3. How many "prongs"—two or three?
4. The distance of the line to the left of the arrow is the same as the distance to the right.
The Atheist Test: Imagine a circle
represents all the knowledge in the universe (someone who had all knowledge would know every hair on every head, every thought of every heart, every grain of sand, every event in human history, etc.). Let's surmise that you know an incredible 1 percent of all knowledge. Is it possible that, in the 99 percent of the knowledge you haven't yet come across, there is ample evidence to prove that God does exist?
(See John 20:25 comment.) 8 But if you be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are you bastards, and not sons.
9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live?
For how to convince a sinner of the reasonableness of judgment, see Psalm 55:15
comment. 10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
11 Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous:
nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them which are exercised thereby.
12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
17 For you know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
18 For you are not come to the mount that
might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor to blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
19 And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more:
20 (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)
22 But you are come to mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than that of Abel.
2 5 See that you refuse not him that speaks. For if they escaped not who refused him that spoke on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaks from heaven:
2 6 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he has promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
27 And this word, Yet once more, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
2 8 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
29 For our God is a consuming fire. 12:3 Evangelistic discouragement. "One night when [Dwight L.] Moody was going home, it suddenly occurred to him that he had not spoken to a single person that day about
accepting Christ. A day lost, he thought to himself. But as he walked up the street he saw a man by a lamppost. He promptly walked up to the man and asked, 'Are you a Christian?'
"Nor did Moody find soul-winning easy. In fact, even Christians often criticized him for having 'zeal without knowledge.' Others called him 'Crazy Moody.' Once when he spoke to a perfect stranger about Christ, the man said, 'That is none of your business ... If you were not a sort of a preacher I would knock you into the gutter for your impertinence.'
"The next day, a businessman friend sent for Moody. The businessman told Moody that the stranger he had spoken to was a friend of his. 'Moody, you've got zeal without knowledge: you insulted a friend of mine on the street last night. You went up to him, a perfect stranger, and asked him if he were a Christian.'
"Moody went out of his friend's office almost brokenhearted. For some time he
worried about this. Then late one night a man pounded on the door of his home. It was the stranger he had supposedly insulted. The stranger said, 'Mr. Moody, I have not had a good night's sleep since that night you spoke to me under the lamppost, and I have come around at this unearthly hour of the night for you to tell me what I have to do to be saved.'" Harry Albus
12:29 "Our God is a consuming fire, and we try to reduce Him to something we can handle or are comfortable with ... We are religious consumers. We want our religion to be convenient. It's the perpetual job of writers, preachers, the church and the gospel to help people respond to God as He reveals Himself." Eugene Peterson
CHAPTER 13
Let brotherly love continue. 2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels
unawares.
3 Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.
4 Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as you have: for he has said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you.
6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do to me.
7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken to you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.
8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.
9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that
the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
10 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
11 For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.
12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
13 Let us go forth therefore to him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
14 For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for
your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
18 Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly.
19 But I beseech you the rather to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner.
20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
"Only by imitating the spirit and manner of the Lord Jesus shall we become wise to win souls."
CHARLES SPURGEON 21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
22 And I beseech you, brethren, suffer the
word of exhortation: for I have written a letter to you in few words.
23 Know that our brother Timothy is set at liberty; with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you.
24 Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all the saints. They of Italy salute you.
25 Grace be with you all. Amen. 13:8 Jesus has never changed. He has no variableness or shadow of turning (James 1:17). Hebrews 1:12 says of Him, "You are the same, and your years shall not fail."
James
CHAPTER 1
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations;
3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience.
4 But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men liberally, and upbraides not; and it shall be given him.
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:
10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withers the grass, and the flower thereof falls, and the grace of the fashion of it perishes: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
12 Blessed is the man that endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them that love him.
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts he any man:
14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
15 Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings
forth death.
THE FUNCTION OF THE
LAW
1:25 "God, being a perfect God, had to give a perfect Law, and the Law was given not to save men, but to measure them. I want you to understand this clearly, because I believe hundreds and thousands stumble at this point. They try to save themselves by trying to keep the Law; but it was never meant for men to save themselves by." D.L. Moody
16 Do not err, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let
every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
20 For the wrath of man works not the righteousness of God.
21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
24 For he beholds himself, and goes his way, and straightway forgets what manner of man he was.
25 But whoso looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridles not his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is
vain.
27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
1:3 Satan tempts us in order to bring out the worst in us; God tests us to bring out the best. (See verse 12.)
