Echoes of Grace: 1999

Old Louie! What a dirty, drunken old character he was, filthy in person and thought and speech. He was as griping, selfish and unbelieving an old wretch as ever lived. I used to hate the very sight of him reeling about the streets.

I saw him hanging around the mission one Sunday morning when they were having a breakfast and service afterwards. I didn’t want the breakfast, but I thought I would go and hear the preaching. Then I saw the preacher meet the old man and speak kindly to him and offer him a ticket to the breakfast. I heard Old Louie curse him for the offer, and I thought he was foolish to waste his time over such an old reprobate. I heard him try and try again, till he got him to take the ticket and promise to come in, and I thought him more foolish than ever. He was wasting his breakfast as well as his time.

I decided to watch the old man, and I went into the breakfast hall and sat down near him. I saw him receive a mug of coffee and some food, and I saw the old man needed it badly by the way he ate and drank. I pitied him, while I scorned his dirty, drunken habits. Then the service was announced, and I expected to see him get up and go out laughing at their softness, but he sat still and listened to the singing and reading and praying that followed.

Then a middle-aged man with a pleasant face came forward and began to speak, and I forgot Old Louie for a while. It was good to hear him talk of peace and comfort, of good hope and good cheer, of our loving Father and the Saviour that gave Himself for us.

When he was done, I looked at Old Louie, and he was a sight to see. Big tears were washing two clean lines down his dirty face and were dropping from the end of his fiery nose. I could hardly believe that it was in the old man, but there he was before my eyes. And there he sat all through the service with the big tears cleaning his face as he wiped them with the back of his hand.

I saw him again on Sunday evening creeping into the mission, and I said to him, “Hello, old chap! Come to the wrong shop?”

He looked up and growled, “No! No! Come to the right at last!” and slunk into a corner.

I watched him the next day hanging about - no drink, no tobacco, no swearing, but with a clean face and looking for a job. I thought him an old hypocrite, and I determined to find him out and expose him. All that week I watched, but he lived so quietly and seemed so true and humble that I could not but feel that his conversion was real and that he was changed from darkness to light.

On Saturday he had a job and fell down with a stroke while doing it. He never regained consciousness and died the following Thursday.

When I heard he was dead, I was stunned. What a narrow escape, and how important! Just a few days to make such a difference. Then I remembered how I thought the preacher a fool for trying to get him to come and how he had brought him to Jesus and that he died safe in Jesus through that perseverance.

I was miserable and lonely because I knew that I had never “come in.” I had never accepted God’s offer of salvation for myself. I was more of a hypocrite than old Louie, smug in my own self-righteousness, but when I turned to the Lord just as I was, He received me too!

“Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37) are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Have you come?

"What the World Needs Now Is Love"

“What the world needs now is love”: The headline in two-inch-high letters proclaimed it and then went on to list 20 ways to “love the world,” including recycle newspapers, car pools and plant a tree. It is well to practice thrift and save resources, but is that the only kind of love the world needs?

There is no doubt the world needs love; sorrow, grief, tragedy and heartbreak are all around us. Daily we see such sadness and desperation that it can hardly be borne. Even our young people, who, we think, should be enjoying happy, carefree childhood and youth, are becoming so confused and depressed that they are in some cases taking that last desperate step - suicide. Lonely, discouraged and despairing, they turn away from life - from light -from love.

There is love, real, true, everlasting love, and Jesus Christ came to bring it 2000 years ago. There has been love for the world of humanity in all the wonderful works of God for us. His power shows in all of His beautiful creation, but that cannot compare with His wonderful love in sending the Lord Jesus Christ into the world to save all who will accept that love.

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

A man was walking along the street when he saw ahead of him a friend, an old Christian missionary. He was about to catch up with him when he noticed the old man was talking to himself, so he stayed behind to listen. He heard the old missionary saying, “For God so loved the world . . . ” Then he would pause, shake his head and start over again. “For God so loved the world . . . ” Again the pause, the wondering head-shake. Never did he get beyond those wonderful words. He had been preaching God’s love for most of his life, and yet he could not get beyond the miracle of love that could embrace this poor world.

The whole verse: “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).

Believe it! Receive it! And learn what love really is!

There Is Sight After Death

Do you remember the Bible story of the rich man and the beggar, Lazarus? We read there, “In hell he [the rich man] lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom” (Luke 16:23).What a sight for those tortured eyes to see - Abraham, afar off, and Lazarus, transfigured and radiant with happiness, in his bosom.

He had seen the beggar at his gates on earth and may have tossed him a coin now and then. He may have missed him when he died, but he little thought when and where he would see him again.

What a change death made! It made the rich man poor and a beggar; it made the beggar rich with everlasting love and rest. Lazarus now lacked nothing, and the rich man lacked everything. Yet how often we envy the rich on earth; we envy them their position, their riches and their fame. Not one of these things can bring happiness apart from Christ. The king goes into eternity without his crown; the rich man goes with empty hands; the warrior must leave his weapons and his medals all behind him. The pomp and pleasure of earth all fade away with eternity in view.

Balaam must have felt that when he cried, “I shall see Him, but not now: I shall behold Him, but not nigh” (Numbers 24:17). Yes, every eye shall see Him.

I wonder if the unsaved man will see his believing wife for a moment after death? She, “afar off” and happy with her Saviour; he, with the curse of unforgiven sin upon him, in hell. Some of your children may be in heaven, and when you die your Christless death, will you for a moment see “afar off” your loved ones with the light of heaven on their faces and the peace of God like a crown upon their heads?

Oh, these eternal separations! Some will be in light, and some in darkness. Living in the same homes on earth, growing up together, and then death comes and there is separation forever and ever.

You must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved. Then you can share the Christian’s happy hope and expectation: to see Christ and be with Him in glory forever.

“And they shall see His face” (Revelation 22:4).

All an Accident?

Are all of the wonders that we see all about us in nature accidental? Did no one make the billions of stars in the heavens? Who made the lovely, delicate blossoms of the flowers, and how do they grow from tiny seeds? Was there no forethought in all of the rich treasure stored in the earth for man’s use -the coal, oil and countless valuable minerals? The fertile soil that covers so much of the earth, without which we could grow no food for man and beast -whose foresight provided it?

What keeps the sun just hot enough to sustain life on earth but not too hot or too cold? And who planned the land surface and the ocean just so that the warm currents of water and wind would circulate about the continents like a great air conditioner?

Whose wisdom so ordered that water expands when frozen, while other elements contract? This makes ice lighter than water and keeps it floating on the surface, so that lakes and rivers are not frozen solid down to the bottom and the fish and other water life survive until the ice melts. Who made this wise arrangement?

Is all of this accidental? Is there no God? “Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things” (Isaiah 40:26).

Yet with all of the abundant evidence in creation of a Creator God, man cannot know God until by faith he comes to know God’s Son, the Saviour, Jesus Christ the Lord. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him” (John 1:18).

Jesus Christ came to earth to reveal God to us. He was God living among us, because Jesus is God. “God is love.” The same wisdom and love that has provided so abundantly for the temporal needs of mankind has also provided a Saviour for whoever will believe His love and accept the gift of eternal life that He alone can give.

It was God’s provision for sinners that Jesus became a man and died on the cross as the Sin-bearer for anyone who will accept Him as their Saviour and Lord. Because He was God, death could not hold Him and He arose from the grave and, having finished redemption’s work, has gone back to heaven-God’s dwelling.

This Creator-Saviour-God has promised to return and receive to Himself all who confess Him now as Lord. Do you know Him?

Almost a Loser

From the time he was five years old John Britten loved making things. He used wooden boxes and old nails to make go-carts. Every few weeks he would make a different one. By the time he was twelve, he had made his first motorized go-cart.

In 1993 his Britten Superbike broke the New Zealand land speed record for motorbikes of 1000 cc. The bike has beaten top bikes around the world. Even top factory-made racing bikes could not catch it in major races. The Britten bike has become famous.

John Britten built his first bike by hand in his garage. To pay for the equipment while designing and making it, he designed and made glass lights. The Britten bike was completely different from conventional bikes, and every part was made especially for it.

He also built his own home, converting it from stables. For fifteen years John had three major projects going on at the same time: lights, home and bike. During this time John was too busy to think about God or even to read his Bible. Taken up with all these things, he was losing out on God’s race.

Then, everything changed. John Britten discovered that he had cancer. God turned his mind to spiritual things. He began remembering all the talks he had with his grandmother, remembering how she prayed so much for him, as she did for all her grandchildren. The things he had thought were so important (like the bike) were not so important anymore. His aunt warned him that he could not put off the decision about Christ any longer; it was now or never. She spoke to him about the Lord, and he accepted Christ as his Saviour.

John is no longer a loser!

Although his grandmother died ten years ago, her prayers for John have been answered. Imagine the joy there must have been in heaven when John accepted the Lord Jesus! Jesus said, “I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:10).

For much of his life John Britten was very busy and successful, but he was a loser - he had no hope of eternal life. If he had died like that, he would have been a total loser. But now in Christ he has become a winner - almost a loser, but by God’s grace now a winner. Every person who has Jesus as Saviour is a winner! All of us, even the best, are born losers. God says that none of us are righteous, none of us do good - “no, not one.”

He gave the Lord Jesus to die for us so that we could be made right. The “righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ” is “unto all and upon all them that believe” (Romans 3:22).

When you accept the fact that you are a sinner before God and that God sent His Son to die for your sins, you will be saved from punishment. That is how to become a winner in God’s eyes.

Choose

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

“Someday make Him my choice;

Someday - someday, I will heed His word

And answer the Spirit’s voice.”

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

He does your answer await.

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

Soon it will be too late.

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

Swiftly the seasons roll;

The present is yours, perhaps your last;

Choose for your priceless soul.

Choose now, just now; there’s a soul at stake;

What will your answer be?

It’s life or death, and the choice you make

Is for eternity.

The Truest Love

“When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6).

As a boy I “helped out” for a little while in a blacksmith shop. School was out, and it was summertime. With a metal roof, the shop was sometimes very hot, so it was decided to whitewash the roof to try to deflect some of the heat. This job fell to me, and how happy I was to get on that roof with a pail of whitewash and a big brush! Before I went up I was warned several times to look out for the skylight, but I was too excited to listen.

Once on the roof, I splashed away happily for about two yards. Then - crash! - I had stepped on the skylight. Falling, I stuck tight. My arms extended far enough on each side to stop my fall, though with broken glass in both of them. Below me was machinery and sheets of iron standing on end, on which I would land if I went down.

In the mercy of God, someone came to my rescue. A big blacksmith caught me by the feet - but I did not trust that way of being saved! I felt sure I would either fall backwards or forwards, if I let go, so I hung on until I felt his big hands grip me around the waist. Then I knew that he could hold me, and I let go. At that very moment I was saved.

Do you see the lesson in this? To stay where you are, in your sins, means destruction sooner or later. A partial salvation is no salvation at all. To let Christ save you by His omnipotent power is your only hope.

Later I was hired as an engine cleaner on the railroad. My work was in the roundhouse, and very conspicuous were the notices posted inside and outside the roundhouse to the effect that any unauthorized person moving an engine would be instantly fired. This meant also that that man could not be employed again on any part of the company’s lines.

One day it occurred to me that there was an opportunity to make a little money faster than the other cleaners by moving the engine I was working on. We cleaned engines by piece work, and by moving it just a little bit I could finish my job faster. I knew how to start the engine, so I got on the floor plate and pulled the lever over. Steam and noise came roaring around me, and the wheels began to turn.

I had started the engine - but I did not know how to stop it! I was scared out of my wits, paralyzed with fright. Through the mercy of God, a man jumped on the plate and turned first one handle and then another, and I was saved from a dangerous accident. That was the end of my job with the railroad!

It was my own fault: The signs were plain enough, but I thought I could get away with ignoring them “just a little bit.” Isn’t that like Adam’s disobedience? He doubtless thought that it was a little thing to eat the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden, but by that one act, sin, sickness, misery and death came into the world. Had not the Lord Jesus Christ come into our terrible plight to offer Himself a willing sacrifice for sin - to become the Way back to the Creator-we should all be steadily and surely passing on to eternal doom.

The time came in my life when I was overwhelmed with a sense of sin and guilt in the sight of God and a desire to live a better life. I struggled for a long time to live a godly life, but at last was convinced that I was such a sinner that I could never please God. I could not live in peace; I did not dare to die.

I was utterly miserable. I cried to God in my distress, but not until I gave up all my ideas of reform- not until I learned my own helplessness - did I find any relief. When I came just as I was, without one plea other than that the blood of the Lord Jesus was shed for me, depending absolutely and only upon Him, then my heavy burden rolled away. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

At last by faith I saw the Lord Jesus as my Redeemer, and my heart was filled with heavenly peace. I could sing glory, honor, praise and power be to His blessed name. For over twenty years I have known what it is to be a sinner saved by grace, and I know that no other life on earth can compare with it.

The third deliverance was the greatest of all!

Greatest

He ripped out the page and began to read. He had told the missionary who had given him the New Testament that he would read it. So, page by page, he read the pages as he tore them out. This little book had fine paper for rolling his smokes. It was hard to get good paper like this. “A deal is a deal,” he said to himself with a grin, and he ripped his next page out.

The smoke curled up. He blew and thought again. The words he had read these last few weeks were tugging at his conscience. Those last pages about the death of that wonderful Man were still vivid.

“And why did He die?” And more than that, the story about that tomb was something. It was empty! His followers: They could hardly believe.

He could understand that. He found it a bit much too. “But then their Master appeared and spoke to many of them. Hard to doubt these witnesses -they were ready to die for their story. And so He was alive. What did it all mean?”

He looked down at the next page. It was getting harder to burn some of these. “Wish I’d saved some of them to read again,” he thought. His eyes fell on it and went back with a jerk.

Something here asked to be read again. His hand, already pulling at the top corner, relaxed. He could not do it, not this page, not these words. Here was the secret. Answers to so many questions were crying out together - this said it all.

He read it again. Only 25 words, but never had so few said so much: “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).

The words stood up off the page, the greatest he’d read yet. “God so loved the world”? Surely, this was the Greatest Mystery. How could He? Didn’t He know about the cruelty, the selfishness? The heartaches from fractured and hurting relationships?

No arguing though; it said it plainly: “God so loved the world.”

His hand trembled on the page. A tear dropped silently. He thought, “God’s heart must hurt as He looks on the restlessness, war, casualties. Young ones, old ones. The hurts, the hate, the hardness.” Yet in these next words was the evidence of that love. Without doubt, here was the Greatest Gift. He gave His Son.

There was the old saying - who hadn’t heard it? - “God helps those who help themselves.” But he remembered pages he had burned. They told how Jesus had helped those who couldn’t help themselves.

His love was strangely unconditional.

Words drifted back to him, “Those who are sick need the physician, not those who are well.” Yes, the helpless, the empty, the lost. Here it was plain. He gave His Son not only to live, but to die.

It struck him forcefully. “He wasn’t just a teacher; no, more than this. He was a Saviour. The wounded, the sinners, those who honestly confessed their helplessness - for these He died.

“They had all broken God’s law and were liable for its penalty. They deserved judgment, but God gave His Son to take the penalty.”

The words were coming clearer. This was the answer! “Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish” - the Greatest Promise.

“Oh, this is me,” he thought. “Perishing, lost, in danger. But He only asks that I believe in Him. It wouldn’t be hard to have confidence in this One.”

He thought about those pages, long gone now. He could remember some of His words, His ways, His tender compassion. It wasn’t hard to trust Him, knowing who He was. Faith was only as sound as the object it rested in, and faith in those words then meant faith in the unmovable and eternal Word of God.

