But one day, while the sun hid its face, sin-blinded men condemned and nailed to a cross of shame the Son which God had given. While the earth quaked, men sat down to blas pheme and jeer as the Creator suffered the tortures of cruci fixion. This was no ordinary death, but the culmination of the greatest mystery in time or eternity, for this was the Son of God freely giving His life for the transgressions of man kind. The story does not stop there. Three days He lay in the borrowed tomb. Three days earth, heaven and hell waited. Then dawned the resurrection mom as the Son of God came forth a conqueror over sin, death and the grave. Indisputable evidence surrounds His resurrection. The graveclothes, the empty tomb, the stricken soldiers, the many appearances, the consternation of the Jews, the new hope of the disciples, were undeniable proofs. Thinking men accustomed to weigh evidence declare the resurrection to have been overwhelm ingly authenticated. The joy in every Christian soul stems from the fact that God’s Son lives today. He lives within the hearts of those who have welcomed Him. He lives to empower, to teach and to beautify life. He lives to remind one constantly of the day of His personal return. It is not possible to be intellectually honest and not consider the facts about the Son whom God gave. His marks are on every hand. The date we pen on letter and document witness to His birth nineteen centuries ago. The art, literature and music of the world are full of Him. The year’s joyous holidays commemorate His life. God has demanded that no one forget His gift. Have you considered Him? All Men Are Lost! (Fact No. 6) The story of Adam and Eve is no legend, but a factual account of one of the most terrible events in human history. Our first parents were created sinless and perfect in the image of God. Despite God’s warning, they deliberately chose to disobey His will, with dreadful retribution following inexorably. Their natures, which had been without taint of sin, were now completely permeated with evil. Their children born of sinful parents promptly demonstrated the sinfulness of their hearts. From that day to this, with one exception, every baby born into this world is a sinner. All infants show definite pro pensities for disobedience, and determination to follow their own will. Wise parents realize that every day they must warn their children of the consequences of sin, and punish them because of infractions. One of the most alarming signs of our present day is that a large per cent of criminals are in their teens. Beardless boys and scarcely-grown girls are guilty of the most heinous crimes. Nor is this only true of so-called heathen countries. All races are equally guilty; all nations have the same problems. Our own yearly cost for crime in dollars and cents is a stupendous sum. Hospitals, sanitariums, prisons and asylums are filled to capacity with sin-wrecked humanity. Armies of peace officers must be maintained the world over to curb sin by advertising the certainty of punishment. The national conscience of nations winks at sin because of the inherent evil of the human heart. For barely a score of years in its life history has this sad old planet known peace between nations. War has been the universal pastime though intelligent men know certainly that war settles nothing, but only breeds hatreds and impedes progress. But nations can never be at peace with one another because the men who compose those nations are at enmity with God. A good moral life or a benevolent attitude toward others will never change the nature of man. Nor is it a matter of balancing sins with meritorious deeds. All sin is against God, and God’s law demands death as the penalty. There are ho remedial purgatorial fires to lessen sin’s consequences. No second chance is given. Sin is universal, death is certain, and there are no exceptions. What a desperately pitiable plight it is to be lost, to be removed from God who is the Source and Author of all light, A P R I L , 1 9 4 8
Fern Dell, Griffith Park, Los Angeles life and love. To be away from all you have ever loved; to be tormented.continually by stabbing memories; to be alone in the black midnight of eternal despair forever—this is hell. To be lost is the inflexible penalty of sin. It is the sentence which hangs over the head of every human being. Far from being a future sentence that God may, or may not, pass upon you, the sentence is already passed! Sinful humanity stands condemned and lost—now! You Can Be Saved! (Fact No. 7) What we are endeavoring to say is this: that everyone needs to be saved. This matter of personal salvation is the biggest thing in time or eternity. There is nothing in all of life that compares with it in importance. God desires you to be saved. Christ came, lived, died and rose again for the purpose of making salvation available. The Holy Spirit is in the world today in order to guide you into acceptance of Christ as your Redeemer from sin. All the provisions are made. There is nothing to hinder you from being saved, if you want to be. The good news of the gospel simply stated is, that Christ died on the cross o f Calvary for you! His place on the cross was your place. His suffering was your suffering. His death was your death. We know that God the Father accepted the substitutionary offering of the death of His Son because He raised Him from the dead. Millions of saints both living and dead can testify to the reality of salvation in Christ. You do not have to pay anything. Jesus Christ paid the entire penalty for sin. You do not have to do anything for salvation is offered absolutely free. You do not have to be anything for Christ died for old and young, rich and poor, educated and uneducated. Some think of salvation merely as the removal of one’s guilt. It is that, and our sins will most certainly be remem bered against us no more forever, but there is much more to salvation than that. We are born into the family of God; we are made heirs of God. We are commissioned as ambas sadors and co-laborers with Christ. We are justified—that is, we are given a new, unassailably righteous standing before God. We are given new hope, new peace, new joy. We are made members of His body and His bride. We are branches in the Vine, stones in the living temple, sheep of the Good Shepherd. You can have all this by simply being saved. How can you be saved? Siriiply, it is this: You are lost; you need a Saviour; Christ died on Calvary’s cross as your Substitute. Will you receive Him into your heart and life as just that? Here is the A, B, C of the Gospel: A “ All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). B “ But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). C “ Come unto me . . . and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). Page Seven
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker