The man who would have
the assurance of salvation must know also his need of that salvation.
He must believe, not only all the historical facts concerning Christ, he must
believe also all the facts concerning his own state as declared in the Bible.
The truth is that a
man may believe everything about Christ, but if he doesn't also believe everything
stated in the Bible about himself, he is an unbeliever, in regard to whom it is
written, "He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God," John 3:18.
********
(022)
GOOD
NEWS FOR BAD PEOPLE
and
BAD NEWS FOR GOOD PEOPLE
First,
the good news for bad people: "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.
"Christ died for the ungodly," Ro.5:6.
"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners," 1 Tim.1:15.
"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was
lost," Lk.19:10. "This Man
(Jesus) receiveth sinners, and eateth with them," Lk.15:2.
"The Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins," Mk.2:10.
"The blood of Jesus Christ... cleanseth us (who trust Him as Savior) from
all sin," 1 Jn.1:7. "Whosoever
believeth in Him (Jesus) shall receive remission of sins," Acts 10:43.
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved," Acts
16:31. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting
life," Jn.3:16. "Therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,"
Ro.5:1. "For God sent not his Son
into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
He that believeth on him (Jesus) is not condemned....He that believeth on the
Son hath everlasting life ...."Jn.3:17-18,36.
But now THE BAD
NEWS FOR GOOD PEOPLE:
"None
is good, save one, that is, God," Lk.18:19. "Jews and Gentiles...are all under sin....There is none
righteous, no, not one....For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of
God," Ro.3:9-11,23. "We are
all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags,"
Isa.64:6. You see, the truth is that
there are no people good in God's sight.
Christ
warns those who think they are good, "I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance," Mk.2:17. "Except ye be converted...ye shall not enter into the kingdom
of heaven," Mt.18:3. "Except
ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish," Lk.13:3.
"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God,"
Jn.3:3. "Ye must be born
again," Jn.3:7. "He that
believeth not (on Christ as Savior) is condemned already, because he hath not
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God," Jn.3:18. "He that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the
wrath of God abideth on him," Jn.3:36.
The
only people who are good in God's sight are those who believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ as Savior, for in response to the question, "What shall we do, that
we might work the works of God?" Christ replied, "This is the work of God,
that ye believe on Him Whom He hath sent," Jn.6:28-29.
People may be moral, religious, kind, generous, church-goers, Bible-readers,
and a host of other things that men count good; but in the end, it is only God's
opinion that matters, and the only person HE counts good is the man or woman who has
accepted Christ as Savior.
Where
do you stand? Do you see yourself as so
bad that you need a Savior to save you from hell and fit you for heaven?
Then you can be saved, by believing that Christ died in your guilty place for
your sins.
Do
you see yourself as not completely bad, as having some good about you?
Then you are lost, and cannot be saved until you are willing to abandon the
thought that you have even a shred of righteousness.
Remember, God warns, "ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory
of God," Ro.3:23. "Except a
man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God....Ye must be born
again," Jn.3:3,7.
********
(023)
THE
WRONG BRIDGE
Try
to imagine yourself in the position I am about to describe, then tell me what you
would do.
You
are walking along a road of unknown length which ends on the edge of a precipice with
several bridges stretching out over the abyss. Only
one of those bridges however reaches to the far side of the gulf; the others are
incomplete, but because of mist and darkness, it is impossible to tell from where you
stand which is the safe bridge. Behind you is a deadly enemy who will compel you to
cross to the hidden side of the ravine. He
will remain behind you every step of the way, stopping only when, if you have chosen
the right bridge, you land safely on the other side, or, if you have chosen an
incomplete bridge, he forces you to plunge to your death.
But
you have been given a book which identifies the safe bridge, so that there need be no
guessing when it comes time to leave the roadway. There
is a condition however: you must have identified the safe bridge before coming to the
end of the roadway, and remember, you don't know the length of the road.
When
would you start reading the book?