He felt warm; he felt free. The burden, the emptiness was gone. And there were no more torn pages!

Great Certainties

“There will be a total eclipse of the sun visible from this continent on October 26, 2144.

“This is not a guess. It is a guarantee. For astronomers can predict the courses of the sun and moon and earth for centuries to come.

“Yet science, for all its ability to peer into the future of the solar system, cannot predict the course of your own life for the next 24 hours.”

This was written in 1938. Is it still true? Absolutely. The solar system continues to move in the orderly pattern in which God set it and will continue to move as He wills it. It is predictable.

What about your life? Is it absolutely predictable? The scientists would not venture to predict your future. You know your past, your antecedents, your abilities, your present position; you may feel secure in your future plans, but 24 hours from now one drunken driver could make a shambles of your life, your family and your future.

Some things are fixed and certain: “It is appointed unto men once to die” (Hebrews 9:27). The time and place are not foretold, but the fact is inevitable. And “after this, the judgment.” The God who set the solar system in its orbit will not deviate from His course by as much as the breadth of a hair.

Knowing this, what is the wise thing to do? Should you go on carelessly and “hope for the best”? Pretty foolish! There is a way - only one way - to be certain and sure that you will be protected when life on earth ends for you. The Lord Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6).

He also said, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” Two absolute certainties - as certain as the orbits of the sun and moon and earth. “Two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie,” that “we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast” (Hebrews 6:1819).

Sure - and steadfast - and oh, how comforting! But you must make it your own, and do it now. There may be no tomorrow for you. “NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION.”

Isn't It Strange?

Suppose I have in my pocket a remedy for any and every disease. With what joy I would start out to the hospital, anticipating the pleasure of offering the remedy to the sick men and women, boys and girls. Do you think I would have to spend half an hour at each bedside pointing out the fact that they are sick and explaining carefully their aches and pains? Not at all! They would interrupt, saying, “We know we are sick. Have you a remedy?”

Or suppose I have a pocketful of pardons for those who are in the penitentiary. Would I have to tell them that they are behind the bars or elaborate on the poor food and lack of liberty? They would soon tell me that they know all about it and want to get out.

Again, let me visit a homeless shelter with a wallet full of $50 bills. No explanation of their need would be necessary. The gift would be readily received without pointing out their poverty.

The Word of God unfolds a wonderful tale of the matchless love of God’s heart, of the pardon He offers, of a home in the glory, and of unsearchable riches. But - sad to say - all this is of no interest to you if you have not felt your need.

Your need is far more desperate than that of the sickest person in the hospital, for you are dead in trespasses and sins. Your case is worse than the man in the penitentiary, for the eternal wrath of God hangs over your head. And you are in greater need than the poorest beggar in the city.

God says, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Then He goes on to say, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). And He finally warns us, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).

God has faithfully pointed out your need, and the warning cannot be exaggerated. Isn’t it strange that, in the most important matter on earth, so many refuse to see their need and turn away from all that God is offering them?

One more question: “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3).

Quick Decline

We have a grove of orange trees. All of the trees look more or less the same to an inexperienced eye. However, the person who studies them a little can tell much more about them. They are subject to one disease that makes me think of the sinful nature which we all have.

I remember a neighbor coming to us when we first had orange trees and remarking that one of the biggest would be dead in two weeks. Its leaves were green and lovely, but, sure enough, he was right. He told us it had “quick decline” - and it surely did!

People are just like that tree. It is as though God is warning that they have “quick decline.” There is no cure for this. One by one the trees died and, just as surely, one by one, people die too.

Our neighbor explained that the old tree had what he called “sour orange root stock.” He meant that the roots were of a kind on which this sickness would work. He said the only thing to do would be to get new little trees that did not come from sour orange root stock. The “quick decline” would not affect them in any way. We planted new trees as he advised, and not one died from this disease. The difference was in the roots! They might look pretty much the same on top, but one tree had roots that could not be touched by the “quick decline.”

There are people who may look very good on the outside, but they have never accepted God’s offer to give them a new life like His own. They still have the sour root stock that they received from Adam. “As in Adam all die” (1 Corinthians 15:22). They need to say “yes, thank you,” to God when He offers them eternal life. “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). They must give up expecting anything good from their old life and accept the new life He offers.

Greatest Love

A homeless Stranger among us came

To this land of death and mourning;

He walked in a path of sorrow and shame -

Through insult and hate and scorning.

The Man of Sorrows, Jesus Christ,

An outcast Man, and lonely,

But He looked on me, and through endless years

Him must I love - Him only.

And I clung to Him as He turned His face

From the land that was mine no longer -

The land I had loved in the ancient days

Ere I knew the love that was stronger.

And I would abide where He abode,

And follow His steps forever;

His people, my people; His God, my God,

In the land beyond the river.

Never Too Old

“The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10

My name is C.K. This is my story. I testify to you that Jesus is able to save from the very depths of sin. He even saved me at the age of 65 years! Yes, for over 65 years I was a lost, vile, hell-deserving sinner.

It is wonderful to be saved and know it! How do I know He saved me? God says so, and God cannot lie. He says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). He said, “Thou SHALT be saved,” not MAYBE you will be saved. And that’s good enough for me. I believe the Lord Jesus Christ died for my sins. If I had been the only one on the earth, He would have died for me personally. I accepted Him as my own personal Saviour and as Lord of my life.

I know I am saved by the change He has made in my life. I liked to sin in my old life, but now when I do I don’t feel very good! And when I confess my sins, He is faithful and just to forgive them according to 1 John 1:9.

I had Christian parents. My father was converted the year before I was born. My mother used to pray for me. I thought at the time that she was praying for me because I used to leave home and she did not know where I was, but now I know she was praying for my salvation.

And I went to Sunday school when a child and to church occasionally. In my late teens I got in with the wrong crowd. I lived in the country, but I went to the wicked city quite often. I was the Prodigal Son in more ways than one. I spent many a dollar in the devil’s joints drinking. I used to work for a while to get money to go to the city to blow it on drink.

I know something of skid row. I remember sleeping in flophouses more than once. For years I was a servant of sin and Satan, but now my desire is to serve the One who at Calvary suffered, bled, endured the agony of the cross and died for me that I might go to heaven. What a Saviour!

The night before the fourth of July I was celebrating in Boston, going from one bar to another. About 1:30 in the morning of July 4 I had so much of the devil’s brew in me that I could not get home, so I went into a cheap hotel and slept it off. And I have not had an alcoholic drink since, nor have I wanted one, because I was saved the next day by the grace of God! Praise His name!

My daughter took me to a gospel preaching. As far as I can remember, it was the first time I ever heard the gospel of God’s saving grace. The preacher asked me if I was saved.

I said, “No.”

He asked, “Do you want to be saved?”

I said, “Yes!”

He showed me that I was a lost sinner by nature. I didn’t know that, although I certainly knew that I was a sinner by practice! “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). He also showed me from the Bible that “the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

He showed me from God’s Word how the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for me to give me eternal life if I would just accept Him as my Saviour. “Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). He told me the sinner’s prayer was, “God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13).

Then I confessed to God that I was an awful sinner and asked Jesus Christ to come into my heart. And God answered that simple and sincere prayer! At that instant God, for Jesus’ sake, saved me, pardoned all my sins, blotted out all my terrible, vile sins and gave me eternal life.

Friend, are you saved? Do you know for sure that you would go to heaven if you dropped dead right now? If not, accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your own personal Saviour this very minute!

I thank God for saving me when He did. If I had died before I was 65 years of age, I would have gone to hell for sure! I pray you will be convicted of your lost condition and call upon the Lord Jesus Christ to save you. And then I will meet you in heaven one day!

Editor’s Note: C.K. lived to be 100 years old. He celebrated his one hundredth birthday - and the very next day he went to be with his Lord.

