Was It a Lie?

The wagons were rolling westward. Long lines of wagons moved slowly across the hot prairies, over the cold mountains, bearing settlers, miners, adventurers, hunters, trappers―all seeking something beyond. One wagon train had a company of Christians who hoped to take the gospel of God’s grace to those in the West.

It was a company of Christians―plus Joe. Joe was not a Christian. Joe, in his own country, was wanted for murder. It was not safe for him to stay in his own neighborhood, so meeting up with the Christians, he asked to be hired as a driver of one of their wagons.

However, being in the company of Christians did not make Joe a saint! He hated religion. When the wagons stopped rolling for the Lord’s Day (Sunday), Joe didn’t have to drive, so he would go off with his gun and spend the hours hunting. He would keep well out of the way of hearing the Word of God preached.

As the party went on their way, in the middle of July there came a Sunday so hot that Joe didn’t care to hunt. He laid himself down in the shadow of one of the wagons, carefully selecting the wagon of one of the group who would not be expected to conduct the service.

But Joe had made a mistake. The one whose turn it was to preach was so overcome by the heat that he asked to be excused, and the owner of the wagon under whose shade Joe was sheltering offered to take his place. So the little company gathered around his wagon, and the meeting began.

Joe was lying in the long grass, half asleep, and was furious at being disturbed. To lie still while hymns were sung and to see the hated Bible opened was too much for him. He would move. He stood up to go, but the heat was too great and he threw himself back down on the grass. There he lay on his back in front of the preacher, his angry eyes glaring up at him.

“He said that God loved wicked men. Wasn’t that a lie?”

“Lord, help me to preach to Joe,” prayed the speaker as he saw the opportunity before him. Forgetting everybody else, he began to tell of the love of God to all His creatures. He told his hearers that, though God gave them rain and sunshine, food and drink, even life itself, yet they didn’t love Him in return. Instead of loving Him, they hated Him and His servants and His Book. But did He send the lightning and strike them down for their enmity? No, He had given His Son to die to put away their sins. He had shown His love to them, to the worst of them, even to the murderers, and if they would only believe in His Son He would forgive them and make them His dear children.

Joe’s eyes were fixed on the speaker who, as he went on, watched the anger slowly fading out.

Lies?

Joe didn’t forget that sermon. One day, walking beside another of the men, he said, “Didn’t the preacher tell awful lies that hot Sunday?”

“Lies, Joe? I didn’t hear any.”

“He said that God loved wicked men. Wasn’t that a lie?”

“Not at all, Joe; it’s in the Book. ‘God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins.’

“But wasn’t that an awful lie, that the Great Father gave His Son?”

“No, Joe, it’s in the Book. ‘In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.’

Then Joe said, “But it must be a lie, that He was preparing the beautiful place for them.”

“No,” was the answer. “That’s true too. It’s in the Book. Jesus, the Son of God, said to sinful men whom He loved and had saved, I go to prepare a place for you.”

Then Joe said, “If all this is true, I want this way of peace; I want this new life!”

That sermon, and the talk that followed, turned Joe from being Joe-the-wicked to Joe-the-Christian. He believed that God loved him and gave His Son to die for him, and joyfully he received Christ Jesus as his Lord.

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Adapted from Living Waters.

Almost But Lost–Color Tract

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A fierce storm raged, a storm so violent that most of the villagers couldn’t remember another one like it. Many anxious wives and mothers in the little fishing village tensely waited for their fishermen husbands and sons who were out in the vicious weather.

Finally fishing boats began appearing on the horizon. Soon they entered the bay, and before long the first boat reached the harbor. In spite of the storm, a large crowd gathered on the pier and watched as boat after boat passed from the surging waves of the bay into the calmer waters of the harbor. Every eye in the waiting crowd searched anxiously for the boat bringing their loved one.

Terror Strikes

Finally, the last boat reached the mouth of the harbor. The seven brave men on board, after an exhausting struggle with the storm, could be heard in the distance.

Terror suddenly enveloped the waiting crowd. Faces turned white, shrieks pierced the air, and women clung to one another in agonizing disbelief. In a frenzy of desperation they kept yelling, “What happened? What happened?”

Just at the point of entering the harbor and only a short distance from safety, the boat suddenly vanished! In an instant, boat and crew had been swallowed up by the raging waves. Every one of the seven men drowned. They couldn’t have been nearer without actually being inside the harbor.
But they were lost!

Dangerous Indecision

Many people are in the same condition. Driven by their sense of need and compelled by their guilty conscience, some approach the door of salvation. It stands open to all, yet some people don’t enter. The tender voice of the loving Shepherd in divine compassion calls to them again and again, “I am the Door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved” (John 10:9). Still they hesitate.

These people linger at the entrance as though they would like to go in. A single step would take them across the threshold, but they hold back. They listen with some concern to the message of mercy. They see others entering and accepting the Saviour’s forgiveness for their sins. Still they remain outside. The years slip by, and when God finally closes the door, they will still be there — so close to safety, yet still outside.

Be Decisive

If this describes your indecision, then: “Thou art not far from the kingdom of God” (Mark 12:34). Not far … but still outside. Be warned, that to be on the wrong side of the closed door means you will be on the wrong side forever! Will you take the necessary step before it is too late?

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

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

“They that were ready went in with him … and the door was SHUT” (Matthew 25:10).