But
now let me take you from the realm of make-believe to reality.
If not today, then some day, and sooner than you think perhaps, you're going
to find yourself at the end of the roadway of life, standing on the edge of the gulf
that separates time from eternity, with Death compelling you to choose a bridge whose
end you cannot see.
Will
you step off at the other end safe in heaven, or will the last step in the darkness
be the one that plunges your soul for ever into torment?
Be wise. You have a Bible.
Read it. It will tell you now,
while there is time, which is the right "bridge."
That Bible says that the Lord Jesus Christ is, "the way, the truth and
the life," and warns, "no man cometh unto the Father but by Me," John
14:6. It asserts that, "There is
none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved,"
Acts 4:12. And Christ Himself warns,
"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God," John 3:3.
Proverbs 16:25 warns, "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but
the end thereof are the ways of death."
Don't
wait till the last few hours of life to try to find the way to heaven.
It's too dangerous. Death could
cut you down withut giving you a moment to prepare to meet God.
Open your Bible right now and read the Gospel of John, chapter 3.
In
Luke chapter 12 we read of a rich man making plans for a long life of ease in the
midst of plenty, but unknown to him he had only a few hours left to live, for even as
he planned, God was saying, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of
thee," verse 20.
What
if this night your soul should be required of you? Are you sure beyond all doubt that you know the right
"bridge"? that your soul will be in heaven? Don't depend on a way that just seems right.
It could be the way of death.
********
(024)
THE GREAT DIVIDE
Near the summit of the
Canadian Rockies a stream divides, one branch flowing to the Pacific, the other,
to the Atlantic. That spot is called THE GREAT DIVIDE.
This natural phenomenon
illustrates spiritual reality. That spot is like Calvary; the stream, the river
of humanity. At the cross the river of humanity separates, one part continuing
on "the broad way" to hell; the other, entering "the narrow way" that leads to
heaven, Matthew 7:13, Luke 13:23.
The literal waters, without
power to choose, come to the dividing point only once, but God sometimes permits
men to come to the "dividing point" several times, allowing them to choose
eternal life or death.
What if this should be your
last chance to choose? God warns, "My Spirit shall not always strive with man"
Genesis 6:3, "He, who being often reproved hardens his neck, shall suddenly be
destroyed, and that without remedy" Proverbs 29:1. "Then a great ransom cannot
deliver you," Job 36:18.
******
(025)
UNAVAILING REMORSE
Some years ago the two year
old son of a missionary couple in Africa became ill with malaria, so they gave
him a quinine tablet, but it stuck in his windpipe, and in spite of frantic
efforts to remove it, the horrified parents watched their child die, their
remorse all the more bitter from realizing that they might have crushed the
tablet and given it with a liquid.
How many things we would do
differently if we only had a second chance!
This tragedy reminded me of
two men in the Bible, whose remorse also came too late. Cain, after murdering
his brother, and hearing God's sentence, cried, "My punishment is greater than I
can bear" Genesis 4:13.
And Esau, discovering too
late, what he had lost by selling his birthright, "cried with a great and
exceeding bitter cry" Genesis 27:34, but "he found no place of repentance,
though he sought it carefully with tears" Hebrews 12:17.
How many times since then,
from the hopeless horror of hell, has each one wailed, "If only I had another
chance!" But there are no second chances after death. It is here on earth that
men choose heaven or hell, God warning, "Now is the accepted time; now is the
day of salvation" 2 Corinthians 6:2. Tomorrow may be too late.
******
(026)
MOM,
I FOLLOWED YOU
A
woman had existed in the pit of hell for what seemed an eternity.
There was no God of love to be found, no mercy, no kindness.
All hope was gone. She had only
the memories of a wasted life. She
remembered the times she had mocked the Savior's words and rejected the opportunities
to answer His call. Scriptures she had
mocked at, now haunted her, "Because I have called, and ye refused; I have
stretched out my hand and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel,
and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh when your fear cometh...and your
destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early,
but they shall not find me: for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the
fear of the Lord: they would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof" (Pr.1:24-30).
