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The Nurse’s Mistake–Large Print Tract

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The Nurse’s Mistake
A young man lay in a hospital, racked with pain and impatient to be out again with his carefree friends. He had wanted to be an expert horseback rider and had fallen from his horse while riding. He had also decided that day to take a law course at the University, but now here he lay, and why, oh, why this pain in his leg?
Suddenly everything changed for him. A sober nurse quietly brought a folding screen into his ward and placed it carefully around his bed!
The screen! That meant he was expected to die…and soon! His world began to collapse around him. Horses and law courses were forgotten. He heard the hospital clock chime one. Perhaps before it chimed again he would be gone. Why hadn’t they told him before? He wasn’t ready to die. Perhaps before the hour was passed he would be face to face with God.
He hated the thought. Not that he had ever done anything that seemed very bad, but he just hadn’t got acquainted with God. He always figured there was plenty of time. Why had he kept so far from God?
His life began to pass before his eyes and he tried to see it as God would look at it. He shuddered. He hadn’t even kept the second commandment about loving his neighbor, let alone the first commandment about loving God with all his heart.
For the first time in his life he felt the crushing weight of his own sin, and groaned at the thought of meeting a holy God. Restlessly he tossed. His eyes roamed feverishly over the ceiling and walls. That ominous screen! The dread ticking of the clock near his bed!
Then the answer came. It was written on a little placard on the opposite wall. He could just see it above the screen:
“COME UNTO ME, ALL YE THAT LABOR AND ARE HEAVY LADEN, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST” (Matthew 11:28). That was it! Jesus Christ, the Son of God somehow anyone would be saved if he came to Him. Yes, the Cross! Christ had died, and in some way that meant pardon for sinners and rest for the soul.
This time he didn’t stop to question it or argue it or put it off. He read the verse again: “Come unto Me, all ye that labor… and I will give you rest.”
Right out loud he said: “I will come! I do come! I come to Thee. Is it too late?”
The young man began smiling; he knew it wasn’t too late. He rested on the finished work of the Son of God, and he knew he was forgiven. He had never had such peace in his life. Now he was ready to die.
And yet, he wasn’t ready to die. He thought of his own brother and of his friends. Most of them cursed and scorned the name of God. Why hadn’t he come to Christ sooner while there was still time to tell them?
If he could only have one chance to shout this wonderful news from the housetops! He would give such a plea from a dying man that the whole world would wake up! If only—
Then the nurse came back.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, “there’s been a mistake. We placed the screen at the wrong bed. I am very sorry.”
To her astonishment the patient sat bolt upright in bed and said: “Sorry! Why, that’s the greatest thing that ever happened to me in my life!”
Have YOU come to Christ for salvation? There may not be this extra time given to you. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
Are you telling others of Christ as though it were their last chance? Today may be your last chance or theirs.

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Only One Church–Large Print Tract

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Only One Church
John Wesley once, in a dream, found himself at the gates of hell. He knocked, and asked who were within. “Are there any Roman Catholics here?” he asked.
“Yes,” was the answer.
“Any Presbyterians?” he asked, and again the answer was, “Yes.”
“Are there any Welseyans here?”
“Yes, we have some of those, too,” came the answer.
Disappointed and dismayed, especially by the last reply, he turned his step upward and at last came to the gates of heaven. Here he repeated the same questions.
“Any Wesleyans here?” he anxiously inquired. The answer was, “No.”
And as he named the other denominations, to his dismay, each time the answer was, “No.”
“Then whom do you have here?” he asked in desperation.
“We know nothing here of any of those names you have mentioned,” said the angel. “They are all Christians here-born again people. Of these we have a great multitude which no man can number, gathered out of all nations and kindreds and peoples and tongues.”
Down through the centuries there have been bitter arguments over religion, and especially the question: which church is right? Nothing is more irritating than to hear someone insist that only members of his church or denomination will get to heaven. How foolish that is, when the Bible makes it so plain that Christ is the way to heaven, and not the church.
Be sure that God will not ask the sinner: “What church did you join?” But He will inquire, “What have you done with Christ?” The only members of any church or denomination who will be in heaven will be those who as lost sinners have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour.
But there is a church of which every member, according to the Bible, will be in heaven. It is called “the church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). According to the New Testament, a person doesn’t become a member of this Church until he knows the Lord Jesus Christ as his own Saviour.
The Church began at Jerusalem after the Lord Jesus was taken back to heaven. Universally it includes all the believers in the Lord Jesus Christ throughout the world. At the second coming of Christ this universal Church will be taken up to heaven to be forever with the Lord. In that day, “The dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain [all Christians, both the dead and living] shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
Are you a member of this one true Church?

