Echoes of Grace: 2002

It was 7:30 Friday morning. The city was beginning to stir and wake and prepare for another day of business as usual. Buses discharged their passengers at office and shop; cars and drivers passed on in search of parking spaces; workers paused for a moment before punching time clocks and starting the day’s work.

Outside the Health plan offices two women stood talking. A young man walked up to them and asked for directions to the Boulevard. As they explained, he suddenly grabbed a purse and bolted.

Screams! Yells! “Catch that guy!”

Jake Geathers, driving past on his way to work at the United Parcel Service, heard the cries, saw the purse-snatcher, and jumped from his car. Racing after the fleeing man for three blocks, he was stopped abruptly by the seawall on the river. The thief hesitated briefly and then dived into the murky water.

Geathers shouted at him, asking if he could swim, but there was no response. He said later, “He just looked up at me with fright on his face and went under.”

Once the man bobbed to the surface and yelled for help, and then he sank again.

Geathers tore off his shirt and tie and jumped in, but the water was too dark, the current was too strong, and the thief was swept to his death.

“He wouldn’t let go of the purse. He just wouldn’t let go. He lost his life for nothing, man!” And the tears came into Geathers’s eyes as he added, “Why didn’t he just let go of the purse?”

There was thirty dollars in the purse.

For thirty dollars he sold his life, if not his immortal soul—thirty dollars that did him no good whatsoever.

Can you hear the echo from two thousand years ago? For thirty pieces of silver, Judas Iscariot sold his soul and threw away his life-thirty pieces of silver that he neither spent nor enjoyed. He took them back to the temple and threw them down at the feet of the priests before he went out and killed himself.

“He makes an awful bargain who sells Christ and his own soul at the same time!” But men have sold their soul for far less than thirty pieces of silver—or thirty dollars—or even thirty cents. Men-women-even children today are selling their souls for drugs or drink or the “pleasures of sin for a season”-and a dreadful bargain they are making with the devil.

What are they gaining in return? Little enough in this life, but oh, the afterward! Short or long, life ends on this earth, but the soul does not die. It will exist forever, shut out from life and light and love for all eternity. God is light and love, and away from Him there will be only the blackness of lonely darkness forever! Thirty million dollars—thirty billion dollars—would be a poor exchange.

“What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:36-37).

All My Tomorrows

There were the deposit slips, a stack of them, every one carefully labeled: “For all my tomorrows.” In the bank account was every penny of that painstakingly gathered money. The accounts were all balanced, the totals verified, everything in order for beginning the long-waited-for “tomorrows.” There were the funds-but the depositor, where was she? A sudden stroke, a brief illness, and she had gone to an unplanned-for “tomorrow.” If only she had thought more of the endless tomorrow at the end of life on earth!

And the money? The precious money, for which so many small pleasures had been denied, had gone to the distant relatives who were her only heirs. There it started a bitter argument over who should have the largest share.

John Wanamaker, known for his great success in business, used to say, “Steer clear of tomorrows as far as you can.” He was right. Even matters of real importance, if “put off till tomorrow,” will possibly never get done at all.

If this is true in human affairs, it is true and doubly important in the matter of the soul’s salvation. The Bible, which is the final authority, says, “Now is the day of salvation.”

The Lord Jesus is the Savior, and all are invited to come to Him and be saved. His cleansing blood avails for the worst sinner.

When is it that you are urged to come? That is the vital point: It is TODAY!

“Steer clear of tomorrows.” Have nothing to do with them.

Tomorrow may be one day too late. Your opportunity may have passed. Life is uncertain. Many dangers surround us, and the coming of the Lord draws near.

The God of infinite love, who desires to have all to be saved, pleads that you will make this the day of your salvation. Heaven would rejoice at your coming to Christ!

As you value your soul, do not delay. “TODAY if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts” (Hebrews 4:7).

If you accept the Lord Jesus as your Savior today, He will take charge of your tomorrows, yes, even your forever. Your eternity will be spent in His presence where there is “fullness of joy.”

“Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Prov. 27:1).

Are You Sincere?

“Oh, I don’t think it matters what you believe as long as you are sincere in your belief.” A very common remark, isn’t it? But is it true? Is how you believe more important than what you believe?

A young soldier was going on leave. He had reached the station nearest his home and stood up to leave the train. He opened the door and, with a last over-the-shoulder joke to his friends, stepped into the night-as he thought, onto the platform. His second step was onto NOTHING.

With a startled cry and a wild effort to save himself, he plunged through space and landed twenty feet below on a hard road, alive but badly hurt. What had happened was that just beyond the platform was a bridge over the road and, not noticing that the long train had overrun the platform, he had stepped out onto the bridge railing.

He knew the station well, and he thought he was all right.

BUT HIS SINCERITY DID NOT SAVE HIM.

And so it is with the great question of eternal salvation. We are not left in the dark to form our own opinions, no matter how sincere they may be. The Bible-God’s message to humanity-tells us the way.

Jesus Christ is the way to God-not our opinions or our prayers or our good deeds or our sincerity. He Himself said, “No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6).

If you feel that things are not right between you and God, and you wish they were, the way to settle the question is simply to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. There was a time when the Apostle Thomas said, “I will not believe,” but when he found himself face to face with Jesus, he just owned Him as “my Lord and my God” (John 20:28).

“There is a way that [seems] right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Prov. 16:25

Be in Time

I was once at a gospel service where a hymn was sung which I have forgotten, except for the refrain of “Be in time, be in time!” Those words rang in my ears all day and, strangely, there was a little incident that reinforced the memory to me.

I was traveling by train that day, and happily I had plenty of time to buy my ticket and watch the train whiz into the station. I took my seat, and soon I felt the train moving. At that very instant the porter cried, “Hurry up!” Hot and panting, a young girl rushed along the platform and was pushed into the train by him, at the same time receiving warning to “be in time” another day.

Before she could get seated, another woman who had been studying the books on the stall for at least ten minutes turned around and saw the train beginning to move. She ran forward with a cry, “Is that the Manchester train?”

“Stand back!” shouted the guard.

“Stop the train! Stop the train! I must get to Manchester!”

“Too late, ma’am,” said the porter grabbing her arm.

The train was now picking up speed, and I could no longer see the woman and the porter. I turned from the window in time to hear the remark of an old woman in the seat ahead: “Well, now, wasn’t she silly-with the porters calling out, ‘Manchester and points north! All aboard for Manchester,’ in her ears!”

Perhaps she was silly, but I felt sorry for that woman. She evidently meant to “be in time” for that train-but-she lost it! How sad!

Don’t forget this little incident. Let your ears be open to the gospel cry going on around you, and answer it.

Do not even be like the girl who just caught it, but be in time yourself, and then help others to catch the train too. Remember you are at the door of eternity and have more important things to do than to fritter away your time.

“Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts” (Heb. 4:7).

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

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name [except Jesus] under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Be Not Afraid

I stood one day on some cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean while a friend pointed out a rocky reef a little way off shore. Waves were crashing and foaming over it, and he told me that was the spot where an Austrian ship had once struck on the rocks. Through a fierce storm the lifeguards on shore struggled with their rocket apparatus, and as soon as it was on the spot nearest the sinking ship they fired the rocket with the lifeline.

Their aim was perfect; they could see that the rope was caught fast in the rigging, but instantly every sailor on the ship rushed below and not a man was to be seen. There was the rope attached, and there hung the board with the directions as to its use-directions in half-a-dozen languages-but no one even looked at it.

The lifeguards knew that the rough seas would break the ship to pieces very soon, and they would not be able to save any. At last one man could stand it no longer and, getting into the lifebuoy, he went down the line to the ship. Through the hatch he flung the painted board of instructions. A score of frightened faces looked up in terror at him. They took the board and read it; hastily they explained it to one another and scrambled out to the life line. First one, then another, availed himself of the apparatus until all were safely on the shore.

Overwhelmed with gratitude, they hugged and kissed their deliverers joyfully. “We heard-we saw-the shot. We thought you wanted to kill us,” they explained in broken English.

How sad it would have been if they had drowned because they were afraid of the only ones who could save them-if they died because they did not believe in the rescue that was offered. And how many people are like them today-afraid of God-unbelieving as to the salvation He wants to give them.

“The Lord...is long-suffering...not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). He is “a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness” (Neh. 9:17).

Then why be afraid? Why doubt His love and mercy? Why wait until it is too late to be saved? The Lord Jesus says to you now, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”-rest for time and for eternity. If you are afraid to come, if you do not believe His promise, if you wait until your ship of life breaks up and sinks into the waters of death, your chance will have gone forever.

Now it is “he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.” Then it will be “he that believeth not the Son shall not see life” (John 3:36).

“Be not afraid, only believe” (Mark 5:36).

Be Not Deceived

You may hear preaching “gladly”-so did Herod; see Mark 6:20.

You may tremble at the word-so did Felix; see Acts 24:25.

You may ask for prayers-so did Pharaoh; see Exodus 8:8.

You may be “almost persuaded”-so was Agrippa; see Acts 26:28.

You may “find no fault” with Christ-so did Pilate; see John 19:4.

You may “make long prayers”-so did the Pharisees; see Mark 12:40.

You may appear to be a disciple-so did Judas; see Acts 1:16-17.

You may do all this, and much more, but if you have not come as a lost sinner to the Lord Jesus Christ and received Him as your Savior, you will come at last to hear those sad, sad words from the Lord Jesus: “I know you not....Depart from Me” (Luke 13:27)

Behold the Man

“HOW DISAPPOINTING! He didn’t keep his promise. When we elected him, we were sure he would change things.” “That judge! There he is with a man’s life in his hands and he’s taking bribes under the table.” “Look at that religious leader...preaching to others and his own life is in shambles.”

Time and time again we’ve been let down by those we’ve put our hopes in. Where is the man we can depend on? BEHOLD THE MAN, as He stands before an angry crowd calling for His death by crucifixion. His back is torn by the savage whip of a Roman soldier. On His head is a crown of thorns. His face is bruised, His features marred, yet He stands in quiet dignity. This is Jesus, of whom it was said, “He shall save His people from their sins.” What has He done to deserve this treatment?

His closest follower, who referred to himself as one whom Jesus loved, said, “In Him is no sin.”

Pilate, the judge who was trying Him, said, “I find no fault in Him.”

Paul, a proud intellectual who once persecuted followers of Jesus, said He “knew no sin.”

The accusing mob could not find anyone to convict Him of wrongdoing.

Listen to His own words: “So must the Son of Man [Jesus] be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:14-15).

It was no accident that He was crucified: He came to be the Savior of sinners like you and me. It is written of Him, “Christ died for our sins....He was buried....He rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3-4). Yes, Jesus was crucified and put to death, but He has risen.

“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).

Won’t you trust Him? This Man will never let you down.

“He that believeth on Him shall not be confounded [ashamed]” (1 Peter 2:6).

Bolstade Beach

The powerful heat of the sun warmed the people who were strolling on Bolstadt Beach that day, but the Pacific Ocean was very cold-so cold that anyone immersed in it would only survive a few minutes without some kind of special suit to keep warm. Two seventh-grade girls, Amelia and Krystle, were walking along the beach. They stopped to write their names in large letters in the sand with their feet. As they walked on down the beach, the water looked inviting. They watched the surf wash onto the beach and then recede as the undertow sucked it back into the ocean. At first, the girls went into the water up to their ankles, even though it was freezing cold. Then they went in up to their knees and splashed each other, flinching and shivering but screaming with delight as the cold water hit them. Down the beach they saw boys in wet suits bodysurfing. It looked like fun, so they thought they would try it too. They braced themselves against the cold as they waded in up to their waists. When a wave came rolling in, they lay down and floated on their backs, gritting their teeth against the cold. The waves swept them along. However, more than one force was at work. The undertow had caught them and was carrying them away from the shore. The two girls suddenly realized what was happening and tried to stand up, but they were in water too deep for their feet to touch bottom. They tried to swim to shore against the current. Despite their efforts, the current continued to carry them out to sea. In a very short time they were a hundred yards from shore. They called and waved their hands, signaling for help. People began gathering on the shore, watching them, but would none of them come to help? Panic set in, and their breathing came in gasps. As they tried to call for help, salt water would fill their mouths and choke them.

About then, a young man arrived with his family. Joshua Squibb, a strong swimmer, quickly surveyed the situation. He told his wife to watch their family, and then he ran into the surf and plunged into the water. With long, powerful strokes he swam out to the girls. Joshua reached Krystle first and spoke reassuringly to her. He got her to stop thrashing about and told her to float on her back. He kept repeating to her, “You’ll be all right...you’ll make it fine.” Swimming behind her, he pushed Krystle out of the current towards shore. When she could touch bottom, he turned back to rescue Amelia. Even with the extreme cold of the water taxing his strength, Joshua swam the long distance again out to Amelia. He spoke reassuringly to her, just as he had to Krystle, and told her to float on her back instead of fighting the current and exhausting herself. Amelia did not realize that her rescuer’s strength was running out from the great effort in such cold water. She saw him go under once and then raise his head, gasping for breath. He went under again, but this time he never came up. She suddenly realized that the person who had come to her rescue had just drowned trying to save her! She didn’t even know who he was.

Amelia lay on her back in the water, stunned by what had just happened. Soon a beach lifeguard swam out to her with a flotation device. Moments later a jet ski raced to the pair in the water and took them both to safety. This man who had risked his life and lost it in saving the girls was neither a friend of theirs nor a relative nor even an acquaintance, and yet he had died while trying to save their lives.

This reminds me of another one who was willing to die so that others might live. He was a stranger in the sense that the ones He died for didn’t know Him, neither did they love Him, nor would many of them even acknowledge what He did for them. This one is the Lord Jesus Christ. He was born in lowly circumstances and raised by parents who worked hard to earn a meager living. He never possessed money; He never occupied a position of political power. He made no name for Himself in literature or the arts. He never sought for any of these things. He grew up in a town that had a poor reputation, and someone said about Him, “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” He certainly was a stranger to what this world thinks is important. At about thirty years of age, Jesus began His public ministry. He preached, and the poor heard Him gladly. He performed many miracles, healing the sick, lame and blind. At the end of three and a half years, He was taken by force and nailed to a cross where He died. His death was no surprise; He had talked about it beforehand to His followers. His death had been foretold in the Holy Scriptures, even that He would be crucified. And this was long before the Romans used this form of punishment.

Although He was taken by force and nailed to the cross, He also was the willing victim. At any time, He could have called many thousands of angels, and they would have set Him free. He willingly went to the cross. He died there because of His love for you and me. He knew we were lost in our sins and needed to be saved. Now, because of His death, no one needs to perish in their sins. The Lord Jesus died in the sinner’s place so that everyone who believes on Him might have eternal life. “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). Here is the best news this world will ever hear. When our sins were carrying us away to destruction, God’s beloved Son, the Lord Jesus, died to rescue us! Isn’t this exactly what we need? Isn’t this what you need? God is inviting you right now to receive the gift of salvation simply by believing that you need to be saved from your sins and that Jesus died on the cross for your sins as your substitute. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). Will you do that right now? A few months later, Joshua’s wife was presented with a gold Lifesaving Medal from the Rear Admiral of the Coast Guard. It was the highest honor that could be bestowed on a civilian.

Will you honor the One who died for you by trusting in Him?

A Change of Getting Ready

God is very merciful, but He is just and righteous as well. When people disregard warning and entreaty, then law steps in. I once heard a woman tell her husband about a man whom they both knew very well and who had just died suddenly.

The man exclaimed, “What a terrible thing to be called away like that without any chance of getting ready!”

His wife could not help replying, “Without any chance of getting ready! Why, he had fifty-four years of chances!”

Yes, it is perfectly true that the Lord “is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). But it is just as true that “he, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy” (Prov. 29:1).

Choose

“Someday,” you say, “I will seek the Lord;

Someday make Him my choice;

Someday-someday, I will heed His Word,

And answer the Spirit’s voice.”

Choose now, just now, for the Lord is near;

Angels your answer await;

Choose now, just now, while the call is clear;

Soon it will be too late.

God’s time is now, for the days fly fast;

Swiftly the seasons roll;

The present is yours, perhaps your last;

Choose for your priceless soul.

Choose now, just now; there’s a soul at stake;

What will your answer be?

It’s life or death, and the choice you make

Is for eternity.

"Crackers and Cheese"

A young Scot was going to America by ship. Having bought his ticket, he carefully counted what little money he had left. He decided he would economize on the trip in order to have more money to spend when he arrived.

So he went to a store and laid in a good supply of crackers and cheese. He would easily manage to exist on these during the days at sea, he thought, and be none the worse for his meager rations.

But as the voyage progressed, the sea air made him very hungry. To make matters worse, the damp atmosphere made his crackers soft and his cheese hard. He became almost desperate with hunger.

The climax came one day when he caught the aroma of steaming food on a tray which a steward was carrying along the deck to another passenger. It was irresistible. The hungry man immediately made up his mind to have one good, square meal, even though it meant parting with some of his hard-earned money.

He waited for the steward to return and asked him how much it would cost to go to the dining room and buy a dinner. The steward was amazed at his question, and asked, “Haven’t you a ticket for your passage?”

Of course the man had his ticket. Whereupon the steward told him: “THE MEALS ARE ALL INCLUDED IN THE TICKET!”

The poor man could have saved the money he had spent on crackers and cheese and gone to the dining room and eaten as much as he liked each mealtime.

Sad to say, this is a feeble illustration of many “crackers and cheese” Christians today. They believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and know they are going to heaven. But on the way there they live as spiritual paupers because they do not appropriate for themselves the boundless, soul-satisfying blessings that God has for them in Christ.

The forgiveness of sins, justification by faith, the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in the heart, the love of the Father, unspeakable joy, peace that passes all understanding, strength to make us more than conquerors through Him that loves us-all these and more are to be found in Christ. “All are included in the ticket.”

“He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Rom. 8:32

Dipped From Death

Celilo Falls is approximately eighty air miles east of Portland, Oregon, on the Columbia River. Many years ago the Indians were granted fishing rights there by the United States government. Platforms were built over the water, and from there the Indians fish for salmon with long-handled nets.

One day Danny Sampson, an eight-year-old boy from Yakima, fell from one of the fishing platforms into the swiftly flowing waters below. He was carried helplessly downstream, and the waters were so murky and turbulent that no one could see him. However, another Indian, who was fishing downstream from a platform, dipped his long-handled net into the water below the platform, hoping somehow to find the boy. He caught him in his net! With the help of another man he hauled Danny to safety. They were happily surprised to find him alive and unhurt, though bruised and frightened.

A wonderful rescue! If the net had not been at the exact spot at the right moment, the boy would have been beyond the help of anyone and would have died in the rushing waters.

This reminds us of a much greater rescue-a work which God sent His Son to accomplish. This work was done nearly 2000 years ago, when Jesus Christ the Savior died for us on Calvary’s cross. Ever since that time God has been calling upon people to believe in His Son, saying to them that if they will receive Him as their Savior and Lord, they will receive as a free gift “everlasting life.”

The boy fell from the platform into the swift waters of certain death, reminding us that we too belong to a fallen race, rushing on to death and judgment. Yes, the human race has fallen. The theory of evolution says that mankind-both men and women-is gradually improving and moving upward. (A look at the world today should refute that idea!) The Bible says that man has fallen and needs a Savior to save him from his sins. That is why the Lord’s personal name is “Jesus.” “Jesus” means “Savior,” and He came into this world to save us who could not save ourselves.

Danny Sampson knew he could not save himself. Do you know that, or are you one of the many who try to make themselves presentable to God by doing good to others? God refuses to be bribed in that way. No, we must come to Him in His own way, realizing we are lost and cannot save ourselves.

Why not say the same as another man who cried, “What must I do to be saved?” Do you know the answer to that question? It is clear and simple: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

The rescuer could not see the boy in the waters below, but the Lord does see us in our sins and on the way to a lost eternity. He is able and willing-yes, even longing-to save every one of us. All the waters of God’s wrath passed over the Lord Jesus when He bore the judgment for sin (Psa. 42:7). That is why God can be just and at the same time justify those who believe in Jesus. Have you believed in Him?

Think, too, of the joy to follow. There is joy now in heaven over one sinner that repents. You also can have a personal joy in your heart which is different from anything you can find in this world. Beside this, you can look forward with certainty to meeting the Savior face to face and being with Him and like Him forever. This is infinitely more than we could have thought of or asked for, had it been left to us.

Do not let anyone deceive you. Either you are on your way to heaven, a sinner saved from his sins, or you are on your way to hell with your sins upon you. There is no middle ground, and there is no “second chance” after death. Be wise, and come now while there is still time.

“Now is the accepted time....Now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).

Don't Fear Death

(Taken from F. R. Havergal’s answer to a remark about “death, which we ALL dread.”)

No, not “all.” One who has seen and accepted God’s way of salvation does not dread death. Perhaps I shall best express myself by just giving my own experience.

I do not fear death. One night I was conscious of certain symptoms which might lead to an all-but-fatal attack I had had once before on the brain. I knew it was possibly my last night on earth. Alone, in the dark, I felt that either death or fatal unconsciousness would set in. I never spent a calmer, sweeter hour than that. I had not one shadow of fear! There was only happy confidence and rest in Him “whom I have believed” (2 Tim. 1:12).

Was this delusion? Could it be so in the very face of death? I knew it was not delusion, for “I know whom I have believed.”

Now, how has this come to be so with me? It was not always so. I know as well as anyone what it is to “dread death” and to put away the thought of it because I dare not look it in the face.

There was a time when I saw clearly I could not save myself-that I deserved hell in many ways, but in one most of all-this, that I owed the whole love of my heart to God and had not given it to Him, that Jesus had so loved me as to die for me, and yet I had treated Him with daily-hourly-ingratitude. I had broken the first commandment, and as I owed all my life-future and past-to God, I had literally “nothing to pay.” Living for Him and keeping His commands for the future would not atone for the past.

I saw the sinfulness of my heart and life. I could not make my heart better. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” So, unless sin is taken away, my soul must die and go to hell; anyhow, I must stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Where, then, was my hope? In the same Word of God it is written,

“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).

Believe what? That He must keep His word and punish sin and that He has punished it in the person of Jesus our Substitute, “who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24).

If Jesus has paid my debt and borne the punishment of my sins, I only accept this and believe Him. It is no theorizing. I believed Him and cast myself, utterly hopeless and helpless and lost in myself, at the feet of Jesus and took Him at His word and accepted what He had done for me.

RESULT: Peace in believing, which death cannot touch.

Now it is the reality of realities to me-it is so intertwined with my life that I know nothing could separate me from His love.

I could not do without Jesus. I cannot and I do not live without Him. It is a new and different life, and the life and light which takes away all fear of death is what I want others to have and enjoy.

Drop Down

Have you heard of the man who lost his way one dark night? In the darkness, he fell over what he thought was the edge of a cliff. In his fall, he was able to grasp an old tree limb and, fervently clutching it, he hung there, clinging with all his might.

He was desperately afraid that he would be killed if he let go, but at last his hands could hold up his body no longer. They gradually slipped until he fell—fell about a foot onto a smooth, mossy bank.

Now, there are many who think that sure destruction must await them if they confess they are sinners and trust all to the hands of God. It is an idle fear. Give up your hold upon everything but Christ, and drop down. Soft and mossy will be the bank which receives you.

Jesus Christ, by His love and by the value of His precious blood, will give you rest and peace. Only drop now. Drop down at once. This is the major part of faith-the giving up of every other hold and simply falling upon Christ. That dropping down-that faith in Christ and Christ alone-will bring you salvation.

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).

"Eternally Night"

“I didn’t care if it was night or day; for me it was eternally night.” So said spelunker Veronique LeGuen after emerging from a cave in southern France in which she had spent 130 days. She is a scientist studying the effect of total isolation on the human body.

What was her first desire after leaving the cave? “I wanted very badly to smell the flowers of the mountains,” she said.

Leaving the cavern, in a small span of time Veronique had experienced two extremes: the darkness of the cave and the beautiful mountains, which were full of light and the fragrance of flowers. When each of us dies, we shall experience a tremendous change in a short span of time. For the believer who is trusting in Christ, leaving this world and entering the next will be like leaving a cave and entering bright sunshine.

Instead of this earth, which bears the scars of sin and strife, his home will be with Christ where he has an inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled and “fadeth not away.” The fragrance of Christ fills every nook and cranny, and the Lord Himself fills the place with light. “The glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb [the Lord Jesus Christ] is the light thereof” (Rev. 21:23).

Are you absolutely certain you will spend eternity with Christ in heaven? You can be, for “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).

We do not deserve salvation. At first this might be hard to accept, for we tend to place so much importance on who we are and what we have done. But Christ’s death and suffering show us what we truly are-ruined sinners going hopelessly towards destruction.

“Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Rev. 1:5) will be the theme song of those in heaven. Notice there is not one hint in this song about someone deserving to be there because of their own goodness or their own works. The song is all about Christ. This is the secret of being completely sure of our salvation knowing that it all depends on the Lord Jesus and the work He did on Calvary’s cross.

BUT “eternally night” describes the condition of those who die without ever having come to Christ for salvation. What will it be to pass suddenly from this world where “the light is sweet and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun” (Ecclesiastes 11:7) into “outer darkness” where “there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Luke 13:28).

“They shall never see light,” the Bible says in Psa. 49:19. “Never.” That means eternally—not for 130 days, not for 70 years, the average lifetime of a man, but for eternity-time without end.

You can live without God-you can die without Christ-but if you do, you can never escape hell. The serious consideration of what those will suffer in the regions where it is truly “eternally night” should lead each one to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ who alone is able to save.

Familiarity Breeds Contempt

“What a marvelous building that is! How it stands unchallenged against the sky; how well-balanced it is in all its parts, and how perfect is the whole. It is a beautiful sight!”

“Well, I suppose it is, for many people say the same sort of thing as you do, and there is always someone painting it or taking a picture of it. But, you see, I was born here, and I spend most of my time under its shadow, as you might say. It is part of my usual surroundings and has no special interest for me-at least, not at the present. I haven’t time to spend studying it now; besides, it is always there, and I can always study and admire it when I want to.”

On the rocky cliffs that stand between Great Britain and the sea, thousands of seabirds make their nests in season. In egg-laying time their eggs are prized by professional egg-gatherers who climb down the cliffs by means of ropes, their friends lowering them down and hauling them up again when they have gathered all the eggs in reach.

The egg-gatherer grows accustomed to the dangers of his trade, and it is reported that some of the more venturesome will show their disregard of the danger by taking a running leap over the edge of the cliff, trusting in the strength of the rope and the faithfulness of their friends to prevent any accident.

All over the world there are innumerable places where men and women may regularly hear the Word of God read aloud and the often-told story of Christ. Haven’t you heard this many times, haven’t you grown up in such an atmosphere, and are you not familiar with the gospel?

Do you take it all for granted and think, like the man who was born near the castle, that it will be always there when you have time to pay attention to it? Has familiarity bred contempt and caused the story of the love of God to fall on deaf ears? Perhaps, too, many times over the years you have heard about the terrors of hell, and they no longer have any effect on you, since none of the awful but well-known predictions have happened yet. You listen to the story unmoved, for you have taken the risk so far without any serious results.

But the rope is wearing thin, its strands are weakening, and some unexpected day it will snap, and down-down-down into the depths you will fall beyond the reach of help, launched into eternity Christless, hopeless, irretrievably lost, with no prospect but one of unmitigated suffering and sorrow.

In spite of neglect, the old castle still stood on the hill, and the abyss still lay beneath the cliff, for neither contempt, disregard nor scorn make any impression on these facts, nor will your disregard of the danger to which you are exposing yourself avert it.

Heaven or hell still await all alike, in spite of repeated denials. To treat such realities as fiction or visions or negligible stories is the worst of all follies. Listen then to the pleadings of the Holy Spirit, listen to the voice of the Savior, and “consider [your] latter end.”

The arguments of the atheist and the contempt of the careless will in no way alter the plain Word of the living God or change the words of the Lord Jesus, who declared, “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).

That long-promised though often-forgotten coming of the Lord is now near at hand, and when He shuts the door, all hope is gone for those who have neglected the invitation to enter that door during the day of God’s grace. Nothing is more certain than the fact that, if you decline to consider your eternal salvation now, your chances of doing so are rapidly becoming more and more remote and your inclination to turn to God less and less. Today is the only time God gives you in which to accept His gracious offer of peace, pardon and life.

From Guru to Gospel Preacher

Yoga, meditation, Eastern religions-Steve was deeply involved with them all. Although still a student himself, he was organizing and teaching classes in meditation and yoga to other college students. Still, there was something missing.

Finally, he decided to leave school to give all his time to studying the Eastern writings, as well as going more and more into yoga and “deep meditation.” A year later, he still had to admit that something was missing. “I realized I still didn’t know God personally,” he said. “I believed in Him deeply, but I didn’t really know Him.”

Just then he received a letter from a former classmate, saying, “Jesus is the only way.” How different this was! Steve spent the whole day praying that, if that were true, God would show him. Even when he went out that evening and stood by the roadside with his thumb out for a ride, he was praying that God would show him if he should turn to Jesus.

A van pulled over. Steve climbed in and was barely seated when the driver turned to him and said, “Have you ever asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior?”

Steve didn’t even hesitate. “No,” he answered, “but I’m ready to!” Right then and there he asked the Lord Jesus to come into his heart.

And Steve says now that “the experience has proved the reality; with Him living in my heart, I know He is the way.”

Back to his yoga classes he went and told all his students that “Mohammed didn’t die for our sins, and Buddha never got out of the grave, but Jesus is the living Savior who was crucified for us.”

No longer is “something missing” in Steve’s life. The Lord Jesus has filled that emptiness, and his time is spent in telling others of the One who said:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” John 14:6

God Can

Can you take the barren soil

And with all your pains and toil

Make lilies grow?

You cannot, O helpless man;

Have faith in God-He can.

Can you paint the clouds at eve?

And all the sunset colors weave

Into the sky?

You cannot, O powerless man;

Have faith in God-He can.

Can you still your troubled heart,

And make all cares and doubts depart

From out your soul?

You cannot, O faithless man;

Have faith in God-He can.

God, or Man?

(These lines were found written on the back of a promissory note.)

This piece of paper in your hand

Declares to you that on demand

You twenty dollars shall receive.

This simple promise you believe;

It puts your mind as much at rest

As if the money you possessed.

So Christ, who died but now does live,

Does unto you the promise give

That if you on His name believe,

You shall eternal life receive.

Upon the first you clearly rest;

Which is the surest and the best?

The bank may break; heaven never can!

It’s safer trusting God than man.

God Will Not Sell His Blessing

Money cannot buy God’s blessing! If it could, the rich alone could claim it, and the poor would go wanting forever. But God has made His salvation free; it is an absolute gift from Him to all who will receive it.

There are some who like to put God in the place of the merchant in the marketplace, bartering His goods to the highest bidder, but this He will never do. There are two reasons why God will never sell His blessing:

1. Men are far too poor to buy it.

2. God is far too rich to sell it.

But He gives it gladly and freely to whoever will take it in simple, child-like faith. In Isa. 551 He says, “Every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”

On the other hand, when a man offered Peter money, Peter said, “Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money” (Acts 8:20).

The gift may be taken or it may be refused, but it cannot be bought Satan’s Clock Maybe Satan can’t “tell time”-his clock is always wrong: either too fast or too slow. He tells the deluded, despondent soul that it is too late, that he has sinned away his day of grace or that he is too great a sinner. His clock is too fast.

Then he tells the anxious procrastinator: “Sure, get saved, but not just yet. It is too soon; enjoy life first. Have a good time, for you’re only young once. Have your fun first before you get settled with God. Everything in its own order-a little later will do!” His clock is too slow!

An American missionary, Dr. Eddy, had been holding special evangelistic meetings in China. At one of the closing services, three eminent statesmen, Sun Yat Sen, Wu Ting Fang and Admiral Chen were present. The audience was deeply moved by the gospel appeal. Admiral Chen himself was so affected as to ask for a decision card. As he took a pencil from his pocket, intending to sign it, his colleague, Wu Ting Fang, whispered in his ear: “Think it over! Why not wait till tomorrow?”

Dr. Eddy saw that nothing further could be done at that time and asked the admiral when he could see him to talk things over. “Oh,” said Admiral Chen, “call and see me at eleven in the morning.”

But as he was leaving the building, an assassin shot him, and he was fatally wounded. On the morrow, at the hour when he had purposed making his decision, Admiral Chen’s soul passed into eternity.

How often have you heard: God’s time is NOW. Make this the moment of your acceptance, and NOW receive His great salvation.

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

God's Gift

GOD’S GIFT IS CHRIST HIMSELF.

“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).

GOD’S GIFT IS LIVING WATER THROUGH CHRIST.

“If thou knewest the GIFT of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give Me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water” (John 4:10).