Visions
of things she once thought important burned in her mind as she saw her once-treasured
possessions scattered or turned to ruin. An
old, decrepit man, now near the end of his life, had once been her handsome lover.
The highly esteemed reputation she had worked so hard to achieve was now
meaningless, for those who once admired her had long since ceased to remember, as
they themselves grew old.
Worst
of all, she now had the knowledge of what could have been.
In
an agony of remorse, she called into the darkness, as she had done countless times
since entering that fearful place, "Lord! Please!
Just one more chance! I didn't
know!"
But
there was no answer. She had chosen to
live her life separated from God, and in that state she must now continue for ever.
Suddenly
in the absolute silence that surrounded her like a shroud, she heard a scream of
despair in a voice she knew all too well, that of her son.
He was crying, "Oh my God! Help
me!"
"Where
are you?" she shrieked, "What are you doing here?"
Back
from the darkness came a moan, "Mom, I followed YOU."
"But
if a man live many years...yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall
be many ....Rejoice, O young man in thy youth; and let they heart cheer thee in the
days of thy youth; and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine
eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into
judgment....Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil
days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in
them....Fear God, and keep his commandments....For God shall bring every work into
judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or...evil" (Pr.11:8 -
12:1-14).
"Seek
ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near"
(Isa.55:6). "For he saith, I have
heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I
succoured thee: behold NOW is the accepted time; behold, NOW is the day of
salvation" (2 Cor.6:2).
Tomorrow,
too late, you too could be crying, "O my God! Help me!"
Do
you want to be saved? Here's how.
Admit that you are a sinner, without one shred of righteousness, unfit for
heaven, and unable to save yourself (Romans 3:9-12, 23).
Believe that God loved you so much that He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ to
die in your place at Calvary (John 3:16). THAT'S
ALL YOU NEED TO DO TO SAVE YOUR SOUL FROM HELL AND FIT YOURSELF FOR HEAVEN!
You
think it's too easy, too simple? Then read what God says, "Whosoever
believeth in him (Jesus) shall not perish, but have everlasting life....He that
believeth on him (Jesus) is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believed....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 3:16-36).
Paul's
assurance to the Philippian jailor is God's assurance to every man and woman who
would be saved, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved"
(Acts 16:31).
********
(027)
THE CLOSED DOOR
In Rev 3:20 Jesus
Christ is seen knocking at the door of men's hearts, but Mt 7:14 declares that few
open the door, i.e., trust Him as Savior. In
Lk 13:24-29 however the position is reversed: men seek admission at a door which
Christ refuses to open, "Many will seek to enter, and not be able, when the
Master hath shut the door," resulting in eternal "weeping and gnashing of
teeth."
Relative to that
fateful day we read, "As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the
Son of man be" Mt 24:37, and in regard to those days we read, "The earth
was corrupt and filled with violence" Gen 6:11.
Only fools will deny that conditions are the same today.
This is only one of many signs that Christ's return is near, and as that
corrupt age ended in a sudden catastrophic foretold judgment, so will this one.
For 120 years Noah
warned men who mocked him, but suddenly his preaching stopped.
The day of grace had ended. He
was taken into the ark, and God shut the door. Seven
days followed, and then came the foretold flood, but during those seven days the
mockers were as surely doomed as if it had come on the first day.
Who can begin to imagine their frantic beating on that closed door as the
waters of judgment engulfed them? There
were no mockers, no unbelievers that day.
So will it be relative
to this present age. Believers will be
suddenly caught up to heaven, and 2 Thess 2:1-12 warns that in the following seven
year Tribulation period, those who had rejected the Gospel will have no opportunity
to be saved, but will be banished into hell when Christ returns to end the
Tribulation, and inaugurate His Millennial kingdom.
