ!

“The Lord . . . brought me up also out of an horrible pit . . . and set my feet upon a rock . . . and He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God.” Psalm 40:1-3

Two Roads

Are you walking the old wide road,

Pursuing the downward way,

With steady pace still journeying

Away from the light of day?

There’s a home of fadeless glory

Where no sin can enter in,

Where Jesus, who died for sinners,

Is calling you to Him.

He loves you with deep compassion;

He saw your soul’s great need,

And there on the cross of Calvary

He, the sinless One, must bleed.

He has paid the ransom fully

And met the claims of God.

There’s nothing for you remaining

But to trust His precious blood.

Is your heart still closed to His mercy,

Your back still turned to His cross?

Oh! the downward track pursuing

Must lead to eternal loss.

Oh, change from the old wide pathway,

And come to a loving Friend,

The sinner’s only Saviour,

Who will keep you to the end.

“Now once in the end of the world hath He [Christ Jesus] appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself ” (Hebrews 9:26).

Neglected

He was a foreigner and was ignorant in the laws and customs of the country. One day he broke one of those laws and was promptly seized and taken to prison until he should be able to pay an exorbitant fine. After several months had gone by, he was allowed to leave his cell, though still loaded with heavy iron chains on his ankles to prevent his escape.

A fellow-countryman learned of his arrest and tried to help toward his release but could do nothing. He was permitted to give him nothing but a book. The prisoner was disappointed. He cared little for books; a little extra food would have pleased him much more. He threw the book aside and forgot all about it.

Three long years passed, and he came across the book once more. As he picked it up, he felt a small bulge under the cover. Ripping it open, what should he find but a file—the file he had wished for so long.

After that he spent every minute when he could be unobserved in filing away at those hated chains. At last, to his great joy, they fell off, and he succeeded in making his escape. His only regret was that he had despised the gift and neglected the means of his deliverance for those interminable years.

Is there anything we have neglected? Have we neglected the Bible? Has the Old Book been unopened? Has it lain covered with dust and neglected while we were serving sin?

Perhaps one day we come to our senses and discover that sin has bonds and heavy chains. We remember the Bible and open it to see what help it can give us. We read: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me [Jesus Christ], because He hath . . . sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 4:18).

“Thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered.” Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work for us will deliver us from our bonds. Our chains may be very strong and heavy and we may be hardly able to move under them, yet the file of faith in Christ is stronger still and more powerful than any sin which binds us. We shall see all our chains lie at our feet and gladly leave them behind us. Then we may go on our way rejoicing in Christ’s salvation and the glorious liberty of the children of God.

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1

Why Read the Bible?

A small boy took the Bible one day from the table in his home and asked, “Is this God’s book, Mother?”

“Certainly it is” was her reply.

“Well,” continued the boy, “don’t you think we might as well send it back to God? We don’t use it here, do we?”

We may smile at this, but it reveals a sad lack in the life of that home. There are many reasons for reading the Bible. We need to read it because it is the Book of life: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” When we try to “live by bread alone” we feed the body but starve the soul.

A man died of starvation in Olympia, Washington. After his death it was discovered that he had nearly $1,000,000 on deposit in local banks. He never spoke of his money, even when the physicians were trying to counteract the effects of malnutrition. He let his body starve, with plenty of money available to buy food to feed him. Are you letting your soul starve, even though the Word of God is at hand to provide you with life-giving spiritual food?

Perhaps you think you haven’t time to read the Bible every day. With almost every kind of machine there is provided a book of instruction. The Bible is the Book that goes with mankind. Think of having sixteen waking hours every day to travel the highways of life and no time to read the Guide Book! Then how can we expect to follow the right road? No wonder so many wrecks are strewn along life’s pathway!

If we neglect to read the Bible, we are missing the best things in life. Earthly things do not satisfy the heart. The Bible is the Book of the heart. It shows how we may possess and enjoy real life. A worthwhile life and satisfaction in life are found by reading and receiving the Word of life into our hearts.

“The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63

How a Jew Found the Messiah

The Spirit of the Lord took hold of my heart in my father’s house in Germany. He made me feel so bad I could not eat my food or take my rest.

My father said to me, “Why are you not happy? You mope around as miserable as can be. You have plenty of money: Why are you not happy?”

I replied, “Father, I find no place for my soul. The money won’t buy a place for my soul. I will lie down and die one day, and then what good will the money be to me? And where will my soul go?”

Then one day I read in a paper about one Dr. Frank, a Jewish rabbi in Canada, who had found the Messiah. I said to myself, I will go to Canada to find that rabbi that found the Messiah.

