For some time we had been witnessing to a Jewish businessman. He was always friendly, and never argued against what we had to say about the things of God. He accepted a New Testament and had it lying near at hand in his store, where other Jewish people could see it clearly. He always read the tracts we gave him, and knew the gospel from beginning to end.
When other Jewish people came into the store when we were there, he would tell them the Christians were in the “right” and the Jews in the “wrong,” and that the Jews should have accepted Christ. As a rule we let him tell it in his own way, so we could see he really understood the gospel.
But for all that, there was no evidence that he had laid hold upon eternal life. We explained to him that just knowing these things was not enough — he needed to take these things to heart and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as his own personal Saviour. It was again a week ago that we met him, and as we presented the need of salvation to him, stating that we must be prepared, for we knew not when we would die, he said, “I don’t want to ‘die,’ I want to ‘live.’”
We replied, “Yes, Mr. H., but the Bible says, ‘It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.’”
What a shock it was when we were about to stop at his store a week later and found the store closed with a sign on the door, “In Memory.” Our friend had died from a heart attack the day following our last discussion. Little did he or the writer realize that the very next day he would slip into eternity—and that without warning. What passed between himself and the Lord, only God knows. Our only hope is that he called upon the name of the Lord and was saved. We are also reminded of Prov. 29:11He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. (Proverbs 29:1), “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”
We realize that in this man’s life it was not that he resisted the truth — he just put it off. You, dear reader, may enjoy reading the Bible, singing hymns, and being with the Lord’s people, hut do YOU really know the Lord Jesus as your own Saviour? Perhaps you look forward each Lord’s day to receiving this little paper, and enjoy the stories in it, but if not saved, you are on the way to hell. We plead with you to accept Christ today, for you too, like the man in our story, may one day go from this earth into a lost eternity.
ML 03/26/1961