GOD’S GIFT IS ETERNAL LIFE.

“The wages of sin is death; but the GIFT of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).

GOD’S GIFT IS FAITH.

“By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the GIFT of God” (Eph. 2:8).

GOD’S GIFT IS RIGHTEOUSNESS.

“They which receive abundance of grace and of the GIFT of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:17).

All God’s gifts are in His dear Son. It is impossible to receive one without Him. Receive Him and you receive all.

THANKS BE TO GOD!

God's Peace Terms

Two young soldiers were talking together in one of the field hospital tents. The younger of the two, little more than a boy, was mortally wounded and lay all comfortless and weary in his blood-stained uniform. His friend, who was a Christian, knelt by his side, trying to cheer and soothe his suffering companion by reading portions of the New Testament.

“Can I read a little more to you, Davie? It’s a comfort in the dying hour, you know,” said the Christian soldier.

Davie nodded faintly, and Jim went on reading from the eleventh chapter of Matthew’s Gospel. Soon he came to the twenty-eighth verse and read over slowly and gently the words: “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

“Stop, Jim,” said Davie. “These words were never meant for me. You know I have been God’s enemy all my life, and I have fought hard against Him. These words can never be meant for me. No, no! I’ve been His enemy-they cannot be meant for me.”

“Enemy or not, I tell you, Davie, God speaks these words to you. His enemy you may have been-I was once-but here God offers you His terms of peace.”

“Terms of peace, Jim, did you say?” muttered the dying man. “Terms of peace? Let me hear them again.”

“That I will, Davie. Just listen to them.” And Jim read aloud: “Be ye reconciled to God. For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:20-21). Then he added: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

Davie’s face changed, and raising himself partly on his cot, he clasped his hands and looked up to heaven, saying, “I accept the terms! I accept the terms! O Christ of God, I surrender to Thee!” He sank back exhausted.

A little longer he lingered on, conscious enough at times to whisper, “Thank God, at peace! At peace!” There, amid the horrors of war, within a few hours of eternity, he accepted God’s terms of peace, surrendered himself to Christ, and was freely pardoned.

How much easier for you who are in health, enjoying the comforts of home, to do the same. God’s terms of peace are just the same to you today and now as they were to that young soldier on the far-off field of war. Will you accept them now, or will you pass on to the judgment of God, unprepared and unpardoned?

God's Time or the Devil's

People sometimes answer, when asked why they have not received the Lord Jesus and become a Christian, “I’m waiting for God’s time!” That is really refusing “God’s time,” which is now, and putting it off until the devil’s time-which is never!

God says, “Acquaint now thyself with Him [God], and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee” (Job 22:21).

“Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth” (Eccl. 12:1).

“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” (Isa. 1:18). “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).

All these verses, and many more that might be quoted, are enough to show that it is the devil and not God that is persuading people to postpone the settlement of the most important decision a person can make: decision for Christ Jesus.

God’s time is NOW!

Great Discoveries

When the astronomer Galileo discovered that the earth moved around the sun, he was laughed to scorn. The authorities of that day threatened the astronomer with death at the stake if he did not renounce his opinion. But now every child is taught that the earth goes around the sun.

When the great surgeon Harvey discovered the circulation of the blood from the heart to the extremities, he was ridiculed on every hand. No one doubts now that the blood circulates.

When the engineer Watt discovered the force of steam, the world was skeptical.

When Stephenson constructed his locomotive and utilized the power of steam, he was sneered at as a visionary.

When Morse discovered that electricity could be transmitted through a wire and a message could be flashed across the Atlantic by an undersea cable, people were sure he was talking of impossibilities.

When Sir J. Y. Simpson, the Edinburgh doctor who is famous as the discoverer of the use of chloroform in surgery, was asked what was the greatest discovery of all that he had made, he promptly replied, “That I was a great sinner, and that Christ was a great Savior.”

Have you made that greatest discovery of all? You will make it one day-either in time or eternity. Which? If you make that discovery in time, you will be saved, but if in eternity, it will be too late.

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

Have You a Secret?

Have you a secret that you would not tell to your mother, your sister, your wife, or to your best and dearest friend? If so, remember:

1. That secret is KNOWN to God! “There is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was anything kept secret” (Mark 4:22).

2. That secret will be BLAZED ABROAD! “God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Eccl. 12:14).

3. That secret, if sinful, can be CLEANSED AWAY NOW AND FOREVER, for “the blood of Jesus Christ His [God’s] Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

Trust in the blood of Christ and be saved! Confide in the God of love!

“Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace” (Job 22:21).

Himself

Once it was the blessing,

Now it is the Lord;

Once it was the feeling,

Now it is His Word;

Once His gifts I wanted,

Now the Giver own;

Once I sought for healing,

Now Himself alone.

Once ‘twas painful trying,

Now it’s perfect trust;

Once a half salvation,

Now the uttermost;

Once ‘twas busy planning,

Now it’s trustful prayer;

Once ‘twas anxious caring,

Now He has the care.

Once I hoped in Jesus,

Now I know He’s mine;

Once my lamps were dying,

Now they brightly shine.

Once for death I waited,

Now His coming hail,

And my hopes are anchored

Safe within the veil.

If He Should Come Tonight

Two sisters shared a home in a small town near a big city: One lived for Christ; the other, for the world.

One night the Christian girl went to hear a lecture on the coming of the Lord. On her return, she told her sister what she had heard and remarked, “I felt like this: I thought if He should come tonight, what a dreadful thing it would be for you. I should be taken up to be forever with the Lord, and you would be left behind for judgment. I could not bear to think of it!” Her sister turned away without a comment.

They slept in the same bed, and in the night the Christian lay awake thinking, “If the Lord should come-oh, my poor sister!” At last, unable to bear the dreadful thought any longer, she slipped quietly out of bed and went to a corner of the room. There she knelt down and poured out her soul in silent prayer to God. Presently the other girl woke. She felt for her sister but she was not there. Not knowing what had happened, in sudden panic she thought to herself, “Can it be that the Lord has come?”

She got up immediately, and in a frenzy of fear she searched about the dark room until she found her sister still on her knees. She knelt beside her, and before she arose, she, too, had trusted in Jesus and was ready to meet Him.

Are you ready?

It Wasn't Justice

It was December 24, 1982, in Southern California. A judge in his robes sat on the bench that morning in a crowded courtroom. The first case came before him. He pronounced judgment-a fine and a jail sentence-and then he said, “I am in the spirit of this season and so I’m going to suspend it all. That’s it! Next case.” And he went through all the cases before him that way. It was the same with one after the other.

The word soon spread to the telephones. Attorneys called up friends who had cases coming up soon, and they rushed to have those cases put on the docket. At two o’clock that judge saw that he could not possibly get done that day. He just forgave them all, because he was “in the spirit of the season.”

He said to the clerk, “Mark all of those that are here for a time hence, and I will now pronounce judgment for all of them.” The same thing: “Forgiven suspended.” But he wasn’t just! It was no justice at all!

On the same day, the same morning, a judge was on the bench in Tucson, Arizona. He was doing justice, honoring the law, and in the middle of the morning he called the case of a man who had been before him thirty days before, a man who had received an extension of thirty days to raise the money for his fine. The man didn’t answer. The judge said, “I’ll set it aside till the end of the court.”

Later in the day that man came in. He was a Mexican, an old man, and he walked right up to the bench. He was embracing an old, dirty, white plastic milk bottle. The judge, remembering the last time he was there, immediately called for the interpreter. Through the interpreter the man said to the judge that he was sorry for being late and he asked for forgiveness. Then he said, “Judge, I know you gave me thirty days to raise the money to pay this fine, and I walked all last night to get here. I’m sorry I’m late.” Finally with shaking hands he took the plastic milk container and set it down before them. “Judge, this is all I could raise from all my friends and from everything I could sell, and I don’t think it’s enough.”

The judge said to the clerk and the bailiff, “Count it quickly,” and they dumped all those coins out and counted them while the judge waited. The fine was $300, and the money they counted out totaled approximately $244. It was not enough.

Told what it was, the old man said, “Judge, please, just a little time, and I’ll be back with all the rest.”

The judge had tears in his eyes. He told the people in the courtroom, “I haven’t seen anything like this in all the time I’ve been on the bench. This man walked all the way, all night, and brought what he could. Now he’s begging for time to pay the rest!”

Then the judge said, “Because of your spirit, because of the way you repented and are sorry, I’m going to suspend the rest of the sentence. You go free!”

We feel better about that, don’t we? But still it wasn’t justice! The judge overlooked the judgment and the penalty that should have been paid. He wasn’t just!

A third judge was presiding over a crowded courtroom. Normally he would handle about 150 landlord-tenant disputes a day, but this one was different. A deaf couple was facing eviction because they were $250 short on their rent. Recently married, they had not known that the new wife’s disability benefit of $500 a month would be stopped with her marriage.

The judge listened to both sides and then suddenly left the room. He was back in a minute, holding two $100 bills and a $50 bill. Leaning over the bench, he said, “Consider it paid!” and handed over his own money to the landlord’s stunned attorney.

Was that justice?

YES!

God doesn’t overlook one sin. Not one. But God is JUST when He justifies a sinner. Christ on the cross in those three hours of darkness bore the penalty for all my sins-He didn’t overlook one.

Isn’t it wonderful to be free from judgment, the load gone, and be at peace with God and on the way to heaven? That is what He offers us through the gospel. Nothing can ever be brought up against one whom God has justified!

Rom. 5:1: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Rom. 5:8-9: “God commendeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now JUSTIFIED by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”

King Louis Xiv

King Louis XIV of France was known as the Grand Monarch. He reigned longer than any other king of France, he spent lavishly to gratify his every wish (and nearly bankrupted his nation by his extravagance), but he gave no thought to the inevitable end.

One day he stood at his palace window, complacently viewing his domain. A building he had not noticed before met his eyes, and he asked what that one building might be.

One of his courtiers answered, “Sire, that is the Church of St. Denis, where your royal ancestors lie buried.”

Horror-stricken, the king immediately gave orders for another palace to be planned and built with an entirely different view. He could not bear to live where he might be daily confronted with a reminder of his mortality.

We are a death-stricken race. There is an urgent need for a refuge, a place of safety and security, where death can never touch and where joy and happiness can be everlasting.

Thank God, there is such a refuge. It may be described and summed up in a word-Christ. The Son of God is no stranger to death. He has tasted to the full its bitterness. But because of who and what He is, He triumphed over its power. The life which He lives today is altogether beyond the range of death.

The wonder of it all is that it has been made possible for others to live in that life of His. His death has opened the way for His risen life to be shared by countless millions.

It is a fact that at this moment there are multitudes on earth over whom death has lost its power. Their bodies may be laid temporarily in the grave, but already they have begun to live a life which is eternal, which does not belong to this world at all, and which death can never interrupt.

This secure way of life is open to you. If you will come to Christ, you will find in Him a Deliverer from the power of death. He will introduce you into God’s world of life and joy and peace that passes all understanding.

“I am come that they might have life” (John 10:10).

A Lawyer's View of the Resurrection

Most people admit the fact of Christ’s resurrection, but a lawyer stated the other day that legally the question was beyond doubt, and any court of law would be compelled to admit it.

He said, “I can easily prove my case. If you read your Bible, you will see that there are thirteen witnesses, unimpeached and unimpeachable, whose names are known. They were well acquainted with Christ. They were with Him many times before His death. They saw and talked with Him after the resurrection. Five hundred persons also saw him at one time.

“In the eyes of the law, one witness (not an accomplice) is sufficient to prove the highest offense known to the law-murder. Two witnesses are required to prove treason, and three witnesses is the highest number required to prove the execution of a will.

“There could have been no case of mistaken identity. The five hundred witnesses were liable to err through bias, but where was the motive? Their cause was condemned, their leader killed, themselves outcasts. Would they swear falsely to His identification? It is incredible. The witnesses to the resurrection of Christ never contradicted or denied their testimony, but told the same story as long as they lived.

“This is always competent evidence, especially where the number of witnesses is large. These witnesses all led exemplary lives. As long as life lasted, they lived in poverty and virtue, as their Master had taught. Most of them suffered martyrdom after preaching the gospel all their lives at great personal hazard. Had they not been sincere, they would not have persisted as they did to the end. Yes, any court in the land would have to accept that evidence!”

“Him [Christ Jesus] God raised up the third day, and showed Him openly; not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with Him after He rose from the dead....To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:40-43).

A Letter to a Prisoner

“How can one who is in prison be thankful? You say this because you are free.”

Yes, what you say is natural. During the war I was also in prison in Osaka, Japan, and believe I can understand something of how you feel. To be in prison is surely unpleasant, as I remember it now. They took my glasses away as soon as I was put in, and as it was my first experience in prison, I felt very awkward and bewildered.

At first, in solitary confinement, I could not tell what was happening on the outside. As the days went by, however, I came to understand clearly even though I could not see. I could tell by the footsteps which guard was walking around or when it was almost mealtime, and I even received news.

No doubt you now have bitterness in your heart, and you suffer greatly because of it. Why does a man have bitterness and pain in his heart? It is because of sin. Sin-what a repulsive word! Nobody wants to think of the word “sin.” But we must face it, for that is our problem.

The Bible says all human beings are sinners. They are not sinners because they commit sin, but they commit sin because they are sinners. A rotten tree bears rotten fruit. As both you and I have experienced, we commit sin because sin is in our hearts. How wretched man is! This is the true condition of all human beings. The Lord Jesus said, “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matt. 15:19). Because these things are in the heart, they do come out.

Everyone looks for happiness, but how can we be happy if the heart is not at peace? We might call the pleasures of this world “happiness,” or say, “If I were in such a position, I would be happy!” Would you not rather have such an inward happiness that you could be happy under any circumstance, though you were without anything?

Then take your true place before God as the publican did in Luke 18:13: “God be merciful to me a sinner.” We read in the next verse: “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified....He that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” The first step to obtain happiness is to confess to God, “I am a sinner,” and your sins will be forgiven.

The Lord Jesus came from heaven to call not the self-righteous, but sinners to repentance. He lived in poverty as the friend of sinners and loved those whose hearts were suffering from sin. Can you find love like that in this world?

He died as our substitute, to save us from hell, taking upon His holy and sinless body the sins of any who will trust in Him. Whoever believes in Him, the Savior, has his sins forgiven and is given eternal life and becomes a child of God, one who can call God his Father and have fellowship with Him.

I remember when I was in prison, the most glorious thing while I was there was that I was given time to think and quietly pray to God. Neither the iron door nor the stone wall could hinder me from doing this!

Especially when I was critically ill in prison, I was encouraged by the verses in Rom. 8:35-37 that say, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?...In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” It was my experience that it is possible to live a thankful life, even in that dreadful place.

Someday when Jesus returns for His own, we shall be changed and have glorified bodies and be taken up to be with Him. Whatever may happen here, heaven is open to us!

My friend, you are now living an uncomfortable life in prison. Even though you are there, if you will believe in God and take Christ as your Savior, you will experience, as I have, a happy and thankful life. God is faithful. Therefore with assurance I can tell you of the reality of this salvation which is in 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).

“The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rom. 6:23

Lost and Found

It was a hot, ninety-degree August day. My wife and I decided to have a light supper and go down to the lake for a swim. As we pulled out of our driveway she noticed in the street a little round something-something brown with a touch of yellow. “Stop!” she cried. “I think I saw a little bird!”

She grabbed my favorite cap-the one I keep on the console to use on these sunny days to keep my bald head from sunburn-and out the door she went. You would think she had seen a twenty-dollar bill in the road! I saw her carefully scoop up the little brown bird in my hat. It was a lovely little cedar waxwing, not fully fledged yet. We had to think of that Scripture verse that says: “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father” (Matt. 10:29). God, the Father, noticed that bird fall to the ground!

My wife placed the bird under a tree, out of the road. Jumping back into the pickup, she said, “After the swim, if that bird is still there I’ll take him home!” On the way back after a cooling swim she said, “Do you think the bird is still there?”

Sure enough, there he was. Using my cap again, she picked him up and brought him home. We named him “Lost.” My wife gave him some water with an eye dropper, and he really drank. She put out her finger, and that little bird jumped up on it as if to say, “Thanks for that drink! I needed that.” That night we prayed that the Lord would some way work it out that “Lost” would be “Found.”

The next day, after another drink of water, “Lost” was placed in a bucket filled with shredded paper and hooked on to the fence post by the bird feeder while we looked on from the balcony about twenty feet away.