When I came to Canada, I asked the first thing: “Where is Dr. Frank?” They told me that he lives in the city of Hamilton. I went to the city of Hamilton, but he was not at home. I did not find him for two weeks. Then one man showed him to me at a public meeting, and I looked at him until the meeting was over. Then I said to him, “Are you Dr. Frank?”

“Yes.”

“You are a Jewish rabbi? You have found the Messiah?”

“Yes.”

“Will you give me two lessons, and I will pay you?”

Dr. Frank said, “Come to my house, and I will give you many lessons and will not charge anything.”

Then I said, “Oh, no, Dr. Frank.” He talked to me and he talked to me, but I did not find the Messiah.

At last Dr. Frank said, “You are a Hebrew scholar? Then take your Hebrew Bible and read what the ancient prophets say about the Messiah. Write down the exact description that they give of Him, specially the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah. Then take a Greek Testament and search and you will find that everything the old prophets say about Messiah was fulfilled exactly in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. When your judgment is convinced, get down on your knees and pray to God in the name of Jesus, and you will find the Messiah. He will save you from all your sins.”

I followed the instruction that Dr. Frank gave me, and my judgment was convinced, and I bowed my knees and cried, “O God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, God of my fathers, I pray to Thee in the name of Thy dear, suffering Son, Jesus Christ. I am convinced from the holy books of the Old and New Testaments that He is the Messiah and that He came into the world to save sinners. I believe all Thou hast said about Jesus, and I take Him as my Saviour.”

I gave my soul to Jesus; I believed in Jesus, and just as quick as lightning I found Messiah! He saved me from my sins. He filled my soul with joy. My soul has found a home in Jesus. For three years I’ve known Him more and more, and I love Him with all my heart.

The Story of a Buddhist

I was brought up a Buddhist, but I had been very miserable in my heart for a long time. Now Buddhist ethics are very good, but I am not good. Buddha tells me not to do bad things, but my heart wanted to do them, and then, as a bad man, Buddha has nothing for me.

Often I would look up into the heavens and think that He, God, who made these stars and kept them in the beautiful order that anyone could see they were kept in, was able, if He so willed, to keep my heart in order.

That was how I discovered the true God, because He brought good to a bad man. He gave His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for a bad man, and He gave me eternal life, so that my heart is now kept in order and made happy because of God’s love for me.

God’s testimony in creation spoke to me—the heaven declaring His glory, and the firmament showing His handiwork, but now the testimony is of His love: “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).

There is a Standard

There is in all persons certain knowledge of good and evil: such and such things they say are good, and such and such things are evil. But perhaps no two persons fix exactly the same standard either of good or evil. What people do is to fix such a standard of good as they can come up to themselves, and such a standard of evil as shall just exclude them and include others.

For instance, the drunkard thinks there is no great harm in drinking, but he would consider it a great sin to steal. The covetous man, who is every day perhaps practicing some cheating or deception “in the way of trade,” satisfies himself by thinking, It is necessary and customary to do so in business; at all events I do not get drunk or curse and swear as others do. The profligate person prides himself upon being generous and kindhearted to others, or, as he says, “he does nobody any harm but himself.” Each congratulates himself upon his not having done some evil and compares himself with someone else who has committed the sin which he thinks he has managed to avoid.

Now all this proves that men do not judge themselves by one regular, fixed standard of right and wrong but just take that which suits them and condemns others. But there is a standard with which all will be compared—a standard of righteousness, all who fall short of which will be eternally condemned, and that is no less than the righteousness of God. When a person begins to find that it is not by comparing himself with others that he is to judge, but by comparing himself with God, then he finds himself guilty and ruined. He will not then attempt to justify himself by trying to find someone that is worse than himself, but he will be anxious to know whether God can pardon or forgive him.

Now the scribes and Pharisees, mentioned in the eighth chapter of John, were very moral and religious people, and they were greatly shocked when they found a wretched woman taken in open sin. Justice and the law of Moses, thought they, demand that she should be made an example of—it is not fit that such a sinner should live! “Such should be stoned,” say they, “but what sayest Thou [Jesus]?”

Man may easily condemn, but who has the right to execute? Jesus answered: “He that is without sin among you, let him cast first a stone at her.”

Who could say “without sin”? And if not one of them could say, “I am without sin,” every one of them was under the same sentence as the woman, that is, death, for “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

Have you thought of that—that you and the entire world are guilty before God? Can you say that you are “without sin” before God? If not, death is your sentence. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” And in this sad condition what have you done? Perhaps the same as the scribes and Pharisees did when they were convicted by their own conscience—they left the presence of the only One who can pronounce the forgiveness.