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Sorry!–Large Print Tract

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Sorry!
There was never any doubt of their guilt. The two college students were caught by police as they burglarized cars on the university campus. When police searched their car they found stereo equipment linking them to eight burglaries at another campus over a hundred miles away.
Arrested, facing possible jail sentences, they were offered a “deal.” A prosecutor would drop the charges if they completed probation and apologized. Accordingly, the two paid for advertisements in their school’s newspaper and submitted apologies. One said, in part, “It wasn’t worth it. I’m sorry.”
Others have escaped jail terms by the same route: a teenager who sold cocaine, a lawyer who scuffled with a policeman, a convicted drug racketeer—a newspaper ad saying, “I’m sorry,” has been the penalty.
But is it enough?
In the parking lot of a shopping center there was a crash-a sound of crumpling metal-and a driver hastily got out to examine the parked car he had so carelessly hit. After looking at the damaged car and finding it empty, he took out a piece of paper, wrote on it, and tucked it under the windshield wiper. Then he drove away. Soon the owner of the car came back from her shopping and saw what had happened. Shocked and dismayed, she turned to a man sitting in a car nearby.
“Did you see what happened to my car?” she demanded.
“Yes,” he said, “I saw it all. He left a note for you on the windshield.”
Visions of a big repair bill faded. Evidently the man had left his name and telephone number. Relieved, she opened the paper and read one word: SORRY!
Speechless, she showed it to the witness.
“Well,” he said, “he said he was sorry; isn’t that enough?”
“Sorry!” Her voice rose to a shriek: “SORRY! but who is going to pay?”
That is the point. “Sorry” wasn’t enough. “Sorry” paid no bills, made no restitution. “Sorry” left the stereos ripped out of the cars; “sorry” would have left the woman’s car as it was. (Happily, the witness had quietly written down the license number of the hit-and-run car, and we can hope that the driver eventually paid for repairs.) It is good to be sorry for wrong things done, to repent, even to determine to “do better next time,” but there is still the question: “Who is going to pay?”
We have all done wrong things, broken God’s laws, sinned. Is it enough to tell God that we are sorry and that we won’t do it again? The Bible says that “God requireth that which is past.”
No amount of reformation will wipe out the sins of the past. There must be an atonement; someone must pay the bill.
Can we ourselves do that? Never. Only One could ever do it-the Lord Jesus Christ. He came to this earth and lived a perfect life down here-but that alone couldn’t save a single sinner. He had to give His life, to die, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God.
“God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Yes, the Lord Jesus paid the penalty for our sins and now God can justify all who simply by faith believe and receive the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
And then? Then “not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement” (Romans 5:11).
Yes, Jesus paid it all!

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The Changed Word–Large Print Tract

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The Changed Word
An old man who lived in the Adirondack mountains lay dying, and he asked an old friend, a neighbor, to go for a man he knew to be a Christian. He needed to know how to be saved.
It was a few miles to the Christian’s house, and he found that the man was away from home and would not be back that day. But his wife, who was also a Christian, asked, “Is there anything I can do?”
“Old Jack’s dying, ma’am, and he wants to know how to be saved.”
“Just tell him this: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.’ If he comes to Christ as a sinner, He will never cast him out.”
“Ma’am,” he said, “will you say that again? I want to get it straight.”
“‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,’ and if he will come to Him just as he is, he will not be turned away.”
The old man went away. As he was going towards home he said to himself, “I don’t like that word ‘sinners.’ I don’t think old Jack is such a bad man. He used to chop wood for the neighbors and go for the doctor when anyone was sick, and he’s done a lot of good. When I get home I’m not going to tell it to him just like that.”
When he got back he said, “Jack, the man wasn’t home but I saw his wife and she gave me the directions. She told me that Christ Jesus came into the world to save people.”
“Didn’t she say ‘sinners’?”
“Well, I guess that’s what she did say, but I didn’t want to call you a sinner. I stuck up for you!”
“Abe, don’t talk to me like that. Since you’ve been gone I’ve been thinking back to when I was a boy and we used to sing:
Just as I am, without one plea
But that Thy blood was shed for me.
And that Thou bid’st me come to Thee.
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
And I’m going to come just like that. Now, if that is the message, I can die happy.”
Yes, old Jack had to come to Jesus just as he was. Christ Jesus, the eternal Son of God, was born in a manger, and went all the way to the cross of Calvary. There He died, the Just for the unjust, to bring us to God. If you will only come to Him as a sinner and receive Him as your Saviour, you can say, “He died for me.”
Come now, just as you are, and where you are. Do not wait. Soon it will be too late!

