Echoes of Grace: 2003

When Adam sinned, he tried to hide himself from God, but there was no thicket in the Garden of Eden dense enough or dark enough for that. From that day to this, men have been looking for a hiding place and, apart from God’s mercy in Christ, looking in vain.

One who had been a prisoner in a maximum security cell said that the most painful circumstance of his confinement was an opening in his cell where he knew a guard could watch him night and day. He was haunted by that ever-seeing eye, and he could never lose the consciousness of being watched.

Even so, the eye of a holy and all-seeing God is always upon us. Just as the prisoner could see that watchful eye with his own, so our conscience within us reminds us that “Thou God seest me.” “There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves” (Job 34:22).

There is no place for the sinner to hide, except in Christ. He would like to run away from God, but what does he gain by all his efforts to hide? The Lord Jesus said, “This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved” (John 3:19-20).

Out of Christ, every hiding place is a “refuge of lies.” It was Augustine who said, “If you want to run away from a sin-hating God, you must run to Him; if you would hide from Him, you must hide in the arms of His love and mercy.”

Christ is the true and only hiding place. He is the Man who is a “hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest.” No wonder that the one who hides in Christ and knows the peace and joy of forgiveness finds Him to be the one hiding place through all the troubles of life.

“A man shall be as an hiding place” (Isaiah 32:32)!

Are You Crazy?

Joe, a college student, was returning to his dorm late one night when he stopped his car for a traffic light. A man jumped into the seat beside him and thrust a gun against his side, ordering, “Drive on, and don’t do anything to attract attention!”

Joe was a Christian, so as he obeyed the order his mind turned to the Lord and almost unconsciously the words came from his lips: “To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Now it was the hijacker’s turn to be startled. “What are you talking about? Are you crazy?” he demanded.

This gave Joe an opportunity to explain that, because he was born again and Christ lived in him, he had eternal life and that physical death would only mean life forever in heaven.

The stranger snorted: “Now I know you’re crazy!” But his interest had been aroused and Joe continued to tell him about the Savior.

Suddenly the gunman put his gun away and told Joe to “pull over to the curb,” explaining that he wanted to hear more about how to gain victory over fear and death.

Gladly Joe complied. Opening his pocket Testament, he began to read from the third chapter of John. As he read and explained verse 16, his passenger suddenly stopped him.

“I see it! I see it!” he shouted joyfully.

He saw it, he believed it, and together he and Joe bowed their heads and thanked God for everlasting life.

What was that decisive verse? It was the well-known John 3:16:

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

Are You Prepared?

Most of us are quite capable of handling the small crises of our daily life. Interruptions of all kinds, accidents, illnesses, unexpected expenses-we plan and prepare and are rather proud of our ability to cope with it all.

But what happens when catastrophe comes?

When the dam broke on Lower Price Lake near Reno, Nevada, Tim Miller said, “I saw a wall of mud at least ten feet higher than the sixteen-foot house. I don’t think I ran more than twenty feet when it came over me. I couldn’t breathe as I was being swept down in the mud. I called to the Lord.”

In Aptos, California, a violent storm destroyed ten homes along the coast. Celeste Coseilla, trapped in a collapsing house, said, “I was pinned against the wall; I don’t know how I got out. I said a prayer.”

A British jetliner with more than two hundred passengers was over the Indian Ocean when all four engines, choked with volcanic ash, stalled. Australian passenger Gary Middleton said, “Everybody was petrified. There was no noise. By the time we pulled out...just about everybody was praying.”

These are only three examples of people face to face with disaster—unexpected, overwhelming disaster. We, too, can at any time be brought face to face with the realities of life and death, with forces beyond our control, with circumstances where it is useless to call for help from family or friends. There are times when no human being is able to help.

Then what is the universal reaction? “O God, save me!” This is very much like the Apostle Peter when he began to sink beneath the waves calling: “Lord, save me” (Matt. 14:30)!

There may have been no time for God in the past, no thought or care for Him, but when catastrophe comes, “Lord, save me”! Beneath all the veneer of sophisticated civilization the heart knows that help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Then why wait until “the moment of truth,” the last frantic seconds of desperation when death stares one in the face? There are times when death comes instantaneously, when there is not time for even one heartfelt cry for help. What then?

Wouldn’t it be wise to be prepared for whatever may come, no matter how sudden it may be? Knowing that disaster may strike at any time, in any place, why not “prepare to meet thy God” (Amos 4:12) now? Why not “acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace” (Job 22:21)? “Peace of mind” is often offered in insurance ads, but this is real peace, real insurance, and that for all eternity.

Are You Right With God?

In New York, several years ago, a detective went into a drug store, laid his hand on the shoulder of a man there who was quietly going about his business, and said, “You are wanted.”

“What do you mean?” the young man exclaimed.

“You know what I mean. You were in the Albany Penitentiary-you escaped-went west-and you married out there. Then you came back here and settled, and we have you now. You needn’t deny it.”

“It’s true; I can’t deny it, but let me go home and say goodbye to my wife and child.”

They went to his home. He met his wife and said, “Mary, haven’t I been a good husband? Haven’t I been a good father and worked hard to make a living?”

It was true, and she confirmed it. He was all right in his relations with his wife and child-all right in business-all right with his neighbors-but he was all wrong with the state of New York. He had yet to pay for his crime against the state, and his years of blameless living could not atone for that broken law.

It is even so with God’s law. “God requireth that which is past,” and no amount of reformation can atone for one past sin. But what you and I could never do, Christ has done for us. “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us....Being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him....And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement” (Rom. 5:11,8-9).

Reformation can never save one soul; redemption through His blood saves all who receive it.

At Calvary

Years I spent in vanity and pride,

Caring not my Lord was crucified;

Knowing not it was for me He died

On Calvary.

Mercy there was great, and grace was free;

Pardon there was multiplied to me;

There my burdened soul found liberty

At Calvary.

By God’s Word at last my sin I learned;

Then I trembled at the law I’d spurned,

Till my guilty soul, imploring, turned

To Calvary.

Oh! the love that drew salvation’s plan;

Oh! the grace that brought it down to man;

Oh! the mighty gulf that God did span

At Calvary!

Back to School

Do you go to school? Have you enjoyed your summer vacation? I am sure you will be saying, “Where did the time go? It seems like school was just out yesterday.” And now it is time to go back to school already!

And, oh, how we prepare for the start of school making sure we have the right materials, books and enough new clothes. If we are going to a new school this year, we take great pains to make sure we know the right route to take.

By the way, how have you prepared for eternity? Which route are you traveling? God says in Matthew 7:13-14 that we are on one of two routes: “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for 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.” Are you taking the popular and easy “broad way” that leads to destruction, or are you going by the “narrow way,” which leads to life?

The Lord Jesus Christ has prepared the way for you by shedding His blood on the cross, and if you just believe in that finished work, you can KNOW that you are prepared for eternity.

Of course, when you get to school, the main subjects you will be concentrating on will be the “3 R’s”: Reading,’ Righting and’ Rithmetic. These subjects are also found in God’s Word, the Bible.

In Revelation we read, “Blessed is he that readeth.” Have you ever read the Bible? In it you will find out how much God loves you. Of course, if you don’t enjoy reading the Bible, it may be because you are still lost and you see things in it that condemn you. “He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18).

In Rev. 20:15 we read about a writing that should vitally concern everyone. “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” If you are trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, then your name is definitely written in the book of life.

As for the study of arithmetic, we know it is usually broken down into four categories: add, divide, multiply and subtract.

Matt. 6:27 says, “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” Are you trying to add your own ideas to God’s plan of salvation? There is only one way and that is through the Lord Jesus Christ, who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

Division? “The word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit... and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).

And multiplication: “The word of God grew and multiplied” (Acts 12:24). For almost two thousand years Satan has been trying to get rid of the Word of God. But it has only multiplied to the point that year after year it is the number-one seller among all books.

I must warn you, though, that there will be countless numbers of persons in hell who have read part or all of God’s Word. Reading alone will not save you. Faith in Christ will save you.

If you will see yourself as a poor, lost, hell-deserving sinner and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your own personal Savior, then you will be able to say, “The Lord hath taken away [my] judgments” (Zephaniah 3:15). That’s subtraction.

All the judgment that had been yours will be subtracted from you, and you will instead spend all eternity in heaven with the Lord.

“Prepare to meet thy God” (Amos 4:12). This is far more important than preparing for school!

Choose Now

“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?

It’s 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!

Covered Sin

Can you burn water? You sure can! All you need is a little pure potassium. Thrown into the water, it unites with oxygen and produces heat so intense that it ignites the hydrogen in the water. So-burning water!

It made an impressive demonstration in a chemistry class, and students at the high school crowded around the instructor in the laboratory. One boy, David, noticed a tiny piece of potassium that had been overlooked. That silvery bit, no bigger than the end of his finger, was just irresistible! Almost before he realized what he was doing he slipped it into his pocket and was off to his next class satisfied that he had “gotten away with it.”

But does anyone ever “get away with” sin? No, never. The Bible warns us: “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Num. 32:23), and, “There is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known” (Matt. 10:26).

David learned that the hard way! Pure potassium must be stored very carefully, as it can even combine with the oxygen in the air. Jeans’ pockets are not air-tight-and the inevitable happened.

That Friday afternoon the class was quiet, everyone concentrating on the assignment (or dreaming of weekend plans), when suddenly the silence was shattered by screams. The potassium in David’s pocket burst into flames, setting his clothes on fire. He was rushed to a hospital and then to a “burn center,” where he was faced with a long and painful convalescence and weeks of skin grafts to replace the scarred tissue that covered the extensive burned section of his body.

Not all sins meet such instant retribution. In fact, all around the world there is sin going on-all day-all night-men, women and children are sinning against each other, against themselves and against God, and they think they are getting away with it. But “God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Eccl. 12:14).

Sooner or later every sin will be brought to the light of God’s just judgment, and it will be plain to all that “he that covereth his sins shall not prosper” (Prov. 28:13).

Only God can “cover” those sins. Another David, the one who wrote the Psalms, wrote, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered” (Psa. 32:1). He did not mean “covered” as in a pocket-or in a closet-or in the dark of night but forgiven.

When the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary, He died “to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” Now, “through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things” (Acts 13:38-39).

It is that simple. John 3:16 tells us that “whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Do you believe? Can you say to the Lord, “Thank you for forgiving my iniquity, and covering my sin”?

Do Spiders Go to School?

No, the spiders don’t go to school to study-it isn’t necessary to teach a spider anything at all! Little spiders seem to know by instinct all they will ever need to know as soon as they are hatched.

A student found a shiny black spider and took that little spider-just that one little spider-to school for his teacher to identify.

The teacher easily identified it as a highly poisonous black widow and put it in a closed jar in the classroom where the students could safely watch the spider taking care of her eggs.

Over the weekend the closed jar was left in the classroom. In due time the little eggs opened and out tumbled the tiny, newly hatched spiders. Out they came-out of the eggs, out of the jar, out of the classroom and all over the school.

School opened Monday morning as usual, and the students clattered into a school building infested with about four hundred black widow spiders-spiders so small they had slipped right through the tiny air holes in the metal lid of the glass jar.

Such pretty babies they were, too-not black like their mother, but striped brown and white and black-small and pretty, but just as dangerous as their mother. Soon ten students were on their way to the hospital to be treated for spider bites.

The exterminator was called in, with orders to “spare nothing toward getting rid of the things!” Black widow spiders definitely don’t belong in school!

It was easy to identify the adult black widow with the ominous red mark, like a little red stop sign, saying, “Don’t touch!” And it is easy to identify what we think of as SIN-murder, robbery and such but it isn’t so easy to recognize the so-called “little” sins-little “white lies,” half-truths, unkind thoughts, jealousies—as being just as deadly. Sin is SIN, in whatever form it shows itself.

The spiders could not be allowed to remain in the school, and sin will not be permitted to enter heaven. “Big” sins—“little” sins—no sin can enter there.

Then how can anyone be good enough for God’s presence? The Bible tells us that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23)-all, not just murderers and thieves, prostitutes and drug dealers, but also “the fearful, and unbelieving...and all liars.” That covers everybody, doesn’t it? “All have sinned.”

And such small sins, as we would think of them unbelief doesn’t look very bad, but it is the key to all the rest. The Lord Jesus put it this way: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).

There is the other side of the story too, the answer to the old question, “How should man be just with God?” (Job 9:2). It is: “By Him all that believe are justified from all things” (Acts 13:39).

Big sins-little sins-God has an answer for all and it is found in the Bible: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7)!

Do You Believe?

THAT “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 “the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6)?

THAT “Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3)?

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

“Hear, and your soul shall live” (Isa. 55:3)!

Escape From a Lion

In this country, the United States, most of the wilderness has been tamed. We live in a world of interstate highways and skyscrapers, condominiums and supermarkets. Tales of the “olden times” when forests stretched across the continent and “bears and panthers” lurked behind every tree seem very far away and long ago-almost mythological, in fact. But some little pockets of wilderness remain, and in the remote, secluded areas of non-civilization there are still descendants of those early bears and panthers holding on to life in a changing habitat.

Mountain lions (the origin of the “panther” stories) may be few and scattered, but they still exist. They are as big as ever, too; they may stand thirty inches high at the shoulder with a length of seven and a half feet, nose to tail, and perhaps weigh over two hundred pounds. Their appetites haven’t changed either: They are great hunters, chiefly of deer, but have no objection to taking sheep, cattle, horses, or even human beings-yes, even in this day and time.

Five-year-old Laura Small was walking with her mother in a “wilderness park” in California. Suddenly a mountain lion leaped from the brush and seized little Laura in his teeth.

Hiking nearby, Gregory Yates heard the mother’s hysterical scream and ran to their aid. Waving a stick and shouting, he approached the big cat. “It seemed forever at the time,” he said, but at last the lion released Laura. Gregory jumped between them, and the child’s mother caught her up and ran.

Laura had severe head and face injuries, but she is recovering. Her mother and Gregory Yates had an experience they will never forget. And the lion? Well, let’s hope he retreats farther back into the wilderness!

There is another lion that the world has consigned to the realm of legends and myths, but he is very much alive today. The Word of God tells us that “your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

Has his nature changed through the years? Not one bit! He is as much an enemy of Christ—and of all humanity—as he ever was in the days when the government of Rome was throwing Christians to the lions.

He may disguise himself as an “angel of light,” but the sharp claws are still underneath, and he still has the insatiable appetite. Are you strong enough to fight this enemy on your own? No, not you-nor I-nor the strongest man who ever lived.

Little Laura was helpless in the lion’s grip. Her mother could not save her, but one came to the rescue and stood between the little girl and a dreadful death. Even so, there is One who is more powerful than the devil, One who has power to save and to keep: the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Gregory Yates risked his own life to save Laura, but he escaped uninjured. The Lord Jesus, though, gave His life to save you and me from the power of sin and Satan. We would surely have been dragged down to hell had He not come into the world and died, “the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).

And that is only part of the story! The Lord Jesus died-and He also rose again! Now “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” (Heb. 7:25).

Eternal Love

The Taj Mahal sits like a jewel on the plains of Agra in northern India. Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal in the seventeenth century, sparing no expense in the lavish construction of the famous building. Twenty thousand workers labored for over twenty years on what would be one of the world’s most beautiful buildings.

“Taj Mahal” is thought to mean “Crowned Palace,” but it is, in fact, a mausoleum. Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal as a memorial to his favorite wife. Because of the beauty of the building and also the Shah’s heartfelt devotion to the memory of his wife, a poet has described the Taj Mahal as a “Monument to Eternal Love.”

“Eternal love”-what a phrase! With poetic license men may use the phrase to describe the bond between husband and wife, yet, in a stricter sense, the phrase “eternal love” can only rightly describe the love in God’s heart. “Thus saith the high and lofty One that [inhabits] eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place” (Isa. 57:15). He is the great Architect of the universe, who spoke the world into existence.

Does this One who inhabits eternity love the people He made? Jeremiah the prophet wrote, “The Lord...hath appeared to me, saying, I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee.” The answer to the question, “Does God love?” is a resounding YES! And oh, how He loves! Sometimes the smallest words speak more than volumes, and this is the case with the little word “so” in the Bible. See John 3:16:

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

Shah Jahan demonstrated that he loved his wife by building the Taj Mahal. God showed that He loved the world by sending His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die in the sinner’s place. How much did God love the world? He so loved the world.