Adam, in the garden, had done the same before; he went and hid himself from God when he knew himself guilty; he turned away from his only Friend just when he most needed His help. And so it is still. Man is afraid of the only One who is ready to pardon.

“And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.” She was standing before One who could say “without sin” and who therefore could cast the stone. What would be His sentence? The law has already condemned her; would He execute it? Man had not dared to cast the stone; now what would God do? Jesus said: “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more” (John 8:11).

The Lord gave her no conditional pardon. He did not say, “Neither will I condemn you, if you will not sin anymore.” If you desire to have power, through the Spirit, over your sins, you must first know them all pardoned by God through Christ. But if you try to master your evil before you know the forgiveness of God, you will obtain neither the one nor the other.

May you know the peace and joy of having all your sins forgiven through faith in the blood of Jesus and the consequent victory, by the Spirit, over the power of those very sins by which you have been led captive.

As the Tree Falls

There is no truth in the Bible more sure and certain than this: that as a man dies, so he remains throughout eternity—that as the tree falls, so the tree lies. They that are filthy are filthy still; they that are righteous are righteous still.

We have no need to tell you that you must not wait till eternity to seek the Lord. When eternity arrives, when the cry is heard, “The Bridegroom is coming!” and when the lamps are lighted and the doors shut, it will be a sad time to every man or woman at whose door Christ has stood for days and years and knocked and knocked and the door was not opened to Him.

Ah, that person shall stand in turn at Christ’s door and knock and knock with prayers and tears: “Lord, Lord, open to me!” But Christ shall not open the door.

“I know you not,” says the Lord; “the door is shut!” And when the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, none can open it again.

“Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh” (Matthew 25:13).

Bad News - Good News

Bad News

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

“So death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12).

“It is appointed unto men once to die” (Hebrews 9:27).

“But after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).

Good News

“Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3).

“He was buried, and . . . He rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:4).

“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).

“Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Revelation 22:17

Jesus Is Calling

Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,

Calling for you and for me;

Patiently Jesus is waiting and watching,

Watching for you and for me.

Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading,

Pleading for you and for me?

Why should we linger and heed not His mercies,

Mercies for you and for me?

Oh! for the wonderful love He has promised,

Promised for you and for me;

Though we have sinned, He has mercy and pardon,

Pardon for you and for me.

“God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17).

Jud's Day Is Done

The new preacher was having his hair cut one morning. Suddenly conscious of the conversation going on in the shop, he overheard one barber say to another, “Old Jud’s day is about done.”

“Yes,” added the other barber, “I was out there Monday to shave him, and he is in bad shape.”

Continued talk told the silent listener that the dying “Jud” was old and evil. He had been raised in a Christian home, but, wandering away into temptation, he had chosen evil and sin. From that time Jud had been a leader in wickedness. His reputation had been bad enough to attach a bad name to the whole town itself, though others were no better.

God’s longsuffering had provided that this wicked life should not end before a preacher had come to this town. In the few months the preacher had now been there Jud had never spoken to him, but he had come to know him by sight. Strangely, the wicked old man had spoken no ill of the preacher. On his part, the preacher could only remember seeing Jud as a broken old man in a worn and ragged coat wandering about the town. He identified him only by a chance remark of someone saying, “There goes old Jud.”

“His day is about done.” The words sank into the heart of the preacher. His day of grace, his opportunity to repent, his time for salvation, his chance of heaven—all so soon to be over. “His day is about done.” The words could not be forgotten. Pity and concern for the old man said, “Go and see him.”

A short walk brought the preacher to the door of the charitable family who sheltered old Jud. Inquiry about the condition of the ailing man received a courteous reply, but no invitation to see Jud.

After a reasonable wait the preacher asked to see Jud. “It won’t do any good to talk with him,” he was told. “He is too far gone. He doesn’t want to see anybody.” The caller persisted and finally was directed to the screened rear of the house where the poor old man sat for air.

Poor old Jud was the picture of misery. Propped in a big chair, his flushed face, labored breathing, bulging eyes, purple hands and swollen feet all betrayed the failing effort of a feeble heart to maintain life. As the preacher came close, he was recognized. In a surging agony of soul old Jud commanded, “Go ’way! I’m going to hell—and I deserve to go.”

Never could well-intentioned pity be more taken aback. This family wanted the caller to stay away, and so did the sick man. But God’s messenger spoke quietly of God’s Word concerning mercy to sinners. Always he met the same answer: “Go ’way; go ’way! I’m going to hell—and I deserve to go!”