Cassie

Cassie Bernall was one of the fifteen high school students who died in the terrible tragedy in Littleton, Colorado, several months ago. Cassie was killed, but she left a testimony to her belief that has been reported nationwide.

“I know she is in heaven now,” exclaimed Cassie’s friend Pamela. She added, “That’s our comfort. That’s what helps us get through.”

“She is in heaven now!”

How did Pamela know that Cassie was in heaven? Was it because of her courage? When confronted by a gun and a question, “Do you believe in God?” she answered firmly, “I believe” - and was instantly shot. That was brave. That took more courage than many (or most?) would possess. But is that why she is in heaven?

No.

Cassie had been active in Christian work, in Bible studies, and in Christian youth groups. Was it because of her service for the Lord that she could be sure of heaven?

No, again. Christian service is good, but it cannot open the door to heaven.

What then? Cassie was born again. It means that Cassie had received the Lord Jesus into her heart and life and had become one of God’s children. “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:1213).

Two years before Cassie said, “I believe,” to the boy behind the gun, she had said, “Lord, I believe,” to Jesus Christ. She believed, and her whole life was changed. From being a careless, worldly girl, she had become a true child of God. That was being “born again.” She had a new life in Christ, a new and happy life.

She did not win it for her courage; she did not earn it by Christian work. It came by simply believing that Jesus Christ loved her and died for her -that He rose again from the dead and will come again.

"I Don't Make Any Profession"

Suppose you don’t make any profession; you must meet God all the same, and in the judgment every man shall be judged according to his works, whether he makes any profession or not. All men are accountable to God, and He has declared that “as many as have sinned without law [these are people who don’t make any profession] shall also perish without law” (Romans 2:12), and “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). So you see it matters little whether you make any profession or not; you have sinned against God, and as a sinner you will receive sin’s wages and perish.

But, let us see. I thought you did make some profession. Have you at times taken the name of “God” upon your lips? Has the name of “Jesus Christ” been spoken by you? Then, of course, you believe that there is a God and that Jesus Christ was sent by Him into the world. That is a considerable “profession” to make.

Have you sometimes sung along with a hymn you heard others singing - something like “Amazing Grace,” for instance, which has become so popular that it is heard over the air and in the street? If you allowed yourself to sing the words of the hymn, that was “making a profession” before men and angels. If you are not born again - not a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ - that was hypocrisy.

Many people have become so accustomed to these things and go through them with so little thought that they consider that there is no profession in them. But these are not God’s thoughts. He calls them “hypocrites” who take the place of being His people and are not. He says, “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny Him” (Titus 1:16), and as hypocrites they will be judged.

Do not forget that a man who takes God’s name upon his lips and sings hymns without being born of God is a false professor, and if he continues so and passes into eternity without Christ, he will have his portion with the hypocrites.

The Great Question

Suppose I want to rent a house. I see a notice in the window of a likely house to the effect that it is for sale or for rent. I knock at the door and ask the man who opens it, “Are you the renter of this house?”

“Yes, sir,” he replies.

“Very well. I would like to rent it, but before I do, I want to know how many bricks there are in the chimney, who built the cellar and how many pounds of nails there are in the whole building.”

What would you think of such questions? Yet there are foolish people who ask such questions about the Bible. They want to know who was Cain’s wife, who was Melchisedec’s father, and forty thousand other questions of no importance whatever.

If men and women will come to this book and ask, “What must I do to be saved?” they will obtain a simple and divine answer: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

How simple!

Naaman

Popular and powerful was Naaman, the captain of the army of the king of Syria, but with all his power and fame he was miserable, because he was a leper.

This truly describes man’s condition before God. No matter how great his position in this world, he is a sinner. This ruins everything for him. One may be kind and generous -but a sinner; rich - but a sinner; high in rank - but a sinner; powerful and famous in this world - but a sinner! This is God’s written declaration of everyone: “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10).

Naaman’s leprosy, besides being a most loathsome disease, was incurable by any known human means. This is a faithful description of everybody before the eye of God. Not one is exempt; all alike are utterly lost to Him by nature, and every effort, however good in itself, can never make the sinner better in His sight.

Naaman found all his efforts useless; he was helpless, hopeless and ruined. He had no thought or knowledge of God. Knowing only the idols of Syria, he could be sure that there was no hope for him.

But Naaman’s wife had a little captive maid who waited on her, and in the simplicity of faith the little maid said to her mistress, “Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy” (2 Kings 5:3).

This message of hope came to the ears of the king of Syria who valued Naaman very highly, and he said, “Go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel.” So Naaman went to Israel with his servants and “a king’s ransom” in gold and silver to pay for his healing. He went to the wrong person! The little maid’s message had been, “Go to the prophet in Samaria; he will cleanse you.”

Naaman made a great mistake when he went to the king of Israel. The king of Israel had no more power to heal than the king of Syria had. This too is like many at the present time. Instead of going straight to the Lord Jesus and casting themselves upon His mercy and owning Him as their Saviour, they go to some human leader and trust him to cleanse them from their sins (their moral leprosy) and give them healing. Only God can forgive sins. He declares in His holy and unchangeable Word: “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).

When Elisha, the man of God, had heard, he sent for the poor leper, saying, “Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel” (2 Kings 5:8). Naaman came, but this time he came in the wrong way! He came with horses, chariots and silver and gold. He came not in God’s way, but in all his own power, glory, wealth and rank.

Oh, no! the salvation of God is not to be bought! You may give a great deal to good causes or devote your life to helping others, but all this cannot save your soul. “Come . . . without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:1). “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). A gift cannot be bought with money, or obtained by work, else it would not be a gift.

Elisha sent a messenger to Naaman, saying, “Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean” (2 Kings 5:10). Naaman, the mighty Syrian captain, had to take the prophet’s word and act upon it in simple faith, in spite of his thoughts, or remain a leper forever. He looked for something great to be done to him, some great thing to be told to do, but no! How disappointing, how humbling to his pride and greatness! He must receive in faith the words of Elisha and wash in Jordan’s stream to be made clean, even though the rivers of Damascus seemed better to him than all the waters of Israel.

Many people at the present time are just like Naaman! They want to do something for their salvation, or they expect some mysterious influence to come over them, or they want to have good feelings first, and how disappointing it is to be told from the Word of God that all human expectations and thoughts and “doings” are in vain. Feelings, good or bad, prayers, mysterious influences, can never save the soul or give peace to the conscience. It is not what man thinks or expects or does, but what God says that must be received by faith.

At last Naaman “went . . . down and dipped himself seven times in Jordan . . . and he was clean.” Forget all your religious efforts to improve your sinful condition. Believe the good news that God tells you of Jesus - that He went into death for you and was made sin on the cross, He who knew no sin, in order that we might become God’s righteousness in Him.

Now Naaman, cleansed from his leprosy, goes to the man of God with thanksgiving in his heart and publicly confesses the true God. “Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel”! he exclaims in exultation.

Salvation's Day

Straying far on sin’s dark mountain

Like a sheep that’s gone astray,

Every moment takes you farther

From the straight and narrow way.

As a silly sheep, not knowing

Where the path you tread will lead,

Straying further into darkness -

None but Christ can meet your need.

Listen to the wondrous story,

Jesus came the lost to save;

Gave His life, His blood on Calvary,

Rose victorious from the grave.

Lives in glory to receive you:

None are ever turned away,

While the door of mercy’s open,

While it’s called Salvation’s Day.

Now to me He calls in mercy,

Calls to you, to all oppressed,

Yes, to you the word is written:

“Come, and I will give you rest.”

Rescued From the Inferno!

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him,
and he with Me.” Revelation 3:20

“High Drama” was what the headline called it, and it truly was “high” drama. An old, five-story factory was being remodeled into apartments when a fire broke out. Flames and smoke were shooting high into the air.

A construction crane was in place 250 feet above the building to demolish two high smokestacks. Through the rising smoke the cab of the crane was sometimes visible, and in the cab was a man. The operator of the crane, Ivers Sims, was trapped.

He must be rescued - he couldn’t be left like a piece of meat over a grill! But how to do it? Flames were roaring through the building at the base of the crane; to come down from there would have delivered him straight into the inferno.

Firemen fought to “knock down” the fire, but raging flames drove them back. Helicopters tried to blow the flame and smoke away, but with no success.

It grew hotter and hotter in the cab, and the heat was coming through the thick soles of Sims’ shoes. Abandoning the cab, he moved along the arm of the crane to the cement balance weight. That put eight feet of concrete between him and the flame, but it did not lessen the danger that the whole crane assembly might be toppled and fall into the fire.

After trying fruitlessly for over an hour to save Sims, firefighter Sam Mosely turned again to the helicopters. Tethering himself to a helicopter, he dangled in the air by a rope and was able at last to reach Sims on the crane. Quickly fastening him into a harness, the two men clung together as the helicopter lifted them away and circled slowly before bringing them to safety.

It is a picture, a faint picture, but still a little illustration of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done. From the unimaginable heights of His glory He looked down on a world of humanity headed straight for destruction - a world poised above an abyss far, far worse than a burning building.

As Sims was helpless atop the crane - there was nothing he could do to escape a dreadful fate - so is the whole human race unable in itself to avert a final fiery judgment. Help for Sims could only come from above, and only from above has help come for us. The Lord Jesus came down to rescue souls in danger of hell fire and gave His life to save them. (Sam Mosely only risked his life.)

How thankful Sims felt as he was held fast by the strong arms of Mosely as they swung precariously away from danger! And that is how the Lord will hold tightly, strongly and safely everyone who has put their trust in Him. His promise is, “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father . . . is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand” (John 10:2829).

What security!

Grace Begun

Let your mind travel back two thousand years. There is a great public festival in Jerusalem. The city is crowded with pilgrims from all over the known world.

In the midst of all the excitement a different event is taking place, an event whose far-reaching effect will be felt throughout the entire universe. Accompanied by the taunts and jeers of the populace, the Son of God is being led through the streets of the city to be crucified.

Outside the city walls three crosses have been erected, and on the central one they place the Son of God, a thief on either side. Beneath that cross are gathered the representatives of every class - priests, scribes and elders from the religious world, Roman soldiers and the degraded mob unite in mocking and deriding the Son of God. The two thieves also join the mocking crowd and taunt the Sufferer on the center cross.

The only answer He makes is, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

Suddenly one of the thieves checks the other, saying, “Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.” And he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom” (Luke 23:4042).

What a wonderful change! In the One hanging beside him the thief discerns a glorious King. In vision he sees Him no longer crucified, spat upon and mocked, but coming in all the power and majesty of His kingdom. He asks only to be remembered then.

The Lord answers, “Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise”!

The thief was taken straight from the cross into the paradise of God, the first witness to the triumph of grace after redemption was accomplished.

In the presence of this witness to the triumph of grace, are you one of its subjects? Do you know of the “grace of God that bringeth salvation . . . to all men”? Then when Christ comes in His kingdom and glory He will bring you to share it all with Him. Grace begun will end in glory.

Suddenly Convicted

“You have no right to thank God for what’s on this table; it was provided for and paid for by me and no one else! Besides, I don’t believe there is such a Being,” and Henry Hart struck the table with his clenched fist.

“I’ll tell you what,” he continued, “THERE IS NO GOD. If there is, here’s an opportunity for Him to display His power.”

Placing his watch on the table, he said, “I’ll give God five minutes and defy Him to His face to do His worst with me.”

With one hand on the table and the other held high, the atheist awaited the issue of his challenge.

It was the custom of the Hart family for all the members of it to meet together once a year. On this occasion the meeting was at the house of the oldest son Henry. The elderly father, a Christian, had just given thanks to God for the food they were about to eat, when Henry jumped to his feet and shouted his defiant words.

Amid deathlike silence the minutes glided slowly by. One, two, three, four - at last the minute hand told the tale that Henry’s five minutes had run their course.

“Ha, ha, ha!” he laughed derisively. “What about your God now? WHERE IS HE?”

“Henry, my son,” said the old man, “when you were a child I gave you to the Lord, and I have never taken you back. From the moment you put the watch on the table, Henry, I have been praying to God for you. You will be a converted man yet; I may not live to see it, but I know God will save your soul.”

Years passed away; the old Christian was called home to his rest. Henry became a confirmed drunkard as well as an atheist, a ringleader in the paths of wickedness and profanity.

Walking along the street one day he fingered the coins in his pocket. He might have enough, he decided, to get a couple of drinks. As soon as the thought entered his mind he began walking faster toward one of his favorite haunts.

Suddenly he paused; the long-forgotten past, his misspent life, rose up before him like a mighty mountain. His daring defiance of God and his father’s memorable words, spoken so lovingly and tenderly to him at the family gathering years before, were brought vividly to his memory. Swift as the lightning’s flash the arrow of conviction entered his soul.

“O God! let my dear old father’s prayer be answered! Have mercy on me - a vile and guilty sinner!” The prayer came from his heart.

He turned around and hurried home where, alone with God, he told out the anguish of his soul.

His wife had a Bible; he opened it and read the record of God’s love to guilty man. “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, CHRIST DIED FOR US” (Romans 5:58). Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, whose mission it is to direct souls to the Saviour, Henry Hart found “joy and peace in believing” and passed out of death into life.

Perhaps you wonder why God did not take Henry Hart at his word when he uttered his defiant challenge. Come with me to Calvary. You think it strange that a holy God should bear with a poor creature of the dust, who dared to lift his arm in defiance against his Creator? That terrible three hours of darkness when Jesus was on the cross of Calvary explains it.

Jesus, the Son of God, out of pure love to guilty sinners, voluntarily entered that thick darkness where, alone, He sustained and exhausted the judgment of God against sin.

Never before, in the history of man, had the appeal of the needy been made to God in vain. But listen: “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? . . . Our fathers trusted in Thee: they trusted, and Thou didst deliver them” (Psalm 22:14).

This is the cry of the Lord Jesus, the sinner’s substitute, from amid the gloom of Calvary. This explains why God can now be just and yet the justifier of every poor sinner who believes in Jesus. Are you still a stranger to God’s salvation? Then listen and believe.

The Bible - There It Stands

Century follows century - there it stands.

Empires rise and fall and are forgotten - there it stands.

Kings are crowned and uncrowned - there it stands.

Despised and burned and torn to pieces - there it stands.

Unbelief abandons it - there it stands.

Atheists rail against it - there it stands.

Critics deny its claim to inspiration - there it stands.

Youth calls for a beacon - there it stands.

Sorrow cries for consolation - there it stands.

Weakness searches for strength - there it stands.

Old age looks for an upholding staff - there it stands.

The hungry soul begs for bread - there it stands.

Do the lost seek salvation? - there it stands!

“All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: but the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you” (1 Peter 1:24-25).

Two Millionaires

One day I had a note from an old school friend who was staying in my city briefly, and he asked me to come to see him at his motel. We had been good friends, and I was glad to have a chance to see him again.

It had gone well with him in the world. He had prospered to such an extent that he was able to retire from business, and selling all he had, he invested in government bonds.

“That is the most secure investment,” he said, showing me a bundle of documents. “I have only to use a little interest whenever I want money. My nest-egg is secure.”

“Your certificates have no real worth,” I objected. “They are nothing but paper and contain only promises. What if the promisers become bankrupt?”

“That is impossible, and you know it yourself. The government cannot become bankrupt!”

“Still,” I insisted, “you must admit you are a millionaire only in virtue of your belief. Your possessions in themselves have no value, but you believe that those who promise payment will pay at the proper time.”

“Right!” he answered with a laugh. “I am rich because I believe, and as long as this country guarantees its wealth and its honor, I am sure of my riches.”

“I am also rich, because I believe. Do you understand?”