God so loved the world that He sent His Son so that mankind which sat in darkness might see a great light. God so loved the world that His Son went to Calvary’s cross, where the Just suffered for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.

God so loved the world that the precious blood that was shed at Calvary is able to wash the vilest sinner clean.

God so loved the world that He raised the Lord Jesus from the grave so that those who believe on Him might know that they have everlasting life.

God so loves the world even now that He sends the good news of the gospel to all the corners of the earth so that many might find great joy and peace in believing.

He does not desire that anyone should build Him a great and beautiful monument out of cold stone to commemorate His love. As the living God, He wants only living monuments. He wants men and women to become these living monuments. They must do so by realizing their lost condition and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Once a person is saved through faith, He wants their lives to “show forth the praises of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.” He takes poor, unworthy sinners and makes them monuments of His grace.

A songwriter once wrote:

Oh, have you not heard of that wonderful love,

That flows from God’s heart so free,

Which led Him to give for a perishing world

His Son to be nailed to the tree?

Greater love than this the world has never known. This is eternal love, love straight from God’s heart to you. God could absolutely do nothing greater to show us His love than sending His Son into this world, knowing full well that He would be rejected and crucified. You might be an atheist, you might be a terrorist, you might be full of dark religion, you might be a murderer-still God offers this love to you.

At the cross the floodgates of God’s grace and love were opened. Were you the most wretched sinner alive, God wants you to know that He loves you and that if you turn from your sins to the Savior He will forgive and cleanse you. Won’t you open the dark caverns of your heart and let His love and grace flow in?

Fact, Faith, Feelings

Many people are puzzled by hearing Christians talking continually about their feelings. Such expressions as “I feel that my sins are forgiven,” “I feel that I am saved,” and “I feel that I am ready to meet God” baffle them. Since they have no such feelings, they become discouraged.

A Christian went to see a dying man who was an atheist. As the visitor entered the room, the sick man spoke: “Oh, you have come to ask if I feel saved, I suppose? Well, you need not bother. My wife is always talking about feeling saved, but I do not believe in any such thing. I gave all that up twenty years ago when I burned my Bible.”

“No, I haven’t the slightest wish to hear that you feel saved! If you did, you might soon feel lost again. But, whether you accept it or not, there is one great fact that the Son of God came to earth and died to save your soul. If you don’t choose to believe God’s Word, you will certainly be lost forever-not because you are a sinner, but because you are so foolish as to reject the fact which God sets before you. And yet it will still remain a fact that the Son of God died for you, and you would have been saved by that fact.”

Not long after this conversation the sick man was called into eternity. As he was dying his wife said to him, “John, dear, do tell me that you feel saved before you go.”

Raising his head, he said, “Feelings cannot save me, but facts can. It is a fact that the Son of God died for me, and I die on that fact!”

How true it is that “feelings cannot save, but facts can.” The glorious, soul-saving fact that Christ died for me is the ground of my confidence. I am a sinner. Christ died for sinners. Therefore, He died for me.

C. H. Spurgeon, in his last illness, said to friends around him, “I can die on these four words.” They listened eagerly to hear what the four words were, and he added: “Jesus died for me.”

That is the fundamental, basic fact of the gospel. Faith believes the fact. Faith takes God at His word. “The gospel of Christ...is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Rom. 1:16). The moment the sinner believes the glad and glorious gospel of Christ he is saved for eternity.

I feel happy because I know I am saved. However, whether I feel happy or feel miserable, it is true that I am saved because God’s Word says so, and what God says must be true. Stop thinking of your feelings towards God or your lack of feelings. Think instead of His matchless love to you.

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

"Fireproof"

To most Americans, December 7 is remembered as Pearl Harbor Day, but in Atlanta, Georgia, the date has other dark memories. On December 7, 1946, hundreds of people, guests of the Winecoff Hotel, slept in their rooms secure in the knowledge that the hotel was “fireproof.” Like the “unsinkable” Titanic, everyone believed in it, everyone trusted the “fireproof construction,” and no one lay awake to wonder, “What if a fire should break out tonight?”

But quietly, unnoticed, a little fire was smoldering, smoking, growing, until suddenly the great flames broke out.

What of the fireproof construction then? It didn’t mean that the building couldn’t burn, only that the fire would be “contained” within its own walls and would burn even more fiercely inside the “fireproof” walls.

The alarm was given, and then it was sirens-sirens-sirens as fire engines raced to the scene from all the surrounding area. But their ladders were too short, their hoses could not reach and the fire raged on unchecked.

Because the building was considered fireproof, there was little provision for fire escapes or emergency evacuation. People who rushed to their windows saw only the street as much as fifteen floors below, but with smoke and flames at their doors and panic in their hearts they leaped-leaped to death on the street far below.

An airman who had served in World War II said it was “like men bailing out of a burning plane”-but there were no parachutes.

It was the most disastrous hotel fire in American history: 121 deaths. Yet some were saved-not those who blindly leaped from the windows; not those who dashed into the fire to try to fight their way through; not those who hid in closets and corners until smothered in the smoke. No, there was no way to escape by their own efforts.

Outside the hotel men forgot their own safety and rushed into the office building across the alley. Up-up-as high as they could go, and then with boards, ladders and anything else that could reach across the narrow space between the two buildings, they crossed into the tumult and danger with hands outstretched to the terrified people at the windows.

Those who trusted-those who grasped those rescuing hands and were guided back across the perilous boards-were saved. Out of the dark pall of smoke they emerged into the clean, white offices of the doctors and dentists across the way-saved!

Rescue had to come from outside the hotel-outside the fire. Aren’t we in much the same case? No effort of our own can lift us from this doomed world; no struggle can gain the safety of heaven above; no hiding place is safe. But there is a Savior. There is One who can come where we are and lead us to safety. The Lord Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and no one else-no other way-can do you any good.

The rescuers only risked their lives to save others; the Lord Jesus gave His life for us.

“When we were yet without strength...Christ died for the ungodly....While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:6,8).

Forecasts

The weather forecast said, “Fair and warm,” but a cold rain is falling and the picnic must be called off. Or perhaps the drought has dragged on and on and everything is dry and dusty. What is the forecast this time? “Up to an inch of rain” is predicted, but not a drop falls on the wilting garden.

The weather forecast was wrong-again! Even with the best of modern technology-instant communications, radar and satellite pictures-the weather forecast too often is only an “educated guess.”

God’s forecasts are not like that. When He said it would not rain on the land of Israel, “it rained not.”

When He said, “I will send rain upon the earth,” the rains came. “The heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain” (1 Kings 18:1,45). His forecasts never fail.

Now He predicts a different storm, the storm of His wrath falling on a wicked world. A terrible, terrible storm it will be-a “fire storm” such as the world has never seen-when “the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10).

In that storm, an umbrella will be worthless. The strongest of buildings will be no better, and even the “dens and...rocks of the mountains” will offer no protection in that day. It will be too late then to seek shelter-too late to escape the judgment of God. NOW is the time “to flee from the wrath to come.” NOW is the time to accept the “great salvation” which God offers you through His Son, the Lord Jesus 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).

“Should not perish”! That promise is sure and certain. Everyone who has turned to God for refuge in this our “day of grace” and who has accepted in simple faith the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ is safe from that coming storm of judgment. More than that, we have the promise of His love and care for us and His presence with us in all the storms and trials of life.

“O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt Thee, I will praise Thy name; for Thou hast done wonderful things; Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth....For Thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm” (Isa. 25:1-4).

"Freedom Is Not Free"

Not far from where I live there is a beautiful park called Port Williams. It is situated on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. At the park there is a boat ramp, barbecue pit, tables and a long strip of narrow beach squeezed in between the high bank and the water. Across the water you can view the San Juan Islands. My family likes to go to Port Williams for walks. Last time we went we paused at a little marble monument by the picnic area. The monument was a memorial to a young man who died at Pearl Harbor on the USS California. His name, Marlyn Nelson, and picture were engraved on the memorial. At the bottom of the memorial somebody had stenciled in large letters the words, “FREEDOM IS NOT FREE.” We paused for a moment and I wondered who had erected the monument.

We walked a ways up the beach and met a man. He was collecting pretty stones that sometimes wash up with the surf. He was older and we struck up a conversation. In the course of our talk he told me that he had served in the Navy and had been at Pearl Harbor during the attack. I asked him if he knew anything about the monument, and he told me that he was responsible for placing it there a few years back. He said he just wanted people never to forget the price that has been paid to keep the United States free.

We all can be thankful we live in a free land with many privileges. We can travel where we want, choose our work, pick where we live and many other freedoms which we sometimes take for granted. These freedoms have been won and preserved at the cost of the lives of many servicemen, such as Marlyn Nelson.

Although we live in a free land with many privileges, the greatest freedom of all-the freedom from the guilt and the power of sin-can’t come through any government. Instead, it comes only when a sinner bows the heart and acknowledges Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. “If therefore the Son shall set you free, [you] shall be really free.” In order to set men free from the bondage of sin, the Lord Jesus had to die on the cross. “FREEDOM IS NOT FREE” were the words stenciled in on the bottom of the monument. These words are never truer than when spoken of the liberty that comes through faith in Christ.

Nearly two thousand years ago the Lord Jesus was nailed to the cross and hung up between heaven and earth. He was falsely accused and had a sham trial. The man who sentenced Him to death said, “I find no fault in this man.” FREEDOM IS NOT FREE. A crowd gathers outside the judgment hall and shouts, “Crucify Him. Crucify Him.” FREEDOM IS NOT FREE.

Back then criminals carried their own cross to the place of execution. “And He bearing His cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha” (John 19:17). FREEDOM IS NOT FREE.

Soldiers nailed His hands and feet to the cross. FREEDOM IS NOT FREE.

From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. He hung on the cross. Every breath He drew caused excruciating pain. FREEDOM IS NOT FREE.

The first three hours He spent on the cross were in daylight, and many people passing by scorned Him. FREEDOM IS NOT FREE.

His last three hours on the cross were spent in a supernatural darkness. During this darkness, God’s wrath fell on Him who did no sin. “He who knew no sin” was made sin for us. FREEDOM IS NOT FREE.

The last words He spoke on the cross were, “It is finished.” What was finished? His work in suffering was finished so that all who believe on Him might have perfect peace and know their sins forgiven. “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).

This is freedom indeed. This is freedom of the best sort. This is freedom that will last the longest, for when a few more years go by and earthly life ends, the joys of heaven will just be beginning.

Freedom from the guilt and power of sin is not free. It cost God’s Son terrible suffering on the cross. What is free now is the gift of eternal life. It is offered to all who will believe in God’s Son. “That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). It is offered freely to all but only received by those who believe in Jesus Christ.

He died to set us free. Will you decide to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior so that you might find the freedom that comes only by knowing Him?

Freely to the Thirsty

How simple and how encouraging are these final invitations to the thirsty in the closing pages of God’s Word.

“I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely” (Rev. 21:6).

“Let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17).

Freely, for nothing, through no effort of yours, God will give. Freely, you may receive, whoever you may be, forgiveness of sins, life everlasting and a home in heaven with Him. Oh, accept this wonderful invitation now, before it is forever too late!

God's Silence

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

And why is God silent now? Because His every attribute has been proved and fully shown in Christ. In giving His Son He did all that could be done for the salvation of men, and now He is waiting to see how we treat His message of pardon. In the gospel He has spoken His last word of mercy, and the day of His wrath has not come. He, who is to come as Judge, is now sitting on the throne as Savior. The great amnesty is still in force. The day of mercy still runs its course.

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

It is no use for you to say, “I’ll be neutral,” for the Lord Jesus Christ says, “He that is not with Me is against Me.” There is no middle ground.

Christ or the world-WHICH?

He Came

Into a world of misery and shame,

Into a scene of sorrow and pain,

Into the realm of a rebel’s reign,

The Lord of glory came.

Came with a message of love and cheer,

Came with words that banish our fear,

Came with power for all who’d hear-

Power to set them free.

Taking our sorrows only to groan,

Taking our burdens in love alone,

Taking our sin to be judged as His own,

Kinsman-Redeemer is He!

Passing the rich, and calling the poor,

Passing self-righteous for the publican’s door,

Passing by angels, to man He drew near-

Savior of sinners is He!

"He Waited in Vain for Help that Never Came."

Carl checked the angle of his camera lens one last time and then snapped the picture. It was a perfect summer day above the Arctic Circle, where he was stationed alone in the wilderness to photograph wildlife. A few years before, he had gone on a similar expedition in the same area and wanted to return to capture more pictures of the beauty of the tundra.

Starting out in mid-March, Carl took 500 rolls of film and 1400 pounds of food with him. His diet was mostly beans and rice, and this would last until he was picked up in August.

Over the summer, Carl recorded his adventures carefully in his notebook. Migrating animals returned and settled in the photographer’s valley, and his notebook was full of descriptions of nature around him.

August brought cooler weather, and with it an array of yellows, browns and reds. Constant rain signaled an early winter, and Carl began to look for the plane that was supposed to take him back home. Unfortunately, he had not made definite arrangements as to exactly when he wanted to be picked up, and now he was realizing his mistake. His scientific notebook began recording his worries.

In mid-August Carl wrote, “I think I should have used more foresight about arranging my departure. I’ll soon find out. Am down to beans now...just over a gallon. That may not last two weeks. Finished off the rice yesterday.”

From here on began the struggle to survive and the long wait for help. Carl set traps daily for fish and small animals, only to have them robbed by wolves. Occasionally he would manage to steal food from the ravens. He tore bark off the trees and boiled it with the few spices he had left. And every day he looked for the plane that did not come.

We are all accustomed to making definite arrangements for events in our lives. It may feel like the summer of your life right now, with everything beautiful and fulfilling around you. But life on earth does not last forever, and there is an eternity after death to seriously consider. Have you made definite arrangements to be taken safely to heaven at the end of your life on earth? The One who can give you peace and assurance about it is the One who loves you and cares about you, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only One who can take you there, and when the time comes, He will not leave you waiting or wondering without hope. He has promised, “I will come again, and receive you unto Myself” (John 14:3). Because He died on the cross to save sinners from their sins, you can be certain that the Lord Jesus will take you safely to heaven if you have settled the matter of your sins with Him.

In October, the frostbitten and nearly starved Carl spotted a state plane overhead. Waving wildly, he tried to attract the attention of the pilot. However, when the pilot did see Carl, he thought Carl was giving the “okay” signal and flew on. Carl, not knowing the correct signal for distress, had waved in a way that said, “All okay. Do not wait.” That was the last time that anyone saw Carl alive.

By the end of November Carl was so weak and hungry that he knew death was very near. As the darkness of the Arctic night closed around him, he could only make one last entry in his notebook: “Am burning the last of my emergency light and just fed the fire the last of my split wood. When the ashes cool, I’ll be cooling along with them. Dear God in heaven, please forgive me my weakness and my sins. Please look over my family.”

When a state trooper landed in the clearing the following February, he found only Carl’s frozen body. A newspaper ran the story with the title, “He Waited in Vain for Help That Never Came.”

In the end, when Carl had lost all hope and realized that there was no one else to help him, then he turned to God, asking for forgiveness for his sins. Why not definitely settle the issue of eternal life with Jesus right now? He loves you and wants to forgive your sins, if you will let Him. He promises, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God [Jesus]; that ye may know that ye have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).

Homeless

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

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

No amount of wealth or luxury on earth can ever compensate for the loss of all things in eternity. “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36).

Prosperity on earth, at the expense of bankruptcy of the soul, leads to everlasting remorse. There is no poverty like that which faces a lost soul in the bitterness of an eternity without Christ.

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

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

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

How a Sailor Was Converted

In 1940 I entered the Royal Navy and was drafted to the H. M. S. Exeter. I soon found that there was a “religious” man on board, and he offered me a little paper called “The Way of Salvation.” I took it and promised to read it.

One day when I had nothing else to do, I read the booklet and found that it contained several verses from the Bible. One verse particularly impressed me. It was 1 John 1:7: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” I soon forgot it.

Before long we were hit by a torpedo and began to sink. Three and a half hours later I was picked up by a destroyer, possibly the very one that sank our ship. My “religious” shipmate was taken prisoner at the same time.

Soon we were taken to a prison camp. Many of the men died there. One night I was afraid to go to sleep; tired and weak, I was afraid that I would soon meet God, and I worried about my past sins.

I went to my Christian friend and told him all about it. He took me out of the noise and confusion of our bamboo and grass hut, and under the open tropical sky, lit with moon and stars, spoke of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He said, “Believe God and what He says in His Word. ‘The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.’” It was the same verse I had read and remembered!

