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Echoes of Grace–2016–April
The Inventor–Large Print Tract
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The giant print and message shown below make this an excellent tract for your next visit to a nursing home. It looks great in color or black and white.
The Inventor
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).
I Can’t Get Away From God–Color Tract
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Tom was a young man who had a job as a chauffeur. He earned a good salary, and his boss was kind to him. But there was one thing in his life that troubled and annoyed him. He had a caring, praying mother who lived in a nearby town, and she visited him frequently. But when she came, she would speak to him about Christ and his need of salvation.
“Mother,” he finally said, “I can’t stand this any longer. If you don’t drop that subject for good, I’ll give up my job and move far away where you can’t easily visit me.”
“Tom,” said his concerned mother, “as long as I can talk, I will not stop telling you about your need of the Saviour, and I’ll always be praying for you.”
Escape
Tom carried through on his threat to move away. He wrote to a friend who lived in a northern town many miles away and asked him to find him a job in that part of the country. He knew his mother could not follow him there, and though he was sorry to give up such a good job, he told himself, “It’s worth it to have some peace and quiet.”
His friend did find him another job as a chauffeur, and Tom told his mother that it was going to be a relief to get away from her constant preaching at him. But even though Tom was moving far enough away that his mother could not visit him, he would never get beyond the reach of her prayers.
Pursued
The first day Tom started his new job, he was to drive Mr. Wells, his new employer, out of town. But instead of getting into the back seat as was customary, Mr. Wells sat in the front seat alongside his new chauffeur.
He wants to see how I drive, thought Tom. They had just started the trip when Mr. Wells turned and began to talk to him. “Tell me, are you saved?” Mr. Wells asked. If a voice had come directly from heaven, it could scarcely have surprised Tom more. He was deeply shaken!
God has followed me all the way up north here! he cried to himself. I got away from my preaching mother, but I can’t get away from God! Tom wanted to hide somewhere … far away. He couldn’t answer Mr. Wells, and he could hardly drive for his trembling.
His Christian employer went on to tell him of Christ, and again Tom heard the same gospel message that his dear mother had told him many times. But this time it seemed to have new meaning — God had indeed followed him and was speaking to him, and the message began to sink in. But it did not seem to be a message of good news to Tom; it was a message of terror and condemnation. He knew it was Christ, the Son of God, whom he had despised and rejected. He understood for the first time that he was a guilty sinner. Before they reached the end of the trip, the terrible guilt and fear that gripped him made Tom physically sick — too sick to carry on his chauffeuring job, and so sick he had to go to bed.
Forgiveness
For some days he could not even get out of bed. But Mr. Wells came to see him, to read the Word of God and to pray. Soon the love and grace of the Saviour he had rejected began to penetrate his heart, replacing the terror and condemnation that had overwhelmed him.
Tom saw there was mercy for a person who had ridiculed and despised God’s very own Son and His loving offer of forgiveness. He saw that the blood of Christ is the answer before God even for a rebellious sinner like him, and he now believed in his heart the truth of those wonderful words, “We love Him, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). He saw that the Lord Jesus had borne the punishment for his sins at Calvary and that, even though he had hardened his heart against God and against his own mother, he was now forgiven — without sin or stain in the sight of a loving God who gave up His only Son so that sinners could be saved.
The first letter Tom wrote to his mother was to tell her the wonderful news: “God has followed me all the way up north here and has saved my soul! Your prayers have
been answered.”
“By grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).
“Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Echoes of Grace–2016–March
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Saved By His Own Sermon
His Stripes
The man was very ill, in fact, near death. Several times his clergyman had been to see him. He had read to him prayers for the sick, and told him what a great sinner he was. But the clergyman himself did not know God’s great love to sinners, so all he said only made the poor man more miserable.
His Stripes
These visits had been repeated several times, but the sick man had received no comfort; he could only moan about the weight of his sins.
One morning he sent his daughter to bring the clergyman one more time, but the minister objected. “It is no use for me to go,” he said. “Your father never seems any better.”
“Oh, please!” answered the girl. “Father said I was not to come back without you!”
“Well, I’ll take my sermon to read to him,” and he followed her to the sick man. He found the poor man in great distress about his soul’s condition.
“I’ve brought my sermon to read to you,” said the clergyman. He began by reading the scripture from which he had taken his text, the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah and the fifth verse: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.”The next day the clergyman went to see a friend and asked what there was in that scripture more than another.
“Wait!” cried the sick man. “Read that again! Wounded for our transgressions. Then He was wounded for mine! I have it!” he exclaimed, starting up. “Bruised for [my] iniquities. Why didn’t you tell me that before? But I have it now, thank God! With His stripes [I am] healed.”
Why the Scripture Is Special
The next day the clergyman went to see a friend and asked what there was in that scripture more than another. “Why,” said his friend, a believer in the Lord Jesus, “this verse contains the whole gospel. Now, I beg you, believe it! Can you say, He was wounded for my transgressions―the Son of God bore my sins in His own body on the tree?”
“Now I see,” exclaimed the clergyman. “How blind I have been! I know the scriptures with my head, but never before have I believed with my heart.”
After this experience his congregation was amazed at the intensely earnest way in which he preached. He told them that he had been only a blind leader, but that God’s grace had shone in his heart. He was a new creature in Christ Jesus, and he begged them all to trust the Lord Jesus as their own Saviour.
Adapted from His Riches.