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Saved By a Sheep–Large Print Tract

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Saved By A Sheep
The ship Boyne was anchored at sea near the city of Portsmouth. On May 1st at 11 a.m., the people on the shore watched in horror as flames shot up through the deck and the royal navy ship began to burn out of control. In a few minutes the whole ship was in flames and those on board were scrambling to escape. Many died in the fire, and others were drowned trying to swim to shore.
At the time of the fire a young marine was on board with his wife and child, a toddler of eighteen months. The lifeboats were useless, and he could see that if they remained on board the burning ship they would all die.
The marine suddenly thought of a way of escape. There were some animals in pens on board, and he rushed to them. The animals were wild with fear but, seizing a full-grown sheep, he carried it onto the deck. Tying the baby securely on the animal’s back, he dropped them both overboard. He said, “There—swim to the land, and God be with you!”
The marine’s first thought was of the danger and, knowing all other hope of escape was gone, he trusted the child he loved to the back of the sheep. This makes us think of that verse in the Scriptures, “He trusted on the Lord that He would deliver Him” (Psalm 22:8). It could also read, “He rolled Himself on the Lord.” The father simply rolled his child on the sheep. He thought, If it sinks, my boy sinks. If it survives, he survives too. What a beautiful picture of faith and trust! “Cast thy burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain thee” (Psalm 55:22).
The sheep struck out for land with its precious burden and finally reached the shallow water. There it was rescued by spectators on the shore who rushed forward to meet it and released the child, safe and sound.
In the meantime the marine and his wife had jumped into the sea, where he helped her keep afloat for some time. Finally they were both picked up by a boat that had been sent to rescue survivors. The little boy was soon restored to his rejoicing parents, apparently unharmed by his strange experience and narrow escape.
One can’t read this story without seeing a picture of a more wonderful deliverance—the deliverance by the Lord Jesus of all those who trust Him for their souls’ salvation.
In the hour of peril, the harmless sheep was entrusted with the salvation of that little child; the little boy was “rolled” on his deliverer and brought safely to shore. God entrusted to Jesus, His own beloved Son, the eternal safety of all those whose sins He bore upon the cross. Alone, for them, He gave up His life; alone, for them, He bore on the cross the storm of God’s wrath against their sins.
The sheep reached shore alive, but Jesus had to die. He gave up His life, that we might live. He shed His precious blood to wash away our sins, for without shedding of blood is no remission. By His death and resurrection, He opened the way to heaven, and now as the risen and glorified Saviour at God’s right hand, He proclaims to all: “Come unto Me.”
“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6).
Had the waves been too high, the sheep and its precious burden might both have drowned. But all those who have put their trust in Jesus are safe forever. “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand,” we hear Him say in John 10:28. Again in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

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Secure Now and Forever–Large Print Tract

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Secure Now and Forever
What would it be like to come into the instant possession of forty million dollars? Mike Wittowski knows. In September of 1984 the numbers on his Illinois lottery ticket matched up with those of the Grand Prize drawing. The result: two million a year for the next twenty years. A stupendous sum of money.
Four years after he won, Mike had married and started a family. He was asked, “Mike, what was the most important thing about winning all that money?”
“Security,” Mike replied. “It’s given me plenty of security, and you can’t beat that. Security is the most important thing, and I have it for my whole family. My family is what means the most to me.”
Security is a most important thing. It’s wonderful to have it for ourselves and also our loved ones. But money, even millions, can’t really make us secure.
One reason is that, “Our times are in Thy hands”-that is, God chose the time we were brought into this world, and He will choose the time we leave it. “This night thy soul shall be required of thee,” are the words God spoke to a certain rich man in Luke 12, and all the wealth that man possessed was powerless to extend his life one day longer.
Another reason is that, even if you could take a fortune with you when you died (which is impossible) it wouldn’t be enough to buy an exit from a lost eternity. Die without Christ, and money-even millions- will not buy your way out of hell.
Soul security, eternal security, is the possession only of those who believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. Of such believers the Lord Jesus said, “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.”
Forty million dollars is a tremendous amount of money, but it can’t buy eternal security. That costs far more: it cost the life of the Son of God! At the cross of Jesus Christ, God in His infinite love made a way for souls to be saved from their sins-and from hell.
How did He do this? “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 10:9 tells us the way to be saved: “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.”
Are you seeking security in money and possessions, while ignoring God, the only true source of security? Don’t do it! Only through the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, can you be secure-secure now and forever.