Finally, feeling that he had accomplished nothing but rather alienated himself and his work from the family and their friends in the community, the preacher returned home. However, his sense of responsibility constantly grew. The unforgettable, “His day is about done,” brought him a second time to see old Jud. Again the interview was unsatisfactory. The same hoarse, roaring command to “go ’way” met the Christian. Baffled, he returned home to pray.

“Get Jud to pray,” became the inner urge of the Spirit of God, repeated over and over. So again the step of the preacher awakened the attention of the sick old fellow at an earlier hour than usual.

“I came to get you to pray,” said the preacher.

“I can’t pray” was the positive answer, and no amount of urging nor argument nor example was availing. The preacher finally concluded that the hardened, rebellious sinner really could not pray.

Still the feeling of responsibility deepened in the preacher’s heart. In spite of the loudly voiced conviction in the community that he was “dogging the old man to death,” his urging was, “Get him to pray. Make every effort to get him to pray.”

On his next call the preacher stated firmly, “I came again to get you to pray; indeed, I came to make you pray.”

The usual refusal, only feebler, arose.

“You must pray. Pray this prayer: ‘God be merciful to me a sinner.’”

“God have mercy!” the poor breathless soul cried, shortening even so short a prayer in his earnest cry to God.

Did Jesus hear? The preacher records: “I saw those eyes, bulging with terror, settle to their place. I heard those lips pour out in hoarse whispers volumes of confession and pleading for mercy and praise for forgiveness. I saw the peace of God which passes all understanding come over that straining, marred face, and a quiet beauty remains in my amazed memory of my last look on the peaceful face of that newborn soul.”

The preacher, seeing how old Jud was now alone with Jesus, slipped out and went his way. Later he learned that for hours with hardly a pause the prayers and pleadings and praise continued, and Jud’s day on earth was truly done—but his new day with his Saviour was just begun!

“Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:6-7).

“As the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him” (Psalm 103:11).

They Prayed

The thirty-two foot motorboat, Sea Lark, was between Miami and Bimini when water entered the engine and shut it down. Wallowing helplessly in six- to eight-foot waves, the Sea Lark began to fill and to sink. The five people on board grabbed a rope and a cooler and tied themselves together with the cooler. Of course they would be picked up soon! But only one freighter passed. It did not stop.

Hours went slowly by, and the five grew cold and tired and weak. After eleven hours in the water, hope was growing very dim. It was “a long, lonely, dark night,” said Janice Guthrie, the boat’s owner. Suddenly they spotted a fishing boat, the Corgelo, and Janice began praying out loud.

She said, “Within three minutes, that boat turned around toward us and floored it!”

Tony Tomasi, of the Corgelo, said, “Normally we fish to the north. It was just a fluke I noticed them!”

Was it a fluke?

SHE PRAYED.

Eight-year-old Robert Deming just couldn’t accept the report his family received. His older brother, Richard, was missing in action in the Pacific Ocean on April 26.

No! No! No! Not Richard! Robert could only think of one thing to do: He knelt by his bedside and prayed, “Please, God, let us get a letter from Richard dated April 29!”

Could prayer do any good? What do you think?

On May 11 a letter came—dated April 29—from Richard. He was in a hospital in China.

HE PRAYED!

When a late freeze was threatening the entire strawberry crop and all the new growth on the citrus trees, how did the growers cope? They held a prayer vigil and prayed until midnight. People came in to pray. The weather seemed unchanged and the forecasts were still for a hard freeze when an unexpected cloud cover formed and insulated the ground—and the crops—from the bitter cold.

“Throughout the night, our prayer was that God would hold the reading in the mid-30s,” one grower said, “and He did.”

THEY PRAYED.

And the crops were saved.

Have you ever prayed? Probably! And when you prayed, did you promise, “God, save me from this danger—this grief—this loss—and I’ll do anything You ask”? That’s likely too.

But what does God want you to do? There is a very clear answer in the Psalms. When the writer asks, “What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?” he quickly answers himself, “I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord” (Psalm 116:12-13).

That’s it! The Lord isn’t asking for our money, our work, or even our prayers and penances. All He asks is that we receive the “cup of salvation” that is held out to us and trust in the name of the Lord. He is “kind unto the unthankful and to the evil”; He is “longsuffering . . . not willing that any should perish.” Was there ever a God like this?

Psalm 116:14 says this: “I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all His people.” Wouldn’t it be good to acknowledge all His goodness and kindness to you, thank Him for all, and accept that cup of salvation for the future—the future not only for time, but for all eternity?

A Sailor's Conversion

I’m just a rough old sailor on a leaky old boat, but I’m happy to say that if the old ship goes DOWN, I shall go UP. How do I know? I’ll tell you the story.