Sure enough, not too long afterward, along came the male and female cedar waxwings. He was found! The mature birds took turns feeding him some berries from a nearby dogwood tree, and it wasn’t long after that that “Found” fluttered up to a low branch in a tree.

You, too, may have had loving parents, even Christian parents, but you got away from the nest. Now you are far from home. Perhaps home itself isn’t there any longer, and your parents may not even be living. But there is a home, and there is a Father, and you will be welcome to both. The God who saw the little bird fall has said that you “are of more value than many sparrows” and has told you how He valued you-what a price He has given for you. “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).

Never

Did you ever hear a man say, “I was a drinker, a drug addict, a disgrace to my family and a nuisance in the world, until I began to study mathematics. Since that time I have been happy-I feel like singing all the time; my heart is full of peace and joy and love”?

Never!

Did you ever hear a man ascribe his salvation from sin and vice to the science of engineering or geology?

Never!

But thousands will tell you: “I was lost; I was wretched; I broke my mother’s heart; I was ruined, reckless, helpless, homeless, hopeless, until I heard God’s words of light and love from the Bible.”

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

He also said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

And finally, on His very last night before He was crucified, He said to His disciples, “These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full” (John 15:11).

Rest. Peace. Joy. And the crown of all: “To know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge” (Ephesians 3:19).

And the marvel of it is that it is offered freely not just to the rocket scientists, the great mathematicians, the Einstein’s of the world-but to “whosoever will.” The simplest soul can say “yes” to God’s gifts.

None Too Bad

In John 3, Nicodemus, the Pharisee, found that all his own religiousness was totally inadequate to take him into the blessing he was hoping to reach by his merits. “Ye must be born again” was a sudden deathblow to every such hope. Think of it! One of the most religious men, belonging to the most religious sect, in the most religious city in the world, could not gain a title to heaven by his own goodness.

In John 4, the best of blessings-“living water” is held out to a poor woman just for the asking.

In John 5, the friendless man at the Pool of Bethesda, too weak to secure by his own efforts the healing he longed for, got all he wanted when Jesus came on the scene.

What does all this teach us? Why, just this: If a man’s own goodness cannot take him into the blessing, neither his badness nor his weakness nor both put together can keep him out if he trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ.

On Second Hand

On the east coast of Florida there stands on the shore a massive house surrounded by strong concrete walls. It is open-you may explore freely.

Within the great walls you will see an enclosed area, evidently intended for a garden. Step in at the open door of the house and you may walk through room after room, but all are empty and unfurnished. When you look around, you see cracks and fissures in the walls. The floors in some parts have sunk or are gone. “Ruin” is stamped upon the whole scene.

What has caused this ruin? Just one fault: It was built upon the sand.

“And every one that heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it FELL: and great was the fall of it” (Matt. 7:26-27).

Yes, there lived not long ago a man who actually thought he could do what God in His own Word says is impossible. He foolishly thought that he could build a house on the sand which would be strong enough to resist the force of wind and wave. In it he planned to settle down and live comfortably.

What was his great mistake? The foundation was wrong. What was the use of strong timbers and heavy concrete for the superstructure when the foundation rested upon shifting, sinking sand?

And now, my friend, on what is your soul resting? Are you safe on the Rock-the Rock that is Jesus Christ? God says, “Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:11). If you are resting on anything short of that on your good works, faith or prayers-when the storm breaks upon you, all that you have built upon will be swept away. You will stand before God without one hope to cling to.

Be like the wise man who built his house on the rock. Put all your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, the true Rock. Then the rains may come and floods may beat, but they will only prove through all the storm the safety of the Foundation and the everlasting security there is in Him.

My hope on nothing less is built

Than Jesus and the blood He spilled;

On Christ the solid Rock I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand!

Once a Robber

I was brought up in the Midwest and had a good home and education. I graduated from college with honors. It was through bad companions that I entered my life of crime. I rebelled in myself as I realized the kind of life I was getting into, but one thing led to another and I became deeply involved in a life of sin. One night I held up a young man my own age who explained to me the way to obtain forgiveness of my sins and everlasting life.

Since that night, life has been altogether different. I have made Christian friends and have given my testimony to the power of the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive all my sins and to the power of the Holy Spirit to interpret the Word of God to me as day by day I study it. I have done what I could to make an honest wage and repay every cent I had stolen. It is now my joy to tell others of this wonderful Savior. What joy life is now!

How is it with you? Have your sins been pardoned by God? You too can receive pardon and escape the judgment that is ahead of you by sincerely repenting and receiving God’s pardon through Jesus Christ. You too can become a new creation in Christ, with life everlasting as your sure hope for the future.

If you have accepted Christ in sincerity, you can rest assured that you have been accepted by Him, because Christ said, as recorded in the Bible in the gospel of John chapter 6, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.”

If you still have not found peace with God, I beg you to do so, and do it now. Life is more uncertain today than ever before. You may never awaken to another morning on earth.

You may argue that it costs too much to be a Christian. Yes, it will cost you your sin, but your sin will cost you hell unless you repent. The truth is, it will cost you immensely too much not to be a Christian. Think again before you reject Christ. You may never have another opportunity to accept Him.

"Overdue Books"

The books were overdue-long, long overdue, but the library had waited sixteen months before deciding to turn the case over to the court system. Notice after notice had been sent, but there was still no response to the request for the return of the missing property. At last the librarian appealed to the court. A court date was set; a summons and, as a last resort, a warrant for the arrest of the delinquent borrower were issued.

Then-two police officers at the door, a trip to the county jail and a court appearance. What a shock it was to the young mother who had disregarded the repeated notices!

All that for a few overdue books? But the missing books were worth $127.86; in itself, that is a fairly small sum, but a part of the library’s loss for the year. One third of the library’s book budget of $180,000 went to replace lost or overdue materials.

“We don’t want to put people in jail,” the librarian said. “This is not something the library enjoys doing or even wants to do.

“There is a point at which we turn it over to the court system and the court date is set. If they do not appear in court or choose to ignore the court order that is when a warrant is issued for their arrest.”

“I can’t believe it happened!” the shocked woman said after her release and the payment of the fines. But it did happen, and to others also. As the news of her arrest spread, there was a sudden rush to the libraries to return overdue materials. Many a book found its way back to the proper shelf!

The library declared a general amnesty for a limited time when all returned materials would be accepted without question or penalty.

People sometimes have “overdue books” to account for in their lives. Do you possibly have some? Is there a vague but haunting little consciousness that all is not quite right-that there are things done and things left undone that you will have to account for someday? God has offered an amnesty period too, a chance to “have the slate wiped clean” and all the penalty of sin remitted. Isn’t that wonderful news?

God has proclaimed this time-right now, when we are living, today!-to be a day of grace. Like the librarian who did not “want to put people in jail,” God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

Some library systems offer a “grace period” when there will be no penalty for lateness. But-whether “amnesty” or “grace period” or even “the day of grace”-there is a definite time limit. We can’t tell when the day of grace will end, but we may be very sure that God knows and has set the time. We can also be sure that the end cannot be delayed much longer. “NOW is the accepted time....NOW is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).

God is offering to all a time of grace, pure grace. It is not a reward for doing good things, not a goal we can work toward, but it is the free gift of God. “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8).

Perilous Times

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.”

Who wrote that? Paul the Apostle, in his second letter to Timothy-about 66 A.D. How could he know way back there? God told him. There is no other possibility. Only God, who knows the end from the beginning, could have seen the conditions that would exist 2000 years later.

Paul was no stranger to perils. He wrote in a letter to the Corinthians that he had been “in perils of waters, in perils of robbers...in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea.” Notice what a large part natural dangers played in his experiences.

Now technology has eased some natural perils for us. Many of earth’s fault lines have been mapped, and it would be a very foolish person who built his home directly above one. Volcanoes are constantly monitored for seismic tremors that may foretell an eruption. Storm warning systems are in place, with warnings, shelters and evacuation routes. Even with our still limited knowledge we can prepare. But in Paul’s letter to Timothy (2 Tim. 3:1-5), there is no mention of natural disasters. That does not mean they are not still prevalent (in fact, increasing, along with “wars and rumors of wars”), but the focus is on evil men-on the evil that is in the human heart.

Paul says, “Perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers...truce-breakers, false accusers,...fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors,...lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” That is not the whole list, but that is enough to show the trend of the time.

What time? Our time! Here and now! As if natural perils-such as earthquakes and hurricanes-were not enough, the tragic events of September 11, 2001, prove that these are truly perilous times.

Read the whole statement again: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” We are living in the last days.

If the storm warning flags are flying (and who can say that they are not), how can we prepare? We can arrange our earthly affairs as wisely as possible, as being aware that every day may be our last on earth. We can move away from the earthquake zone, check the hurricane evacuation route and the location of the nearest shelter, be as alert to terrorist activity as possible, and be as prudent in our daily lives as we can-but it is not enough. The one great, vital matter should be settled first. Every other effort is wasted, if we do not find first a shelter for our soul.

A shelter? The shelter! There is only one! “The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe” (Prov. 18:10). Safe forever.

It is readily accessible and-today-has room for all. Tomorrow? We cannot answer that. “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Prov. 27:1). Tonight the edict may go forth: “This night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall these things be?” (Luke 12:20).

If all our possessions, treasures, hopes and dreams are on earth, then truly we have heaped up our treasure for the last days. “The last days.” Those words again. Don’t forget them!

Personal Testimony of a Lieutenant

US Air Cores

The Lord in His Word said: “Look unto Me and be ye saved” (Isa. 45:22).

I LOOKED.

“Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).

I CAME.

“Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:13).

I CALLED.

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

I BELIEVED.

“As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God” (John 1:12).

I RECEIVED.

“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).

I HAVE

A Point of Reference

When I walked into the living room of my future in-laws, I hesitated for a moment. I hardly knew these people, but I wanted to make a favorable impression on them because I had recently become engaged to the only daughter of the family.

In the center of the room, my future father-in-law had a large sea chart spread out on the floor. He was pointing out a location on the map to one of his sons. When he saw me come in, he called me over to join them. “I want to show you something,” he said.

Pointing to a spot on the chart, he said, “This bay next to the town of Ucluelet has some of the prettiest coast you will ever see. I own some property there and thought you might like to know where it is.”

I had never heard of Ucluelet before and told him I had no idea of its whereabouts.

“Well, look here,” he said, pointing to another place on the map. “This is the town of Tofino. It is about twenty sites away. And this bay continues inland for about fifty miles to the town of Port Alberni. Does that help?”

As much as I wanted to say “yes” and not show my ignorance, I had to admit I had never heard of any of those places.

“See right here; this is the Pacific Rim Park. It has many miles of unspoiled beach,” he continued, hoping that would help me.

It didn’t. I anxiously looked over the chart, trying to find something that I recognized so that I could identify the location that was being pointed out to me. The chart showed the positions of countless islands, the shape of the coastline and the names of small towns dotting the coast. However, there wasn’t a single name that I recognized. I didn’t have a reference point to help me identify the location.

“Do you have a larger map so that I can see where this place is in relation to something I already know?” I asked.

My future father-in-law went to a bookshelf and took down a world atlas. He looked up Vancouver Island and showed me the map. Instantly, I knew where Ucluelet was, because I could see it in relationship to Victoria. Since I knew the location of Victoria, it became my reference point. The chart, though containing accurate information, was of no help to me, because of a lack of a reference point. In fact, I could have studied the chart forever and never concluded where the location was that my future father-in-law was pointing out. Without a reference point, it would have been an exercise in futility.

The same holds true of each person’s spiritual position. In order for us to know where we are spiritually, we need a reference point. The only accurate reference point is Jesus Christ and His crucifixion. Let me explain a little of what that means.

You and I can never get an accurate estimate of our sin and guilt before God until we understand what it cost Him to remove our sin. God sent His only Son, Jesus whom He loved, to die on Calvary’s cross. Jesus was the only sacrifice that God could accept.

How bad are your sins? Christ had to die to remove sins-that is how bad they are! Make no mistake about it-God sent His Son to be the true Savior for sinners. Some people feel that a self-improvement plan of some kind will help. They feel this way because they don’t have an accurate estimation of the seriousness of their sins. If they did, they would realize they need a Savior and not a self-improvement plan. God does not do things that are not necessary. If you didn’t need your sins washed away by the blood shed on Calvary, Christ never would have been crucified. You will only understand the seriousness of your sins when you see that, in order to remove them, it was necessary for the Lord Jesus to die for them.

Unless you have Christ and His crucifixion as your reference point, you will never understand the love of God. The Bible says, “God is love,” and nothing ever demonstrated His love like the fact that “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3). “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). “Propitiation” means that God can show mercy to sinners because Christ died for them. Mercy doesn’t mean God will overlook your sins, but, rather, through the death of Christ, God has made a way that He can righteously deal with them.

“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 little word “so” describes the greatest love we can possibly know. It describes the love that moved God to send His Son to Calvary where He would be nailed to a cross.

It was not the nails that held the Lord Jesus to the cross. It was His great love for sinners that held Him there. This same love is still reaching out to sinners, offering them forgiveness for their sins. You may be unsaved and go to a lost eternity, but you will never die unloved.

Only with a crucified Savior as a reference point can you understand the true character of this world. For three and a half years, the Lord Jesus publicly taught the people around Him. He did great miracles among them; He healed the sick and the disabled; He gave sight to the blind, and He raised the dead. He preached the gospel, the “good news,” to the poor.

Because the common people flocked to Him, He aroused the jealousy of the religious leaders. One evening, they sent men with clubs and swords to seize Him. The Lord Jesus, knowing that He had a great work to accomplish by His death, let Himself be taken. The religious leaders joined ranks with the political leaders in demanding that He should be crucified. A great mass of people, including many who had heard Him and had probably even enjoyed the food He provided, chanted, “Crucify Him, crucify Him”!

Not a single valid reason could they produce for wanting to destroy Him. The Lord Jesus could truly say, “They hated Me without a cause” (John 15:25). They led Him away and crucified Him, and this act of rejection revealed the true character of this world for all time. Christ came in love, kindness and grace, and they wanted nothing to do with Him.

This world still doesn’t want Jesus. His call goes out to all men, but it is up to individuals to decide how they will respond. The question for you to answer is whether you will turn to the Lord Jesus, who alone can satisfy your heart. Wouldn’t you rather belong to the Lord Jesus than spend your life chasing after pleasures and possessions that have no lasting value?

These three things-the seriousness of sin, the love of God and the character of the world we live in-can only be truly understood when they are looked at in relationship to the rejected Savior. That is the only true point of reference.

A Poisonous Tree

Trees give us fruit and flowers to enjoy, shade to shield us from the sun, wood to build houses or to burn in cozy fireplaces-oh, yes, trees are good. We like trees!

But-can you imagine a tree that is bad through and through? A tree that has been nicknamed the “Enemy in the Everglades”? There is such a tree: the Manchineel. It is altogether poisonous, both to man and to many animals. Even rainwater dripping from the leaves becomes so poisonous that it blisters the skin, while smoke from the burning wood causes temporary blindness.

Dr. W. M. Lauter, a pharmaceutical chemist with the University of Florida, used to laugh at the Manchineel’s reputation, but he found that it was all too true. His first experience was with a 50-foot-tall, wide-branched specimen on its home grounds in the vast, swampy Everglades. The first blow was delivered at long range: Water dripping from a branch fell on Lauter’s ear and immediately raised excruciating blisters.

The chemist then protected himself with rubber gloves to examine the fruit and had an even worse experience. A pinhole in the rubber allowed a little juice of the fruit to come into contact with his arm, and his whole arm became paralyzed and was covered for days with ulcers.

It is said that the Indians used to drop Manchineel fruit down the Spaniards’ wells to poison them. Even to take shelter under one during a rain shower can be a fatal mistake. The tree is just poisonous throughout!

This reminds us of the description in Rom. 3:10-18 of what man is by nature: “There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they have used deceit, the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace they have not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes.”

We have often heard it said: “There is some good in everybody.” That is only true according to man’s standard. In the presence of God there is none who can rightly be called good. We are all sinners before God-sinners who need a Savior. It is not only a matter of sinning a little now and then, but of being totally unfit for God’s presence.

The Manchineel tree is surely a tree fit for destruction if there ever was one. A man in his right mind would not want it on his property. Listen to these words from Matt. 3:10: “And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is [cut] down, and cast into the fire.”

John the Baptist, who spoke these words, was not concerned with literal trees but with those people who came to listen to him and to be baptized by him. The cutting down speaks of being removed from the earth, and casting into the fire speaks of being cast into the lake of fire forever.