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The Debt Is Paid–Large Print Tract

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The Debt Is Paid
Many really desire to know Jesus as their Saviour, but find it hard to realize that the work is finished without any help from themselves. This true story illustrates how a poor woman learned this important lesson.
Betty was poor, very poor. She was sick, and confined to her bed as well. But Betty carried an even heavier burden. She was filled with doubts and fears about her soul’s salvation. She had heard over and over again that Christ had died on the cross, and that He had borne the punishment for her.
She believed, but still, her mind was dark and sad when she thought of the future. She felt a distance between her and a holy God. Mrs. Pax, a kind friend, often visited her. Again and again, she tried to explain the simple plan of salvation, showing that when Christ died on the cross, He finished the work, paid the debt in full, and, “being justified by faith, we have peace with God.” But no matter how simply the truth was presented to her, she found no relief.
One day as Mrs. Pax entered, she found Betty in great distress. She had pulled the sheet over her head, and was sobbing violently, as if her heart would break; the bed shook under her.
“Dear Betty,” said Mrs. Pax, “what’s happened to make you so unhappy?”
“Oh, Mrs. Pax, I can’t pay my rent, and the landlord is going to take my bed from under me. I will die! I will die!”
Her distress was so great and all that her friend could say seemed useless. She didn’t have a cent, and the debt had to be paid, or her bed taken.
Just at this moment they heard a violent knock on the door. This brought on a fresh outbreak of grief.
“There they are! There they are!” she cried.
Deeply touched at her sorrow, Mrs. Pax descended the stairs softly, and found the two men at the door, expecting to take the furniture.
“Well,” she said, after they had explained their errand, “you know this woman can’t pay her rent.”
“Of course, ma’am, but we can’t help that. If she doesn’t have the money we must take the furniture.”
“But it’s terribly cruel; she’s dying!”
“Ma’am, that’s not our business; we must have the money or the furniture.”
“Well, tell me, how much it is.”
The men told her, and taking the money from her purse, she said: “Give me the change and a receipt.”
They did, and Mrs. Pax put the receipt between the pages of her Bible, and went upstairs to reassure Betty that the debt was settled, not realizing that God was going to use this act of kindness for a far greater blessing to the troubled soul of this poor woman.
She found her in despair, expecting at any moment to be pulled out of bed, and laid on the floor. Her friend sat down by her, saying quickly, “Betty, don’t worry!”
“But, I must worry. I will die!”
“But the debt is paid, Betty.” The poor woman threw the sheet off her face, and looked round in wonder. What had she heard? She could not believe her ears.
Mrs. Pax repeated again those comforting words, “I assure you, Betty, you don’t need to worry any more. The debt is paid,” and opening her Bible, she showed her the receipt, saying, “Here, Betty, this is the receipt. Read it for yourself and be convinced!”
The poor old woman slowly read it. Suddenly, a very happy expression came into her face, and the sadness was gone. Her expression was bright, as if the cloud was lifted. She raised her hands and cried, “I understand! I understand! Jesus has paid my debt of sin.”
And, now, do you understand? Do you know Him of whom the Bible says, “Thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins”? Do you think He needs any of your help? Didn’t He say, “Come unto Me”?
“We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Ephesians 1:7). Do not think your works can help you. The words of Jesus on the cross were, “It is finished” (John 19:30).

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The Inventor–Large Print Tract

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The Inventor
When the Duke of Wellington won the battle of Waterloo he was a great hero to his countrymen. He was awarded every honor England could give, and had tremendous influence in the nation. Of course he became the target of all kinds of people seeking favors-people seeking office, or money, or just recognition. One such man came with what he claimed to be a bullet-proof breastplate. The inventor wanted to persuade the Duke to introduce it to the British authorities for adoption by the army.
Having letters of introduction from some of the Duke’s personal friends, this man called and was shown into the presence of the great Commander. Though the Duke was very busy, he listened patiently as the inventor described his wonderful invention and spoke of its protective value.
Finally, the Duke broke in abruptly with a question: “Have you got the thing with you?”
Quickly the man brought out the breastplate. The Duke asked sharply, “Are you sure it is bullet proof?” “Oh, quite sure, your grace.”
“Put it on then, and go stand in that corner.” Wondering what the Duke meant by this, the inventor at once obeyed.
“Mr. Temple,” shouted the Duke to his secretary, “tell the sentry outside to load with ball cartridge and come in here to test this breastplate.”
Before the sentry could load the inventor flew through the door and disappeared. He hadn’t enough faith in his own invention to risk his life.
Many, many people have their own religious inventions which they think will protect them from the wrath of a holy God. But, will they stand the test? Morality, reformation, good works or prayers, none can protect them from coming judgment.
We read in Hebrews 11:6, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him.” And in Acts 4:12: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
Think of it! No tears that you may shed, no works you may perform, no resolution you may make, will serve to shield you in that coming day when “every man’s works shall be tried.”
The only refuge from the coming storm of God’s righteous judgment on a wicked world is the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything else is useless. Won’t you turn to Him now, trusting Him alone for your salvation?
He has said, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).