It came about this way. We were lying off Malta, and I was alone one night. I turned into a place where a soldier was preaching. He started with the hymn:

The Saviour calls; oh, come and see

What things He hath prepared for thee

Only it was the chorus that pulled me up. It runs:

Him that cometh,

Him that cometh to Me,

I will in no wise cast out.

It kept ringing in my ears, and I could not get it out. As I went out the door, the soldier shook hands with me and said, “God bless you and make you very miserable.”

This coming on the top of the hymn made me miserable indeed, but I thought I would turn in there again the next night. There, sure enough, was the same soldier, and he got up on the platform. Fixing his eyes on me right at the back of the hall, he said, “God loves you.”

I tell you, that made me feel worse than ever. Presently, when he had done his address, he walked straight down the hall and took a seat by me. Well, of course, I tried to edge off, but just as far as I edged off he edged after me.

At last I said, “Here, I’m getting out of this.”

He said, “I’m coming too.”

So we got outside, and he said, “You look very miserable.”

I said, “I am,” and he seemed quite happy over it.

So I said, “A nice sort of man you are to call yourself a Christian! You haven’t got a bit of sympathy in you.”

He said, “I’ll take you to the sympathizing Jesus.”

Then he showed me Him, the One that sympathized with and died for sinners. I knew I was one, sure enough. I put my claim in as a sinner, and I got Him from that night for my Saviour. I just proved the Scripture: “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” I proved that “this is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).

Avalanche Warning

A Swiss farmer had built his home on one of the lower slopes of a mighty mountain which lifted its great white summit high up in the clear air.

One spring, through a sudden breakup of the long winter, the place became very dangerous. The farmer was warned of the possible coming of an avalanche. He laughed at their timid fears for him. Had he not seen winters come and go for many years? He was not in any known avalanche track; it could not happen in his lifetime.

“But it is coming,” they said. He only smiled. One day on the heights above there was a sudden mighty cracking as of an explosion, then a slip—a rush—a deafening roar. And today that farmer lies in his tomb with a thousand tons of debris as the monument to his foolish delay. He refused all warning—he paid with his life.

This is the picture of the soul—madness that will not obey when God says:

“Flee from the wrath to come” (Matthew 3:7)!

“Today!”

“Now is the accepted time.”

Thanksgiving

To whom should thanksgiving be offered?

“Let us come before His [God’s] presence with thanKsgiving, and maKe a joyful noise unto Him with psalms” (Psalm 95:2).

For what should thanksgiving be offered?

“Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15).

How often should thanksgiving be offered?

“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20).

"I'll Take Your Place"

I remember it so well. It was one morning many years ago when I was a very little child. I had been disobedient at breakfast time, and my father had said to me gravely and sadly, “Carrie, you must get off your chair and go and stand outside the door for five minutes.”

I got down, choked back the sob that rose in my throat, and without venturing to look into my father’s face, I went outside the door and it was shut against me.

The moments seemed very long and silent. I remember well how my tears dropped down on the rug; I was so grieved and ashamed.

The five minutes were not nearly over, but the handle of the door was partly turned and Johnnie’s curly head peeped out. Both his arms were around my neck in a minute, and he said, “Carrie, go in, I’ll be naughty instead of you,” and before I had time to say a word, he had pushed me in and shut the door.

There I stood with my eyes on the ground and feeling so red and uncomfortable, not knowing whether I might go up to the table, but my father took me by the hand and led me to the table. He kissed me and put me on my chair, and I knew I was forgiven just as much as if I had borne all the punishment, but oh! how I wished that Johnnie might come in.

When the five minutes were up he was called in, and then our father took us both—me, the poor, little, naughty child, and Johnnie, the loving brother—and folded us both in his arms, and I sobbed it all out—the repentance and love and gratefulness—while we were held close to that loving heart.

And now that I look back to that little scene, it seems a very typical one. For the years went by, and I found myself outside another door, separated from the Father, sin having come between my soul and God. I saw One who loved me come and take my place and put me into His place of nearness, and I was forgiven for Christ’s sake. I knew the fullness and freeness of that forgiveness, for our Father drew me close to His divine heart of love, and there with the Lord Jesus, my sin-bearer, I found “joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8).

“Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15).

WHY DELAY?

Why Delay?

We speak of the mercy of God;

So boundless, so rich and so free;

But what will it profit my soul

Unless it’s relied on by me?

We speak of salvation and love,

By the Father in Jesus made known;

But if I would live unto God,

By faith I must make it my own.

We speak of the Saviour’s dear name,

By which God can sinners receive;

Yet still I am lost and undone

Unless in that name I believe.