I went down on my knees, claimed the forgiveness God promised to repentant sinners, and received the Lord Jesus Christ as my own Savior. The joy that followed was inexpressible-His presence made even that prison camp seem like heaven to me.

And you-have you the joy and peace that comes with believing God? The pleasures that this world offers are very fleeting and cannot be compared to what the believer in Christ Jesus has.

There are two things necessary for the salvation of your soul: the work of Christ on the cross, and your acceptance of His work. If you have not yet told the Lord Jesus that you receive Him as your Savior, do it NOW while there is still time.

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

"How Shall We Escape If We Neglect so Great Salvation?"

As in the days of Noah, just before the great flood, “the earth also was corrupt before God; and the earth was filled with violence” (Gen. 6:11), so today men are trusting in weapons and leaving God out.

“Perilous times” are coming upon us! Frantic human efforts are being mustered to patch up the sinking ship. We read in Luke 21:25-26, “Upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity... men’s heart failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.” (Doesn’t it sound like today?)

“The end of all things is at hand” (1 Peter 4:7). “The coming of the Lord draweth nigh” (James 5:8). The Lord Jesus has warned you to “take heed to yourselves, lest...that day come upon you unawares” (Luke 21:34).

Let us suppose a ship is foundering at sea, exceedingly rotten and leaky, and filling fast. From the shore a lifeboat is launched and pulls alongside the doomed vessel. The captain of the lifeboat calls to every person on board to leave the old ship immediately.

But the people on board refuse. One says, “Our ship is not so bad; she only needs a little repair and paint.”

Another says, “Away with both you and your lifeboat! We have a carpenter of our own, and we can repair this ship ourselves.”

Most go on with their games and their drinking, while some, working with emergency tools, are determined to keep the old ship afloat. Just a few see their danger and take advantage of the only way to escape.

The ship, left to itself, fills and sinks. Now, tell me, if every refuser on board goes down, who is to blame? The lifeboat was sent to them, but they refused to come aboard!

Christ Jesus is the lifeboat. The Father sent His Son to deliver us from this evil, perishing world. God so loved this poor, ruined, sinking world that He gave His beloved Son, that whosoever believes in Him might not perish.

“Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him” (Psa. 2:12).

BUT, “how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Heb. 2:3).

In 1912, the largest and safest vessel that had ever been built, the “unsinkable Titanic,” struck an iceberg and sank. “The staggering fact,” an editor commented, “is not that the ship went down, but that she still went on after fifteen hours of radio warnings, her engines at full speed, her band playing, her passengers dancing, and, apparently, nobody caring that there was ice ahead.”

Do not ignore the danger ahead. Accept the salvation Christ offers today.

Is He Willing to Save Me?

There is no doubt of God’s power, but the question is, “Is He willing?” It’s an important question and one that only the Word of God can possibly answer.

When the poor leper came to Jesus, the thought in his mind was, “Is He willing?” When he saw Jesus, he fell on his face, imploring Him, “Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.”

The blessed Lord was not long in making reply. Oh, no! His loving heart was moved in the presence of the man’s misery and helplessness, and He stretched forth His hand and touched him, saying, “I will: be thou clean.” And immediately the leprosy departed from him.

Never was there a case of need brought to Jesus, whether a need of body or of spirit, that He was unwilling or unable to meet. In His presence and by His love and power, all need was met, whether it was a leper in his leprosy or a sinner in his sins. “I will: be thou clean” was the answer to the leper; “thy sins are forgiven,” to the sinner. It is ever, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise [no way] cast out” (John 6:37).

It Is Finished

Were Jesus on the cross,

The work were not completed;

But He to glory’s gone,

Above the heavens now seated.

Were Jesus in the grave,

Death had not been defeated;

But God has raised Him up,

And now the work’s completed!

Were Jesus not on high,

We had been doubting, fearing,

But every doubt is stilled

By Christ in heaven appearing.

It is a finished work,

And God delights to view it;

It is a wondrous work,

And none but Christ could do it!

On it I rest my all,

Without one doubt or quiver;

For by the precious blood

I’m saved-and saved forever!

And God is glorified;

Oh, what a wondrous story!

And rebel man is saved

And so made fit for glory.

Just an Ordinary Day

Sometime some ordinary day will come,

A busy day like this-filled to the brim

With ordinary tasks-perhaps so full

That we have little thought or care for Him.

And there will be no hint from silent skies,

No sign, no clash of cymbals, roll of drums,

And yet that ordinary day will be

The very day in which our Lord will come.

Kalalochi Dangerous Riptide

The summer camping season on the Olympic Peninsula begins on Memorial Day weekend. Thousands of eager campers brave the long ferryboat lines and drive for hours to enjoy the area’s scenic beauty. One of the most popular camping destinations is Kalaloch Beach on the Pacific Ocean. Its hundreds of campsites are scattered along lanes in the forest above the beach. A short hike from the campsites to a flight of steps brings campers to one of the most beautiful, expansive beaches along the Pacific Coast. A sign at the top of the steps warns beach-goers of two of the dangers of the beach. It would be wise for hikers to pay attention to the warnings, because it seems that every year there is a serious accident. The sign first warns swimmers about the giant pieces of driftwood that are tossed about like little playthings by the incoming waves and smash anything that gets in their way. The second warning on the sign informs people using the beach about the dangerous riptides that sometimes lurk beneath the surface of the water.

A riptide is a strong, narrow tide that opposes other currents and produces turbulence, especially as water rushes back seaward after incoming waves mount up on the shore. These riptides are especially strong on days when the tides are extreme. The Papkov family planned to spend three days enjoying the campground and the beautiful beach. On the last day of the camping trip, tragedy struck the family. The two children in the family were walking in the edge of the surf along the beach. They had already spent two days wading in and out of the water, but they were unaware that conditions had changed and a swift riptide was flowing. As they walked along, a large wave crashed into them, knocking them down. Before they could recover, the riptide sucked them out into deeper water. The bottom is uneven at this part of the beach, and they found themselves in over their heads. The girl was able to struggle back to shore, but the boy completely disappeared in the unforgiving ocean. Park authorities made a lengthy search, but the boy had to be presumed drowned. Despite the warning sign on the beach, the riptides at Kalaloch had claimed another young life.

There is a riptide in the affairs of the lives of men in this world too. It is as if the great mass of people in the world is like the sea, and sometimes they are pulled this way and then that way (much like the tides) by prevailing attitudes. Salvation from sin by a Savior who died and rose again isn’t popular in today’s world. It seems as though a riptide is running and carrying men, women and children away from finding safety in the One who died at Calvary. Like the boy in the story, they are being carried away from safety and swept out to destruction. Safety is only found in the Lord Jesus. He was taken by cruel hands and crucified; a soldier stuck a spear deep into His side. He was buried in a tomb hewn out of rock. Roman soldiers rolled a rock over the tomb to close it and then sealed it and set a guard of soldiers to make sure no one would tamper with it. For the rest of that day (the preparation day for the Sabbath), all of the Sabbath, and then the early part of the “first day of the week” His body lay in the grave. Then early on that “first day of the week” He arose from the grave in resurrection. The rock was rolled aside and angels sat where His body had been laid. He appeared to His disciples many times over the next forty days. Once, there is even a record of Him eating fish and honeycomb with them. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the grave is the proof that He is the Son of God. As it says in Romans, “Declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”

Make no mistake about it. It was God who created the world, and God who intervened to perform miracles, and it was God who raised up the Lord Jesus. It is also God who calls all men to repentance and faith in His Son so that they might receive the gift of eternal life. “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God” (John 1:12). What you do with the Lord Jesus will determine where you will spend eternity. “He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation” (John 5:24).

Will you confess Him as your Lord and Savior, so that you receive the gift of eternal life? Or will you reject the message and come into condemnation? You alone must decide. And you alone must bear the consequences of your decision. There is a real hell waiting for those who reject the Lord Jesus-there is heaven and eternal life for all those who truly believe He is the Son of God and who accept His salvation. That the riptides of unbelief are running through this world shouldn’t surprise anyone. This is the same world that refused and crucified the Lord Jesus after He had done incredible works of power and love! It is our prayer that you escape the dangerous riptides of unbelief and find joy and safety in trusting in the risen Christ as Lord and Savior.

Living With Danger

In the year 62 A.D. two small towns in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius were severely damaged by an earthquake. For sixteen years the citizens of the two towns worked to rebuild their towns bigger and better than ever. They were still building in 79 A.D., when Vesuvius erupted and buried both towns. Of the estimated twenty thousand people living in Pompeii, at least two thousand died, and the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were totally destroyed.

Coming nearer to our time, in 1631, Vesuvius erupted again and killed four thousand people.

Closer still, in 1980 an earthquake struck Naples, in the shadow of Vesuvius, and claimed three thousand lives.

Asked about the possibility of a really gigantic upheaval in that unstable area, a great scientist answered, “We prefer to forget about the prospect!”

There were only twenty thousand in 79 A.D., but the whole area may contain two million today. Two million souls living in the shadow of total catastrophe! Of course, they “prefer to forget”-but can they?

Every tremor of the earth (one town has counted one hundred tremors in a single day), every rumble from Vesuvius, is a warning. Would you like to live “on the edge” like that?

You may stand on firm ground; you may never have experienced an earthquake nor even seen a volcano, but still you have no guarantee of safety even one hour ahead.

We read in the Bible, God’s letter to us, that “now is the accepted time...now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). Nowhere does God say to you, “It is all right to put it off today; there will always be tomorrow!”

No, never! Never! He says instead, “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Prov. 27:1).

Oh, please don’t say, “I prefer to forget about that prospect!”

The people who live in the “Fiery Fields” near Vesuvius may feel that they must stay there-all that they have is there. They may not think that they have any choice. But you do have a choice. Your immortal soul is in danger-was born in danger-but you may still “flee from the wrath to come” (Matthew 3:7).

You have only to turn to the Lord Jesus and receive the salvation He freely offers you, and you can know that you are safe, forever safe, on the Rock that can never be moved or shaken. “Who is God save the Lord? or who is a rock save our God?” (Psa. 18:31).

The choice is yours!

“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19).

Lost in a Swamp

Two-year-old Windie didn’t intend to get lost. She just started out to follow the older children into the woods near her home, but two-year-old legs are pretty short. Unable to keep up with the others, she trudged along contentedly behind them.

Further and further ahead hiked the children, and at last they were completely out of sight. Still Windie followed in the way she thought they had gone. At last even their voices died away in the distance, and the silence was broken only by the occasional call of a bird, the chatter of a squirrel in the trees, or mysterious rustlings and scurrying in the underbrush.

Windie trudged on, cold and tired, but still hoping to catch up with the others. Night was beginning to catch up with her, and she was shivering in her thin little shirt. It was really dark now, and mosquitoes and night insects began to swarm. She couldn’t see the path any longer, and vines and bushes scratched and tore her bare little feet. Windie was thoroughly lost and frightened, but still in the dark woods she went on—and on—and on.

At home there was panic. Her mother and father were out searching the neighborhood; then the neighbors joined them. Soon the sheriff’s office was called, and every one available was out looking for the missing toddler.

There were lights flashing in the dark woods, and voices calling, “Windie! Windie!” Over it all sounded the drone of a helicopter circling with its big spotlight.

The hours passed so slowly. Nine-ten-eleven o’clock, and still no little girl. Midnight came, and the sheriff realized that his men were not only dead tired, but they would have to be on duty again in the morning. He called off the search for a while to let them get some sleep.

The helicopter too was having difficulties. A ground fog its light could not penetrate made it useless, and its crew had to quit.

And the little girl was still lost.

Two men could not bear to give up the search. Joe Bernadini and Larry Lee thought of their own children, safe and snug at home in their beds, and back they went into the dark woods. Larry said, “I have three babies at home. If you have three babies at home, you know why I went back to look for her!”

More hours passed. Once their flashlight beam caught a rattlesnake slithering away from the light, then two water moccasins. Now they were searching the edges of a swamp. Right and left the lights flashed, and-what was that? Something caught in the light-a little figure, a tousle of brown hair Windie! Sound asleep, nestled in the crook of a log, Windie was found.

Gently they lifted her, cold and wet and muddy, wrapped her in their jackets, and carried her back to her mother’s waiting arms. Oh, what joy in that home!

Do you remember the story of the lost sheep in Luke 15-about the shepherd who lost one sheep in the wilderness and went out searching until he found it?

When he had found it, he carried it home rejoicing. At home, he called his friends and neighbors and said, “Rejoice with Me; for I have found my sheep which was lost”! That was how Windie’s parents and neighbors felt.

Have you ever felt like Windie, lost and miserable and not knowing which way to turn in the darkness? There is One who is searching for you, One who wants so much to lift you up out of the dark and dangerous wilderness of this world and carry you, rejoicing, to His home.

The lost sheep had to wait to be found; Windie could not send her parents a message, “Here I am in the swamp,” but you can say, right now, “Lord Jesus, I want to be found. I want to come home.”

Will He do it? Will He save you? Oh, try and see! He says, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.”

Do you think that Windie said, “Please leave me here—I’ll find my own way home”? Silly thought, isn’t it? But are you saying to the seeking Savior, “Leave me alone-I’ll find my own way and in my own time”?

Don’t do it! Let Him find you NOW. This is the only time you can be sure of. It doesn’t matter how far away you may have wandered-He is able to save to the uttermost.

And who was happiest, Windie or her mother and father? The parents rejoiced, their neighbors rejoiced with them, and the Lord Jesus will say, “Rejoice with Me; for I have found My sheep which was lost.”

More than that: “Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:7). Wouldn’t it be wonderful to know that there can be joy in heaven over you?

Lost in the Fog

The land in the extreme northwest corner of the continental United States exists in almost the same condition as it did long ago. Tall evergreens reach hundreds of feet upwards. Bear, cougar and elk make their homes there. Pacific waves, after traversing the largest ocean in the world, crash onto the beaches and rocky walls of the coast. No roads extend to this remote area.

One morning in August, 2002, a fog had settled over the region. Two sport fishermen had launched their 19-foot boat at Neah Bay, a small fishing village on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. They motored through the Strait and rounded this corner of the United States, entering the Pacific Ocean. While they were passing between the coast and Tatoosh Island, a freak accident happened. The bow of the boat was cutting neatly through the waves when out of the fog a “rogue” wave, several times larger than normal, struck the boat.

The wave curled over and crashed down onto the bow of the boat. The impact forced the bow of the boat steeply down, and the aft of the boat was lifted sharply out of the water. The fisherman in the bow was tossed out of the craft, while the man in the aft only stayed in the boat by clinging to the rails. The boat was swamped with water. Since neither of the men had on life jackets, the man who was still in the boat had the presence of mind to throw a boat cushion to his friend in the water. He then found a buoy for himself before the boat sank.

The water is so intensely cold in this part of the world that in only minutes hypothermia can rob a person of the use of their limbs. The fog, although beginning to thin, made it unlikely that they would be spotted in the water. The current was carrying the two men farther apart. They were in trouble indeed.

Glen Phillips, a retired gentleman, and his partner had just arrived to fish this area. He was getting his equipment ready when he heard a faint sound over the water. Listening closely, he thought it might be a call for help. He asked his partner to listen, but he thought it was only the barking of some distant seal. This didn’t satisfy Glen. He started his engines and the two men headed in the direction he thought the sound was coming from. He motored about four hundred yards and stopped the engines and listened again. This time the cry for help was heard distinctly, and they were able to locate the man clinging to a buoy. They hauled him into the boat where he collapsed. He only had enough strength to mumble “my friend” and pointed in the general direction of his friend. Glen understood that someone else was in the water and searched until they found him too. When they rescued the second man, he was in worse shape than the first. The two were saved by the narrowest of margins. Only a few more minutes in the frigid water and it is likely they would have perished.

“Help!” came the call over the water, and Glen Phillips heard the faint call. There is One who hears every call for help, no matter how faint. He never fails to respond, and this One is God. Have you called to Him? You ought to. He has made you and knows all about you. In fact, He knows you better than you know yourself. He knows what will make you truly happy and knows every pain or sorrow that you feel. Not only does He know you, He loves you. And because of His great love, He sent His Son to Calvary’s cross. It was there that the Person dearest to God’s heart suffered as none ever will. “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).

