have founded religious movements on the earth? Because God knows, and the Bible teaches, that Jesus Christ is the only way that you will ever get to heaven (John 3:36). In God s sight there can be only one saving faith, made possible by His matchless grace. This faith is com manded in His wonderful Word cen tering in the loving and atoning sac rifice of Jesus Christ, our Saviour. Dr. Vernon Grounds points out, “The widespread opinion that any religion is good enough, providing its followers are sincere, is contrary to experience. Not every religion en dows man with a peace that passes all understanding. Only faith in Jesus Christ is able to do that. What other religion gives a man courage to face the hardest tests and the trials of fife with a song in his heart? What other religion brings into the heart of a man the joyous certainty that all of his sins have been completely and forever forgiven? What other re ligion enables a man to walk through the valley of the shadow of death without fear, and without doubting? Certainly no othe religion places at a man’s disposal the infinite resources of God’s power and knowledge for a battle against temptation and inborn weakness. Only faith in Jesus Christ is able to do that.” The searching test of any religion is the fruit that it brings to our lives. Does it produce love, joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness, gentleness, meekness, and temperance? Faith in Jesus Christ most certainly has the power of generating all of these qual ities in the depths of men’s hearts. Religion is not enough! Sincerity is not enough! Only truth will prevail. Dr. Graham Scroggie published a book in which there were excerpts from the diary of his mother. She is quoted as saying, “The Gospel of Jesus Christ is God’s power and is enough for all of His purpose. I know of nothing more urgent today than that men and women engage in
the recognized purpose of Christ, being solidly converted to Him. Class leaders and Sunday school teachers, organists, members of the choir, sec retaries, treasurers, elders, deacons, even ministers of churches, in num berless cases have never stood behind the sheltering blood of Jesus Christ. They have never been saved from the guilt of sin or come into the pos session of eternal life. Everybody finds it necessary to have so much religion. But, religion does not save any man. Cain, in the Old Testa ment, one of the sons of Adam, was one of the most devoted religionists in the world; but he was not saved because he rejected the way of the blood of Christ.” What tremendous words these are. Religion will never save anybody. Only Jesus Christ can give you eter nal life. Have you, will you, accept Him as your own personal Saviour? There is a very penetrating story in our Bibles, found in Luke 12, told by our Lord Jesus Christ, concerning barns and fools. Here is a man who had everything to live with but noth ing to live for. His fields were to yield such a bumper crop that he de cided to tear down all his old silos, sheds and storehouses, so that he could build new and bigger ones. In this way he would never lack for any need. The fact is that there are no large barns if you are planning to store a human soul in them. In ac tuality, the man’s bams got smaller and smaller, and his foolishness grew larger and lager, until all that was left was heaven’s thunderous com ment on the vast absurdity of the whole thing. Now, it is not wrong for a person to be prosperous. How strange is this atmosphere where the world has learned to mask its envy by sneering at prosperity. Success and prosperity in themselves are morally and relig iously neutral. Before we can praise or blame this prosperous farmer (Luke 12:19), we need to note two Page 35
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