Unless we know Christ as our personal Savior, we are not only incapable of bearing fruit for God, but are actually enemies of God. Although the “Enemy in the Everglades” cannot be made good, while we were enemies Christ died for us. Yes, Christ died for us so that we might be reconciled to God. Have you been reconciled? If not, you are still His enemy. What a dreadful position to be in! Don’t let another day pass before you come to the Lord as a sinner and receive Him as your own Savior. Then, and not until then, can you bear fruit for God.

We are all incurably bad by nature; we all need to be made new creatures in Christ Jesus. Only God Himself knows how bad we are, and only He can meet our desperate need. This He has done by sending His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who bore “our sins in His own body on the tree [the cross of Calvary]” (1 Peter 2:24). Will you not believe in a Savior who has loved you so much that He died in order to save your soul?

To be a child of God instead of an “enemy”-what a marvelous change! Trust Him now, and be happy and fruitful for God for time and eternity.

Promises

“We the people of the United Nations, determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war...have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish these aims.”

What a promise-a promise that in all recorded history could not be accomplished-and is not possible yet in our day. In spite of noble purposes and impressive promises, how has it performed? Ever since that promise was formulated and ratified by the representatives of the original fifty-one nations and the many nations joining since then, there have been big wars and small wars, wars declared and undeclared, rebellions and revolutions. Now it appears that no place on earth is safe from the “scourge of war,” no place that cannot be touched by instant terror. In spite of their great intentions, the U.N. was hindered by the fact that it could only deal with poor, failing humanity. We mean so well—BUT!

It is a frightening prospect. What can we do to be safe in an unsafe world? One thing is that we may be living in precarious times, but we can look forward to an absolutely safe afterlife. We can make our future eternally secure!

God has made promises, wonderful promises, too, and what He has promised He is able also to perform. He can provide absolute security! He promises eternal life: “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).

He promises security: “They shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand” (John 10:28).

He promises peace: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you....Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

Which promises are you depending on? On “we the people of the U.N.”? That failing promise is only for life on earth, even if it could succeed.

Or are you depending on the promises of the “God who cannot lie,” whose promises are for this life and the one to come-promises good for all eternity?

A Question

Jesus, who came to earth twenty centuries ago, was despised, rejected and crucified by mankind-the very ones He had come to bless. He went back to heaven from whence he had come, and He is coming back again to earth. This time He will come back no more as the Savior of the world, but as the Judge.

Are you ready to meet Him?

Were your eyes this moment to “see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory,” would you be one of those who will say “to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb”?

Or can you look that day in the face and in perfect peace say, “Come, Lord Jesus”?

Remember, you cannot meet the Judge in peace, unless you have first met Him as Savior.

A Race for Life

Years ago Germany had laid claim to part of the coast of Africa and by harsh treatment of the natives, they soon won their hatred. With rebellion threatening, the Germans began to employ spies to watch for trouble spots and report back to them. The natives retaliated by promptly executing any spies they discovered.

One such spy, having been taken prisoner, was condemned to die on the next day. He was taken to a small hut and a guard placed over him to await his execution. His rough jail was about a half mile from the water’s edge.

We will let a sailor, a witness of the event, tell the rest of the story: “Early in the morning on which the man was to be executed, we dropped anchor close inshore for the purpose of purchasing from the natives anything which might be of interest. A boat was lowered and, with an officer in charge, ordered to pull for the shore. We knew nothing of the captured man.

“Just imagine the feelings of that poor, wretched man awaiting death! He could see the British ship drop anchor, the boat manned and armed, and the British flag waving in the breeze. He also knew that if he could only gain the shelter of that flag, all would be well.

“He determined to make the attempt and either succeed or die. Bracing every nerve for the struggle, he drew himself up and threw himself at the door. Not being very strong, it fell with a crash. Dashing through the hordes assembling to witness his execution, he gained several yards before they recovered from their surprise sufficiently to give chase. Then, with a wild yell, they sprang after him. Hope filled his heart and sped him on his way, while shots from pursuers whistled past him.

“Meanwhile, the officer in the boat had taken in the situation at a glance, and, ordering his men to pull with all their might, in three minutes the bow of the boat grounded on the beach. In another second the crew stood ready to defend the panting fugitive. With a leap he cleared the gunwale and, reaching the stern, fell exhausted.

“I shall never forget the joy of that man as he realized his wonderful deliverance from the fearful death that a few moments before had awaited him.”

“Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life” (Job 2:4). But what is this life for which man is willing to stake the eternal welfare of his soul? “He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not” (Job 14:2).

Have you ever seriously considered this? You may have read with interest the escape of the spy, but have you ever thought how much his case resembles your own? Yet how much less had he at stake than you have, if you are still unsaved! He was condemned to die; so are you, for it is written, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Heb. 9:27-28).

Like a flash of lightning the poor prisoner sprang from the hut, all his strength, energy and power, every nerve and muscle, strained to the utmost in the last and victorious race for life, and all for the life that “fleeth...as a shadow”-and is gone. And will you not flee from the wrath to come for your immortal soul’s sake?

Decide now for Christ, and you will be saved. It is written: “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).

A Small Cause - A Far Reaching Effect

Not many years ago a scientist in Massachusetts imported to the United States some caterpillars that interested him. He kept them in a bottle. One day the bottle tipped over, and some of the caterpillars escaped. Unnoticed, they made their way into the garden, and in due time stocked it with gypsy moths. These moths became a plague, and the swarms produced by them have done millions of dollars of damage to the woods and orchards of New England.

How far-reaching are the results of some little, hardly noticed acts! The tipping over of the bottle was a trivial incident, but from that came all the damage done by the insect pests.

People sometimes speak as if the original sin of Eve in the Garden of Eden had been a trifling matter: “Merely the eating of a piece of fruit,” they call it. But from that act all the trouble in the world has resulted. Think of the wars, the crimes, the cruelties, the diseases, and the loathsome vices that fill and pollute the world-all the consequences of that one sin. Death, too, the king of terrors, is “the wages of sin” (Rom. 6:23).

But after death comes the judgment, and this is not because of what Adam and Eve did, but it is because of what men themselves have done. Men will be judged, not because Adam was a sinner, but because they are sinners-not because their first parents fell into disobedience, but because they have followed in their steps and have loved sin and practiced it.

Thank God, though there is no remedy for all the evils that sin has brought upon the world (except God’s own intervention in power, which He will bring to pass when Christ comes to earth to reign in righteousness), there is a remedy, a grand and complete remedy, for the individual sinner. He may get rid of the burden of his guilt through Christ’s precious blood.

“By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12).

“Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins” (Rom. 3:24-25).

Something

“Something for nothing”-that is almost the motto of our generation. Something for nothing a super bargain, a “steal”-to get as much as you can while giving as little as possible-how pleased we are!

But to give “something” and receive “nothing,” well, now, that’s another matter.

A surprising illustration of that occurred when a radio announcer asked his listeners to send twenty-dollar checks to the station without saying what he would do with the money.

Soon, 4,000 checks for twenty dollars each arrived in the mail. Another 5,000 checks followed. The stunned announcer, Ron Chapman, said, “We never promised anybody anything! We’re flabbergasted!”

Even when he went on the air to say, “Don’t send any more checks!” the checks still came in. The total received by the radio station came to nearly a quarter of a million dollars.

Two hundred fifty thousand dollars-for what? For nothing. Nothing was promised; nothing was given. The check senders did not get something for nothing; they gave something for nothing. That’s a very different matter, isn’t it?

They are not the only ones! The question is asked in God’s Word, the Bible: “Wherefore do you spend money for that which...satisfieth not?” (Isa. 55:2).

That is, why are you throwing away your time on “pleasures...for a season,” giving your life, the only life you have, for things that cannot last. When that life is gone, what will you have left? Nothing? Will you have given something-everything-for nothing?

There is a better way! That same chapter in Isaiah says, “Come ye, buy, and eat; [yes], come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”

That is truly getting something for nothing!

In fact, the salvation God offers you cannot be bought.

It is free, all free! It is a gift: “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).

You do not buy a gift; you only receive it-thankfully receive it. “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift” (2 Cor. 9:15).

Still Unsaved

Still unsaved?

After all the Spirit’s pleading,

After all God’s tender leading,

After all of Calvary’s cross

To redeem your soul from loss;

While His grace and love abound,

Can it be that you are found

Still unsaved? Still unsaved?

Still unsaved?

Will you still refuse His pardon?

Still in sin your conscience harden?

Still reject till death o’ertakes you?

Then when every hope forsakes you,

Dare you face your God at last,

When your every chance is passed,

Still unsaved? Still unsaved?

Still unsaved?

Sinner, stop and look before you!

See the storm clouds gathering o’er you;

Ere they burst in judgment on you

And in endless woe o’erwhelm you,

To the cross of Jesus fly,

Lest forever you will cry-

Still unsaved? Still unsaved?

STILL UNSAVED!

Stop, Look, and Listen

STOP! for judgment lies before you,

And a holy God you face,

If you still refuse His mercy

And despise His offered grace.

LOOK to Him who once was lifted

On the cross for you-for me-

Bore the storm of wrath and judgment

That the guilty might be free.

LISTEN to His call of mercy,

“Come, and I will give you rest”;

Trust in Him who died to save you,

And believing you are blest.

STOP, and LOOK, and LISTEN, sinner,

For you soon will pass away,

Either into outer darkness

Or to heaven’s eternal day.

Such an Offer!

Such an offer! Full and free!

Is it really meant for me?

That all my sins on Christ were laid;

That all my debt by Him was paid?

Yes, Jesus says it who has died;

“Believe,” and I am justified.

Such an offer! Pardon now

For hidden sin and broken vow!

For years of cold neglect and scorn;

Can mercy’s day upon me dawn?

Yes, Jesus died instead of me;

His death for mine must be my plea.

Oh, what goodness! Lord, I take

This offer Thou dost freely make!

My one desire shall henceforth be

To live for Him who died for me.

Spread glad news through every nation:

Instant-free-and full salvation!

Suddenly a Shark

The waters of Boca Ciega Bay are certainly enticing. Clean and sparkling in the sunshine, their blue depths just touched by white foam on the rippling wavelets-who would think of the “dangers of the deep”? Who would take the time to think that the little bay feeds into the Gulf of Mexico, and that in turn into the Atlantic Ocean? The biggest creatures of the deep water would probably not come up into the bay-whales would be unlikely visitors!-but many species of sharks forage in shallow waters.

When Thadeus and Anna Kubinski came out onto their dock for their daily swim, they saw no hint of danger. There was a school of small fish near and under the dock darting about and leaping into the air, but that was not a rare occurrence. Always cautious, Mrs. Kubinski eased gently down the steps into the water. Her husband elected to dive from the dock. As he dived, his wife heard a great splash and suddenly-a shark!-a bull shark seized her husband in his great jaws!

A bull shark may be eight or nine feet long and may weigh 400 pounds. His jaws may be a foot or more wide, ringed with razor-sharp teeth. With a wound fifteen inches long and ten inches wide, Thadeus Kubinski was dead within a very few minutes.

The grieving Kubinski family would like to see warnings posted along the beaches, telling people of the danger in the water. But how effective can the warnings be? With the tragedy still fresh in their minds, it was still pleasure as usual on the beaches.

One swimmer said, “It’s not like the sharks are coming back every day.”

Another was “comfortable” and thought, “It’s not likely to happen again.” (There were thirty-four shark attacks in Florida alone last year.)

And the Chamber of Commerce stated, “We don’t believe there is a life safety issue at all!”

One man said that he would continue his daily swim across Boca Ciega Bay, but he would “tow a red balloon” as a marker and a precaution.

A little red balloon, bobbing along over the waves! Pretty? Yes. Effective? No!

But is there a “red balloon” somewhere in the back of your mind? Are you thinking that all is well with your soul because “I go to church every Sunday,” “I give to every charity in town,” or even, “I’m simply a good person”?

The Lord Jesus did not say, “Go to church more often,” or “Donate more,” or even, “Be a better person.” His firm statement was, “Ye must be born again.” There is no escaping that. Doing “good things” every day of your life will not erase the bad things that you have done and said and thought, because you were born with a nature that is just plain contrary to good, contrary to God. One of the writers of the New Testament, the Apostle Paul, wrote, “There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God....There is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

That means that we are all sinners: “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” All? Every one of us. That is why the Lord Jesus died on the cross to bear the punishment for all the guilty sinners who would accept His great offer. The Bible says, “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” To be “born again” is to become the child of God by faith in Jesus Christ.

"Take, Take!"

A woman once went to a minister and said, “Sir, you are always saying, ‘Take, take!’ Is there any place in the Bible where it says, ‘Take,’ or is it only a word you use? I have been looking in my Bible and cannot find it.”

“Why,” said the evangelist, “the Bible is sealed with it! It is almost the last word in the Bible.”

Then he quoted Rev. 22:17: “The Spirit and the bride say, come....And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

“Well,” she said, “I never saw that before. Is that all I have to do?”

“Yes, the Bible says so.”

And she took it right away!

All of us at some time in our lives have imagined that we had to give God something. And did you ever stop to ask yourself, Will God take it? Do not trust your own thoughts as to this question, for God cannot accept anything we have done or may do in the future as a means of salvation. God is the GIVER, we must be the receivers, and until we TAKE from Him, all the works of righteousness which we have done or can do are worthless in His holy eyes. And it is even worse than that, for in Isaiah 64:6 we read that “we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.”

Filthy rags! No, we cannot earn God’s favor, but we can receive it as a gift, for “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).

A Tale of Two Horses

In the old days, not far from our farm was a slaughterhouse where droves of unwanted horses were processed for dog food. To me it was a dreadful place.

One day I had the misfortune of losing one horse of my team. So, needing another horse, I called the slaughterhouse to see if I could buy one of their live animals for a replacement.

The answer was, “Yes, go over to the holding pasture and pick out the one that suits you.”

I drove over, and what a sight! There were about one hundred horses in the holding paddock attached to the slaughterhouse. There were all breeds, colors, sizes and ages-some old and feeble, some evidently quite young. One team in particular caught my eye-beautiful creatures with long manes and tails. They were all doomed to die, so many today, and more tomorrow.

It was a cold winter morning and the horses were eating what little grass they could find on the bare, frozen sod. My heart ached for those poor horses in their misery and soon to be destroyed. However, glad to be able to save at least one, I looked around for the horse which would suit me best.

Singling out a fine, sleek mare, I moved towards her, calling kindly and holding out my hands. However, she had no wish to be approached, even in kindness. Laying back her ears and opening her mouth wide, she stretched her neck to bite. Then whirling around, she quickly ran away.

I thought, How like many poor, lost sinners who reject and despise God’s offer of grace!

I turned sadly and selected another mare. She was not as good looking, nor so young either. But she gladly received the kindness I offered, so I took a piece of cord and tied it about her neck to identify her as mine. Shortly afterward I happily led her home to our farm, where she lived comfortably and worked faithfully for several years.

To one that loved horses, that slaughterhouse scene was a most sorrowful operation. But if we have eyes to see, how infinitely more sad is the sight of multitudes of poor, lost sinners treading the broad road that leads to destruction, despising the One whose nail-pierced hands are stretched out to save. Thank God that some (like my humble horse) receive salvation and escape.

My illustration is only a feeble picture and falls far short of reality. I could save only one horse from death that day, but God is not willing that any man, woman or child-should perish. He has provided a full, free salvation for all who will receive it, without money and without price.

“As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?” (Ezek. 33:11).

The Ant Lion

My backpack seemed to be growing heavier by the minute. At last, easing it off, I threw myself down beside the trail for a short break in the hike.

The day was hot and still, not a sound to be heard, not a leaf moving. Slowly, the ache in my shoulders eased. The tiredness went away, and I was enjoying the stillness all around when suddenly a hint of motion caught my eye. In the dry sand of the trail, little grains of sand flew up. Again—and again—and again, and a small round dimple in the sand began to take form.

More sand flew, and the dimple grew and deepened and became a tiny round pit, a trap, a real lion’s den for ants.

At the very center bottom, almost buried out of sight, an ant lion waited for his prey. A little red ant came running along, seeking food in her usual busy way. She climbed up on the rim of the sandy cup and peeped over to investigate. Possibly sensing danger, she turned to scramble off.

Too late! The dry sand rolled from under her feet, and down she went to the bottom, right into the hungry jaws of the ant lion. Soon there would be nothing left of the ant but the empty case of her body to be flipped up and out of the pit in the same way the grains of sand had been thrown.

