Letters    

 OF A MAN OF THE WORLD

Dear D. P.                                                                                                        January 6, 1994

       ... (F.) is one of the saddest persons I have met. He has never married, and lives only for the present. When he lays down in death, he will leave nothing behind; nor has he anything pleasurable to look forward to for the future. How sad!

         How sad it is that any man would have no love for the Lord; no love for the people of God; no love for the truth of God! He is as most are: spiritually dead. His portion is only in this life. He is a man of the world, a child of the Devil—lost!

         We have attempted to leave gospel truth with him, but we are impotent to make him drink it in. God must awaken him if he is ever to gain spiritual consciousness. I must close. Forty-five letters await me demanding my attention.

TO A DOUBTING SOUL

Dear S. H.                                                                                                   December 4, 1991

       It is a rare thing for you to be off my mind. I have been concerned about you for some months, and so have resolved upon writing you. Most people have no concern for their souls. We can pray for them and with impassioned pleas beg them to turn from their godlessness, but even after many years, they remain unmoved. As hard a pill as it is to take, it is true nonetheless, that "Many are called, but few are chosen" (Matthew 20:16; 22:14).

      But, there are some—a "little flock" (Luke 12:32), a "remnant" (Romans 9:27; 11:5) who are earnestly seeking the peace of God. They have implored the Lord to save them, yet they find no rest. They have "come" to Christ the only way they know, but they continue to tremble in fear and despair.

      They are afraid to claim Christ as their Lord and Saviour for fear of making a false profession. They are afraid of talking themselves into a salvation that is not theirs. They have wrestled with despair against frustration and have fainted on the threshold of faith only to resume their search for the peace of God that "passeth all understanding," yet only to faint again.

       According to the Word of God, salvation is evidenced by a devotion to Christ that appears in comparison as if everything else is hated. Jesus said, "If any man come to me and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. ...So, likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26,33). This is a comparative, and not a malevolent hate.

      Note again, salvation is evidenced by perseverance. Jesus said, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed" (John 8:31). They who cannot give up their search for Christ, who cannot forsake His Word on account of their hunger and thirst for the salvation of their souls --such people have reason to hope. If, as Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force," then only those people "take" heaven who must have it. People who can quit their religion never had one worth continuing. God often sends troubles into people's lives in order to sift them:

Will they serve the Lord or no?                                                                           Are they His or are they not?

      Scripture assures us that all who are offended by Christ, and fall by the wayside will be devoured by Satan (Matthew 13:4,19). Third, salvation is further evidenced by a love for the people of God. When God puts His Spirit into a person, that person will love mankind, particularly, them who belong to the household of faith (Galatians 6:10). Jesus said, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:35).

     Fourth, salvation is also evidenced by the denial of ourselves.

     Again, Jesus said, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (Matthew 16:24).

     S., has the Lord begun a good work in you? If there is evidence that He has, then you have His Word that he will continue to perform that work until the day of His appearing (Philippians 1:6). Unlike man, God does not begin a work except to complete it.

    Jesus said, "He that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." S., it is an enemy who whispers to you that God will receive others, but that He will not receive you. If you believe contrary to what he has said, is it not an insult to God?

    S., the fact that you want to be saved is an evidence God has chosen you to salvation. Such a desire is an indication that you are among them who were "chosen in him before the foundation of the world", and that He has "loved you with an everlasting love" (Ephesians 1:4; Jeremiah 31:3).

     S., do you have to be saved? Is it more important to you than the air you breathe? than the food you eat? Does your desire for salvation from sin take sleep from your eyes? I ask again, "Do you have to be born again and become a member of the household of faith?" But, you have not always wanted to be saved. Who gave you such a desire? the Devil? No, the truest evidence a person is one of God's elect is his craving to be saved. Although the desire is not always felt so keenly, yet it is ever-recurring. Such a person will be born into the family of God. He will be educated and brought up under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit. He will be tried and brought through great tribulation, but he will enter the kingdom of heaven at last. "May God Smile On You."—Bach

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