We speak of the blood of the Lamb,

Which frees from pollution and sin;

But its virtues by me must be proved,

Or I shall be ever unclean.

We speak of the glory to come,

Of the heavens so bright and so fair;

But unless I in Jesus believe

I shall not, I cannot, be there!

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

Are You Stronger Than God?

One of the worst bits of luck that ever happened to him, thought the gambler, was when his wife turned religious. She had found the Lord Jesus to be her Saviour and her Friend. Everything was changed. He had had a large room built in his new house for parties, and she was no longer interested in that kind of thing. What could a man such as he do with a wife like that?

He was a gambler; the racetrack drew him as the magnet draws the needle. His wife had not minded going with him and “having a flutter” on her own account in former days, but she had given that up too. He told his friends they could not go on together much longer.

His house was near the track, and the races were on. He hurried home from business at noon, hastily swallowed his lunch, and dashed off to the track in his usual way. And his wife went to her room and knelt before God to pray for her husband. She prayed that he might lose his money, for she thought that was the only way in which he could be cured of the gambling fever.

When he got to the track, he found his friends crowding around the bookmakers to put their money on the horses. They seemed to be backing every horse in the field. Instead of joining them, he stood back and watched them, and involuntarily said to himself, “What a pack of fools,” and then added after a moment’s thought, “and I’m one of them!”

God was answering his wife’s prayer and doing more than she asked, for he there and then lost all interest in the horses and wandered off the track without making a bet, a thoroughly miserable man.

He became a mystery to himself. Why couldn’t he sleep at night? He blamed his wife, and he would get up and drink and storm about the house, swearing, and then return to his bed ashamed of himself and yet more angry because of that which had come into his home to spoil his pleasure.

His wife had made new Christian friends, friends who loved her Saviour and who believed in prayer. She invited some of them to her house one afternoon for an hour of definite and earnest prayer to God that He would break down her husband’s hard will and save his soul. The praying was to continue from three o’clock to four.

He was at his desk in his office, completely ignorant of what was going on at home. At five minutes to four he pushed back from his desk and exclaimed, “I’ve reached the limit. I’m done; something’s got to happen!”

Suddenly in that quiet office a voice, that seemed to him to be perfectly clear, said in his ear and heart, “Are you stronger than God?”

Ah, that was the point! He was fighting against God. He was flinging God’s mercy in His face, thinking that he was stronger than God, and that was the cause of all his misery. Filled with awe, he buried his head in his hands and said, “God forbid that I should pretend to be stronger than He.”

That evening at dinner he was very quiet, but presently he asked his wife, “Does God speak to men today as He used to do?”

“Sometimes,” she replied.

“Then,” he said, “He spoke to me at four o’clock today,” and he broke down utterly. He had reached his limit in a different way from what he thought. He had given up in the fight he had been waging, and something did happen—the greatest and best thing of all. His wife, converted only six weeks herself, told him of her Saviour, of His grace and of His love. She told him how upon the cross of Calvary He had died for sinners such as he was and that His precious blood could wash him clean of sin in God’s sight. It was a simple sermon that she preached to him and from the heart. He saw the way of blessing before God and then and there confessed himself to be a sinner indeed and put his whole confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.

I once heard him, in the very room in his house that had been built for partying, telling the story to nearly fifty people. With a face radiant with joy he told them of Christ as a living Saviour, whose blood had cleansed him and whose love had satisfied him. A happy man is that one-time gambler and a happy family is his, for his whole family has believed and received the good news of salvation.

Are you seeking satisfaction in the excitement of a life of pleasure? The end of these things is death, eternal death, for God says, “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Up From the Depths

During an anxious period of the first World War, a new submarine left the Clyde to undergo her trials in the Gareloch. She had a full complement on board, including naval officials. All went well until the return journey when she was subjected to a final dive. Something went wrong; she refused to rise again, and she lay “tethered” fathoms deep.

Half of the crew in the afterpart were immediately drowned; those in the forepart succeeded in closing the watertight doors which kept the onrush of water at bay. At the bottom of the water, they faced what seemed to be the certainty of a lingering death, for their chances of rescue were infinitely small.

One of the imprisoned men—a naval officer—volunteered to try and reach the surface. He clearly saw the risks—terrible risks—attached to this undertaking and had the men strap a message around his waist in the faint hope that it would be found in time. The act cost him his life, but the message on his body was found and help was sent to the imprisoned men in the depths. Though dead, he spoke—and the voice of the one who had sacrificed his life was the means of bringing deliverance to the others.