I found several such pits in the soft sand, some with the skins of the dead all around, but the inside looked pure and clean. The dead were tossed out of sight. There was no lion to be seen, but there was death in the pit.

Sometimes an ant would topple in and then struggle frantically to get out. It would climb and slip, climb and slip, until it could climb no more and slid helplessly down to the waiting mouth. Not once did I see one get out by itself; the only escape was for me to lift one up, out of that “sinking sand,” and onto firm ground.

Does it sometimes seem to you that you are in just such a pit? Have you climbed and climbed, always struggling to get up and out, only to slip back further each time? You want to do better, to be better, but every slip, every fall, leaves you deeper in that discouraging pit of sin.

Like the ant, you need help from above. God has provided the very help you need. In Job 33:24 God says, “Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.” The ransom was God’s own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who “came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28).

He is able to save you; He is willing to save you. Why not just stop struggling to save yourself and say, “Yes, Lord Jesus, I thankfully accept this free deliverance from this awful pit”?

Then you can say, with millions of others, “The Lord...heard my cry. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit...and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God” (Psa. 40:1-3).

The Clock

The clock of life is wound but once,

And no man has the power

To tell just when the hands will stop,

At late or early hour.

To lose one’s wealth is sad indeed;

To lose one’s health is more;

To lose one’s soul is such a loss

As no one can restore.

Thirty-nine people died while you read this short poem. Every hour 5,417 go to meet their Maker. (We speak of “normal times”; there are no definite totals yet for the slaughter going on all around the world today.) You could have been one of those figures. Sooner or later you may be. Are you ready?

The Father's Kiss

Two little boys were fishing from the riverbank. Accidentally they both fell into the water. A young man who was fishing nearby dived in after them. He was not a very good swimmer, but he managed to bring both the youngsters to the bank safely. He then found himself in difficulties. Weighed down with water-soaked clothing and exhausted by his struggle to save the boys, the steep, slippery bank of the river was too much for him, and he soon slipped back into the water and was drowned.

A few days later the two little boys stood close to the coffin at the cemetery. When the funeral was over, the father of the young man who had died in saving them came over to the two little boys. Bending down, he gave each one a kiss and prayed God’s blessing upon them.

A Christian who was to preach the gospel that evening was present. That night, standing before his audience he said, “Today I saw something I have never seen before. A father kissed two boys who had caused the death of his son.”

He went on to tell them about the funeral. “And,” he said, “that is what God in His great love is doing now, kissing any who come to Him believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, in spite of the fact that they were the cause of the death of His Son.”

One man in the audience, one with a very bad reputation, came up to the preacher after the meeting and asked, “Does God kiss all repentant ones like that?”

“Yes,” the preacher replied, “if they come to Him in faith, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, they will receive pardon, peace and blessing.”

He answered, “I will come to Him right now!”

If your decision is the same, you will know forgiveness and learn the joy of the Father’s kiss.

The Key to Peace with God

Tom had learned by bitter experience that sin and sorrow are inseparable twins, and they seemed to dog his path wherever he went. He tried to escape by abandoning the city for the prairies, then in a business career, and then in married happiness. He tried going to churches of every denomination, but in vain. He finally found deliverance one cold winter night when a fellow-employee opened his Bible and read to him: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isa. 1:18).

The story begins when Tom, as a world-weary young Englishman, resolved: “I’ll find peace on the prairies. So far from the big cities, there can be no sin. There I will turn over a new leaf and start life all over again.”

A few months later found him in his chosen field, an employee of a prosperous Canadian farmer. William, the farmer, was a powerful man with a kind face and luxuriant beard. He and his wife owned and operated the farm together, and outwardly everything appeared serene. Tom thought that at last he had found a secure and peaceful nest.

After the first day’s work and the hearty meal that followed, to Tom’s surprise, William suggested that they sit down “and have a little chat about the Bible.” The suggestion created a ripple of resentment in Tom. The Bible was never read in his old home in England. Besides, he had come to Canada to turn over a new leaf, not to turn over pages in the Bible!

William soon told Tom that, although he had read the Bible through three times, he still could not understand it. “Look at Moses,” he reasoned. “He sinned only once and was barred from entering the promised land. So what chance have we?”

The next evening William again suggested that they “have a little chat about the Bible.” This time he introduced the “meditation” with a declaration that “after all, I do have a chance to get to heaven, because I have never turned away anyone who came to me for help.”

At this point his wife, who had been a silent listener, spoke. “William,” she said, “remember how you lied to that man when you sold him the cow?”

“That’s enough from you,” snapped William angrily.

“But William, you did,” she insisted.

Poor William! If only he had known and believed that the one ground of peace with God and the only title to heaven is the shed blood of Christ. Tom could not tell him what he did not know himself.

The nagging pangs of conscience which had prompted Tom to leave England were not in the least eased by William’s groping for peace and his doubts about reaching heaven. This shattered Tom’s dream of finding peace on the prairies, and eventually he forsook the farm to find work in the city.

He soon found work in a bank, and in this sense of financial security, he married and “settled down.” He and his bride decided that they should go to church. It seemed the normal thing to do.

But which church? It was agreed that they would try them all and then choose. Eventually, having attended practically every church in the city, large and small, and finding satisfaction in none, they “gave up on religion.”

By this time Tom had been promoted to a position which brought him into contact with another worker, Wilson, who was a Christian. Tom did not know that, for Wilson never spoke about religion, but Tom could not help noticing how different he was to the rest of the staff-how kind he was to everyone, and all the things he did to help him and others. There is something about that man, Tom thought. I like him.

One afternoon Wilson said, “Tom, you have listened to a lot of things in your life; now, how would you like to listen to the truth?”

“I’ll listen to anything,” answered Tom carelessly. “I’ve heard everything else; I’ve been everywhere and am ready to go anywhere.”

“I’ll meet you at the corner at seven tonight and take you to hear the truth,” said Wilson.

Tom was there when Wilson arrived, and together they walked to a little gospel hall. It was the most unpretentious place-a small room with bare walls and no furniture except a plain table and rows of chairs. A group of people were already seated. Everyone held a well-worn Bible, even the little children.

A peaceful atmosphere pervaded the whole scene, but Tom felt like a caged bird. When someone put a Bible in his hands, he could not turn to a single verse. How stupid he felt!

“What am I doing here?” he muttered. “I must be crazy. Once I’m out, I will never come back!”

But three weeks later he was back in that same little room, drawn as if by some invisible Power.

“What is happening to me?” he asked himself. “Am I becoming weak-minded?”

Then one night after work Wilson said he would walk partway home with Tom. This time he soon turned the talk away from business to eternal things. Taking a small Bible from his pocket, he read: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” Then he turned to 1 Cor. 2:14 and read: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.”

“Tom,” he said, “do you want to continue being a natural man?”

Tom did not answer, but his thought was, “It is a cold night. Why doesn’t he go home to supper? Why does he bother with me?”

But Wilson kept on. He told of Christ dying on the cross as the sacrifice for sin.

“Think of it, Tom,” he said. “Jesus did it all. There is nothing left for you to do. And now God is ready to forgive every sin you have ever committed, and He says He will remember them no more. It’s all on account of what Jesus has done for you. ‘As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us’ (Psa. 103:12), and that’s a long, long way, Tom!” Wilson then left Tom, and Tom went home-but not to supper!

As Tom told us this story about himself, he concluded by saying: “I went up to my room and knelt beside my bed, and there and then I accepted Christ as my Savior. After all my wanderings, I had at last found the key to peace with God. That was over sixty years ago, and God has kept me ever since.”

The Last Days

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come” (2 Tim. 3:1; Paul the Apostle, about 64 A.D.).

“The board feels these are perilous times” (Leonard Reiser, physicist and atomic scientist, 1998 A.D.).

When Paul wrote his last recorded letter to Timothy, it was approximately the year 64 A.D. What were conditions then? Nero was Emperor of Rome. Nero, the worst of the Roman emperors, the one who had his own mother murdered for venturing to disagree with him, had unlimited power over the whole Roman Empire. No life was safe; he had thousands tortured or killed for any reason, or for no reason.

Paul was in a Roman prison and facing martyrdom in the near future. (He wrote, “I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.”) Looking down through the coming centuries, he warned Timothy that “in the last days perilous times shall come.”

More perilous than in Paul’s time? Leonard Reiser evidently agrees with that long-ago prophecy when he says, “We are living in perilous times.” If the scientist of today agrees with the Apostle Paul and confirms his early prophecy, it is another indication that we are living in the last days.

What can we do? We cannot change the course of history! With the best efforts of presidents, dictators and the rulers of whatever powers there may be, still the “Doomsday Clock” ticks on. Only individually can we take meaningful action; only individually-one by one-can we accept the Lord Jesus Christ and have our own personal future changed.

It is still true that “God so loved the world”-that includes everyone-“that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever”-anyone-“believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). But that wonderful “whosoever” must, as always, be applied individually. As the children’s song puts it,

That means me,

That means me;

Whosoever will believe,

And that means ME!

Individually, personally, one by one. There is no other way.

The Postman's Two Problems

While a postman was sorting his letters one morning, his attention was caught by a text of Scripture, which he saw on an envelope. The words were these: “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). The more he thought of the question, the more troubled he became. He was not a Christian, and he knew that if he died as he was, he would be eternally lost. What would it profit him if he became as rich as a Gates or a Trump and yet were to lose his own soul?

The more he thought, the more alarmed he became. What if he were to lose his soul? He knew he was far from being all that he should be, and if he should be summoned suddenly to meet God, where would he be? Would he be banished from the presence of God forever in the “blackness of darkness”? Was there no way of escape? Thoroughly convinced that he needed a Savior, he longed to gain forgiveness. How strange that, living in a land of Bibles and churches, he knew nothing of the way of salvation!

About a week after he saw the first text on the envelope, there was a second and different text. This time it was the Apostle Paul’s answer to the Philippian jailer’s question: “What must I do to be saved?...Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:30-31).

There was the clear, definite answer to the greatest of all questions. The postman walked his route very thoughtfully that day. Did he believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? He felt that he did not-and that he did not know how. When his mail had all been delivered, he walked on, and, happening to pass a meeting place, he noticed that a service was going on. He went in and was surprised to hear the speaker say, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” It was the very verse he had seen on the second envelope!

As he heard the wonderful story of God’s mighty and matchless love in giving Jesus to die as the sacrifice for sin, and as he learned what that death had accomplished, the postman received the gospel and rejoiced in Christ as his Savior.

“I have been a different man ever since,” he said to a woman to whom he told the story, “and I’m thankful for the one who sent that envelope.”

“What shall it profit a man [or woman-or child], if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”

The Power of the Book

A ship sailing on the Pacific Ocean suddenly struck a reef that had not been on the chart. So violent was the shock that it was evident that the ship would soon become a total loss, so the captain and crew wasted no time in abandoning ship. Taking to the lifeboats, they hoped soon to reach some island or to sight a ship which would take them aboard.

For fourteen days they scanned the horizon in vain. Neither land nor ship appeared, and they were desperate on the morning of the fifteenth day. What joy there was when they were approaching an unknown coral atoll, on the shore of which they could see the waves breaking with masses of white foam.

There were people there! They had already sighted the boats and were crowding to the beach, but the sailors were not sure whether they should rejoice or fear, exhausted as they were and almost dead from hunger. They had not strength to defend themselves if the natives were not friendly. Some were thought to be cannibals; it was known that some shipwrecked sailors had met a gruesome death in these islands.

While the shipwrecked men watched anxiously every movement of the people on shore, they saw one of the natives pushing out through the breakers. He was holding a book over his head and crying, “Missionary! Missionary!”

What a reassuring cry! Missionaries had been there, and through them the people had learned to know the holy Book. There was nothing to fear!

Joyfully but feebly the sailors responded to the native’s shouts, calling for help. At once there was a rush to meet them. Some pulled the boats through the surf, and others carried the men to shore and gave them abundance of food and every possible care with truly Christian affection.

And what about the Book which the islander had waved aloft as a token of peace? It was the Book of books, the Bible-the Book which God has given to men that they may know Him, and it meets the soul’s need of every human being in every land who reverently accepts its teachings. That Book had changed the cruel, savage natives into gentle and caring Christians. It told them of a Savior who loved them and died for them, and they had believed the good news.

Do you have this Book? Have you been changed by it? The Lord Jesus said,

“Search the scriptures;
for in them ye think ye have
eternal life: and they are they
which testify of Me” (John 5:39).

The Red Light

It was a stormy night about thirty years ago, and we were coming along on the Midnight Express at our top speed. As we roared around a curve, I suddenly saw a red light flash right in front of us, and my heart almost stopped.

“Brakes, Bill!” I shouted. “Quick or we’re gone!” With all his might Bill applied the brakes while I shut off the engine and the train was brought to a dead halt. Not a second too soon either, for looming in the darkness before us we could see the wreck of a freight train that had derailed only a few yards ahead. How thankful I was that the red light flashed that night!

But there was another night, not long after that, where I saw a red light flashing before me again. A friend of mine had been converted, and after work he came in to have a visit with me.

“Harry,” he said, “do you ever think of where you will spend eternity? Do you ask yourself, as you speed along the line of life, what signal God is throwing out for you: a red stop light, or a white go light?”

I had never thought of it in that way before, but when I began to think, I said to myself, “God can hold out no white light to me!” I saw the red light was being held out by the words my friend read out of the Bible that night.

He read, “He that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16), and, “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Heb. 2:3).

I saw where I was-in fact, could not help seeing it, for there, as plain as it could be, flashed God’s red light before me. I pulled up that night-I don’t mean reformed-but took my place as a lost sinner before God and claimed Christ as my own and only Savior. Now I know He has saved me, and I hear Him saying, “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish” (John 10:28).

Now what is your response? You are speeding along at express-train speed towards eternity. If you have not been “born of God,” the red light is before you-no doubt about it. Accept Him now, and you will be able to rejoice in the knowledge that you have “redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins.”

Yes, you may now enjoy a full and free salvation through faith in Christ, for “ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold...but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

The Right Person

Perhaps you have been thinking, “Oh, if I could only believe in the right way!”

That is not the problem. If you would only believe on the right Person, you would be saved. It is not your believing that saves you; it is the Person on whom you believe. Stop worrying about the character of your believing and get occupied with the saving One, Jesus Christ the Lord.

A drowning man is not concerned as to whether he has gripped the friendly rope in a scientific way. Has he really caught hold of the rope? That is the point. If he has, his safety is assured.

Are you really trusting in Christ Jesus? If you are, His promise applies to you, the promise which says, “He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life” (John 6:47).

The Soul Never Dies

This world and all in it must perish. You see death all around you. Many of the mighty cities of the past are now only ruins, and those that remain are so changed that the people who used to live in them would not know them now if they could come back to them. Men hope to achieve “immortality” by their accomplishments, but a few years will blot them out of human memory.

On one occasion the great Napoleon was in a gallery of the Louvre. He expressed admiration of a famous picture to a general of his staff who was standing nearby.

“Yes,” replied the general, “it is immortal.”

“Immortal!” exclaimed Napoleon. “How long will it last?”

“Three or four hundred years,” the officer replied.

Pointing to a statue in the gallery, Napoleon again demanded, “How long will that last?”

“Three or four thousand years,” the general thought.

The Emperor asked scornfully, “You call that immortal? Ah, nothing but our soul is immortal!”

You have an immortal soul. Where will your immortal soul spend its eternity?

“These shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal” (Matt. 25:46).

The Toss of a Coin

“I was once in a little town where many people were getting what you call ‘converted.’ In fact, I was within a toss of a coin of being converted myself! But it all wore off, and I have never been troubled with such feelings since.” So said an elderly woman to a friend.

How sad to be so close to such blessing and yet to miss it! If that thoughtless woman dies without accepting the Lord Jesus as her Savior, the memory of those flippant words will bring her unending remorse for eternity.

“Within the toss of a coin of being converted!” Whatever her words might have really meant, they left the heart-saddening impression that she had at some time been among the “almost persuaded,” but there had been no real work of grace in her soul.

Felix, a Roman governor, “trembled” when he heard of Jesus, but it only made him want to get away from the searching light of God’s truth. “Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee” were his words. We are not told that he ever “trembled” again under the Word of God or ever found the “convenient season” he counted on.

Near to the door, and the door stood wide;

Close to the port, but not inside;

Almost persuaded to give up sin;

Almost persuaded to enter in;

Almost persuaded to count the cost;

Almost a Christian-and yet lost!