How many times have
you ignored His knock? What if this
should be His last? Remember, to open to
Him, is to have Him open heaven's door to you - and vice versa!
******
(028)
PROPHECY FULFILLED
In the 6th Century BC Daniel
the prophet declared that Babylon would fall to Persia, Persia to Greece, that
Greece would divide into four parts and be conquered by Rome, that Rome would
divide into two, and then fall (which it did in 476 AD), that it would have no
successor wielding world dominion, but that in the latter days it would be
revived as a ten-kingdom coalition, the present European alliance appearing to
be the beginning of that confederation.
Except for the yet future
European federation, history confirms the accuracy of the prophecy.
Only God could have made such
a prediction, and the precise fulfillment of His word relative to the nations
declares the imperative of heeding what He has to say about you.
He warns that all who die
without having accepted Christ as Savior, will first enter hell, and then the
eternal torment of the lake of fire, Revelation 20:14-15.
You scoff? Only a fool would
ignore the word of One Who has so accurately foretold twenty-five hundred years
of human history.
******
(029)
THE DEADLINE
Once,
military prisoners who accidentally or deliberately crossed a designated line were
shot, hence the name "deadline."
Unless
you have been born again through faith in Christ as your Savior, there is a similar
line around your soul, and to cross it is to die the second death, i.e., enter the
lake of fire to suffer eternal torment, Rev 20:11-15.
There
are two ways to cross: (1) die without having been born again, (2) pass the point
where the Holy Spirit ceases to strive with you, see Gen 6:3 "My Spirit shall
not always strive with man." You
may live many years beyond that point, but you are irrevocably doomed to enter the
lake of fire, for none can be saved apart from the Holy Spirit's striving.
It is a fatal mistake to believe that you can be saved any time you choose. You can't! Men are
saved in God's time or not at all, and He warns, "Now is the day of
salvation" 2 Cor 6:2. Tomorrow may
be too late. Today you may cross the
deadline that excludes you from heaven, and dooms you to an eternity of torment.
Every
day multitudes unknowingly step over, passing for ever beyond hope of being saved -
continuing to live physically, some for many years, unaware of the terrible truth
that from that point on each moment brings them inexorably closer to an eternity of
torment in the lake of fire.
How
many times have you heard the Gospel, and simply by default (doing nothing), said N0?
What if this should be the last Gospel message you will ever hear or read?
What if this should be the moment that carries you across that invisible
deadline that dooms your soul eternally?
Do
messages like this trouble you, prick your conscience, raise questions about whether
you are prepared to meet God? Be
thankful! It indicates that you haven't
yet crossed that fatal line. But what if
your present No is your last - the one that ends God's patience, the one that carries
your soul over the deadline?
If
you have refused past appeals to trust Christ as your Savior, and there are no
prickings of conscience, no uneasiness, no questions about the state of your soul,
you should tremble - these are the marks of one who has crossed the deadline.
******
(030)
A
LEG FOR A BRIEFCASE
Some years ago at the Darien,
CT train station a man just off the train, discovering he had forgotten his
briefcase, quickly reboarded, retrieved the briefcase, but in alighting, slipped
between the moving train and the platform, losing his leg.
Multitudes, for equally
trivial reasons, lose their souls, and through eternity will bewail their
mistake.
God warns, "What shall it
profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul?" Mark 8:36, yet many, for
money, fame, pleasure, etc., do lose their souls, refusing to believe the need
of a new spiritual birth to save them from hell and fit them for heaven, John
3:3,7.
The pursuit of earthly things
without eternal value, keeps millions too busy to prepare for eternity, and you
may be one of them.
What if today you were suddenly severed, not from a limb, but from life? Where
would your soul be?
Unless you have been born
again through faith in Christ as your Savior it will be in eternal torment,
Revelation 20:15.
To
be born again admit that you're a sinner without any righteousness, believe that
when Christ died it was in your stead for your sins, and that in response to
that faith God will pardon all your sin.
******