All sinners need to call on Him, because they are in danger of perishing in their sins. They are in trouble because God is holy, just and good, while the sinner comes up short in all these things. “God is light,” the Bible states, while it also says of sinners, “Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). Because they have loved darkness, they will be consigned to the darkness of a lost eternity as a deserving and just punishment of their sins. This is why it is so important for everyone to call on God. “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:13).

Don’t let the fog of unbelief keep you from calling on the Lord for salvation. Thousands upon thousands have already called on Him. He has heard each one and never refused any. Don’t be left behind. Call on Him today and receive the salvation He offers you.

Luther's Vision

It is said that Martin Luther, during a serious illness, seemed to see Satan coming to him with a great scroll. On it were written all the sins and errors of his life. Looking at him with a triumphant smile, Satan unrolled the scroll before Luther and said, “These are your sins. There is no hope of your going to heaven.”

Luther read the long list with growing consternation, when suddenly it flashed upon his mind that there was one thing not written there.

He said aloud: “It is all true, but one thing you have forgotten. Write: ‘The blood of Jesus Christ His [God’s] Son cleanseth us from all sin’ (1 John 1:7).”

Mystery Solved

One day as I was biking in my neighborhood, I noticed my neighbors had a new lawn ornament: a pig. Now this was no ordinary porker. He was made of cement, three and a half feet by two feet-a real eye catcher! They told me he was given to them as a wedding gift.

After about a year, I noticed that the pig was no longer in their yard. I asked about it, and they told me that he had been stolen.

For three years he was missing, and its place in their yard was bare. Then one day I saw the pig in their yard again!

I stopped to tell them how surprised I was to see it. This is the story they told: “We thought of having a pool built in our yard, and had a pool builder come over. He was showing us pictures of pools he had built, and by one of them, there was our pig!”

So that was how they were able to track him down. I immediately thought of the verse, “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Num. 32:23).

The people who stole him even tried to camouflage him by painting him a rusty brown, but he was unique and his true owners recognized him.

“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy” (Prov. 28:13).

The Lord Jesus, the Son of God, said, “There is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known” (Matt. 10:26). Think about that; think very seriously about that, and then make sure that your sins are not hidden, not covered, but washed white and clean.

“Wash you, make you clean....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 1:16,18).

The pig is at home; my neighbors are happy, but what about those who stole the pig and then tried to cover the theft with a coat of paint? A police report had been filed, and they will have to stand trial with the evidence against them. If they had only remembered that “he that covereth his sins shall not prosper”!

No Diving

The signs were plain enough: “NO DIVING!” But the sandy, white beach shone in the sunlight, and the long pier stretched out temptingly over the blue water.

Past the signs the young men ran, laughing and shouting as they raced out onto the pier and into the water. Splashing—swimming—diving—and then one silent moment of panic and a frantic call of “Lifeguard! Lifeguard!”

Ah-h! There was a reason for the “NO DIVING” signs. Just under the water the cruel rocks waited, and one diver’s head struck as he went down.

Precious minutes passed as they searched for him under the water-more time was lost in bringing him to shore-and by then it was too late. Once a faint flutter of a pulse gave hope, but cardiopulmonary resuscitation, oxygen, injection, and even electrical shocks could not keep it beating.

An hour later the doctors at the hospital looked at each other and shook their heads wearily. He was dead-dead at nineteen-his life cut off almost before it began-because he would not be warned by the signs.

There had been many other signs in his life. We all meet them every day-“NO PARKING,” “YIELD,” “SLOW,” “DANGEROUS CURVE”-and probably he had ignored them often and “got by with it.”

Don’t we do the same? And we often “get by” too. No policeman stops us. No accident happens. We made it again! Silly old signs!

But sooner or later we speed past the “SLOW” sign—and the crash comes—or we dive into the dangerous water and strike sharp rocks.

God has posted His signs in our lives too. He has said that “the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” But we go on “getting by” with this and that, forgetting that He sees us-forgetting that “because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily...the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil” (Eccl. 8:11).

There are other warnings-other signposts-in our lives. Every funeral and every cemetery is a warning-a reminder that “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). Can we race on past the warning signs to crash on the rocks below? Can we ignore the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, who “was once offered to bear the sins of many”?

Yes, we can. But—“know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment” (Ecclesiastes 11:9). We may seem to “get by” and “get away with it” for a time, but never forget that “God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14).

No More Time

God has told us in His Word (the Bible) that there is a time for every purpose and every word. He also says that “now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).

He waits in patience, beseeching men to repent. He sends warning after warning by the catastrophes and the unusual weather conditions we are experiencing. Do not let these warnings pass unnoticed!

The day of grace—God’s NOW—is soon to end, but until that day the invitation will go out, saying, “Yet there is room” (Luke 14:22). The house is not yet filled; the door is not yet closed, and God is still saying, “Come.”

But even as God has appointed a time for every word, He has also “appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness” (Acts 17:31). When that day has come, when that hour has struck, there will be “time no longer” (Rev. 10:6).

No more delay, no more waiting in grace, no more an open door, no more room! NOW God offers eternal life and forgiveness to “whosoever will” on the ground of the work accomplished on the cross by His own beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. THEN it will be too late. Then there will be “time no longer.”

No Second Chance

There was a great fire some years ago in Minneapolis, and one of the newspaper buildings was wrapped in flames. The man in charge of the Associated Press dispatches sat in the ninth story of the burning building and sent out a message all over America: “The building is burning. The fire is in the sixth story, and I am in the ninth.”

A little later he sent out a second message: “The fire is in the seventh story and I am in the ninth.”

Then he sent a third message: “The fire is in the eighth story and I am in the ninth.”

When he could hear the crackling of the flames near him he started to escape. Others in the building had escaped; they had made their way quickly down the ladders and fire escapes. But now when the announcer attempted to use them, they were too hot to handle. When he went to the stairway, fire and smoke blocked him. He rushed back to the window. He stood for a moment on the window casing, then leaped out to lay hold of a rope-and missed his footing.

The rest of the story I need not tell you. In spite of abundant provision for his escape, that man was killed.

Why?

Neglect! He neglected to escape while there was time.

And-“how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Heb. 2:3).

God has provided a way of perfect salvation for us, salvation from all the horrors of a lost eternity, but if we neglect to escape before it is too late, there will never be a second chance.

No Time for God

No time for God?

What fools we are to clutter up

Our lives with common things,

And leave without heart’s gate

The Lord of life-and Life itself-

Our God.

No time for God?

As soon to say, no time

To eat or sleep or love or die!

Take time for God,

Or you shall dwarf your soul,

And when the angel death

Comes knocking at your door,

A poor misshapen thing you’ll be

To step into Eternity.

No time for God?

That day when sickness comes

Or trouble finds you out

And you cry out for God-

Will He have time for you?

No time for God?

Someday you’ll lay aside

This mortal self and make your way

To worlds unknown,

And when you meet Him face to face,

Will He-should He-

Have time for you?

None but Christ Can Satisfy

Oh Christ, in Thee my soul has found,

And found in Thee alone,

The peace, the rest I sought so long,

The joy till now unknown.

I sighed for rest and happiness;

I longed for them, not Thee,

But while I passed my Savior by

His love laid hold of me.

Now none but Christ can satisfy,

None other name for me;

There’s love and life and lasting joy,

Lord Jesus, found in Thee!

Not Good Etiquette

It was a cold and damp evening when we walked down Market Street in San Francisco and saw an elderly man selling newspapers. We stopped and bought a paper from him, feeling sorry that it was necessary for a man his age to be out on such a night selling papers. Having paid for the paper, we asked him if he knew the Lord Jesus.

He replied: “It is not good etiquette to ask such a personal question!” Then he added: “Would you ask me how much money I had in the bank?”

We, of course, told him that we would not, but this was something entirely different; there was no comparison between the two things. To ask about a person’s money would be merely curiosity and rude, but to speak of the Lord to others is of vital importance. The Lord’s command is, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:15-16).

This man was disturbed by the question. Does it disturb you when you think of eternal things? If it does, it is a sign that things are not right between yourself and God.

We read in Isa. 59:2 that “your iniquities have separated between you and your God.” This alienation is a very real thing, and it leaves a person in darkness, blindness and ignorance as far as the knowledge of God is concerned. This being so, we all need to be reconciled to God.

If your home was on fire, you would not mind it if someone who realized the danger hammered on the door and shouted at the top of his voice in order to awaken you. You would not complain about the etiquette of the matter! No, you would be very grateful to be aroused in time to save your life.

And this is not to be compared to the value of your soul. If your soul is slumbering—sleeping the sleep of death, as it were—you need to be awakened, and we would like to ask you the same question which we asked the elderly paper-seller: “Do you know the Lord Jesus?”

Several years ago we took a shortcut through a railroad yard. As we walked along, suddenly we heard a man shouting excitedly. Turning around, we realized the danger we were in. We were right in the path of a string of freight cars being backed up by a switch engine. We leaped to safety and wasted not one thought on the “etiquette” of the warning!

We knew of another man who also was walking along the railroad track, but this time out in the country. We knew the engineer of the express train who told the story of seeing the man on the tracks. The train was traveling fast at this point, but he blew the whistle while there was plenty of time for the man to get off the track. The man just turned around and kept walking as though there was no danger. The whistle blew the second time, but no attention was paid to it. When the third whistle sounded, it was too late and the man lost his life.

We read in the Bible, “God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not” (Job 33:14). It is a serious thing to turn a deaf ear when God speaks to us, or to put Him off and say in your heart, Some other time-not now. Wouldn’t you like to know that all is well with your soul?

You can know, here and now. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself said it: “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).

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

On the outskirts of the town where I live in the state of Washington there is an area of exclusive homes called Bell Hill. People like to own homes on Bell Hill to take advantage of the panoramic mountain and water views. On a clear day, depending on your vantage point, you can see most of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Vancouver Island, the San Juan Islands, snow-covered Mount Baker and the Cascade Range, as well as some of the mountains and valleys of the Olympic mountain range. The higher your vantage point, the better the views become. It does seem as though from the top of Bell Hill “on a clear day you can see forever.”

When I heard this phrase, “On a clear day you can see forever,” I thought, What an interesting figure of speech! It is what an English teacher would call hyperbole because it uses exaggeration to make a strong point. It also takes a word that describes length of time-“forever”-and instead uses it to describe a long distance. Now ask yourself a question: If you could see down the corridor of time a long way-even to that time known as “forever” what would you see? How would you see yourself? What do you see yourself doing?

“This is difficult,” you say. “Who can do such a thing with any certainty?” Looking into the future from the low elevation of man’s reasoning, one can’t see too far. But when a person stands on the high ground of God’s Word the future may be clearly seen.

From the pages of God’s inspired book you can learn that you will be in one of two eternal places. Either you will be “forever with the Lord,” in a body that is incorruptible and in a place called heaven where just to breathe the atmosphere is to know a fullness of joy. Those in this happy place will be there because they have trusted in the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Or you will be in the dark, horrid regions of hell. You will be there because sin and unbelief kept you from the greatest blessing God had for mankind. Instead of being in the Savior’s presence, you will be in hell with the devil and his minions who will be tormented forever for all the evil they caused.

Forever with the Lord, or forever a great distance apart from Him. Those who will be forever with the Lord will be at home in the most expensive real estate ever. The price for any soul to get to heaven is the “precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot.” All the gold and silver in the world is nothing when compared to the price that was paid at Calvary. And heaven is real estate. There is nothing unreal about it. Those who will be there will have real glorified bodies, they will know real joys that never fade, and they will have a real home where they shall see the Savior face to face—the most wonderful sight ever.

Hell is just the opposite of all this. Where heaven is full of joy, hell is full of sorrow. Where heaven is full of wonderful light, hell will be in “the blackness of darkness forever.” It is the cheapest real estate ever. It will cost people nothing to get there; it will take no effort to enter. What do you have to do to end up in hell? Not a thing; just go on living in indifference to the claims of the Savior. It is a cheap but awful place, because its sorrows, miseries and regrets are real and they will last forever.

Many people today live their lives without a care for the One who loved them so much that He went to the cross to die for them. They excuse their spiritual indifference by believing that it is impossible to know anything that is spiritual with any certainty.

As sure as God has made you with two hands, two feet and a heart and mind, He has also made you a spiritual being with the capability to know spiritual truths. He wants you to know and understand Him. He wants you to feel a deep need of Him. He wants you to look down the corridor of time and see what the future holds for believers as well as the lost. And best of all, He wants you to come to the Lord Jesus Christ as the only Savior of sinners, so that you might receive the forgiveness of sins and the assurance that you will spend eternity with Him in heaven.

Oh, that you might see clearly what the future holds in store for you, and that you might look to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Isa. 45:22).

Only a Step

“There is but a step between me and death” (1 Sam. 20:3). So said David to his friend Jonathan when King Saul was seeking to kill him. It was easy for him to realize his danger in the circumstances.

Sometimes we can see and know that there is “only a step” between us and death. Stand at the brink of Niagara Falls. One step more, and death will be quick-and sure-and horrible.

Or climb over the guard rail at the Grand Canyon for a little better view or a different camera angle, and it is easy to see death “only a step” away. Perhaps not even that much, if the crumbling rock falls! Then, six seconds to the canyon floor, and-? Most of us aren’t about to take such risks.

But suppose that we “watch our step,” guard our health and never take chances. We may live to be a hundred years old and receive a birthday greeting from the President. There is still only a step between us and death-only a breath, only a heartbeat between us and eternity.

But if there is only a step between you and death, there is-thank God!-a Savior at hand, a Savior who is willing to save and able to save and who has said, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).

Only a step to Jesus!

Then why not take it now?

Come, and your sin confessing,

To Him, your Savior, bow.

Only a step to Jesus!

A step from sin to grace-

What has your heart decided?

The moments fly apace.

Only a step to Jesus!

Oh, why not come and say,

“Gladly to Thee, my Savior,

I give myself today?”

Our Living Water

Scientists tell us that our bodies are continually being renewed; old cells are thrown off and new cells are formed. Yet our individuality remains. Unlike the body, the soul is not composed of parts which dissolve or disintegrate, but it lives on-on into eternity.

Looking into Scripture we find out how this came about: “God said, Let Us [God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit] make man in Our image, after Our likeness” (Gen. 1:26). Then further in Gen. 2:7, “The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

How solemn then to think that the soul of each one of us will soon be in one of two places: either heaven or hell. Sin has come in, and “the soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezek. 18:4). God is a holy God, and cannot pass by sin. “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Is there an escape then from this judgment? Yes: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).

Time is short; the opportunity to accept Christ as Savior will soon be gone. If you are not saved when the Lord Jesus comes back, you will be lost forever.

“NOW is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).

Overturned on Hood's Canal

Ken Hopkins woke up in the predawn darkness of early morning and carefully dressed so he wouldn’t wake up either his wife or his four children. He wrote a note: “Daddy went crabbing on Hood’s Canal. When I get back at lunch we’ll have a picnic and feast on crab.”

He stuck the note to the refrigerator door and went out into the darkness to meet his friend. Together they drove to Hood’s Canal and put their small skiff into the water. Hood’s Canal is a long inlet of the sea that reaches inland in the Puget Sound region. The jagged, snowcapped peaks of the Olympic Mountain range seem to tower over its western edge. Most of the shoreline is uninhabited.

When one of them was hauling in the crab pot, the boat tipped over, throwing both of them into the frigid water. For half an hour they were partially submerged, clinging to the overturned boat. At this point the young father, who was beginning to feel the effects of hypothermia, decided the best chance he had for seeing his wife and children again was to swim for shore. His friend pleaded with him to stay with the boat. He pointed out that the distance to shore was too great and the water too bitterly cold to give him any chance of survival.

However, Ken pushed off from the boat and started to swim to the shore. After he swam a short distance, he disappeared out of sight. A short while later a Coast Guard helicopter rescued the man clinging to the boat. A search was organized for Ken, but he has not been found.

The young man’s family was devastated when they learned the news of his drowning. If he had only listened to the pleading of his friend, he would have been saved! An overturned boat in frigid water just didn’t seem to him like a thing he could place his trust in.

I would like to take a moment and plead with you about trusting in something that may seem weak and frail but is truly the only way of safety for the human soul. Nearly two thousand years ago outside Jerusalem a man was nailed to a cross. He was executed between two thieves like a common criminal. As He hung on the cross, men reviled Him, saying, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save” (Mark 15:31).