He did not understand. With all his wealth, he had not found the true riches.

The same day I visited another old friend. This time I had to go to a nursing home, one largely supported by welfare. George had been one of the brightest students, but years of sickness had exhausted his money and destroyed his health. When I told him of my visit to Art, he brought out from under his pillow a well-worn Bible and held it before him. “Frank,” he said to me, “I also am a millionaire! People call me poor, but I possess more than millions.”

Where were his riches?

He said, “It often seems to me as if the Bible had been written for me alone. I find there more than three thousand of the most wonderful promises which, for all the money in the world, I would not sell. The money I should soon have to leave behind, but my property - the promises I possess - will go with me beyond the grave. They can never lose their value, for they were given to me by Him who possesses the earth; yes, the whole universe.”

Two millionaires, and both rich in their belief. The one, because he trusts in the government of the country; the other, because his confidence is in the living God. The one, rich in things which he may lose any day - the other rich in an inheritance which is indestructible and eternal. The one, rich for a brief time - his very days perhaps numbered; the other, rich in wealth that remains his throughout eternity. Who is the richer of the two?

You say perhaps, “The second man will be someday.” No, he is the richer now. Through faith in the promises of God, the glory of heaven, yes, even the Lord of glory Himself, is his now, and in Him he rejoices with joy unspeakable and full of glory! “Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him?” (James 2:5).

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a [living] hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:34).

The Good Physician

The worst of all diseases

Is light compared with sin;

On every part it seizes,

But rages most within;

It’s palsy, dropsy, fever

And madness all combined,

And none but a believer

The least relief can find.

From men great skill professing,

I thought a cure to gain;

But this proved more distressing

And added to my pain.

Some said that nothing ailed me;

Some gave me up for lost,

Till every refuge failed me

And all my hopes were crossed.

At last this great Physician

(How matchless is His grace!)

Accepted my petition

And undertook my case.

First gave me sight to view Him,

For sin my eyes had sealed;

Then bid me look unto Him -

I looked - and I was healed!

A dying, risen Jesus,

Seen by the eye of faith,

At once from anguish frees us

And saves the soul from death.

Come then to this Physician,

His help He’ll freely give;

He makes no hard condition -

It’s only - LOOK and LIVE!

"It Will Fall"

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

Many years ago, among the Alps in Switzerland stood a towering peak called the “Rossberg.” At the foot of one side, which was nearly perpendicular, there nestled a little village. Just below this was one of those blue mountain lakes so common in Switzerland.

One day a government geologist came to the little village. He lodged at the hotel, and for many days he climbed with his equipment and prodded and poked and measured the mountain. At last he had the villagers all called together and said to them, “The government sent me here to examine this mountain. I find that it is extremely unstable; one of these days it will fall! The wisest thing you can do is to move away.”

Of course the people were much alarmed by the message, and some hurriedly moved to another village. Others were not so hasty, and as time went by and the mountain did not fall immediately, they began to laugh at their fears. The mountain still stood.

Days, weeks, months and years rolled away, and still it stood. Old men and women died and were buried. A new generation of children played in the streets, and all went on as usual. The officer and his message were nearly forgotten.

One night, nineteen years after the warning, with an awful roar the mountain fell, burying the little village and half filling up the lake. Very few of the villagers escaped.

Isn’t this a warning even for us? We are living in a scene which has been warned of the judgments of God. God has set the very day! “He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31).

All of a sudden, it will be here!

There is one way of escape - only one. Jesus died on the cross to make that way of escape, and we must flee to Him in faith.

"It's No Use Looking up!"

Bernard Voyer spent 40 minutes atop Mount Everest on May 5, 1999. When he arrived home he was given a hero’s welcome at Dorval airport in Montreal. He told the people, “When you get to the top, it’s no use looking up. Everything is at your feet!”

Many have taken up the challenge of climbing to the top of the 29,028-foot peak of the world’s highest mountain. It certainly is an accomplishment. Many have lost their lives in attempting to reach the top of the world. The first to succeed were Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on May 29, 1953.

If Mr. Voyer had looked up, he would at least have seen the sky and maybe even some clouds. We wonder if he thanked the God who is above him for his safe return.

On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin, a Russian astronaut, became the first “man in space.” At the peak of his orbit he was up above the earth only 327 kilometers (200 miles). Yet he made the statement that he “didn’t see God in space.”

Men have always liked challenges that would distinguish themselves. More than 4000 years ago they banded together to build a tower whose top would reach heaven. Their thought was, “Let us make us a name.” God knew their intentions and put a stop to it by confounding their language. The name they gained was “Babel,” meaning “confusion.” This is exactly what characterizes our times. Men have great ideas even in such unstable times. Things are collapsing around them, yet they have no thought of God.

There is One who can truly say that there is nothing above Him. He first humbled Himself and went down lower and lower until He became “obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).

“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11). Even on top of Mount Everest everything is not at your feet. But Jesus will have all things under His feet and under His control: “Thou hast put all things in subjection under His feet. . . . He left nothing that is not put under Him” (Hebrews 2:8).

YES, there is a God up there! Every human being will have to do with God someday. “Every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12). You can meet Him now as a loving Saviour, or you will meet Him later as your judge.

Jesus came down to earth to die on Calvary’s cross. His blood was shed to wash away every stain of sin from all who believe on Him. “The blood of Jesus Christ His [God’s] Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Do you wonder if He will receive you? He will, for Jesus said, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).

One day He will come again in power. He will sit on a great white throne of judgment, and heaven and earth will flee away. Every sinner will stand before Him individually to be judged according to his works. Each one’s own conscience will condemn him. Then one final check: “Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15).

Jesus said: “He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation [judgment]; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24). No believer in the Lord Jesus Christ will ever stand in judgment at that great white throne!

God Himself has provided the way. There is nothing for you to do but believe on Him. That is all He asks. The work is finished. Jesus did it all!

If He had asked us to do some great thing, wouldn’t we try to do it? Of course we would. Many, however, would be unable and would therefore have no hope. Not many of us could climb Mount Everest. God’s way, which is available to all, is simple. It is open to you today. Why wait until it is too late?

"Whosoever"

Two men, walking in a park, were talking about conversion. One said he could not see that “whosoever” meant him. He was anxious about his soul, yet unable to trust in God’s Word. Its very simplicity baffled him. He would, if he had spoken his real thoughts, have said, “But surely I need something besides that!”

Presently in their walk they came to a board with the following words on it:

CAUTION!

Whosoever is found trespassing on
these flower beds will be prosecuted.

Said the Christian friend to the other, “You may go and trample on those beds, and do what you like.”

“Oh no, I may not! Don’t you see the notice?”

“Oh yes, I see the notice, but you just said that you did not see that ‘whosoever’ meant you. I cannot go, but you - you can go.”

“Ah, I see it now” was the reply. “ ‘Whosoever’ does mean me. ‘Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.’ It does mean me and is a free, open invitation to everyone to come to Christ.”

“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).

After Fifty Years

Bronislaw Hajda, 75, Poland.

Maurice Papon, 87, Bordeaux.

Juozas Budreika, 78, Lithuania.

Three old men, three different countries: What possible connection could there be between them? What could these three have in common?

They are three old men living quiet and blameless-appearing lives in widely separated parts of the world. What is the deadly secret tie that has bound them together for years?

They have all been tried and found guilty and sentenced for crimes. Terrible crimes: hundreds, even thousands, murdered in Lithuania, in Poland or sent to “death camps” in Germany from France.

Fifty years have passed since those days of horror-fifty years of hiding, of establishing new identities, of living quiet, law-abiding lives. BUT -“What is important is that neither the passage of time nor a person’s subsequent good behavior and success can pardon crimes against humanity.”

Crimes against humanity? Well! You are not guilty of that! Not you! You donate time and money to humanitarian causes, you get along well with neighbors and co-workers, and you are kind to children and old people. Isn’t that enough?