1:5 One mark of wisdom is the saving of souls (Proverbs 11:30). With an openended promise such as this, we should plead with God for wisdom (see Proverbs 2:1–7). Proverbs 19:8 tells us that he who gets wisdom loves his own soul. 1:15 The ungodly hold firmly onto the lighted stick of dynamite called "sin." They relish its flickering flame. Lust may delight the human heart, but its terrible consequences are sin, death, and hell.
"Human nature rises against restraint: 'I had not known lust except the Law had said, 'Thou shall not covet.' The depravity of man
is excited to rebellion by the promulgation of laws. So evil are we, that we conceive at once the desire to commit an act, simply because it is forbidden." Charles Spurgeon
1:22 This is particularly applicable to the many commands to evangelize this world.
1:23–25 The only way you and I can see ourselves in truth is to look into a mirror. Yet a mirror can only do its job and reflect truth if there is bright light. In Scripture, the Law of God is called both a mirror (James 1:23–25; 2:11,12) and light (Proverbs 6:23). Many of today's "converts" aren't shown the mirror of the Law. We think that a long look at what they are in truth will be too painful for them, so "All have sinned" is all we tell them. Without the conviction of their own sin, they are stillborn with no life in them.
CHAPTER 2
My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
2 For if there come to your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;
3 And you have respect to him that wears the gay clothing, and say to him, Sit here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand there, or sit here under my footstool:
THE FUNCTION OF THE
LAW
2:10 "It is of great importance that the sinner should be made to feel his guilt, and not to the impression that he is unfortunate. Do not be afraid, but show him the breadth of the divine Law, and the exceeding strictness of its precepts. Make him see how it condemns his thoughts and life. By a convicted sinner, I mean one who feels himself condemned by the Law of God, as a
guilty sinner.
"I remark that this [the Law] is the rule, and the only just rule by which the guilt of sin can be measured ... Every man need only consult his own consciousness faithfully and he will see that it is equally affirmed by the mind's own intuition to be right." Charles Finney
4 Are you not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, has not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to them that love him?
6 But you have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
7 Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which you are called?
8 If you fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, You shall love your neighbour as yourself, you do well:
9 But if you have respect to persons, you commit sin, and are convinced of the law as
transgressors.
10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if you commit no adultery, yet if you kill, you are become a transgressor of the law.
12 So speak, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.
13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that has showed no mercy; and mercy rejoices against judgment.
14 What does it profit, my brethren, though a man say he has faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say to them, Depart in peace, be you warmed and filled; notwithstanding you give them not those things which are needful to the body; what does it profit?
17 Even so faith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.
18 Yes, a man may say, You have faith, and I have works: show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
"What can be wiser than in the highest sense to bless our fellow men—to snatch a soul from the gulf that yawns, to lift it up to the heaven that glorifies, to deliver an immortal from the thralldom of Satan, and to bring him into the liberty of Christ?"
CHARLES SPURGEON 1 9 You believe that there is one God; you do well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
20 But will you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
22 See how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
23 And the scripture was fulfilled which says, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
24 You see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
2:16 "Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all: the apathy of human beings." Helen Keller
2:17 Faith without works. A Christian farmer in western Kansas felt sure that God spoke to him to give his $40,000 hail insurance to missions. So, in faith he gave the money, trusting that God would protect his
crop. Sure enough, the hail came and severely damaged all his neighbor's crops, but not his.
In contrast, there is a well-known story about a brilliant tightrope artist named Blondin, who pushed a wheelbarrow across Niagara Falls. After he had walked to the other side, the crowd roared with applause at his amazing feat.
He asked a small boy in the crowd if he believed that Blondin could walk back. The boy said, "Yes, sir!" He then asked if the boy thought he could do it with him in the wheelbarrow. The boy said he believed he could do it, to which the famous tightrope walker said, "Good! Jump in then and I will take you!" The boy would not get in.
Here are two different types of faith. The farmer had faith that he had heard from God; he was so sure that he was prepared to step out. But the boy's faith was (understandably) lacking; he wasn't prepared to step out, and get in. Many sincere folks have a measure of faith in Jesus, but they have never trusted in
Him. In that sense, their faith, because it doesn't have works with it, is dead.