After He died, as a final act of contempt and reproach, a soldier stuck a spear deep into His side. In this One, who, to immediate appearances, went down in weakness and defeat, I would like to persuade you to trust with all your heart, for what was apparent defeat was in truth the most astounding victory the world will ever know. Because the Lord Jesus died on the cross, God can justly put away the sins of every person who will believe in Him. His death might at first seem contemptible, but in trusting in Him is the only way of safety.

His death and resurrection were a tremendous victory over sin, death and hell for us. It was a victory over sin because there is no other way to obtain the forgiveness of sins. “In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:14).

It was a victory over death, because God can now freely offer the gift of eternal life to all who believe: “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).

And it was a victory over hell, because those who deserve the misery of hell can, by the grace of God, make heaven their eternal home. “In My Father’s house are many mansions....I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2).

No other event in the history of the world holds so much meaning for each member of the human race as the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

All your soul’s safety depends on what you do with the entreaty, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and...be saved.” Believe and you will share in the victory that Christ won on the cross. Decline to believe in the Lord Jesus and you will find that you will never make the shores of heaven but will surely perish. Which will it be for you? With so much at stake, won’t you make the wise choice and find the safety that comes from knowing the one and only Savior of sinners?

Pathan or Christian

In India there lived a Kazi (a judge of a civil court) who was also a Pathan (a member of a group of people of eastern and southern Afghanistan) and a Mohammedan. Soon after trusting in Jesus Christ as his Savior, he went back to his frontier home in Afghanistan where he was entertained by his brother.

After a dinner in the brother’s house, the Kazi became ill. He suffered more and more, until he realized that he had been poisoned. Seeking to escape certain death at his brother’s hands, he fled the house and ran down the road until he fell unconscious by the roadside. There he was found by friends and rescued.

Later a bullet whizzed by his head and he narrowly escaped death a second time. Still another time he heard the click of a trigger and turned just in time to let a bullet pass harmlessly by.

Yet when his brother fell into financial difficulty, the Kazi tried to help him. He succeeded in getting someone to help his brother. The ungrateful brother wrote, “You are not a true Pathan, for no Pathan would ever forgive what I have done to you. I disown you!”

The Kazi wrote back, “Whether or not I am a true Pathan, you must judge. But what I am, this book has made me,” and he sent his brother a copy of the Bible.

Hard and unforgiving though the Pathan was, yet he could not resist the patient love of his Christian brother. Soon he was reading the Bible and learning of God our Savior, “who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” All men—everywhere. Pathan or Indian, Hindu or Muslim, all are invited to come in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ, the One who promises that “him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). Have you come?

"Patient Much Improved"

I’m an orderly at the county hospital, where you can see human misery in its worst form. The ‘County’ is a busy place, and the orderlies manage to keep pretty busy. But there are certain hours during the day when you can stop and relax. The hours between 9:00 and 11:00 in the evening, for instance, are ordinarily pretty dull.

It was just after 9:00 one evening when something happened that set me to thinking. The nurses had finished their dressings, the lights were out, and my patients were settled for the night. I was walking past one of the units where we keep the more seriously ill patients when I was stopped by a call.

I went in to see if I could be of any help. It was the patient in bed #52 who had called, but he hadn’t called me. It wasn’t my assistance he needed that night. As I leaned over to ask what he wanted, he called out again, “O God, please help me tonight.”

Just then the patient in bed #53 spoke up. “Why don’t you shut up?” he snapped peevishly. “You’ve been moaning all night. Look at me-I’m going up for a major operation in the morning, and I’m not squawking. It’ll take more than God to help you now.”

I looked over at #53. He had a tube inserted through his nose, and I silently agreed that he did have some reason for complaint. But the patient in #52 paid no attention to him and kept calling on God for assistance.

I couldn’t help wondering at their opposite views. One, close to death, was calling with simple faith to his Maker, while the other, so soon to be under the surgeon’s knife, was callously denouncing Him.

Another patient called me just then and I left the room.

I told the nurse that #52 was in pain, and I let it go at that.

I came to work at 2:30 the next day, the incident completely erased from my mind. I put on my jacket and was making a round of the patients when the head nurse pulled me aside.

“The patient in #53 went up to the operating room and expired under the anesthetic,” she said.

That set me to thinking again, so I went to look at #52. He was sleeping, but I picked up the chart from the foot of his bed. I glanced past the reports of temperature and medication until my eye caught the report of his condition: “Patient much improved.”

Since then I’ve thought a great deal about these two patients, #52 and #53: the one without faith, dead, and the other whose faith in God had made him a “patient much improved.”

How tragic to be “without faith.” It would be far better to be without health, without wealth, without work, without comforts-even without food-than to be without faith in Christ! Without faith there is no forgiveness of sins, no deliverance from judgment, no eternal life, no peace, no joy, no hope! But no one need be “without faith,” for “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. 10:17).

Are you living “without faith”? Are you like patient #53? If so, it is not yet too late to take God at His word and say with the Apostle Paul, “I know whom I have believed” (2 Tim. 1:12).

“Without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6).

Peace With God

“Peace with God”-do you have it?

There are many people who are weary and tired of everything in this life, and yet have nothing to cheer them in looking forward to the life to come. Are you one of these?

There are many who are thoroughly unhappy in their hearts, although they will not confess it unhappy because they know they are not living as God would have them-unhappy because they are not fit to die. Does this describe you?

Much of what is called “happiness” is utterly false and unreal. Laughter often comes from the lips of people who are inwardly heavy at heart. There are many who are always seeking happiness-and finding none.

I feel deeply sorry for those whose treasure is all on earth. When I see unrest and confusion on all sides, when I see nations shaken to the very foundation, I grieve for those who have no better portion than this world can give them.

But there is rest for the weary of heart, even in this world, if they will only seek it. There is real, solid, lasting happiness to be had on this side of the grave, if people would only inquire for it where it is to be found.

Where is this rest? Where is this happiness? It is to be found in Christ Jesus. It is given by Him to all who will admit their need and trust Him for relief. “Come unto Me,” He says, “all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).

If you want to be happy, then turn to God from a world which will never really satisfy you, and from sin which will lead to death. Come to the Lord Jesus as simply a sinner, and He will receive you, pardon you and fill you with peace. This will give you more real comfort than the world has ever done. There is a void-an emptiness-in your heart that nothing but the peace of Christ can fill.

“The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7).

Playing With Death

The show was packed. There was standing room only in the arena, and the alligator show was running on as smoothly as usual.

In the’ gator lagoon the big reptiles looked so harmless—sluggish, sleepy and lethargic. As he had done for months, Ron Chandler sat confidently on the back of one of the largest, a 250-pound seven-footer, pointing out particular features to the spectators.

Suddenly, without warning, the alligator attacked. Seizing Ron’s wrist in his teeth, he jerked him into the water and began to pull and twist his arm.

A gator’s teeth can close with a 2,000 pound-per-square-inch grip, and Ron was helpless in those jaws. What had seemed to be a well-rehearsed “playing with danger” routine suddenly became the reality of facing death, a particularly horrible death in the mouth of the alligator.

Two of the spectators jumped over the glass partition separating visitors from the lagoon and, grabbing a shovel, they crammed it down the’ gator’s throat to force it to release Ron. Losing his grip on his intended victim, the furious’ gator lunged at the rescuers until he was beaten back with the shovel and retreated at last into the water.

Ron Chandler had escaped death but suffered severe cuts and fractures to his wrist and arm.

Neither Ron nor anyone who watched that show and saw the sudden, unprovoked attack will ever trust an alligator! They may look too slow and sleepy to be dangerous, but-!

How many other things in this world look safe enough but can only bring disaster to one who permits himself to be deceived. It is so easy to say, “There’s no harm in this,” and, “I don’t see anything wrong with that.” “I only want a little fun just a few harmless thrills.”

Oh, be careful! Sometimes people are thinking “peace and safety,” but instead they meet “sudden destruction...and they shall not escape.”

Ron Chandler played with death, and he escaped even though seriously injured. But he did not do it alone. Rescuers came, at great risk to themselves, and saved him. You must have a Rescuer too, one who can save you from the “sudden destruction” that is hiding under the innocent appearance of things.

Who is He?

He is “the man Christ Jesus; who gave Himself a ransom for all” (1 Tim. 2:5-6).

“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).

Why play with death?

Pull Over!

The eastbound lanes of the four-lane highway were jammed bumper-to-bumper with commuters on their way into the city to work. Impatient motorists jockeyed for position in the never-ending stream of humanity.

Suddenly a fire truck appeared, siren blaring and lights flashing, as it bore down on the slowly moving stream of traffic. But no one pulled over. The traffic surged relentlessly on as the fire truck, still flashing its lights and sounding its siren, slowed to a crawl at the tail end of the line.

What was wrong? Were the drivers all deaf? Of course not.

The problem was not a lack of hearing, but a lack of attention. Sirens were so common in the huge metropolitan area that motorists simply didn’t notice them anymore.

Perhaps you have been ignoring some warning signals too.

The Bible tells us that God says, “I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded” (Prov. 1:24). “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 Christ] whom He hath ordained” (Acts 17:30-31).

Have you paid attention to His call and responded to His command? You’ve heard the warnings often-from your neighbor, from the girl at the next desk at the office, from the news media. Have you heard them so often that they just “go in one ear and out the other”?

The driver of the fire truck had one more resource at his command. Picking up the microphone in the cab of his truck, he broadcast a stern command at top volume: “All drivers pull your vehicles over to the right!”

The response was instantaneous. Every vehicle immediately pulled over to the right and the fire truck roared on by.

What made the difference? The personal touch—the voice of the fireman.

God has been speaking personally to you too. Remember the time you broke your leg? or the phone call that informed you that a loved one had died? or that near accident on the freeway last week? God uses these incidents and others like them to get your attention. How loudly is He going to have to speak before you listen?

His message is a loving one. He loves you so much that He sent the Lord Jesus to die so that you might have your sins forgiven. “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 blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

He is lovingly calling you and warning you of the terrible consequences of ignoring His call. Won’t you accept His offer of salvation today?

Rattlesnake

Thirteen boy scouts listened intently to the snake handler’s presentation. Thirteen pairs of eyes were fixed, first on the speaker, then on the bulgy blue bag on the table. The great moment came, the bag was opened, and handler Sam Clark prodded almost seven feet of angry rattlesnake onto the table.

Swiftly coiling, the great snake waited. Suddenly there was one careless gesture, one hand too close to the tense snake, and the snake handler jumped back holding his hand.

The snake slithered to the floor and turned toward the boys.

“Up on your chairs-stand up on your chairs!” the scoutmaster shouted. The scouts obeyed fast-but Sam Clark stepped directly in front of the snake. Pushing and shoving it with his foot, he kept turning it away from the scouts. It took the bitten Clark about ten minutes to bag the slippery snake again, and the boys were safe.

The scouts were safe, but Sam Clark was rushed to the emergency room at the hospital and then into intensive care.

Telling of it later, the scoutmaster said, “I think what Sam did was way beyond the call.”

The diamondback rattlesnake is rated as “the most dangerous snake in North America.” The very sight of one is likely to cause hysterical cries and shouts of “Look out! Run! Somebody get a gun!” But Sam Clark, already badly bitten, faced the deadly snake again to save the boys. And he did save them, at a bitter cost to himself.

Isn’t that just a little bit like our Lord? We were at the mercy of a deadlier “serpent” than the rattler. (The Bible speaks of the devil as “that old serpent.”) The Lord Jesus came between us and him, and offered Himself in our place. He gave His life that we might live. We have only to accept His sacrifice for us and (like the thirteen grateful scouts) thank Him for what He has done for us.

“What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord” (Psa. 116:12-13). That is all He asks of us!

Read the Instructions

The parts are scattered all around you-nuts, bolts, gears, wheels-and, screwdriver and wrench in hand, you are hard at work putting it all together. It looked simple. “A child can do it,” the advertisement said, but you have been working so long and it still won’t run-it wobbles here-there’s something missing there-there’s no place to put this part. What can you do?

Well, when all else fails, read the instructions! Read them carefully. Follow them, step by step. Connect part A to part B, part B to part C, and when every part is in its proper place, installed in correct order, what happens? It works. It works!

Is your life like that? Is it “all in pieces” around you? Does it seem that “nothing goes right”? It is time to read the instructions! Just as no reputable manufacturer would ship out his product without instructions, so God would never have left us human beings to guess and fumble and to try to put our lives together as best we could. He gives us clear instructions!

We begin with A: “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). When that is understood and accepted, we can go on to B: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). At last, C: “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Isn’t it simple? Isn’t it easy? And it works-it works! Millions have followed from A to B to C. Millions have proved that the promise is sure, that the instructions are good, and that they work. Why not you?

Rescue

I stepped to the doorway and took a deep breath of the damp, ocean-scented air. The fog lay thick on the water as it had since morning, but I could see the beach and the dunes that stretched away to the jetty. The boats were out there all right, and the sound of the outboards and throbbing of diesels carried back through the fog. This was the season for “kings,” and every morning hundreds of boats set out from the harbor in search of this fighting game fish. Jack stepped to the door and scanned the scene with his binoculars. “Can’t see a thing through that fog,” he said. “Sure hope they all know where they are!”

We went back to work, each absorbed in his own thoughts of the sea, hearing only the wail of the foghorn and the shriek of the whistle buoy. Suddenly, we became aware of a new sound. Looking out, we saw an aid car and a police car heading towards the jetty. Somebody must have been injured on the rocks!

Jack ran down and switched on the CB radio. In a moment he called, “Come on! Someone’s in trouble-a boat has capsized.” We climbed into the van and drove the half mile to the jetty. Jumping out, we ran to the top of the dunes. Sure enough, about 300 yards out in the middle of all that tumbling, frothing mass of water were two men in life jackets, clinging desperately to the hull of their overturned boat!

How helpless we felt as we stood there and watched those two men struggling to hang on while wave after foaming wave crashed over them, pushing them ever closer to the menacing rocks. “Lord, help them,” I prayed. “Eternity is so near!” Did they need to be told of their danger? No. They knew they desperately needed help. In one fearful moment they had been flung into the cold, turbulent waters and were facing death. How had it happened? Didn’t they have a chart? A compass? No one puts out to sea without those, especially in a fog! But friend, how is your frail craft faring on the great sea of life? Have you set out without chart or compass, or perhaps even without a captain? What is your final port of call?

Have you looked into those swirling green waters and seen the fearful rocks and reefs of trouble and been swept along on a tide of overwhelming grief and pain? Have you risen on a mighty wave of happiness and success, only to be plunged into the depths of agony and despair? Have you longed for that anchor you forgot, that could have steadied your vessel from its weary and endless drifting? And now, perhaps, you see the rocks ahead and feel you are about to face shipwreck. Friend, there is hope: “Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm” (Psa. 107:28-29).

On the beach below us three men hurriedly pulled on their wet suits and fins. Five or six men with ropes scrambled out on the rocks, dodging the flying spray. Beyond the rocks and to one side were two coast guard rescue boats, standing just off the heaving swells. Help surrounded the two men but could not get to them. How long could they hold on? Coughing and choking as the cold, salty waters submerged them again and again, they clung to their boat in desperation. Still the ruthless tides carried them closer and closer to destruction, and no one could help them. A whining sound made me turn, and there coming over the harbor was a coast guard helicopter. The silent group of onlookers sent up a cheer. What a surge of strength that sight must have given to those numb and weary bodies, if it wasn’t too late!

Too late! What awful words! It isn’t too late for you. Jesus has been into death already in your place and mine. He has borne the punishment for my sins by shedding His precious blood on Calvary’s cross. Now He longs to be your captain, to guide your vessel, to be your anchor from the unstable tides of life, and, best of all, to be your “life preserver” forever. This rescue was to be very exacting as well as risky. The big helicopter swiftly circled, positioned, and then carefully dropped lower and lower, the blast from the rotor sending spray in a big circle. While we watched, a cable was lowered with a basket-like seat on the end. There was a moment of suspense as we waited. Then up it came with a man in the seat. Murmurs of relief were heard around us. The helicopter repositioned and again the basket was lowered. It seemed much too long before it came up—empty!

We strained our eyes searching the waves as again the cable went down. Suddenly, there he was, standing in the basket with his arms wrapped tightly around the cable. Gently the big machine backed off the rocks and then swung him up into the cabin and safety. Now they were off to the warmth and care of the hospital. As they roared low over our vantage point, arms were raised in a salute to the compassion and bravery of that crew. The drama was over, the rescue effected, and two lives saved from sure death. The onlookers melted away, each with his own thoughts. God’s Word tells us, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Are you safe...? Or will you perish...?