No. What about God? Have you ever thought about God? And the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God - how have you responded to Him? Have you never sinned?

Fifty years did not keep justice from overtaking those three men, and - “God requireth that which is past” (Ecclesiastes 3:15). Fifty years or a hundred and fifty years can make no difference.

There is only one way to escape judgment. When God says that “ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), He also says that “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from ALL sin” (1 John 1:7). All who accept that sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, who receive Him as their own - and only - Saviour, are safe forever from the judgment of God.

Mercy, grace, forgiveness and cleansing are freely offered now, but “how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation” (Hebrews 2:3)?

Are You Going With the Crowd?

“Don’t you worry about me! I’ll slip into heaven with the crowd someday.” So answered a careless -no, reckless - young man when I urged on him the necessity of being converted before it was too late.

I replied, “Friend, you have mistaken the place; the crowd is on the way to hell! If you slip in with the crowd, you will slip into hell. The Bible says, ‘Wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it’ (Matthew 7:1314).”

He had not thought of that. Have you?

Salvation is an individual, personal thing which each soul must receive for itself alone. Before your soul enters the gates of heaven, you must pass through the strait gate of conversion and onto that narrow way which leads to it.

Yes, it must be conversion - not reformation - a real turning to God. Instead of climbing the ladder of self-righteousness, it is far better to come down to the bottom and take the place of a helpless and lost sinner. Jesus only came to save the lost, so if you refuse to take that place, you miss the Saviour.

Faith in Christ alone saves the soul. Do not add your works. “By grace are ye saved through faith . . . not of works” (Ephesians 2:89).

Are you going with the crowd? Beware of the crowd! Single yourself out and take “the gift of God . . . eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

"I Must Have My Fling"

When I was 12 years old, my father died and I was left with my mother. Looking for relief from the gloom and sorrow of my home life, I got into wild company and soon picked up bad habits. In fact, very early in life I began to drink. This habit grew so strong upon me that by age 18 I was a confirmed alcoholic.

My drinking and way of life distressed and grieved my mother, and I could see the lines of age increasing in her face. I knew I was the cause of all her worry, so I made resolution after resolution to turn over a new leaf. It never worked.

After my eighteenth birthday I told my mother good-bye, saying, “I must have my fling, Mother. I’ll be all right. Don’t worry!” Then I enlisted.

How those last words, “I must have my fling,” always seemed to follow me! They became my slogan, and during the first five years of my army life I went in for all the temptations which beset the path of the soldier.

Then my company was stationed on an island where we had to cross to the mainland by launch. I soon found life on the island rather dull and went often across the water to the bars in town.

Returning to camp one night, I fell between the boat and the pier. A buddy rescued me. Sudden immersion in that cold water sobered me, and I realized that I would have been eternally lost if I had drowned that night. I could not get rid of the frightening thought by drowning it in drink. It was impossible; the morning after always brought remorse.

In desperation I went to the Soldier’s Home and to a gospel meeting there. The preacher gave out the text, “My spirit shall not always strive with man.” I felt he was talking to me all the time, and the conviction of my sin took hold of me.

For weeks I was like this. Then one night as I walked into my barracks four men were singing, “Thou would’st be saved - why not tonight?”

I felt that I had reached my last chance. Walking straight to my bunk, I knelt down and prayed, “O God, save me! I am helpless and hopeless. Please save me, for I am lost.”

There, on my knees before God, a quiet joy and peace which I had never known before came into my heart. I had asked God to save me, and I believed He had done it for Jesus’ sake.

Ever since that night I have tried to please Him in all my ways, and I can honestly say that He has held me fast.

Only Trust - Only Trust

My spirit is sad and perplexed,

I know not the best thing to do;

With doubtings and fears I am vexed,

And Satan harasses me too.

I’ve tried (how I’ve tried!) to believe,

Till the word on my mind is engraved;

Can no one my sorrow relieve?

Oh, what must I do to be saved?

Lord Jesus, I’m full of alarms,

Indeed, I’ve no hope left but Thee;

I cast myself into Thy arms,

O Saviour! Take pity on me!

I come as a poor little child,

With many a tremor and doubt,

But Thy voice spreads a calm through the wild,

Saying, “I will in no wise cast out.”

No feelings need come to my aid,

This dull heart’s emotions are few:

I’ll trust Thee, Lord, nor be afraid!

I’m as safe as the Bible is true!

“There is none righteous, no, not one.”

Romans 3:10

“I [Jesus] came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Luke 5:32

A Christless Grave

Jesus said: “I give unto them eternal life;
and they shall never perish” (John 10:28).

There is much talk about the Y2K problem, the so-called “millennium bug.” So many things are run by computers that if they should fail, people fear that business will come to a halt. For example, in the event of a power failure, grocery stores are shut down and you can’t buy food. The cash registers don’t work. There are no prices on any item - it is all in the computer, and if that is not working, nothing works. If this were widespread, what confusion would result!

The fear is that at midnight on New Year’s eve many computers will revert to 1900 rather than move ahead to 2000. The reason for this is that in the early days of computers they had reasons for using only two digits for the year. Some computers cannot discern whether “00” means 1900 or 2000. In fact, a computer cannot discern anything; it is only as good as what man can put into it.

Companies and governments have spent billions of dollars trying to get this under control. Some people are so worried that they plan to take their money out of the banks before December 31 (providing a great opportunity for thieves). To give the public confidence and to be sure they were ready for the “new millennium,” on June 13, 1999, the banks in 19 countries turned the clocks in their computers to January 2000. All went well.

On the same day a man, very knowledgeable about computers, told of the fear of a person where he works. She is worried that their computers are not ready and will cause havoc on January 1, 2000. She has fears that air traffic control will be out of order, that pension checks will not be sent out and that bills may be based on 1900 and you may owe a hundred years of payments plus interest! Some predict complete disaster, others that only a slight disturbance may occur. No one really knows for certain.

People are so concerned about their money, their food, their bills and their pleasures. Yet they have no concern whatsoever about their immortal souls. Why? All of us are going to be somewhere for the endless ages of eternity.

To lose one’s wealth is sad indeed,

To lose one’s health is more;

To lose one’s soul is such a loss

As no man can restore.

One thing is absolutely certain. You and I will be either eternally with Christ in heaven or eternally without Him in the lake of fire. Solemn thought!

All who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ have eternal life, for Jesus Himself said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me hath everlasting [or eternal] life” (John 6:47). God has made the believer “accepted in the beloved [Jesus]” - they are as safe as Christ Himself. Even death, for the believer, is only to be “absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8).

All who reject Him or neglect Him will be lost forever in hell. “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” (2 Thessalonians 1:79).

Have you considered this truth of the Word of God? Or do you concern yourself only with present earthly things like the “millennium bug”? Time is short; eternity is long. To be eternally separated from the God who loves you and who gave His Son, Jesus, to die for you will be very, very sad.

The Bible tells of some who are “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” They have chosen earth’s temporary pleasures rather than God’s eternal salvation. How awful to have the craving of those pleasures with no way to satisfy them - ETERNALLY!

Do not wait, because “now is the accepted time . . . now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). The effect of the Y2K problem is uncertain, but the destiny of the lost ones who have not received Christ as their Saviour is very certain: the lake of fire. Equally certain is the destiny of those who have put their trust in Him.

Do take Him now. He is waiting to receive you and to bless you for eternity!

Overheard in a Train Car

The station was nearly empty as we waited for the 7:10 a.m. train that would take me into the city several hours away. We were a little surprised to see a uniformed officer standing beside a young man in the waiting area.

Soon the train pulled in. With a wave to my friends I climbed aboard. Leaving the officer, the young man also came aboard and sat down behind me next to a woman. She seemed to know him, and they began visiting.

For me it had been a very full weekend, with not enough sleep. So I settled down for some much-needed rest. But sleep would not come, as I became too interested in the conversation taking place behind me. You might call it eavesdropping, but I couldn’t help overhearing the man’s story.

“He gave me $20 and told me to stay out of trouble, but I never did anything wrong,” the young man reported. He then related something about drugs being involved. From the bits and pieces of the conversation I learned that he had just been released after serving a prison term - I didn’t hear how long. The officer that I had seen on the train platform was a prison guard in charge of his release.

The woman was an old acquaintance, and they talked about days gone by, favorite foods and families. Finally she said, “What you need is faith.”

I listened carefully, but no further words were spoken to explain this remark, except the mention of a certain church. What was he to put his faith in? In that church?

The trip was nearing an end. The city skyline grabbed our attention, and soon we were at the end of the line.

As I rose to leave, I felt compelled to apologize for eavesdropping and handed the man a little something to buy food. But, more importantly, I gave him something to feed his starving soul: a gospel tract, telling of the faith that saves - the faith in Jesus Christ.

I don’t know where this man is today. I do pray that God touched his empty heart and caused him to repent of his sins and cry out for mercy.

God is love. He longs to wash away the sins of each one in the blood that Jesus shed while hanging on the cross. Only then can anyone find forgiveness, peace and a hope beyond this life. “By grace are ye saved through faith. . . . It is the gift of God: not of works” (Ephesians 2:89).

Working will not save me;

Purest deeds that I can do,

Holiest thoughts and feelings, too,

Cannot form my soul anew;

Working will not save me.

Jesus bled and died for me;

Jesus suffered on the tree;

Jesus waits to make me free;

He alone can save me.

The Golden Years Tarnished

How many people have worked hard in early years of life so that in later life they may enjoy leisure-their “golden years.” Ads show gray- and white-haired couples on bicycles, boats or golf courses smiling and looking very healthy. They are enjoying their “golden years.”

For many, these years are anything but golden. A man in his mid-seventies said, “Golden years? Who said, ‘golden years’? You know when you wake up in the morning with all your aches and pains that these are not golden years!”

As a young man he had seen the horrors of war -had seen some of his buddies torn apart with the shrapnel of exploding shells. The war ended; he survived it. He came home and tried to forget about it. He worked hard, and he now has an ample living. Everything is going well for him - or is it?

Now he is old, and his wife of many years has died. He is lonely. Arthritis and other ailments trouble him so that he cannot get a good night’s sleep. Bitter, he complains about the so-called “golden years.” He looks back and remembers the horrors of war, the happy years with his wife, and the aches and pains. What has he to look forward to? He doesn’t realize it, but without Christ it is only the “blackness of darkness forever” - under the judgment of God. Yet he doesn’t want the remedy. He expresses no interest, though he has had the gospel presented to him. How sad is the end of one like this. We can only pray that the Lord will break through and save him. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

Another man went to war with him. This man knew the Lord Jesus as his Saviour. He rejoices in his Lord. We spoke of the Father’s house and what it will be like to be there. He exclaimed, “That’s lovely!”

He, too, had seen the carnage of war. He, too, has aches and pains, the ravages of years. In that sense his years are not so golden either. But what a difference there is between the two! The second man has something to look forward to. Salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ is available to both; one receives it, and one rejects or neglects. One is on his way to glory with Christ for eternity. The other, if he keeps on without Christ, is on the way to a lost eternity - “to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever” (Jude 13).

Eternity! Where? Eternity! Where?

With saved ones in glory, or the lost in despair?

Eternity! Where? Oh, Eternity! Where?

With one or the other - Eternity! Where?

Eternity! Where? Is aught worth a care?

Friend, oh, shall we - oh, can we e’en venture to dare,

In life that is passing as mist in the air,

Do aught till we settle Eternity - where?

Eternity where? The choice is yours. Make your decision now, and enjoy the golden years of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Friend.

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

God's Side - Your Side

“God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son
That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

The loving and giving are God’s side; the believing and having are your side.

Many people are trying to change sides with God - trying to do the loving and giving, and wanting Him to do the believing and having. That is, they are trying to love God and trying to serve Him. Then they hope He will believe in their earnestness and accept their good works and give them eternal life on account of it all.

No, no, NO! That is all wrong. God has loved you and given His Son for you: That is His part. Now do you really believe in Him with your heart? If so, then God says you shall not perish and that you have -have now, here in this world - everlasting life.

“He that believeth on the Son HATH everlasting life” (John 3:36).

Saved at Sea

During World War II, when a certain destroyer left the U.S.A., each man was given a New Testament with the Psalms. One sailor, who never had opened or read one, stuck it in his pocket as a sort of charm -a talisman he wore, but forgot it otherwise.

During the first battle of the Solomons the ship was sunk. Five men managed to jump into a rubber boat and were carried away by the waves. They all realized there was little chance of a rescue. Then one of them happened to think of the little Testament given to him before he sailed. He took it out of his pocket, and when he opened it to read for himself, three men laughed at him. The fifth man said, “Keep on reading, and what you read, read out loud so we can all hear.”

He had opened at the Psalms and read part of Psalm 91: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust.”

“IN HIM WILL I TRUST!” There was something to hold on to, even in the waves and billows of the most unpeaceful Pacific Ocean. Two hearts seized it, two men clung to the promise, and by the grace of God went on to learn more of Him and to trust the Lord Jesus as their Saviour.

Darkness came on. One by one, the men who had laughed at the Bible reading had been swept off the raft and were lost in the sea. All at once the searchlight from an approaching ship came on and the men on the raft were caught in its beam. It never left them, although they were being tossed up and down in the waves.

Soon they were lifted out of their dangerous position, and to their delight they found that they were again on a U.S. destroyer. The first thing they said was that God had saved them from the sea and that He had saved their souls as well. How wonderful are God’s ways!

“They that go down to the sea in ships . . . these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. For He commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They . . . are at their wits’ end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. . . . So He bringeth them unto their desired haven. Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!” (Psalm 107:23-31).

What sorrow deep, and what sadness,

For the rich, or poor, or slave,

To die without a ray of hope

And lie in a Christless grave.

But the grace of God has given

A Saviour strong who can save;

He died that none should perish

And lie in a Christless grave.

Upon the hill dark and dreary,

The Outcast of heaven and earth

Finished the work of redemption,

To give unto man a new birth.

Behold your sin and your folly!

Your sins put Christ on the tree,

But grace will put you in glory

Where from sin you will ever be free.

Acknowledge now you are guilty;

Believe on the Lord who gave

His precious blood to redeem you

From hell and a Christless grave.

The Soldier's Book

I was walking near my foxhole one day when I saw a young soldier - even younger than I - lying on the ground reading a book.

“What is that you are reading?” I asked.

“My Bible,” he answered.

“Oh,” I said, “I have read that Book! It never did me any good. Give it up, man, give it up.”

“Listen to what I am reading,” he answered quietly. ‘Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.’ This is from John 14, and isn’t it wonderful? No, I could never give it up!”

I walked away, deeply impressed by his sincerity.

A few minutes later a bomb burst near the place I had just left - the spot where I had talked to the boy. Wondering if he was safe, I ran back as soon as the dust had cleared away. He lay there still - never to move again. But I saw, partly hidden by his jacket, his treasured Bible.

With a feeling of awe I picked it up and put it in my pocket. Surely a Book that could give such a look of joy as I had seen on his face a few minutes before was worthy of being read with deep respect. I felt sure that the young soldier had gone to that happy home that he had been reading about so short a time ago.

In a very different frame of mind than before, I read that dead boy’s Bible. Over and over I read that fourteenth chapter of John. As I read in it that Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” I began to understand the way of salvation. I found the same Saviour that the soldier had known and loved, and his well-worn Bible became my own constant companion and comfort.

Why do I write of this as the most wonderful event in my life? Because through this I was brought to believe on Jesus and in God’s wonderful Word - the Bible. It is His message to the soul. It has given me the instructions I need to prepare me for a better and happier place when I leave this world, and it gives me daily help, comfort and courage to face the many trials on the road to the Father’s house.