Experienced men realized that the hope was a forlorn one, but they rushed every possible piece of equipment to the task. At last a diver, by a series of tappings on the sunken hull, was able to bring a signal of hope to the men inside the sunken craft.

There were many difficulties, and hope died in the hearts of the survivors. Farewell messages were written to wives, mothers and loved ones; wills were made, and they all settled down to face death.

Suddenly—a miracle! Air, fresh air, was forced into their prison house. They felt the vessel being tilted from her bed, and her bow was raised until her “nose” appeared out of the water. In the midnight hours a little company of weak, benumbed men gained their freedom.

They were at once taken to the nearest shelter and out of deep gratitude to God joined in the recital of Psalm 124:

“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say; if it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us: then they had swallowed us up quicK, when their wrath was Kindled against us: then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: then the proud waters had gone over our soul. . . . Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broKen, and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

This happened many years ago, but it is a pretty good picture of humanity today. As with the submarine, “something went wrong”—sin came into the world—and human beings became prisoners—prisoners of self-will, passions, appetites and desires, described by the Holy Spirit as being “without God”—“without Christ”—“without hope.”

That is precisely the same position as those men in the submarine. There was no possible hope of their ever saving themselves. If they were to be saved, salvation must come from above. Someone must go back from that living tomb.

They faced the situation in all its seriousness, and the only way of getting help from above was for one to die to send the message. Otherwise, all were doomed. The naval officer volunteered to take that terrible journey, well knowing what was before him. What feelings were in those prisoners’ hearts as they said good-bye to the one who was going to give his life in an attempt to save them! Would they ever forget him?

God saw his creatures in their hopeless state, imprisoned with nothing but death before them. There was no one to help, no eye to pity, and His own dear Son came to this earth, yes, went down into the prison house of death to set the captives free. Terrible were His sufferings as the waters rolled over His soul. This was not simply the death of the body, but all the forces of evil were arrayed against Him there.

Jesus triumphed. To break the power of death He went down into the grave, but, unlike the naval officer who gave his life but could not take it again, this Mighty One had power to lay down His life and power to take it again. On that glorious resurrection morning He came back from the tomb. Now as the result of His death and His resurrection, salvation is offered to you and me.

Nothing was spared to effect the rescue of these men, and God has not spared anything to effect our salvation. He gave His only Son. Deliverance came from above, and our only hope is in God and His gospel, which tells the salvation we need. What gratitude and praise we owe to the One who in love gave Himself—“the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

“Ye were without Christ . . . having no hope, and without God in the world.”

Ephesians 2:12

“God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope.”

1 Timothy 1:1

A Troubling Painting

A friend and I were in Rome. Together we visited the Sistine chapel, and we stood in awe before the great fresco of the last judgment by Michelangelo. We were astonished at the power with which the painter had been able to represent the dead rising, taking their places before the tribunal of Christ, and from that, as a result of the judgment passed upon them, entering into glory or descending into hell.

In the midst of this immense, imaginary scene one figure impressed us particularly. It was that of a man. His face was in his hands, and his fingers seemed to sink into his head. One of his eyes was covered by his hand, and from the other eye he stared at us with a look fixed, gloomy, glassy and desperate.

We appeared to see this man descending, slowly sinking into the abyss. He seemed to be saying to himself, “IT IS ALL OVER FOREVER!”—and to be saying to us, “DO NOT AS I HAVE DONE!” A long time we continued looking at this without saying a word.

My friend at last broke the silence by saying, “We too will have to go through that; it is not a very pleasant reflection!” He went on to say, “I do not believe that it is possible to be sure of being saved while in the world.”

I had nothing to say. I had not thought much upon such things, but I began to realize how important it was to make sure of salvation in this life. My period of youthful dreams had passed. The romance of youth had been succeeded by the realities of life: its struggles, its battles, its temptations, its falls and its remorse. The passing years had only served to increase the unhappy state of my uneasy conscience.

What could be done? Was it necessary to bear this burden to the end of life? And what would the end be? Death—the judgment—the condemnation. The look of desperation of the man in the painting had pierced me through. It seemed to me that I had been born for a better fate than that! I needed pardon for my sins, but I knew no way to get it. Who could show me the way? Where could it be found? Was it at all possible?

That was years ago. The painting is still in its place; the unhappy, condemned man fixes still the same look upon every visitor to the Sistine chapel, and seems to say, “DO NOT AS I HAVE DONE!” But since then I have learned this, that there is here on earth the possibility of pardon—of absolute forgiveness. I have raised my eyes to Him who gave Himself as a Saviour to the world; I have seen Him dying on the cross, and I have understood that it was for me.

