THOUGHTS FOR
UNSAVED PEOPLE
S alv atio n T alk s No H ell The fa c t is th a t there is no hell for ' those who repent of th eir sins and walls in the light, and faith fu lly obey God. People are not sent to perdition because of sin, primarily, for th e debt of sin has been paid in the sacrifice of the Son of God; bu t are lost because they reject the only Remedy th a t has been provided for th eir salvation. Furthermore, it w ill not be out of place to say ~th a t hell was not designed for man, bu t for the “ Devil and his angels,” M att. 25:41. Every human creature who goes to the region of despair, goes there as an intruder, for God, in H is love and mercy, has done everything th a t it was” possible to do in order to save them from sin, thus saving them from hell.—Traub. H ow to B e R e g e n e ra te d (1) God’s side. 1. I t is a .b irth , a work of God by the Spirit, not described in Scripture (John 1:13; 3:8), but clearly experienced and seen by its results. I t is a definite, heav enly, spiritual work. I t is not of bloods, not identical w ith the first b irth , not he reditary, not an inborn “ divine sp a rk ” fanned into a flame. I t is not of th e will of th e flesh, not turning over new leaves, not reformation, not “ being good,” nor anything th a t the flesh, or self-life can dp. I t is not of the w ill of man, not law-keep ing, nor charity, nor good works, nor join ing church, nor baptism , no r.cu ltu re, nor education, nor civilization. But it js of God. 2. I t is the cleansing, quickening, re newing work of th e Holy Sp irit (Titus 3:5). 3. The Holy S pirit uses the Word of God as H is instrum ent (Jas. 1:18; I P eter 1:23; Eph. 5:26).
4. The Holy S pirit uses men to preach the gospel (1 Cor. 4:15). See Luke 8:5, 11. (2) M an ’s side. 1. Repentance and fa ith (M ark 1:15; Acts 20:21). No real regeneration w ithout this. 2. Receiving Jesus (John 1:12). In this verse there are three expressions 'which refer to the same people. “ As many as receive him ,” “ to th em ,” and “ to them th a t believe on his nam e.” . The first and last are equivalent expressions. Receiving Him is equivalent to believing on His name. “ B elieving” is equivalent to “ re ceiving.” H is name is “ Lord Jesus C h rist” (Acts 16:31). To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is to “ believe bn his nam e,” which is to receive Him as Lord (or M aster), Jesus (or Saviour), and Christ (th e Anointed One). He is received “ in the h e a rt” (Rom. 10:9, 10; Eph. 3:16). F o r’this purpose the old heart of sin must be yielded to God to be exchanged fo r the new heart, where Jesus is to dwell as Saviour and Lord. Hence the old lord, S atan, must pack his goods and leave. And since sin and God are in the opposite directions, one must repent, or tu rn from sin to God.—H. S. Miller. PRAY ER W ITHOUT EXPECTATION ‘‘While the prayer of faith , ’’ skid a Welsh preacher, * ‘ is sure to succeed, our prayers, alas! too often resemble the mis chievous trick s of children in a town, who knock a t th eir neighbors’ houses, and then run away. We often knock a t m ercy’s door, and then run away, instead of w ait ing for an entrance and an answer. Thus we act as if we were afraid of having our prayers answered. ’’
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