“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). Those men believed with all their hearts that the helicopter was able to help them, and on the strength of that faith they took hold of the basket and were saved. Won’t you take hold of Christ by faith-now? “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).

Rescue

A department store building has collapsed in heavy rain. People are known to be trapped under the piles of cement. Everyone nearby rushes to help, frantically digging in the rubble for survivors. For each one brought out alive there are shouts and cheers and redoubled efforts to save another. The dazed survivors can only murmur, “It’s a miracle I got out,” or, “If it hadn’t been for that fireman-,” or just, “Thank God! Thank God!”

An oil rig explodes and burns in the North Sea. More than 150 workers are suffocated or killed when the huge derrick falls across the platform. A few men escape by leaping into the icy water below where eager rescuers pick them up. Again we hear, “It was a miracle I escaped-I thank God!”

When little Andrew Byrd fell into a backyard swimming pool, only his eleven-year-old brother Allen saw the accident. Without hesitating, he dived in after Andy and brought him out safely. Toddler Andy had no words to express his feelings, but a picture of him snuggled in his brother’s arms said it all.

Rescued! Thankful! Grateful to all who risked so much to save them. How normal. How natural. How right. If any one of the rescued had had a choice, would he have said, “Go away! I don’t want to be rescued”?

It can happen. When a small ship struck the rocks in Moray Firth, the coast guard rushed to its aid. One by one the half-frozen sailors were lowered to the waiting boats.

At last only the captain was left on the fast-sinking ship. Flatly he refused to leave, insisting that he could still bring his ship in to the harbor. Arguments failed to move him, and when they would have removed him by force, he suddenly produced a gun and threatened to shoot dead on the spot anyone who tried to take him.

Reluctantly, the men had to leave. The rescued sailors were taken to shore, and the determined captain was left on his sinking ship in the on-coming darkness.

When morning dawned, there were the rocks, and there were the waves dashing against them, but the ship—where was it? And the captain, where was he? Only a little wreckage washed ashore.

How strange! How unnatural! How altogether wrong! Would normal people act like that?

Yes, they would. “Normal” people, average, everyday people, are insisting that they can bring their ship of life to shore by themselves; they can reach the desired haven by their own efforts. They insist that they do not need the hand of love the Lord Jesus is holding out to them. If pressed too far, they may echo the thought, if not the words, of those who cried, “We will not have this man [Jesus] to reign over us.”

If not “this Man,” the man Christ Jesus, then who? The Bible tells us that “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).

God has offered rescue to a poor, perishing world; can He be blamed if His salvation is refused? Can it be His fault if the ones He would so willingly have saved refuse His offer? God is “not willing that any should perish,” but still people insist that “I can do it myself! I can climb up to heaven my own way.”

What way is that? Oh, kindness and honesty and working for good causes and any other thing that seems good to them. But in the Bible, God’s Word, we read that “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Rags, filthy or clean, will not make a very good ladder to heaven!

But there is rescue-there is salvation-and it is already accomplished. The Savior has come down where we are, has given His life on the cross of Calvary, has risen again and gone back to heaven where He is able “to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him” (Heb. 7:25), “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” salvation! But Heb. 2:3 asks,

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

"Sir, You Are Going to Die"

One sunny day as I was sweeping my front porch, the little five-year-old boy who lives next door came over, as he often does after school. He is quite a little rascal and speaks only poor English. Even though I am a mother of three children, he always calls me “sir.” But that sunny day in September it was not his poor English that surprised me. He said boldly, “Sir, you are going to die. Want me to tell you why? Because of the thing that’s coming.” With no more explanation than that, he ran off to play with his friends and left me wondering what the “thing” might be.

It was not long before I found out. Soon the whole town was talking about it, and it was not a joke. The “thing” was a dangerous hurricane. The weather forecasters had named it Hurricane Gilbert, and already many people had died and many millions of dollars of damage had been done as it passed over islands on its path towards the coast of Texas. The weather forecasters gave warnings to all the people who lived along the Gulf of Mexico, saying that Hurricane Gilbert was one of the strongest storms ever measured. Its winds were blowing at 200 miles an hour.

Our neighbors were quite worried, and the whole town began to make preparations. Some people nailed plywood over their windows to protect them. Others used yards and yards of tape on their windows to keep them from shattering. Because people were stocking up on food, the bread and milk shelves of the grocery stores were soon completely empty. Schools were let out early so children could reach home before the storm hit. Refuge centers were planned. Almost everyone who lived along the coast closed up their home and drove inland where it would be safer.

Those of us who took the weatherman’s warnings seriously and prepared for it were shocked to hear of some who did not. One man on South Padre Island refused to leave. He said, “I just earned $600 nailing up plywood for people, and I want to be here to take it down for them.”

Some others were reported to have actually been surfing. They were enjoying the unusually high waves and were more interested in having fun than in getting away from the danger. All these people seemed very foolish to us as the hurricane headed our way.

Would you unwisely ignore a warning like this? What about God’s serious warning of judgment that will come to those who die in their sins? The Bible tells us that “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). God in His love has made a way of escape from this storm of judgment. He sent His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus, to suffer and to die on the cross of Calvary to pay the penalty our sins deserved. “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).

How sad that not just a few, but many are ignoring both God’s serious warning and His loving plan for salvation. Are you?

The one man about whom I told you did not look for a safe place from the storm because he wanted to make money. The others ignored the warnings because they wanted to have fun. Has money or having a good time kept you from being saved from the punishment for your sins? Have you found safety and the forgiveness of your sins in the Lord Jesus? The Bible warns, “Prepare to meet thy God” (Amos 4:12). “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Heb. 2:3).

Stop - Look - Listen

To men and women rushing along the crowded highways of life comes a warning signal: “Stop—Look—Listen!” More than life depends on the response of all who are speeding into eternity. Your soul’s eternal destiny will be determined by the decision you make after you stop, look and listen to God’s warning signal.

STOP!

“Stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you” (2 Chron. 20:17).

Are you at “wit’s end corner,” not knowing which way to turn? Is everything against you? Have you come to the end of yourself? Then stop! Stand still before Him who says, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psa. 46:10).

LOOK!

“Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Isa. 45:22).

Yes, look to the Savior who died on Calvary. There the Lord Jesus Christ shed His blood that cleanses from all sin. There He laid down His life for you. Remember, “the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).

LISTEN!

“This is My beloved Son: hear Him” (Mark 9:7).

Do not listen to the noise and clamor all around, nor to the organizations of men which call to you offering peace and an end to all worry. All these are vain and empty promises. What, then, can you listen to in a time of need?

Stand still, look to Jesus, and listen to Him alone. A still, small voice is speaking to your heart. What tender love is in that voice-what comfort and assurance to your soul! It is Jesus speaking: “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). He is speaking directly to you. Listen! “Hear Him,” for this is God’s command.

Stop! See the “salvation of the Lord.” You are at a crossroad; the warning signal is before you: Stop. Look! See your only salvation from the wages of your sins, which is death. Look to “Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2).

Listen! There are two voices. Satan, the father of lies, questions, “Hath God said?” But listen carefully! God, who cannot lie, says, “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).

“HEAR HIM”!

“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).

Survival of the Fittest

If we were to believe in the “survival of the fittest,” there would not be much chance for some of us! But the glory of the gospel is this, that God comes to the unfit, to the weak and marred and spoiled, to those who have thwarted and resisted Him, and yet He is prepared to make them over again. If you will let Him, He will make you new too.

“At that time ye were without Christ, being aliens...and strangers...having no hope, and without God in the world: but now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2:12-13).

The Bird in the Boat

It had been a pleasant day for the young couple in the small sailboat; they had enjoyed fresh breezes and warm sunshine. But the day was drawing to a close and they were tired, so they decided to call it a day and turned their sails toward the boat ramp two miles away.

Suddenly they noticed coming toward them a small bird flying very erratically. He fluttered into the boat, quite ruffled and a little anxious as he looked up at the human occupants! He must have been relieved to find a resting-place for his weary body, after traveling far over the open water, and he looked frightened and LOST. But one thing was sure: Though weary, he was SAFE.

Quietly he rode along with the young sailors until at last they reached land and beached their boat. Then a rescued and rested little bird looked around with his bright eyes, selected the nearest tree, and was off to a secure perch as fast as his wings could fly.

Many souls are like this little bird; they wander through life, never finding real rest, peace or happiness. Are you tired of endless searching? Are the years of life taking their toll? Are you without hope and without God in the world? Just as there was a rest and a refuge for the travel-weary little bird, there is a refuge and rest for the sinner who comes to God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus says, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). For those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and the blood He shed on the cross for them, there is real rest, peace and happiness. Once lost, now found! They are eternally SAFE and secure.

In John 10:27-28 Jesus says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish.” There is no fear of death or hell.

What is ahead for the Christ-rejecting soul, still wandering in his sins, still blindly groping for reality? If he dies in his sins, he will spend an eternity in hell-in the place of “weeping” and of “blackness of darkness” forever.

Do not wait another minute! “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). Your wanderings will be over and your rest for eternity will begin.

The Crossing Guard

Geraldine McBride was a school crossing guard. Her own children being grown, she “mothered” all the children who passed. As her son said, “Every kid who came across that street was hers!” She buttoned their coats and tied their shoelaces and saw them safely across the street.

One day, as she was at her post, she stopped a car to let two little boys cross the street. Suddenly a pickup truck swerved around the car and veered toward the children.

Mrs. McBride reacted instantly, pushing the boys out of the way. One six-year-old was just grazed by the truck, but it struck and ran over the guard. She was killed instantly, but “her children” were saved.

“I saw her body tonight as they laid her out,” said her son, “and the look on her face was one of satisfaction.”

Satisfied—the children were saved.

Satisfied—though the cost was her own life.

And “satisfied” is what the Bible says of the Lord Jesus:

“He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied....He hath poured out His soul unto death...and He bare the sin of many” (Isa. 53:11-12).

Satisfied! “Jesus...who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2).

What is the joy? Well, one part of it is the “joy...in heaven over one sinner that repenteth.”

For that joy the Lord Jesus went to the cross and laid down His life, a willing sacrifice, for your sake and mine. Shall that sacrifice be in vain? Can we refuse to accept what He has done for us?

Yes, we can refuse Him that joy and that satisfaction, but there is no “salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

We can refuse-and there will be no joy in heaven for us.

We can refuse-and go to a place of “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Or we can accept the Lord Jesus and spend an eternity of joy with Him in heaven.

“As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake with Thy likeness.” Psa. 17:15

The God of All Comfort and Consolation

“Give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto Thee” (Psa. 141:1). “If...they cry at all unto Me, I will surely hear their cry” (Ex. 22:23).

“Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it” (Psa. 69:18). “Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine” (Isa. 43:1).

“O my God, be not far from me” (Psa. 38:21). “The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth” (Psa. 145:18).

“Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed” (Jer. 17:14). “With His stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:5).

“O Lord, make haste to help me” (Psa. 40:13). “I will help thee, saith the Lord” (Isa. 41:14).

“I know not how to go” (1 Kings 3:7). “I will guide thee” (Psa. 32:8).

“Give me understanding” (Psa. 119:34). “I am understanding” (Prov. 8:14).

“Forsake me not, O Lord” (Psa. 38:21). “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb. 13:5).

Have you trusted in this “God of all comfort” and consolation?

The I.C.U.

In intensive care units of hospitals all across the country, at all hours of the day and night, the green irregular line on the screen above the patient’s head is tracing out the faint shadow of life fading away. Families gather at the hospital and pray and wait. The doctor comes in and says it is only a matter of time.

That soul at the door of eternity, where is it going? Death is not the end; it is the beginning-of what? Either that soul is almost “absent from the body...present with the Lord,” or it is going out into the “blackness of darkness forever.”

At the moment that thin green line flattens out, when the little peaks and hollows of heartbeats cease to race across the screen, as life here on earth stops, that soul enters eternity. From that moment its destiny is settled and settled forever. There can be no change, no second chance then. “In the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be” (Eccl. 11:3).

Then why wait? Why take a chance on coming to the intensive care unit unprepared and unready to meet God? It takes so little to snuff out a life-so little to end life’s day. Why not believe and accept God’s Word? He says, “Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).

Tomorrow may be too late!

"The Lord Did It for Me"

Clifford Anderson, a student pilot, had an experience during a routine training flight that he is not anxious to repeat. It was nine o’clock at night when his engine suddenly began to sputter—and died.

“It so happened,” he said afterward, “that I was too far away from the landing field to glide in with no power and was too low to use my parachute. If it had been daylight, a forced landing would have been that much simpler, but visibility was very poor. It really felt like being on the inside of an ink bottle looking out.

“Gliding down at ninety miles per hour, I did not have the slightest idea what was under me. I could see the ground, and that was all.

“Amazingly, I made a nice three-point landing and got out of the plane to look around. A farmer came running up to tell me that I had missed his house by only a few feet. He also pointed out a windmill, which I had cleared by about three feet. But the thing I was looking at was the power line I had landed parallel to-only twenty feet away. Directly in front of the plane was a fence and another power line.

“It was a nice little cornfield, but I would never have attempted a landing there in daylight, because it just couldn’t be done. It wasn’t humanly possible. We had to move the plane over into another field the next morning for the take-off, because the cornfield was much too small.

“I have been asked how I did it, and there is only one answer: The Lord did it for me. I wish more people could realize that we are not self-sufficient. We must all put our lives into the hands of Jesus Christ that we may be saved. The Lord takes care of His own, both now and forever. I know that!”

The concluding words of this young pilot are so true. “We must put our lives into the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ, that we may be saved.” When we come in all our need to the Lord Jesus, trusting Him as the only Savior, we can safely leave our ALL, both in time and for eternity, to Him.

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

Have you taken the sinner’s place and trusted the sinner’s Savior? As the pilot reminds us, “We MUST put our lives into the hands of the Lord Jesus that we may be saved!”

The New Boat

The powerful new motorboat was the pride of Bill’s heart.

He could hardly wait to put her in the water and “open her up.” Lost in a dream of the thrills ahead, he started out for his first day on the water with his family.

As they ran down the river, he made one stop to set his wife and the picnic basket ashore at the park. Then with his two boys he roared on out into the bay and open water.

It was great! Wind and spray blew in their faces; a white wake spread behind them—this was really living.

Far out now, beyond the sight of any watcher on shore, Bill revved the motor once more to squeeze the last bit of speed from it. He got the last drop of gasoline instead. There was a sputtering and a coughing and then silence as the big motor stopped. In the sudden quiet the boat slowed, lost way, and soon was rocking gently in the water. Little waves slapped the sides of the boat, a gull cried overhead, and they became conscious of the hot sun that beat down on their heads.

Frantically Bill worked at the motor, but there was no gas. In his rush to get going he had neglected to fill a spare gas can.

There was no other boat in sight; they had left them all behind. Perhaps they should call for help, but a quick search of the boat showed that they had no emergency flares. There was no ship-to-shore radio, either. They had not even brought an oar with which they might have made a little headway. The picnic basket, with food and drinks, had been left behind at the park, and acute thirst soon added to their discomfort.

All day they rocked and sweltered in the sun; all night they drifted, chilled now and miserable. Not until the next morning did the Coast Guard find the little boat and bring it and three weary, blistered and dehydrated would-be sailors to shore.

Only a little forethought and preparation would have saved them from an experience that might well have proved fatal to all three. One can full of gasoline would have brought them back to land. How could they have been so foolish as to go out without it?

How much more foolish it is to go on as millions are doing every day, living their lives “as though there were no tomorrow,” no eternity ahead, no day coming when they will leave the shores of this life and have to meet God-a God whom they have neglected and ignored. How much more foolish it is to make no preparation for that coming day!

When the Bible warns, “Prepare to meet thy God,” it is senseless to ignore the warning. The Coast Guard rescued Bill and his boys, foolish though they were in all their unpreparedness, but there can be no rescue for anyone who goes out of this life without preparation for the next. “In the place where the tree [falls], there it shall be”—no change, no hope, no way back to God.

2 Cor. 6:2: “NOW is the accepted time....NOW is the day of salvation.” There will never be another. When once this present day of grace has ended, there will never be another opportunity for the salvation of those who rejected-or merely neglected-God’s offer of salvation.

The Pharisees

Webster’s dictionary defines Pharisees as “outwardly but not inwardly religious; self-righteous and censorious of others’ manners and morals.”

The Pharisees were a sanctimonious sect in Jerusalem 2000 years ago. It was one of their number who “went up into the temple to pray” and said, “God, I thank Thee, that I am not as other men are,” and went on with a self-righteous listing of his own good deeds.

Surely, the sect has died out by now. Surely, there are no Pharisees today!

Judge for yourself! A recent poll published in USA Today found that a great majority of Americans believe in heaven, and most of them rate their own chances of going to heaven as “good to excellent.” But they feel their friends are not nearly so likely to get there. (“Lord, I thank Thee that I am not as others!”) They are Pharisees to the core!

What does the Bible say about it? Will being better than others save them? Will it open heaven’s door to be “not so bad as some”? The Bible says that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).

Being “better than others” does not make anyone less short of the glory of God, for all have sinned. And there we find the key: “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).

At the same time the Pharisee was telling God what a good man he was, another man was also praying in the temple and his prayer was only, “God be merciful to me a sinner.”

A sinner! A self-confessed sinner! What claim did he have on the grace of God? The Pharisee thanked God that he was so much better than that, but what did the Lord Jesus say? “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.”

That is it. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). Heaven is not gained by doing good or by avoiding evil; it is not won by being better than this one or not so bad as that one, but simply by receiving the mercy God offers to sinners. It is “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us” (Titus 3:5).

It is a pity that that poor old Pharisee so long ago didn’t realize that; it is more than a pity that he has so many descendants in the world today. It is a tragedy! And it is so unnecessary. It is still true that “this Man [Jesus] receiveth sinners.” It is still true that “joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth.” The Lord Jesus Himself said that!

Then what about the Pharisee? He, too, can cause that joy in heaven, but only by taking his rightful place as a sinner before God and trusting in the sinner’s Savior. There is no other way.

The Scales

We use many kinds of scales today. There are the bathroom scales that we step on, muttering, “That’s too high. These scales must be wrong!”

There are the market scales that weigh our groceries: “It doesn’t look like five pounds to me. Those scales must be wrong.”

They may be. Whatever man makes, even in this day of technical and electronic marvels, has some margin for error, some possibility of “fudging” just a little bit. But “a just weight and balance are the Lord’s.” There is a scale that is right-absolutely, perfectly right. “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen. 18:25).

How will you “weigh up” in those scales? Will you prove to be, when “laid in the balance...altogether lighter than vanity?”

It doesn’t matter how good you may seem to be how moral and upright your life appears to your neighbors. You may be the most respected person in your community, but the Bible says that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

All have sinned-all have come short-all have been weighed-all are found wanting. What can be done? What answer is there to the old, old question, “How should man be just with God” (Job 9:2)?

There is only one way. We must have the “righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe” (Rom. 3:22).

It is so simple to get that righteousness-to measure up to God’s standard: “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom. 10:10).

Confess-what? Believe-what? “Confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus...believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead.”

What must follow? “Thou shalt be saved.”

Do it now. Believe now. Confess now. Don’t wait for that terrible day when God will have to say to you, “Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting” (Dan. 5:27).

The Tailor's Story

I came over to America many years ago and sat on the tailor’s bench with Chris Christensen. He had come over just a few years before me, and he helped me a great deal with learning the language and with the trade, but best of all he helped me to find the Lord.

He had been talking to some of the other men about their souls, and they told me he would soon be after me. But I was a religious person and quite proud of my knowledge of the catechism, and I felt that he could never move me-in fact, I rather welcomed an argument, believing myself fully competent to overthrow him. Sure enough, it wasn’t very long before he approached me as we sat together with our needles and thread and asked me quietly, “And how is it with your soul?”

Immediately I bristled up, telling him that I was a church member, had been baptized and confirmed, knew my catechism well, and had performed all my church duties, and that it was all right with me.

He only said, very quietly, “But that’s not enough—YOU NEED TO BE BORN AGAIN.” I was angry and said some hard things, but he just repeated the same words and said nothing more.

I was boarding with a fine, pious Danish lady named Mrs. Sorensen, who later became my mother-in-law. She, too, was a church member, and I felt she was a much better one than I was. I considered her one who could pass a pretty good judgment on all religious matters. So I told her that night when I came home from the tailor shop about the young man who had spoken to me, of how I had answered him, and of his little sentence that he harped on: “Ye must be born again.”

I expected she would come to my rescue and defend me and make little of my tailor friend, but after a moment of silence she simply remarked, “He was right. You do need to be born again.” This was a stunning blow-it took the starch right out of me. I had no rest or peace anymore and was only too willing to listen to Chris when he spoke to me again. I could not see it right away, but he was very patient and faithful with me. At last he read to me Rom. 10:8-9: “What saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 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”!

Yes, on that blessed truth my soul has found solid rest and peace all the years since. I am now 92 years of age, and ever since that day on the tailor’s bench I have been able to say, “It is well with my soul.”

The Thief on the Cross

On a cross, and only a few hours to live! Hours of terrible pain and suffering—and then only death. He had lived his life and it had been a wicked one. He knew he was no martyr. He knew he fully deserved all the pain he was getting. Then, to the wickedness that had caused him to be crucified he adds the guilt of reviling God’s Son! His wickedness could hardly go farther.

But a change takes place. The hardened criminal who has spent a lifetime in sin suddenly becomes a judge, and the first person he judges is himself! What could so quickly touch the heart of this criminal and make such a change?

Surely it was the words from the Savior’s own lips: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Can you not imagine him exclaiming to himself, “What does He say? ‘Forgive them!’ ‘Father, forgive them!’ Can He mean those who are doing their best to get rid of Him and cruelly mocking Him while they do it?

“Why, then, He must mean me! I have been one of the mockers! Is it possible that there can be grace enough in Him to ask God’s forgiveness for a wretch like me and to use His dying breath in pleading for it? But it must be so, for He cries, ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.’ Oh, how wonderful!

“Never, never could I expect to deserve His favor, but I cannot help wanting it. Such a sinner as I am can never earn it, but I can cast myself on the mercy of such a Savior as He is.”

What a reception he got! This dying sinner condemned himself and owned Jesus as Lord. The blessed Lord proved how rich He is to all that call upon Him, for He said to the thief, “Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise.”

Is not this same blessed Person worthy of the confidence of your heart? “Through this Man [Christ Jesus] is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins” (Acts 13:38).

The Unchanging Word

Feelings come and feelings go,

And feelings are deceiving;

My warrant is the Word of God-

Naught else is worth believing.

Though all my heart should feel condemned

For want of some sweet token,

There is One greater than my heart

Whose Word cannot be broken.

I’ll trust in God’s unchanging Word

Till soul and body sever,

For, though all things shall pass away,

HIS WORD SHALL STAND FOREVER!

The War Memorial

On the island of Labuan off the coast of Borneo in Malaysia is a well-kept War Memorial Cemetery. Several thousand headstones lie in long rows, each having a bronze plaque with raised letters. They commemorate the Australian and New Zealand soldiers and officers who died taking the island of Borneo from the Japanese in 1945.

Most of the plaques give the name, rank, age and unit of the army of the man buried there with the date of his death. Many have nice sayings and sentiments on them. As we walked up and down the rows, we looked for any that gave evidence of faith in Christ. On one we saw, “Resting on his Savior’s breast.” Still another had this quotation: “Even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him” (1 Thess. 4:14).

On quite a number of the plaques was the simple statement, “Soldier of the 1939-1945 war,” with no name or dates. At the bottom of the plate were three words:

“KNOWN UNTO GOD”

No one knows the name of these men buried at the War Memorial Cemetery, but God knows not only the name of the deceased but everything about them.

The Word of God declares, “O Lord, Thou hast searched me, and known me....Thou understandest my thought afar off...and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether” (Psa. 139:1-4).

God knows all about every person who ever lived in this world. He knows everything you have ever done, said or thought. It is “known unto God.” As you realize this, it is scary-that is, unless you have put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then you are glad that He knows all about you because your sins were laid on Him. Of the believer it is said that “the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6).

God is light, and He will have no sin in His presence. But, also, God is love. He cares about you so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for you. His blood will wash away every sin you have ever committed, the moment you put your trust in Him. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from ALL sin” (1 John 1:7).

What you must do is “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

Then you are safe forever. “The Lord knoweth them that are His” (2 Tim. 2:19).

The Weeping Stranger

It was night. The sun had long ago set behind western Mt. Carmel, and from mid-heaven the moon shone down upon the great guilty city. The song of the drunkard was ended, and he slept heavily. The worker sought rest from the labor of the past day and strength for the day to come. Sleep smoothed the lines of care from the face of the tired mother, while beside her her baby rested peacefully. All business seemed stopped, all activity calmed. The city slept.

But on eastern Mt. Olive stood a stranger, solitary, alone. His clothing was travel-stained, and his hair was wet with the dew of night. He stood and looked upon the city, and through His wonderful eyes compassion shone. As He looked, He wept.

It was Jesus, Jesus the Nazarene, from the plains of Galilee. Still the city slept; the Weeper and His tears were all unnoticed by those for whom He wept. But a wakeful heaven looked on in wonder, and multitudes of angels bowed and worshipped at the sight. They looked upon Him with reverence as He stood there alone.

Jesus is the Lord of heaven, the eternal Son of God; yet there He stood without a home upon the earth His hands had made. Why? The reason is plain. Men’s hearts were full of sin, and His was full of love. He came to bring them blessing, to flood their land with joy from heaven, even as the morning sun fills all the earth with light.

But they would not. All, all had been in vain. His words, His works and His tears did not awaken any love to Him. The city slept-how dark and dreadful was that slumber!

Yet their hatred did not sleep, for often their hearts were roused to rage against Him, and that without a cause. Yet in spite of all, He loved them. He might have gathered in His hand the lightning of the heavens and blasted all the land forever, but that He did not do. Instead, He stood and wept, and then He went onward to the cross. He went to the cross to die for them-to shed His precious blood that even to them salvation might be preached and to them might be given, not joy which they had forfeited on earth, but joy unspeakable in heaven.

He died; His blood was shed; His love passed the test. He died for sinners and, being raised out of the grave, He sent His servants with the word of life into the city over which He wept.

Two thousand years have passed since then, and still Jesus the Savior sends the message of salvation to men on earth. But thousands there are who sleep indifferently-a dark and deadly sleep-the sleep of sin. They do not want Christ, nor God, nor heaven-they love their dreams of happiness on earth.

Are you awake-or sleeping? Are you saved-or lost? The Son of God has died for you, but can you say, “The Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20)?

Things Are Not Always What They Seem

Detective Kolt was just half a block from the First National Bank when the siren of the bank’s alarm system went off. As its shrill blast sounded out, he saw two young men run from the bank and jump into a car which had been cruising slowly around the bank. It looked like a perfect getaway!

The detective sprinted forward and drew his gun just as the car was moving away. In the car were three scared young men and $210 in cash. At that moment, three more squad cars screamed up, and the three young men were all rushed to headquarters. Just as they arrived, a report came in from the First National Bank canceling the alarm-it had gone off by accident. Then one of the young men was able to show that he had just withdrawn the $210 from his own account.

The police apologized for their error, and three relieved young men went on their way. Things are not always what they seem!

This is also true in spiritual matters. For instance, you see a young man respond to a preacher’s invitation to “join the church.” He shakes the preacher’s hand and answers all the questions intelligently and is then “received into the church.” To all appearances, he is now a Christian, but wait a moment...

If he has realized he is lost and confessed his need to God, if he has put his trust in the finished work of Christ on the cross and received the Lord Jesus as his personal Savior-he is born again. He is now in the family of God, and he is a real Christian.

If this is not true of him, he is not really a Christian, no matter how many preachers’ hands he has shaken or how many churches he may have joined.

And how do you stand in this matter? Have you been saved by His grace and born again by the power of God? Or did you just join some religious organization? How can a person tell?

“If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). When you are born into the family of God, you receive a new nature. Have you been “born again”? Have you received Christ Jesus into your heart? The Lord Jesus says, “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” (Rev. 3:20). What a promise!

Time Is Short

I have only just a minute,

Only sixty seconds in it.

Didn’t seek it, didn’t choose it;

Forced upon me, can’t refuse it;

But it’s up to me to use it.

I will suffer if I lose it,

Give account if I abuse it;

Just a little, tiny minute-

But ETERNITY is in it!

“The coming of the Lord draweth nigh” (James 5:8).

Trapped in a Shark Tank

This world is a beautiful place, full of wonderful things to look at. It can also be a terrifying place, full of unexpected dangers. Visitors at the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans found out both how beautiful and how terrifying it can be.

The main feature of the aquarium is a 400,000 gallon shark tank. The water in the tank, twenty feet deep, is as clear as any water you might find in nature. Large glass panels provide guests with an excellent view of the sharks. The tank houses one of the world’s largest and most diverse collections of sharks, some as long as ten feet. A replica of an oil rig, covered with barnacles, sits in the middle of the tank. Around this oil rig the sharks swim constantly.

On August 8, 2002, ten visitors had an experience they will never forget. The aquarium was running a special promotion. They were allowing guests to walk across a 38-foot-long catwalk that crosses over the open top of the tank. Six adults and four children were strolling on the catwalk, watching the sleek and beautiful creatures beneath. Suddenly there was a loud crack, and the catwalk broke in two, plunging the walkers into the shark tank!

One moment the people on the catwalk were admiring the sharks, and the next moment they were terrified. (“Beautiful-and terrifying.”) Everywhere you look, whether at an aquarium exhibit or a newborn baby or a field of flowers, you see incredible beauty, because it is all the handiwork of God who is great in wisdom and power, BUT you also see evidence of a great fall. Sharks can be lethal, even babies die, and the flowers of the field soon fade. Because of this great fall, unexpected and terrible things may happen, as in that sudden plunge into the tank of sharks.

At first there was a great deal of splashing as the persons who plunged into the tank overcame the initial shock. Several worried that the splashing would excite the predatory instincts of the sharks, but the adults quickly realized that they could pass the children in the water to bystanders. The glass walls of the tank extended three feet above the water level. The adults swimming with children in their arms were able to pass the small children up over the tank wall, but they were unable to escape that way themselves. They swam to the oil rig where they could stand, holding their heads above the water. For fifteen minutes they clung there, watching the sharks swimming around them with their sharp, triangular teeth very visible. At last, the aquarium workers extended an aluminum ladder out to the oil rig, and the adults were able to climb out.

Like the people who fell into the shark tank, we too face death, even though it is not so obvious or so imminent. Because man has fallen into sin, death has entered the world, and death is the “king of terrors.” Evidence of it is all around us. Every community has its cemetery. God does not want us to be comfortable with the idea of death: He wants us to realize that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23), and those wages are full of misery. He wants us to realize the trouble sin has brought us into so that we might turn to Him for salvation.

To deliver us from all the misery sin has brought us into, God sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into this world. When He was here, “He went about doing good,” sometimes even raising the dead. One time in His journeys He entered a town called Nain. The name of the town is thought to mean “Beautiful,” but even in a town called “Beautiful” there is still the terror of death. As the Lord Jesus came that way, He met a funeral procession. Pallbearers were carrying the body of a young man, the only son of a widow, down the road. The widow’s heart was broken with sorrow.

“When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her, and said unto her, weep not. And He came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And He said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And He that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And He delivered him to his mother” (Luke 7:13-15).

The same Lord Jesus who showed compassion to this widow and raised her son from the dead is ready to show compassion to you and to save you from your sins.

The people in the shark tank were all rescued; the widow’s son was restored to life, and the Savior of sinners is offering to save you too! “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

You MUST BELIEVE on Him if you hope to escape the consequences of your sins.

Underground Fires

Chips flew at a timber lot in Eugene, Oregon. The big saws at the lot whined as they cut the timber into boards. Then the plentiful supply of timber dried up, and all the heavy equipment of the mill moved elsewhere. All that was left were the chips, in some places over ten feet deep, chips that were slowly decomposing, giving off heat and producing natural gases.

A motorist drove his car over the lot. His rear tire stuck in a soft spot. He gunned the engine, and the tire spun furiously. Then it gripped, and he drove his car away. The spinning tires had produced enough heat to set the timber lot on fire. Firefighters extinguished the fire on the surface, but they couldn’t extinguish the fire that had spread underground. The firefighters were at a loss as to how they could control it.

Fire engines pumped more than ten thousand gallons of water on the area over the next week, but still there were signs the fire continued underground. Authorities worried that some unsuspecting pedestrian might walk across the lot, break through the crusty surface, and get trapped in a pit of glowing embers.