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Was It Justice?–Large Print Tract

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Was It Justice?
Robert Lucas was less than thirty years old when he murdered a man and was sentenced to life in prison. After serving seven months of his sentence he escaped and went into hiding.
In a different state he adopted a new name and began a new life. Using his new name, he got a driver’s license, held jobs and even got married.
The years went by, and Robert Lucas lived the life of a model citizen. Ten years-twenty years-and still he lived quietly with his wife and “maintained a low profile.”
Twenty-three years after his escape, plainclothesmen came to his door and asked if he were Robert Lucas. One agent later reported, “He didn’t say much. He just stuttered and stammered for a while, then he said he had a heart condition.”
The heart condition was real: two months later he died of a heart attack while still fighting extradition to the state from which he had escaped.
Friends from his new life bitterly blamed the authorities who ordered his re-arrest. “Going to jail and worrying about it-that’s what killed him,” they said.
But a State Bureau of Investigation official said agents had no choice but to arrest the man. “You’ve got to understand he killed a man,” said the head of the fugitive squad. “It’s our job to find him whether he’s been gone one, two, ten or thirty years. You can’t just forget a man who killed another man. It’s our job. The law says we’ve got to do it.”
Was it justice? Was it justice to take a man who lived an apparently blameless life for 23 years and to put him in prison for a long-ago murder? Was it justice to take him from his wife of 20 years? Was it justice to discount all the good things he may have done in that time?
Yes, it was justice. It was THE LAW. The law can’t forgive. Like the mirror, it can show you how dirty your face is, but can do nothing to clean you up. Whether man’s law or God’s law, it can only judge and condemn; it can’t forgive. It has nothing to do with mercy!
God’s law says that “the soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20). And, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
There is no escaping that law. The sentence has been pronounced on every soul that has ever sinned and, postpone it though we may, in time we must face the fact that “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
The law can do no more, but God can! No, He can’t change His law, which is “holy, and just, and good,” but He can cleanse that sinful heart because “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
“For what the law could not do…God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us” (Romans 8:3-4).
“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth….For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:4,10).

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The Memorial–Large Print Tract

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The Memorial
Lawrence Hammond-Boyce Lawson-James McAndrew… the names glint in the Washington sunshine, names etched in the polished black granite of the Vietnam memorial, names of those who died. Their living loved ones come to stand and search for that one special name, to reach up to touch this one last tie, to whisper: “We remember-we will never forget-we love you.”
Long after the last mourner has gone, when there is no one left able to say, “I knew him, I cared for him,” the names will still be there: Nathaniel Lee-Marvin Lindsey-Dennis Pitsenbarger…it will be a voice always saying: they lived, and they are dead.
Yes, every name on those stones is a memorial to death. Paul McNaly-Gary Tracy-Frank Wilson…they are remembered, they were loved, but those reaching hands, those longing hearts, can never really touch them. It is a roster of the dead.
There is another place where names are written: names that will endure for all eternity. It is spoken of in the Bible, in Revelation 21:27, where we read of those people whose names are written in “the Lamb’s book of life.”
These are names that will last forever, names of the living: Jennifer-Steve-Carole-Manuel…! Is your name written there?
Jesus said: “He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).
The names etched in granite are not there by choice. To die in the mud and blood and suffering of war was a terrible thing.
Far, far worse would be to die without making sure that your name is written in the book of life. That choice is yours!
After the “dead, small and great, stand before God,” whosoever is not found written in that book will be “cast into the lake of fire.” That means eternal separation from God in blackness of darkness forever, in a state too horrible to contemplate.
Again, you do have a choice! By believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, by receiving Him as your own Saviour, by confessing Him as Lord, you will insure that your name is in that book. “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 does the Lord Jesus say to you then? “Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven!” (Luke 10:20).
Rejoice! Isn’t that wonderful?