introduction
Water for the thirsty soul. Centuries ago St. Au gustine said, "O God, Thou hast made us for Thy self and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.” Sooner or later every man comes to realize the blazing truth o f these simple words. And when you realize the truth o f these words you’ll do just about anything to be completely sure o f a right relationship with God. Or will you? A very few o f you really will. And for you few, I have no easy formula. I wish I could tell you salvation in the Christian faith were something comparatively easy, like giv ing up so-called bad habits or joining a church and being baptized or walking on white-hot coals or sleeping for a year o f nights on a bed o f finely honed spikes. These are but child’s play. You will have to go further. The pathway to Christian salvation is beyond what most will care to endure. Only those will be able to endure who have a thirst for eternal life so strong that all else fades by comparison. If you do not now have this terrible thirst per haps you are willing to pray for it. In either case . . . as long as you are honestly willing . . . you are in a position to listen to God’s plan o f salvation. This plan is simply presented in the Gospel ac cording to Saint John from the Holy Bible. We have reprinted Saint John in full starting on the opposite page. It will take you about two hours o f careful, slow-paced reading to go through this
Gospel (it should be a private reading session). We wouldn’t blame you at all for closing this magazine right now if we were asking you to read a two-hour sermon or lecture series or a philosophical study on man and God. But we’re not. We’re asking you to read the most thrilling, the most respected, the most widely-discussed message in the world. It is the account of the claims of Jesus Christ for Himself. N o man dare go through life without examining these claims for himself . . . firsthand. We are not here to argue. We are not here to convince. We are not here to pressure you into any church. We are here simply to read what the Bible says about the Christian faith. We don’t know what you’ll discover. But whatever it is, it can’t hurt you. Our words might. Your well-meaning neighbor’s or relative’s might. But not God’s Word. His Word is Truth and it is Life. His Word alone holds the answer to your deep heart thirst. The difficult way. Now if you are one o f the few who would like to know more about the difficult way to the Christian faith we ask you simply to read the entire Gospel o f John through at least five times. And each time you start you might say this prayer: "God, give me a terrible thirst for the way to Thyself and then quench that thirst with Thy Word as I read it from the Gospel of Saint John. Amen.” Now won’t you read the record for yourself?
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