An old Saxon king put down a rebellion. After the victory, he put a candle over the archway to his castle. He announced through a herald that all enemies who would surrender and take an oath of loyalty to him would be spared. However, his offer of clemency and mercy was limited to the life of the candle. This is true of all the offers of life. They have their candle limitations. It is true of the greatest offer ever made, the offer of eternal life through Christ Jesus. Our text is Isaiah 55:6-7. It is one of the greatest invitations ever offered. “Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon” (NKJV). Let’s take a closer look at our text. First of all, it asks us to seek the Lord. Many spend their time seeking fame, fortune, husbands, wives and a thousand other things that will fail, betray and disappoint. People are seeking after anything and everything except God. We must seek after God while He is near. Acts 17:27 tells us that God is not far from each one of us. God has always been calling men to come to Him. Jesus cried out, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will

People often hold to one of two positions. Some say that God is loving and will never send men to a place like Hell even if they don’t believe in Christ. Others believe that despite their faith in the Lord, they will still be lost. The truth is that unbelief will condemn the best of us, and a simple application of Bible truths to our lives will work to save the worst of us. Romans 8:31 says, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” This text is directed to people who believe that their lives will never be good enough to be saved. God posed the question of Romans 8:31 to Christians who fear becoming lost. All kinds of answers come to our minds when we think about the question, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” The devil is against us. The world and our own humanity are against us. The list of people and things that are against us is truly endless. However, the point here is this. Everything that is against us is powerless with God on our side. As a husband is for his wife, or parents are for their children, God is for Christians. Romans 8:32 tells us how much God is for his people. He “did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us all.” Yes, Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3). “Greater love hath no man than this,

A Texas farmer, who was a Christian, said one day that if he had a million dollars, he would give it to the church. A few months later oil was found on his property and almost overnight, he became a millionaire. The church of which he was a member suddenly fell on hard times financially and approached this brother about some financial aid. He then said, “You know when I didn’t have that money, I wanted to give it all away to the church. Now that I have it, I no longer have that desire.” Many a man has had the desire to obey God at one time in his life but put it off long enough to lose that desire. Hearts do get hard. Paul said in Hebrews 3:13, “Exhort one another day by day, while it is called today, lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

The body of Lenin lies in a crystal casket in a mausoleum at Red Square in Moscow, Russia. There is a sign by his casket that says, “For he was the greatest leader of people, of all time. He was Lord of the new humanity. He was Saviour of the world.” Notice if you will that the past tense is used to describe Lenin. The Bible speaks of Jesus in three tenses. In Hebrews 13:8 Paul said, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” John gives us Jesus’ own description of himself in Revelation 1:8 as, “…the Lord which is, which was, and which is to come the Almighty.” What a difference between the god of communism and the God of Christianity! Why not let Jesus lead you to heaven by allowing him to make a new man out of you (John 3:3, 5)? Why not let him be your Savior, the Author of your eternal salvation (Hebrews 5:8, 9)?

In August of 1976, a group of Christians conducted a campaign in Dover, New Hampshire. They knocked on 30,000 doors. They received many different kinds of responses to their efforts. Many said, “No thanks, we are Catholics.” Others said, “We are set in our religion.” Some said they were too old to change. One woman said she was a home Baptist. What she meant was that she was a Baptist but didn’t go to church. I am afraid we have some home Christians. They have obeyed the Gospel in the past. Oh, they come on Sunday morning but not on Sunday night. They do not come to mid-week Bible study or go to Gospel meetings and vacation Bible schools. They never go to see the sick or teach the lost. They just like to stay at home, and they will stay in their eternal home (hell) forever! Concerning the one talent man who stayed home and did nothing, Jesus said, “And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30).

Mark Twain said he went to borrow an ax from his neighbor. His neighbor said, “No! I am using it now, and when I get through with it, I am going to use it to eat soup with.” “You don’t eat soup with an ax,” said Twain. “Well,” said the neighbor, “when you don’t want to do something, one excuse is as good as another.” That may be true with men, but it is not true with God! God will accept no excuse for a failure to do His will. Excuses make God angry (Exodus 4:14; Luke 14:21). Why not cast aside your excuses and obey God now? “Today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts as in the day of provocation” (Hebrews 3:15).

A Jewish Rabbi told his students that they should repent the day before they die. One student said, “But Master, we do not know when we are going to die.” “Then you should repent today,” replied the Rabbi. We know that we are going to die (Hebrews 9:27). We do not know when we are going to die. Solomon said in Proverbs 27:1, “Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what that day will bring forth.” David declared in 1 Samuel 20:3, “…there is but a step between me and death.” Since we don’t know when our spirits will be separated from our bodies, then we should obey the Gospel now! We should be restored if need to be, now! “Now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

It was said of a soldier who enlisted in the Civil War that he took along his kit of watchmaker’s tools. While in camp, he had considerable business. One day the order came for battle, but the watchmaker said as he looked about his tent in dismay, “Why, I can’t possibly go, for I have 12 watches to repair and I’ve promised them for Saturday.” This man had forgotten why he had enlisted, but many present day Christians are like that. They have obligated themselves to so many organizations and causes that they have precious little time to do battle for the Lord. Are we too busy or too occupied to have or to take time for Bible study on Sunday morning, Sunday evening worship and Wednesday evening services? Have we forgotten why we enlisted in the army of the Lord? James said, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22).

An epitaph is a brief statement that commemorates or summarizes a deceased person or past event. On the tombstones of many we have seen words like, “Beloved Wife of…,” “Gone to be with God” or “Safe in the Arms of Jesus.” What will be put on your tombstone? What really should be engraved on your headstone that summarizes your life? Would someone put on your tombstone, “He Obeyed Not the Gospel”? Men must obey the Gospel (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). Obedience is essential. There is nothing that can take its place (1 Samuel 15:22). Obey the Gospel now. Obey the facts of the Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Obey the commands of the Gospel (Matthew 28:19; Luke 24:47; Mark 16:15-16). Then and only then will you receive the promises of the Gospel (Luke 24:47; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Romans 1:16). If you are a child of God, I ask you what will they put on your headstone? Will they put, “He Hath Loved This Present World”? Demas forsook Paul, having loved this present world and all that in it is (2 Timothy 4:10). God said, “Love not this world, neither the things that are in this world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). Jesus said we must be careful lest “the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other things entering in, choke the word and it becometh unfruitful” (Mark 4:24).

The only hope of a young man dying with cancer was to have his tongue removed. The surgeons knowing before they operated that he would never be able to speak again said, “Do you have anything you would like to say?” A look of sadness fell across his face and the young man who did not lie through the operation, lifted up his head and said, “There’s a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel’s veins and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.” John in Revelation 1:5 said, “…unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins by his own blood…” Paul was told by Ananias, “and why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). The blood of Jesus is what washes away sins. Baptism is when sins are washed away. My friends, it cost the priceless blood of Christ to enable us to get from earth to heaven. Peter declared in 1 Peter 1:18-19, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation [manner of life] received by tradition [handed down] from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” After you have been redeemed by the blood of Christ (Revelation 1:5; Acts 22:16), walk in the light that you might be ever cleansed of your daily sins (1

“Well, here I am, Lord. You said, ‘Take up your cross,’ and I am here to do it. It is not easy, you know, this self-denial thing. I mean to go through with it, though, yes sir. I will bet You wish more people were willing to be disciples like me. I have counted the cost and surrendered my life and it is not an easy road.” “You mind if I look over these crosses? I would kind of like a new one. I am not fussy, you understand, but a disciple has to be relevant these days. I was wondering, are there any that are vinyl padded? I am thinking of attracting others. You see, and if I could show them a comfortable cross, I am sure I could win a lot more. Got to keep up with the population explosion and all. I need something durable so I can treasure it always. Oh, is there one that is sort of flat so it would fit under my coat? One should not be too obvious.” “Funny, there does not seem to be much choice here. Just that coarse, rough wood. I mean, that would hurt! Do you have something more distinctive, Lord? I can tell You right now, none of my friends are going to be impressed by this shoddy workmanship! They will think I am a nut or something! My family will be just mortified!” “What did You say? It is either one of these or forget the

Time is running out.  The seconds are ticking away towards midnight.  The human race is about to take the fatal plunge.  Which way shall we turn?  Is there any authority left?  Is there a path that we can follow?  Can we find a code book that will give us a key to our dilemmas?  Have we just been placed here by some unknown Creator or force without any clue as to where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going?  We do have a key, a code book, a source of authority.  It is the Bible!  It has survived all of its enemies. It will be around to judge all men who failed to live by its contents (John 12:48).

The best translation of the Bible is the life of a faithful Christian. There is a story about four preachers who were discussing the merits of the various translations of the Bible. One liked the King James Version best because of its simple, beautiful English. Another liked the American Revised Version because it is more literal and comes nearer the original Hebrew and Greek. Still another liked Moffatt’s translation best because of its up-to-date vocabulary. The fourth minister was silent. Asked to express his opinion, he replied, “I like my mother’s translation best of all.” The other men expressed surprise. They did not know that this mother had translated the Bible. “Yes, she did,” he replied, “She translated the Bible into life, and it was the most convincing translation I ever saw.” You are writing a gospela chapter each dayby the deeds that you doand the words that you say.Men read what you writewhether faithless or true.Say what is the gospelaccording to you?