A man, discouraged and desperate, had spent all his money and was down to his last coin. How should he spend that? In misery and despair, he was seeking a way “out of it all.”

“You have just enough to pay the bridge toll,” whispered Satan. “Pay the toll, and jump from the bridge into the river. That will end your misery!”

Yielding to the suggestion, he paid his last coin and walked out to the center of the bridge. “Do it end your misery.”

“But wait,” whispered another voice, “will it end your misery? ‘After this the judgment.’ Jumping into the jaws of death will not end your misery.”

That was enough. He felt that God had spoken! He ran from the bridge, his soul was ultimately saved, and he became a rejoicing Christian. He was, in the words of the foolish woman, within the “toss of a coin” of eternal damnation. Through God’s grace, he missed it and obtained eternal salvation instead.

Are you aware that you are getting perilously near-not, perhaps, to your last coin, but to your last gospel opportunity? Remember, as a general rule, people die as they live, and salvation missed is damnation reached.

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

Almost persuaded; come, come today!

Almost persuaded, turn not away!

Jesus invites you here,

List to His voice so clear

Now falling on your ear;

Come, wanderer, come!

Almost persuaded, harvest is past!

Almost persuaded, doom comes at last;

“Almost” cannot avail!

“Almost” is but to fail!

Sad, sad, that bitter wail:

“Almost”-but lost.

The Unlocked Door

As long as there are thieves in the world, there will be a need for safes and locks. The harder they are to unlock, the better. Yet a strange thing happened a short time ago.

A man was caught with a bunch of keys-fifty-six of them-trying to unlock a door. How many of the keys he had tried or how long he had been trying to unlock the door, we don’t know. A watchman, however, caught him at it and handed him over to the police, who promptly charged him with “malicious trespass.”

BUT-he might have tried all day and all night, and for the rest of his life, to unlock that door. He could never have succeeded in his purpose for the simple reason that it was already UNLOCKED. All he had to do was to turn the handle and walk in.

This reminds us of a mistake made by hundreds of thousands of honest people, a mistake with is absolutely fatal, not only for time but for eternity, not only for the body but for the soul. We are speaking of attempting their own soul’s salvation. If men only realized the seriousness of sin and their lost condition before God, how anxious they would be to enter the door of salvation! In fact, many are anxious, but they make the mistake of thinking that the door is locked, and that they must find the key to unlock it.

Many keep trying to open the door of salvation with the key of good deeds. They think this will unlock the door and ensure their reaching heaven at last. But good deeds can never earn heaven. The Bible is plain on that point. We read that salvation is “not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:9).

Some are trying to open the door of salvation with the key of money. Money cannot buy salvation. Not all the money in the world can wipe away one sin, while “the blood of Jesus Christ His [God’s] Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

All keys are useless in opening an unlocked door. The door to life eternal swings wide when approached by simple faith in the Savior. We read that “the GIFT of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). What can you do with a gift? You cannot buy it; you cannot earn it. All you can do is accept it and give grateful thanks. Why not do so NOW?

“Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift” (2 Cor. 9:15).

The Wreck of the New Carissa

The New Carissa was a giant cargo ship. From bow to stern, it measured over two football fields in length. From the keel to the main deck, it stood more than eight stories high. Sailing from Japan, the ship was to pick up a cargo of wood chips at Coos Bay, Oregon. When she arrived at the Oregon coast, a winter storm packing high winds was developing. The pilot, whose job it was to guide the ship into the harbor, decided to wait until the storm passed before guiding it into port. In the dark of night, when most of the crew was resting, the storm hit with high winds and twenty-foot swells. The men on board were unaware that the anchor was dragging until daylight came and they saw the shore dangerously near. The captain immediately ordered the engines to run at full speed and the anchor hoisted on board, but the seas were so rough that often the propeller of the ship was out of the water, churning nothing but air. Despite all their efforts, the winds and the waves drove the hull of the New Carissa, like a sledge hammer driving a wedge, into the sandbanks outside Coos Bay, where it was stuck fast.

Unable to roll and move with the water, the ship began taking a horrible beating from wind and water and was in danger of breaking up. The crew of twenty-three was safely evacuated the next day, but the New Carissa was on the edge of causing an environmental disaster. The ship carried approximately 400,000 gallons of fuel. If that fuel escaped and washed upon shore, it would leave a black film of oil for over a hundred miles along Oregon’s pristine coast. Like the New Carissa, a great many people are teetering on the edge of a disaster. And it is a disaster far worse than an environmental disaster. They face the eternal shipwreck of their souls. Because of sin, death has entered the world, for “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). And God faithfully warns that death is not the end, for He declares that “after [death] the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). Those who die without the Savior will suffer God’s wrath for eternity. In this life, God permits men to live on in sin. He doesn’t intervene directly and exert His rights over them. Just because He doesn’t act immediately doesn’t mean that He doesn’t hate sin. He surely does! It means that in love and in patience He wants all men to realize that He is the only source of goodness and to come to Him. “The Lord is...not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

The captain and crew of the New Carissa realized their danger and did everything in their power to avert disaster. Some see that disaster is coming for those who die in their sins and are doing everything in their power to save themselves from God’s holy judgment. But what can man do? Like the shipwrecked crew of the New Carissa, man cannot save himself from ultimate disaster. The man that thinks he can save himself by his own efforts is foolish. What man cannot do, God can do and has done. God has provided the Savior that man needs. God sent His “Son to be the Savior of the world.” Jesus, the Savior, is the one mighty to save each one from perishing in their sins. “Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.”

And when God makes a promise, He keeps it. Nothing can ever happen to stop God from doing as He promises. The salvage crew that arrived to help the New Carissa was confident they could succeed in averting disaster, but gale-force winds, hail and faulty equipment hampered their effort. Although a major oil spill was avoided, still, almost three years later, the crew has not succeeded in disposing of the remains of the New Carissa. What would you have thought of the captain of the New Carissa if he had refused to call for help, or if he had refused any help offered to him? But think a moment about yourself. Have you refused to call for help? Have you refused to accept God’s Savior?

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

Title Unknown

“Look, now...the man is lost,

Is wandering in his fame

In the wide, vacant wood,

Seeking himself,

His private name.”

“Celebrity” appeared upon the editorial page of a metropolitan newspaper; it is intended to describe the inner emotions of one who has become a “celebrity” in the eyes of the world. It is certainly true that “the man is lost” who is living within the limited circle of “seeking himself.” The things of pleasure, of pride, of position and of promise only accentuate the tragic emptiness of the soul which can never be satisfied with such frail, mortal stuff. Fame there may be, and yet what of it, for it becomes like a fantasy when the final hour has come and when life must part at the shadow of the grave and enter the wide outreach of eternity.

He who has this sort of thin fame may truly be said to be “wandering in his fame,” for it is the restless wandering which never settles, which always is reaching out for more and never finding that which truly gives satisfaction. Fame never binds up the deep wounds of the heart, and fame never explains that deep, strange uneasiness which is one of the marks of sin.

The prophet Isaiah said it best: “We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes; we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men” (Isa. 59:10).

And this world is truly as “the wide, vacant wood,” promising everything and providing nothing! How important it is to consider these words of the Lord Jesus Christ: “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:36-37).

This question cannot be answered. “Profit” is a tempting earth-word, but who speaks of profit when the body is cold and the soul departed? Where is fame when life is ended? Where are all those other things that are counted of world importance, when the last breath is drawn and the candle flame flickers and is gone?

He who is only “seeking himself” will have only himself to blame when eternity is opened in the engulfing horror of “the blackness of darkness forever.” When self has shut out the Savior, when the attractions of earth have conspired to hide the wonder of Calvary, there is deadly peril for the soul. He who is concerned with earthly attention for his name should learn the blessedness of “names... written in heaven,” lest the supposed fame, that is promised of earth, doom and damn the soul beyond the reach of all deliverance.

This world is truly the “wide, vacant wood”; there is nothing in it for the soul. But Christ came into it to die that we, by faith, might be delivered from it and from its condemnation. To you, here and now, this invitation is sent forth: “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” (Isa. 1:18).

All soul-wandering ends in and with the welcoming Savior. Are you anchored in Him? or still A Sermon in A Barn Some years ago a preacher of the gospel felt very impressed by the Spirit of God to go to a certain village to preach the gospel. In due time he found him adrift, still hopeless, still unsatisfied, still troubled and tossed, still-LOST? self in the place, a tiny village that had neither church, chapel, nor meeting house. He walked through the place, knowing no one in it, and no one knew him. He wondered what he should do.

He retraced his steps. On the outskirts of the village was a barn in a field. The Spirit of God seemed to tell him that this was the place where he had to preach.

He entered the barn. In it were two cows and some hay. Again the urge to preach came upon him, but he hung back. It seemed the height of absurdity for him to speak under such circumstances.

But a voice seemed to say to him, “Are you My servant, or your own master?”

He replied, “Thy servant, Lord.”

“Then do what I tell you” came the unmistakable answer.

He opened his Bible, read a portion, preached a gospel sermon, prayed and left. The whole affair seemed so foolish that he determined that he would never tell the evening’s proceedings to a living soul.

Years rolled by. The circumstances had almost passed out of his mind. One day at the close of a service when he had been preaching, a stranger came up and asked him, “Were you ever in such and such?”

“Certainly” was the reply.

“Did you ever preach in such and such a village?” was the next question.

The preacher hesitated to answer. The questioner continued to press him, telling him he had a good reason for asking. Reluctantly, the preacher finally admitted that he had preached there once.

“Did you ever preach to two cows and some hay in a barn just outside the village?”

Again the preacher had to admit that he had.

The questioner grasped the preacher by the hand, saying heartily, “I thought I recognized your voice! All those years ago I was running from the law and hid myself for safety in that barn. I fell asleep under the hay and must have slept for hours. Your voice woke me. I felt sure that God must have meant that address for me. You thought you were speaking to two cows and some hay, but it really was meant for me and me alone. God used it for my salvation.”

No longer either running or hiding, the man who was converted in so strange a way is now an earnest and devoted Christian.

Isn’t it possible that God is speaking to you, and that by this printed page? Has this great matter of your soul’s salvation not occupied your attention yet?

God’s way of salvation is plain in His holy Word. It says:

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

This one verse is enough for the sincere seeker. May God bless it to you.

To Be Clean

Every twelve years there is a festival in India, the “Maha Kumbh Mela.” It attracts what may be the greatest gathering of people on earth. In 2001 it was expected to draw up to 65 million pilgrims during the forty-three day-celebration-65 million people making long and difficult journeys to be able to plunge once into a cold and muddy river.

Why?

Pretap Garh, a Hindu teacher, answers, “I have come here to get a new life, to wash away the sins I have committed in the last few years.”

Half a world away, the small country of Haiti does not have millions of people, but tens of thousands of Haitians make their own pilgrimage to the 100-foot waterfall of Saut d’Eau. There they strip and submerge themselves in the falling water. Leaving their old clothes in the water, they emerge to put on clean clothes and make their offerings.

Again, why?

“Saut d’Eau is a lot like Mecca to Muslims,” one man explained.

“No matter how much it costs, no matter how long it takes, if you serve the spirits, you need to make the pilgrimage at least once.”

And Mecca to the Muslims? They have no great river, no 100-foot waterfall, but there is that same urge to purify themselves. In the dry and desert surroundings of Mecca, where they must go once in their life if it is at all possible, they have worked out a long and elaborate ritual which must be carefully observed.

Simply—it is to be or to feel clean.

When God created man and woman in innocence, they knew only good. But, disobeying Him, they ate of the fruit of the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Ever since then, that knowledge of evil, that feeling that there is something wrong, something unclean, something that needs to be washed away, has haunted the human race.

The Hindu goes to the Ganges “to wash away his sins” and pray to escape the endless cycle of reincarnation. And the Haitians? They, too, feel cleansed by the falling waters that they hope will wash away past sins and promise a better life in the coming year. All around the globe other races and tribes go through their own rituals of cleansing and renewal, their own response to that sense of evil that dwells within. But how hard must one scrub the skin to make the heart and mind clean?

In the Bible we read, “Though thou wash thee...and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity [sin!] is marked before Me.” No amount of bathing—no matter how much soap is used or how pure and clean the water—can wash away the sin inside.

There is only one remedy. In 1 John 1 we find that “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all...and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” The Lord Jesus Christ sacrificed His life shed His blood-on the cross of Calvary to wash away that dreadful stain of sin from everyone who would receive His salvation. Now God can say to us: “Come now, and let us reason together...though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isa. 1:18). Clean at last!

Too Proud

The old couple had not been seen by their neighbors for several days. There was no light in the window-no answer at the door. Finally neighbors broke into the house and found the old man and his wife-unconscious.

They were rushed to the nearest hospital, but in spite of all that doctors and nurses could do, both died without regaining consciousness. “Starvation and exposure” were given as the cause of death by the coroner.

“I tried,” said their next-door neighbor, “I tried to give them food or money to buy fuel, but the man said they were too proud to accept help. He shut the door in my face!”

“Too proud to accept” the gift of God is the reason why many people are perishing, spiritually, today.

The Lord Jesus Christ is God’s “unspeakable gift” (2 Cor. 9:15).

“The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).

We are “saved through faith...the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8).

Righteousness is also a gift (Rom. 5:17).

These gifts cannot be bought and they cannot be earned; they must be received as a gift.

Ever since the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again, all things that pertain to life and godliness are free. “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32).

To be too proud to accept such gifts from such a Giver will mean a worse fate than death from starvation. It will mean an eternity in the lake of fire.

“As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name” (John 1:12).

Trapped in a Mine

“I tell you again, mate, ‘religion’ may be fine for women and children, but it will not do for men.”

So spoke Jonathan Winters, an old miner, to one of the miners who had recently decided to follow Christ.

“And as for you, Roger,” continued Jonathan, “you are already the softest, most chicken-hearted chap I know. And if you really are going to be pious and Bible-reading in the bargain, you’ll turn so soft that a shadow will frighten you.

“Give it up, mate; give it up. You’re only half a man as it is, but whatever will you be if you stick to religion, I should like to know?”

“Something better than I have been,” replied Roger softly, and with laughter and jokes the men went on to work.

Roger and Jonathan, with about a hundred others, were employed in the operation of a coal mine. Roger was the only Christian among them, and as time went on Roger was laughed at and annoyed, but he never gave up “religion.”

It was a sunny day at noon when Roger was let down in the bucket to the bottom of the shaft. When he reached the floor, he began handing some tools and supplies to “Little Ben,” a sort of errand boy below. The basket was soon emptied, and Roger was stepping out.

But wait! What was that sound? It was the rushing of water! He knew at once that the water from a nearby river had found its way into the mine. In a few minutes his fellow-workmen would be overwhelmed and lost.

One foot was still in the bucket. A jerk of the rope, and it would be raised and he would be safe. It was the supreme challenge to his timid nature. Then he remembered the other miners-their unfitness for death and their ignorance of the love of Christ.

The thought of the Savior nerved his heart. He would not save himself while they were unwarned. Jumping out, he seized “Little Ben” and shoved him in the bucket, saying as he jerked the rope: “Tell all the town that the water is coming in and that we are probably lost. We will try to get to the far end of the right gallery. Be quick!”

The next moment the bucket and the boy disappeared above him.

The mine was a series of long, narrow passages from which the coal had been dug. Hurrying along these, Roger soon reached the working crew and told them of the danger.

It was a terrible moment! Each man would have rushed away in a vain effort to save himself, but his purpose made the timid Roger firm and calm.

He told them of the message he had sent to the surface, and they followed him with their picks to the end of the right gallery. It was the highest point at that level, and the trapped men succeeded in making an opening into a higher chamber with their picks. Here they hoped they would be above the level which the fast-rising water would reach. Into this opening the men hurried, to await slow deliverance or to perish by hunger, drowning or suffocation.

During the long, dreary hours which followed, Roger prayed and entreated, and after the first excitement had passed, the men listened as men will listen when face to face with death.

Meanwhile, far above, relief operations had begun. Guided by Roger’s message, rescue teams worked night and day sinking a new shaft above the right gallery. On the morning of the fifth day, faint sounds of hammering below greeted the weary men above. With new vigor they toiled, and soon the entombed miners were reached. Several were dead, but more than half, including Roger, were alive.

Eventually all of the rescued men recovered from their ordeal. With many, the impressions made on their souls led to their accepting the same Christ who had so inspired Roger, and they lived afterward as converted men.

And Jonathan Winters, who had been the first to sneer at Roger’s confession of Christ? When he learned how Roger might have saved himself and left the others to their fate, he exclaimed, “I said that religion would make Roger more of a softy than he was before, but it seems to me, mates, that it has made him what many of us would scarce have dared. The ‘Bible-reading’ that can make a timid chap like him risk his life for the sake of telling us about a Savior must be good for us all. I cast in my lot with Roger.”

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

True Riches

Not all the gold of all the world,

Nor all its wealth combined,

Could give relief, or comfort yield

To one distracted mind.

’Tis only to the precious blood

Of Christ the soul can fly;

There only can the sinner find

A flowing, full supply.

Oh, what can equal joy divine,

And what can sweeter be,

Than knowing that the soul is safe

For all eternity?

Safe in the Lord without a doubt,

By virtue of the blood;

For nothing can destroy the life

That’s hid with Christ in God!

Unfit for Human Habitation

A Christian living in India wrote us that the apartment he lived in had been posted “U.H.H.”-Unfit for Human Habitation-and that they had orders to “vacate immediately.” He added that “moving in this weather, and at such notice, is a fearsome thing!”

There may be a message in this for us. The Apostle Paul speaks of our bodies as “earthly houses,” and Christ tells us that the ominous “U.H.H.” is written in large letters above them. He says that “he that [believes] not is condemned already.” You may not have to move immediately, but there may be only a step between you and death.

Be sure that, whenever the call comes, if you are not ready beforehand, it will be at an inconvenient moment-it will be far worse than even having to move from your house in Mumbai [Bombay] during the monsoon!

If, however, you will come to Christ and receive Him as your personal Savior, you will be able to smile when you read the letters “U.H.H.” With all the redeemed, you will be able to answer the Lord’s words, “Surely I come quickly,” with “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20).

“The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). If cleansed by that blood, instead of “U.H.H.” being written above your house, it will be “F.H.H.”-Fit for Heavenly Habitation.

Warned

God usually warns before He judges. Scripture is full of instances: Sodom was visited by two heavenly messengers the day before the fire of God consumed it (Gen. 19).

Pharaoh had warnings in abundance long before his final doom. Even at the last moment, his chariot wheels came off before he “sank as lead in the mighty waters” (Ex. 15:10).

Belshazzar, the wicked Chaldean monarch, had his warning written before his eyes by the “fingers of a man’s hand” and from the lips of Daniel: “God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it,” hours before the enemy gained entrance to the city. Yet “in that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain” (Dan. 5:5, 26,30).

Judas got his warning when the Lord said, “One of you shall betray Me.” He ignored the message and went “to his own place” (John 13:21; Acts 1:25).

Pilate was well and wisely-warned when, even on the judgment seat, he received the message from his wife: “Have thou nothing to do with that just man” (Matt. 27:19). Disregarding it, he signed the Lord’s death warrant-and perhaps his own at the same moment of time.

How different might have been the end, for time and eternity, of all these men, had God’s warning been accepted, His message believed and His mercy sought-had repentance and self-judgment taken the place of unbelief and indifference.

The five words at the head of this article are quoted from Jer. 28:16 and were God’s warning to a man named Hananiah. He was a lying prophet. He was not sent by God, but he prophesied lies in His name.

The word of the Lord came to Hananiah: “Hear now, Hananiah; the Lord hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord. So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month” (Jer. 28:15-17).

It was in the fifth month of the year that Hananiah spoke his false prophecy and got his warning: “This year thou shalt die,” and “Hananiah the prophet died the same year, in the seventh month.” This is God’s record of what took place; His Word always comes true.

Have you ever thought that God may have spoken thus to you: “This year thou shalt die”? Are you ready to die? Are you prepared to meet God? Are your sins all washed away?

Probably you will say, “How do you know I shall die this year?”

I do not know it, nor suggest it, but God knows, and if your days on earth are numbered, where will you spend eternity? You will be in heaven or hell. There is no third place. The theory of annihilation is a lie of the devil to get men to go on in utter carelessness until it is too late.

For anyone to continue in his or her sins unrepentant, unforgiven, unsaved-when God is still calling everyone, is foolish beyond measure!

“O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!” Deut. 32:29

We See Jesus

Lower than the angels,

The Lord of glory see,

From on high descending,

In love for you and me.

Higher than the angels,

In heights of glory see

The Lord ascend to heaven,

In glorious majesty.

See Him passing angels,

Far above them there

In that place of glory

He means with us to share.

LOWER, HIGHER, view Him,

Oh, thy lowly Savior see,

Until in heaven’s glory

To Him we bow the knee.

What Amazing Grace

“Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich” (2 Cor. 8:9).

I see this “Holy One of God” coming into this sinful world to save poor fallen man. See Him associating with publicans and sinners that He might win their hearts. What amazing grace!

I see Him asking for a drink from a Samaritan woman (a mixed race despised of the Jews) that He might reach her conscience and bring out the confession, “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” What amazing grace!

I see Him allowing a woman of the city to enter His presence uninvited, to wash his feet with her tears, and to wipe them with the hairs of her head that she might have the forgiveness of her many sins. What amazing grace!

I see the wicked, murderous crowd come out with swords and staves to take Him. The high priest’s servant’s ear is cut off, and even at such a time He puts out His hand and heals. What amazing grace!

I see a dying thief meeting with his just due yet turning to the Savior with the look of faith. I hear his words, “Lord, remember me.” And in a moment the gracious heart of Christ responds, “Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). What amazing grace!

Scourgers, scoffers, mockers, robbers, murderers-all were present to witness the indescribable death of that blessed One and to hear words which only the eternal Son of God could utter: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). What amazing grace!

What Is Gospel?

Many people think that the gospel is “good advice.” Let us never forget that the gospel is not good advice, but GOOD NEWS.

It does not tell us what we ought to do for God. It tells us what God has done for us.

It does not offer us lessons from the life of Christ. It offers us life through the death of Christ.

It is popular to attach the word “gospel” to all sorts of activity and work and rules of health and methods of efficiency and success, all of which depend upon our faithful doing of certain things. There is no gospel of salvation in what people do for Christ, but only in what He has done for our sins by His death and resurrection, for “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works” (Eph. 2:8-9).

What Is Pollution?

Pesticides? PCBs? Drug and dye by-products? Toxic metals? Nuclear waste? Cyanides? Acids? Used motor oils? Household cleansers?

WHAT IS POLLUTION?

All of the above, of course, plus many more that have not yet been identified and labeled “hazardous material.” Our world today sometimes seems simply drowning in a sea of pollution-pollution of our own making.

But let us go back in time, a long way back, and read about a country many years ago where God urged the people to “arise...depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you” (Mic. 2:10).

Pollution in 1000 B.C. in that early green world, largely untouched by man? Pollution even then?

Even then! Before humanity had heard of PCBs or dioxin or nuclear fallout, the Bible says that the land was polluted-polluted with blood! Even in the very first family, the very first son murdered his brother, and God said to him, “The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto Me from the ground”! Polluted!

Worse than all known pollutants, more damaging than any amount of “hazmat,” was the terrible pollution of evil and wickedness and crime. The beautiful world which God created for people to use and enjoy had become a deadly environment.

Is it better now?

Wars and crimes and terrors-and just plain evil-have spread around the globe in a thick cloud of wickedness. Can we not admit that our world is polluted-polluted with blood?

What is the remedy? Strange to say, the answer is again blood-not animal blood, though in many countries animal sacrifice is still going on unchecked, nor human blood, though it has been and is being shed so freely, but “the blood of Jesus Christ...cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

Two thousand years ago the most terrible crime in the history of the world was committed, when both Gentile and Jew together determined to crucify the Son of God, the altogether sinless one, who went about doing good. He had fed them, healed their sick, and raised their dead, and their violent reaction was to crucify Him.

But even from this God brought about the way of salvation for all who would accept “so great salvation.” In fact, “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” (Rom. 5:8-9).

We are not “redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold...but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19)!

Isn’t it wonderful?

What Think Ye of Christ

YOUTH:

Too happy to think-there’s time enough sure;

MANHOOD:

Too busy to think-of gold I want more;

PRIME:

Too anxious to think-toil, worry and fret;

DECLINING YEARS:

Too aged to think-old hearts harder get;

DYING BED:

Too ill now to think-weak, suffering and lone;

DEATH:

It’s too late to think-the spirit has flown.

ETERNITY:

Forever to think.

God’s mercy is past

And I into hell am righteously cast

To mourn for my doom,

which forever must last.

What Would It Cost?

One of the first things we ask about almost anything is: “How much is it? What did it cost?”

Well, what would it cost you to be a Christian? If a high-caste Hindu decides to follow Christ, he can no longer live in his Hindu home. It has cost him his home. Would it cost you your home to decide for Christ?

When an Orthodox Jew “converts” to Christianity, he becomes as one dead to his family. Would it cost you your family to be a Christian?

In China today, you cannot hold a good job and also be a follower of Christ. Would it cost you your job to follow Christ?

In Russia for many years, an open confession of Christ was likely to be followed by a one-way ticket to a labor camp. Would it cost you your freedom to confess Christ?

There are places in the world, even today, where it can cost a person his life to be known as a Christian. Would it cost you your life?

What if it did cost this much? The Apostle Paul wrote: “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord...that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings” (Phil. 3:8,10).

Paul was one who had everything the world could offer. He was born a free citizen of Rome, was highly educated, and was in line for a high position in his own nation, but he counted it all “loss”! Going as a prisoner to Rome, he could say, “Bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:23-24).

More than that, he wrote: “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:17-18).

What will it cost you to follow Christ? That is not the real question. What will it cost you to reject Him? It will cost you your soul. It will earn you an eternity away from God, away from all light and joy, an eternity in darkness and despair-in short, in hell.

Have you counted the cost?

Where He Is As He Is

The Good Samaritan as he journeyed came to the man who had fallen among thieves-just where he was. So Jesus, the Savior of sinners, comes to sinners just where we are. He asks no one to do better-to feel better-to be better. He asks none to give up this sin or that sin, to love God or their neighbor.

We need life, for we are dead in sin, and He gives us life: “The Son of Man [was]...lifted up [on the cross], that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:14-15).

We need to be forgiven. Our sins are against us, and we are guilty. He offers us a full, free forgiveness: “Through this Man [Jesus] is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things” (Acts 13:38-39).

We need our conscience and heart to be set at rest, for we feel guilty, miserable and wounded. He heals us perfectly and permanently: “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” (Isa. 53:5).

There is nothing which hinders souls more than the idea that the addict must overcome his addiction, the thief must become an honest man, or the lover of this world must become a lover of God before Christ will save us. Every sinner must learn that we have already done what certainly excludes us from the presence of a holy God, and we are already, AS WE ARE and WHERE WE ARE, under condemnation.

We must learn that nothing that we can possibly do can at all deliver us from this position. To tell us who are in this helpless case to be a better person or lead a better life is offering only a false hope. Nothing but what the Son of God has done for our deliverance can possibly help us. Jesus died for sinners; He “receiveth sinners,” when we confess ourselves such from our heart.

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). Everything which secured salvation for all who repent of their sins is already done and has been done since Jesus said, “It is finished.” “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”

Which Side of the Cross

“They crucified Him....Then were there two thieves crucified with Him, one on the right hand, and another on the left” (Matt. 27:35,38).

“So there was a division along the people because of Him” (John 7:43).

What a moment in the world’s history! The crucified Son of God dividing the thieves the one from the other! From that day to this, the Lord Jesus has separated the inhabitants of the world into two distinct peoples.

With wicked hands the world put to death the Son of God. Since that day, some, with broken hearts confessing their sin, have found mercy and forgiveness. The rest of the world is still under the charge of murder. No one can be neutral.

On which side of the cross are you? Are you on the side of the thief who only “railed on Him” or are you with the one who, acknowledging his guilt, said, “Lord, remember me”?

Who Loved Me

One has loved me, would you know

Who He was that loved me so?

Would you learn His precious name,

Who He is, and whence He came?

I can tell you. Will you hear

Of the One to me so dear?

Jesus! this His blessed name-

Son of God! from heaven He came.

For my gain, He suffered loss,

Died upon the shameful cross;

Conqueror o’er the grave He rose,

Triumphed over all my foes.

Now at God’s right hand He lives;

Peace and comfort thence He gives;

Listens to my faintest call,

Holds and keeps me lest I fall.

He is mine and I am His;

What a blessed portion this!

Soon I shall His glory see,

Dwell with Him who died for me.

Zaccheus

It was a wonderful moment in Jericho when Jesus passed through its gates. On that day a great Savior-the Lord Jesus Christ-came face to face with a great sinner-Zaccheus. We see Jesus showing mercy and love to one who, in the eyes and thoughts of other people, was absolutely hopeless.

We read about it in Luke chapter 19, verses 1-7:

“And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.

“And, behold, there was a man named Zaccheus, which was the chief among the publicans [tax collectors], and he was rich.

“And he sought to see Jesus who He was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.

“And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him: for He was to pass that way.

“And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zaccheus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house.

“And he made haste, and came down, and received Him joyfully.

“And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That He was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.”

I wonder if you will be as wise as this man Zaccheus, the rich tax collector, possibly the most hated sinner in the city.

Zaccheus was undoubtedly a sinner, but he was something more: He was an earnest seeker for Jesus Christ, and this was the opportunity he had been waiting for. When the opportunity came, he acted like a man who had counted the cost, who had thought the whole question through, and who knew what he was going to do when the opportunity came, without hesitation or reservation.

It is no good to sit and sing about the “sweet by-and-by.” I am afraid we say all sorts of sanctimonious things to ourselves where there is no seeking for and surrendering to the will of God. Zaccheus said, “I want to see this Man, this wonderful Savior, this Jesus of Nazareth.” And Zaccheus, away back in the crowd, wanted to see Jesus so much he ran!

Zaccheus wanted to see Jesus so badly he climbed a tree!

Imagine one of the richest men in the city doing what he did to get a look at Jesus! I am not saying that it is essential to climb a tree, but I admire the spirit that makes a man so far forget himself and his position and reputation in his longing desire to know God and to have eternal life. That is the spirit that brings us to the blessing.

And Jesus came along the pathway that led to the base of the tree. He “came to the place.” What place? The place where there is a seeking soul. Jesus always comes there.

He knows where to seek you who have a burdened heart, you who have tearful faces, you who are haunted by your past and longing for a new start in life. Jesus knows where you are, and He is very close to you. God help you to believe and receive it.

“Jesus came to the place,” and when He got there He stopped. Then, “He looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zaccheus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house.”

And Zaccheus hurried. He did not stop to confer with other people or to make excuses; he hurried and came down, and he received Him joyfully.

Zaccheus did two things: He sought and he surrendered. The person who does that will be saved. The people around him said, “Oh, he is a sinner.” They saw an object for scorn and hate; Jesus saw a helpless sinner, and He loved him. He loves you too, more than anybody else does. Don’t refuse Him! Let Him save you, and you too can receive Him joyfully.

Echoes of Grace: 2002

Table of Contents

30 Dollars for a Life

All My Tomorrows

Are You Sincere?

Be in Time

Be Not Afraid

Be Not Deceived

Behold the Man

Bolstade Beach

A Change of Getting Ready

Choose

"Crackers and Cheese"

Dipped From Death

Don't Fear Death

Drop Down

"Eternally Night"

Familiarity Breeds Contempt

From Guru to Gospel Preacher

God Can

God, or Man?

God Will Not Sell His Blessing

God's Gift

God's Peace Terms

God's Time or the Devil's

Great Discoveries

Have You a Secret?

Himself

If He Should Come Tonight

It Wasn't Justice

King Louis Xiv

A Lawyer's View of the Resurrection

A Letter to a Prisoner

Lost and Found

Never

None Too Bad

On Second Hand

Once a Robber

"Overdue Books"

Perilous Times

Personal Testimony of a Lieutenant

A Point of Reference

A Poisonous Tree

Promises

A Question

A Race for Life

A Small Cause - A Far Reaching Effect

Something

Still Unsaved

Stop, Look, and Listen

Such an Offer!

Suddenly a Shark

"Take, Take!"

A Tale of Two Horses

The Ant Lion

The Clock

The Father's Kiss

The Key to Peace with God

The Last Days

The Postman's Two Problems

The Power of the Book

The Red Light

The Right Person

The Soul Never Dies

The Toss of a Coin

The Unlocked Door

The Wreck of the New Carissa

Title Unknown

To Be Clean

Too Proud

Trapped in a Mine

True Riches

Unfit for Human Habitation

Warned

We See Jesus

What Amazing Grace

What Is Gospel?

What Is Pollution?

What Think Ye of Christ

What Would It Cost?