I have believed it, and those sins which were such a weight on my conscience have been lifted off; that troubled heart is now at peace. I am saved!

I have understood the value of these words: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). For the one who has trusted in Christ, his salvation is a settled fact; he has an assurance of it that no one is able to take away, because that assurance is God-given. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

A Gospel of Joy

The gospel of Christ is a gospel of joy. Never forget that the gospel is “good [news] of great joy.” And do not forget the words that follow: “Which shall be to all people” (Luke 2:10). This includes you. It is clear that there is a gospel of joy, and it is also clear that it is for you. Have you believed the glad tidings? Are you rejoicing in eternal life? If not, you do not understand salvation!

Now, do not make any mistake as to the gospel joy. Remember that the gospel does not make people happy in their sins. It makes them happy by delivering them from their sins. There must be freedom before there can be joy, and we know that there can be no freedom in slavery to sin. When the Saviour announced His mission, He said He came to “preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.” His salvation is a mighty deliverance. It takes possession of the heart. It overcomes the world and makes its possessor the Lord’s free man.

The man who says he is saved and yet is not happy in the Lord has much to learn. God’s salvation makes people happy, notwithstanding all that the world says to the contrary. The world tells you that if you get converted to God you will cease to enjoy life. The truth of the matter is that it is only when you receive God’s salvation that you can begin to enjoy life.

The world cannot give a true statement on this subject, for it speaks of something it knows nothing about by actual experience. If a man has never been converted, how can he explain the results that follow conversion? If a man has not known the joy of redeeming love, how can he compare it with worldly pleasures?

You know if this deliverance is your experience. If, until now, you have missed salvation’s joy, you have missed the greatest and the only true and lasting joy to be found on earth. Scripture expressly says that “blessed [happy] is the people that know the joyful sound” (Psalm 89:15).

“I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10

“Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drinK” (John 7:37).

But I am a great sinner, you say.

“I will in no wise cast out,” Christ says.

I have served Satan all my days, you say.

“I will in no wise cast out,” Christ says.

But I have sinned against light, you say.

“I will in no wise cast out,” Christ says.

I have no good thing to bring, you say.

“I will in no wise cast out,” Christ says.

“Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).

Victory

Until I saw the blood, ’twas hell my soul was fearing,

And dark and dreary in my eyes the future

was appearing;

While conscience told its tale of sin,

And caused a weight of sin within.

Until I saw the blood, for mercy I was crying,

As if to move the heart of God, or for His favor trying;

But all the seeking seemed in vain,

The wished-for peace I could not gain.

But when I saw the blood, and looked at Him who shed it,

My right to peace was seen at once, and I

with rapture read it;

I found myself to God brought nigh,

And “Victory!” became my cry.

My joy was in the blood, the news of which had told me

That spotless as the Lamb of God my Father

could behold me;

And all my trust was in His name,

Through whom this great salvation came.

The fear of death was past; the sense of sin had vanished;

And all my misery of soul was now forever banished

By that blest truth which entered in,

That Jesus Christ had cleansed from sin.

“Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near” (Isaiah 55:6).

Echoes of Grace: 1997

Table of Contents

A Waiting Robe

"Let Us Alone"

It Was Comfortable

Someday

Why Didn't I Pray?

Bees

Nothing - Everything!

The Matterhorn

Mirages

A Love Story

That Hand

The Door Was Shut

His Love Divine

"All You Can Do!"

In Time - Too Late!

All Saved, But One

"Ye Killed the Prince of Life"

Predicting the Future

Found Out and Turned Out

Under Notice

Two Roads at Once

The First Sentence

She Sold Her Life's Savings

Pay the Penalty

Eternity - Where?

Out of This Life

What About the Inside?

Be Sure

Go, Chain and All!

A Whole Bible

The Conversion of an Athiest

A Conversation with a Sailor

Someday

Behind the Mask

The True Hiding Place

Repeatedly Warned, But Would Not Believe

The Question Answered

Think Seriously About It

Jesus

Bad Decisions

Incurable

The Great Physician

Whose Fault Is It?

Gianni

The Best of Times

God's Boundary

Destined to Crash

Which Place?

Told by a Marine

"I Know"

Saved!

Two Roads

Neglected

Why Read the Bible?

How a Jew Found the Messiah

The Story of a Buddhist

There is a Standard

As the Tree Falls

Bad News - Good News

Jesus Is Calling

Jud's Day Is Done

They Prayed

A Sailor's Conversion

Avalanche Warning

Thanksgiving

"I'll Take Your Place"

Why Delay?

Are You Stronger Than God?

Up From the Depths

A Troubling Painting

A Gospel of Joy

Victory