This timber lot is a little picture of the world. Many people today are walking through life without a concern for their souls. The Bible solemnly warns that persons who never come to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, when they leave this world, will end in a pit of fire called “hell.” Neither you nor I are guaranteed another day of life. That is why it is so important to give attention to eternal things right now and not put off the consideration of them until a later time.

People get so busy that they never stop to think about where they will spend eternity. Yes, it is true that God loves and reaches out to all men, but it is equally true that He has a supreme, ultimate, absolute hatred of sin. This hatred of sin is so great that sinners who refuse His gracious invitation to have their sins washed away in the blood of His dear Son will spend eternity in the awful place called “hell...where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:43-44).

Just imagine for a moment someone who insisted on walking over the timber lot even though he knew he might fall into a pit of glowing embers. Such a person would have to be a great fool. Yet the millions today who walk through this world as if hell didn’t exist are more foolish by far. Don’t trifle with God’s hatred of sin, but believe the gospel message and come to the Savior. Only in so doing can you escape the punishment your sins deserve and receive the salvation of your soul. “Be not afraid of them that kill the body....But...fear Him, which after He hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, fear Him” (Luke 12:4-5).

What Can Wash Away Sin?

It is hot in India-hot and humid. The blazing sun beats down on the steaming land at midday, but in the early morning hours there is still a little of the night’s coolness left. In the morning light the Ganges River flows softly, its waters reflecting the red and gold of hundreds of minarets and towers on the temples and shrines of the great city, for this is Varanasi, the holiest city in India. It is a peaceful, picturesque scene.

Beautiful, at least from a distance. A closer look reveals that the river is serving as an enormous sewer for the city and for the towns and villages above it. All sorts of trash float by, along with an occasional dead goat or monkey, a half-burned body from the ghats above or even a not-at-all-burned body of some beggar that was simply thrown into the river.

Now there is beginning to be a stir and movement along the banks of the river, and women are beginning to come down to the water walking alone or in groups. Surely these women will not touch that polluted water! But yes, one by one they go down to the river and unhesitantly immerse themselves in it.

Who are they, and why do they do this?

They are widows, Hindu widows, and they are seeking to wash away their sin of widowhood.

All other Hindus are permitted to wash away their sins with one dip in the river, but a widow must do it daily-every single day-for as long as she lives.

When she is too old and feeble to go to the river, friends will still bring her a copper urn of the sacred water every day.

About ten thousand widows live in Varanasi. Most are living in abject poverty, struggling to earn just enough to stay alive, but fervently and devoutly washing to make themselves clean.

Can water, no matter how clean and pure, applied to the outside of the skin, make the heart inside clean?

Job says it this way: “If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean; yet shalt Thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me” (Job 9:30-31).

No, the purest water and the most frequent bathing cannot wash away one sin. David, who wrote most of the Psalms, understood this when he prayed to the God he had sinned against, “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin....Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psa. 51:2, 7).

A lifetime of washing in the Ganges can never cleanse the heart: The poor widows of Varanasi are throwing their lives away as surely as if they had followed the old Hindu custom of burning to death on their husband’s funeral pyre. It is a hard, sad life to which they are doomed, and all for nothing-for nothing.

The Word of God tells us that “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Yes, God offers cleansing from sin: “Through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things” (Acts 13:38-39).

If only the widows could know that!

What Does Converted Mean?

What does “converted” mean?

It means completely changed. “Converted” is not synonymous with “reformed.” Conversion is a complete turnaround, a turning to Jesus and a willingness to do what He wants you to do.

The plan of salvation is presented to you in two parts: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in your heart and confess Him with your mouth, and you will be saved. “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom. 10:10).

Jesus said, “Come unto Me,” not to a creed—to Me, not to a preacher—to Me, not to an evangelist. “Come unto Me...and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

You can attend church services, teach Sunday school, donate your time and money generously to “Christian work”—even pray—but you won’t ever be truly converted until you come personally to the Lord Jesus Christ.

The first thing to remember about being saved is that salvation is a personal matter. “Seek ye the Lord”—that means everyone must seek for himself. It won’t do for the parent to seek for the children; it won’t do for the children to seek for the parent.

If you were sick, all the medicine I might take wouldn’t do you any good. Salvation is a personal matter that no one else can do for you; you must attend to it yourself.

You may say, “It’s such a mystery. I don’t understand.”

You’ll be surprised to find out how little you have to know. You plant a seed in the ground; that is your part. You don’t understand how it grows. How God makes that seed grow is a mystery to you-but you leave that to Him.

There can be a sound, thorough conversion in an instant, and a person can be converted as quietly as the dawning of a new day. The fact is that one can be converted without feeling any great emotion or going through any ceremony. It is an inward thing. How simple it is! Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, confess Him as your Lord, and that is “conversion.”

“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).

What Is Man?

What is man?

Darwinism says he is a product of a long evolutionary process. Marxism says he has value only as he produces. Secularism says he is important only as he achieves-and his importance is measured by his achievement. Materialism says he is worth what he possesses.

In any case man has no value in and of himself life has no meaning apart from usefulness.

According to the Bible, man is of intrinsic worth. He was created by God in His image-to be a friend of God-to be loved by God-to enjoy Him forever!

Man therefore is of infinite value. He is of such value that the Son of God left heaven and came to earth to die on a cross so that man could live forever in His heavenly Father’s presence and blessing.

The measure of the value of one person-any person-is the measure of Christ’s sacrifice. To God, there is no such thing as an unimportant person. Each individual is precious-eternally precious to God.

“I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from Thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in Thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them” (Psa. 139:14-16).

What Is the Gospel?

The word “gospel” means “glad tidings” or “good news.” It is not glad tidings if we must either save or help to save ourselves by our own efforts. God saves sinners by grace, not by works, “lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:9).

It is not good news if we must be saved partly by the good works or prayers of others. They have all been sinners, as we are: “All have sinned” (Rom. 3:23). And “the wages of sin is death,” while “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).

It is not glad tidings if we may be the children of God today and lost tomorrow, for then we cannot have peace. But the gospel gives settled peace and joy to the believer’s soul. The Apostle Paul says, “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).

The gospel of Christ is the greatest good news, for what does the sinner want? Does he want forgiveness? The gospel promises “redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Eph. 1:7).

Does he want to be counted righteous before God? The gospel says, “To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Rom. 4:5).

Does he want salvation? The gospel says, “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” (Rom. 10:9).

Does he want everlasting life? The Lord Jesus Christ says, “He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life” (John 6:47).

Does he want to be kept until the end? Christ says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them...and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand” (John 10:27-28).

This gospel is truly good news. This is the only gospel which can remove fear from our hearts and give peace with God. And when we receive it, it produces love in our hearts toward Him. “We love Him, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

“The gospel of Christ...it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Rom. 1:16).

What Redeemed Me

Judas, with the priests, was ever so bold

As Jesus, his Friend, for silver he sold;

Then went and hanged himself,

Scripture has told,

But this is not what redeemed me!

To the smiters Jesus gave His back;

They “made long their furrows,” a vicious attack;

In spite of such hatred, He never turned back-

Yet this could never redeem me!

And His cheeks to them who plucked off the hair

He gave-the One who is of God the heir;

Thus Roman justice was forfeited there,

Though this is not what redeemed me!

The soldiers a crown of thorns plaited

And put on the head of Him whom they hated;

The injustice went on unabated,

But this is not what redeemed me!

My sins heavy load He bore on the tree

As the Lord laid on Him the iniquity;

He can now righteously set us free,

And this is how He redeemed me!

“It is finished,” He cried, and then bowed His head;

A soldier who knew He was already dead

Thrust a spear in His side; thus was His blood shed;

This it was that has redeemed me!

What Shall a Man Give in Exchange for His Soul?

Would you be interested in a plan for your life that gave you temporary profit but that might cost you your immortal soul?

Can you answer the question, “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”

There are a lot of ways of gaining the world. Think of a new car, a brand new car. If you could have it tonight, if the devil would hold it out and say, “Here it is; here is this car, but I want your soul,” would you give your soul to him in exchange for the car?

Think of the handsomest man you know, or the prettiest woman. If the devil could get him or her for you, and if he could give him or her to you tonight, would it be worth it if you lost your soul for all eternity?

I ask anyone in the working world today: If you could climb the corporate ladder into the chair of the president of your company—if you could become CEO of all this wealth and could have the sports car, the yacht, the magnificent house and all that goes with it, would it be worth it if you lost your soul in hell for all eternity?

“What shall a man [or a woman-or a boy-or a girl] give in exchange for his soul?”

When God created man, He breathed into him and he became a living, never-dying soul. That never-dying soul will go on through all eternity in a place of everlasting torment or a place of everlasting pleasure and joy.

That first man, Adam, sinned. Because he became a sinner, you and I inherited that sinful nature. We have a nature that is not capable of pleasing God. It is spiritually dead, and no matter how many good works you may perform in your lifetime, God will never use them to balance out the bad that you have done.

You can never buy salvation, never pay for a place in heaven, never ransom your own soul. You may sell your soul to the devil for some temporary gain, but you have nothing to give to God for your soul.

Only God could pay the price of salvation, and He has done it. What a terrible price it was: “Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold...but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

God gave His “only begotten Son” to purchase salvation for you and for me, and He offers it freely to all who will receive it. There are “no strings attached”; it is “without money and without price.”

What Time Is It?

We really live by the clock these days. Dozens of times a day we are asking, “What time is it? What time must we go? What time will they get here? Have I time to finish-? Time to start-? Time-?”

If you usually wear a watch, leave it off for one day and count the number of times you glance at your empty wrist to check the time.

Turn a wall or table clock to the wall, and again see how often you look at it.

The pressure of time is always with us. “I haven’t time today-I wish I had more time-how fast time flies!”

To the best of their ability and more or less accurately our timepieces report the present time to us. But beyond that, every tick of grandfather’s big clock, every flicker of the newest digital watch and every clock in this world is silently warning: “It is time to seek the Lord” (Hos. 10:12).

Time as we know it is only for this life. Beyond this, in eternity, there will be “time no longer” (Revelation 10:6).

We can seek and find the Lord now; we can seek and find salvation now. “Now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).

We know that “time flies.” We have no time to lose before we seek the Lord. We have no time to lose before we make sure of our salvation.

“While it is called Today...TODAY if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts” (Heb. 3:13, 15).

When this day of salvation ends, it will be forever too late to seek the Lord-too late to find salvation. Truly, “IT IS TIME TO SEEK THE LORD”!

When Will You Let Me in?

When I was only six years old, I had a Sunday school teacher who was very concerned for the young children in her class. She consistently told us about our need to trust in Christ to save us from the eternal punishment for our sin and to save our earthly lives from the trouble sin would bring us. She told us of Christ’s never-failing love, and she told us that He was knocking at our heart’s door, asking to come in, and that if we would trust in Him and love Him, He would come into our lives and change us so that we would become like Him, and He would dwell in us till He took us to heaven.

At the close of each class she would pray with us that the Lord would work in our hearts and minds to bring us to Him. Then we would all sing together:

Into my heart, into my heart,

Come into my heart, Lord Jesus;

Come in today, come in to stay,

Come into my heart, Lord Jesus.

This we did—Sunday after Sunday—until I turned seven years old. Then I moved to another town and away from my teacher, but I never forgot her words, her prayers, or the song she sang with us.

They stayed with me day and night. I can still picture the dirt road I walked along to school, two or three strides behind my brother and his friends, thinking over the things my teacher had said about Christ: how I should love Him and obey Him; how I was sinful; how He was calling me and waiting for me.

But I didn’t feel like anyone was calling me. I didn’t feel sinful. I had trouble thinking of my real sins. Sometimes, to keep my parents from getting upset, I might lie. I didn’t always obey my parents, and I often got mad at my brother and sister, but I thought these were normal things, not sin.

Then one night my parents sent me to bed early because we had company coming. He was a friend of my parents, but I considered him a “special friend” of my own. So after he came and sat down at the kitchen table to talk with my parents, I sneaked out of my bed, out of my bedroom, and into the hallway just out of sight of the table, and listened. There I sat for over an hour while my parents, who loved the Lord Jesus, and my special friend, who was also a Christian, talked about the Lord.

I don’t remember what they said, but I remember how I felt. Frightened. Sick. They didn’t say anything I hadn’t heard before, but this time the Holy Spirit spoke to my soul.

The next morning I told my mother what I had done and what I had heard. I asked her what I should do. I knew the terms: “Accept Christ,” “Ask Him into your heart,” “Put your trust in Christ,” “Be saved” and “Come to Him.” But none of these seemed to answer my question. None of these seemed like the “how” that I needed for my “what to do?” They all seemed too easy or too intangible to grasp.

Then my mother told me that if I said “yes” to Christ deep down in my heart and really meant it and believed what He said, He would save me. That I understood.

At that time my thinking changed. I no longer thought of how Christ was calling me, or if He was calling me, but when I would say “yes” and allow Christ to lift the weight which had suddenly settled on my young shoulders.

It was as if every day Christ would ask me, “When will you let Me in? When? When?”

And I would say, “Not yet!”

I don’t remember how long this went on, but it seems like it was weeks until one Sunday morning in May when we were singing a gospel song. Suddenly, I couldn’t say “no” to Him anymore. I just said “yes” to the Lord.

I can’t describe the relief I felt in that moment. But that isn’t what has proven Christ to me. In the twenty years since then, I’ve known much loneliness and sadness, but I’ve always been able to turn to Him for the deepest comfort. I will spend eternity with the King of kings, but since that day in May I’ve found my richest happiness in my relationship with Christ.

He has given me more joy, more peace and more hope than I’ve ever had in a relationship of any kind with anyone. He has been the center of my life, and He has never failed me.

As He called me, He is calling you. It is true that the Lord Jesus said, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” and “The wages of sin is death,” but He also said that “him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” I urge you not to reject Christ, but to cast “all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.” Say “yes” to the Lord of lords!

Why Jesus Came

The Lord Jesus Christ did not come just to teach us how to live, nor did He come to show us how to die. God tells us why He came.

The Bible says, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). This is the reason for His coming: “to save sinners.”

He did not come “to save those who feel that they are good enough to take their chances on the judgment day,” nor did He come “to save those who expect to earn salvation by doing good things.” He did not come “to save those who feel sorry for their sins and are trying to do better.” No, He came, God tells us, “to save sinners.”

It is said of Him, “This man receiveth sinners” (Luke 15:2). His call, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” is directed to those who realize that they are sinners and need a Savior.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the wonderful Savior whom God sent to save sinners. He saves them now, and for eternity, for He has said, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).

Accept the Lord Jesus as your Savior now, and according to His own Word He will save you.

“Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him” (Heb. 7:25).

Echoes of Grace: 2003

Table of Contents

"An Hiding Place"

Are You Crazy?

Are You Prepared?

Are You Right With God?

At Calvary

Back to School

Choose Now

Covered Sin

Do Spiders Go to School?

Do You Believe?

Escape From a Lion

Eternal Love

Fact, Faith, Feelings

"Fireproof"

Forecasts

"Freedom Is Not Free"

Freely to the Thirsty

God's Silence

He Came

"He Waited in Vain for Help that Never Came."

Homeless

How a Sailor Was Converted

"How Shall We Escape If We Neglect so Great Salvation?"

Is He Willing to Save Me?

It Is Finished

Just an Ordinary Day

Kalalochi Dangerous Riptide

Living With Danger

Lost in a Swamp

Lost in the Fog

Luther's Vision

Mystery Solved

No Diving

No More Time

No Second Chance

No Time for God

None but Christ Can Satisfy

Not Good Etiquette

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

Only a Step

Our Living Water

Overturned on Hood's Canal

Pathan or Christian

"Patient Much Improved"

Peace With God

Playing With Death

Pull Over!

Rattlesnake

Read the Instructions

Rescue

Rescue

"Sir, You Are Going to Die"

Stop - Look - Listen

Survival of the Fittest

The Bird in the Boat

The Crossing Guard

The God of All Comfort and Consolation

The I.C.U.

"The Lord Did It for Me"

The New Boat

The Pharisees

The Scales

The Tailor's Story

The Thief on the Cross

The Unchanging Word

The War Memorial

The Weeping Stranger

Things Are Not Always What They Seem

Time Is Short

Trapped in a Shark Tank

Underground Fires

What Can Wash Away Sin?

What Does Converted Mean?

What Is Man?

What Is the Gospel?

What Redeemed Me

What Shall a Man Give in Exchange for His Soul?

What Time Is It?