2:20 "What is it [evolution] based upon? Upon nothing whatever but faith, upon belief in the reality of the unseen—belief in the fossils that cannot be produced, belief in the embryological experiments that refuse to come off. It is faith unjustified by works." Arthur N. Field
2:7 Witnessing to blasphemers. If you hear God's name taken in vain, don't tell the person it's offensive; use it as an opening for the gospel. Greet him, talk about something in the natural realm, then give him a gospel tract. Gently say, "I noticed that you used God's name in vain. Do you know what you're actually doing when you do that?" Most people will say no. Then say, "Instead of using a filth word to express disgust, you're putting God's name in place of that word. That's called 'blasphemy,' and the Bible says, 'The Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.'"
2:8 Using the Law in evangelism. In verses 8–12 James uses the Law (in conjunction with future punishment) to bring the knowledge of sin. See John 8:4,5 comment.
2:10 Galatians 3:10 warns that the sinner must continue to do "all things" that are written in the Law. The strict demands of the Law cannot be kept by sinful man and should send the sinner to the Savior. See Matthew 5:48 comment. "God's Law is unified; it all hangs together and is inseparable. It is like hitting a window with a hammer. You may hit it only once, and that rather lightly, but the whole window is shattered." John MacArthur
CHAPTER 3
My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
3 Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.
4 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, wherever the governor lists.
5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindles!
6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and has been tamed of mankind:
8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
10 Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
11 Does a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
14 But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
15 This wisdom descends not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
17 But the wisdom that is from above is
first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
3:6 The tongue weighs practically nothing, but so few people are able to hold it. Here we are told that the tongue is set on fire by hell. At Pentecost, God gave man a new tongue— set on fire by heaven. The mouths of men reveal their wicked hearts. See Romans 3:13,14. 3:17 This is the spirit in which we should share our faith. See Proverbs 15:1. Beware of "religious" types. They tend to gravitate toward the evangelistic enterprise. They will contend with you about doctrine and steal your time from the work of evangelism. You will recognize them by their lack of gentleness, mercy, and willingness to yield to reason.
CHAPTER 4
From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
2 You lust, and have not: you kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: you fight and war, yet you have not, because you ask not.
3 You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts.
4 You adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
5 Do you think that the scripture said in vain, The spirit that dwells in us lusts to envy?
6 But he gives more grace. Wherefore he says, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaks evil of his brother, and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law, and judges the law: but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge.
12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who are you that judge another?
1 3 Go to now, you that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
14 Whereas you know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.
15 For that you ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
16 But now you rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
17 Therefore to him that knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin.
4:2–4 Using the Law in evangelism. James here uses the Law once again to bring the knowledge of sin—speaking of lust, adultery, murder, and covetousness.
4:6 Biblical evangelism is always "Law to the proud and grace to the humble." With the Law we break the hard heart; with the gospel we heal the broken one. See Matthew 19:17– 22 comment. 4:9,10 These are the inner workings of a genuinely repentant heart—affliction, mourning, weeping (contrition), heaviness,
and humility. These are the ones the Lord lifts up. See Psalm 147:6.
4:12 The idea for the American government's divided powers came directly from Scripture. Isaiah 33:22 says, "For the Lord is our Judge [the judicial branch], the Lord is our Lawgiver [the legislative branch], the Lord is our King [the executive branch]." Our Founding Fathers knew that separated powers were needed because of man's inherent sinfulness and desire for control— and what better model could there be for a government than the Lord who governs the universe!
"The teachings of the Bible are so interwoven and entwined with our whole civic and social life that it would be literally —I do not mean figuratively, I mean literally —impossible for us to figure to ourselves what life would be if these teachings were removed." Theodore Roosevelt
4:17 "To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards out of men." Abraham
Lincoln
CHAPTER 5
Go to now, you rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. You have heaped treasure together for the last days.
4 Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, cries: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
5 You have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; you have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
6 You have condemned and killed the just; and he does not resist you.
7 Be patient therefore, brethren, to the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
8 Be also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draws nigh. 9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest you be condemned: behold, the judge stands before the door.
10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. You have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
12 But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yes be yes; and your no, no; lest you fall into
condemnation.
13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
SPRINGBOARDS FOR
PREACHING AND
WITNESSING
4:14 The Will to Live Millions of people spend dozens of hours each week watching dead people on TV. From Elvis to Lucy to Jimmy Stewart, the faces of folks who no longer exist entertain us. Time not only snatched their looks, it snatched their lives. Today, good-looking Hollywood stars are making movies so that tomorrow's generation can also pass the time by watching dead people on TV.
Time makes today tomorrow's memory. Each weekend seems to pass us by like blurred telephone poles flashing past the window of the speeding train of life.
If I purchased a new car and saw in the owner's manual that it had a certain type of engine, I shouldn't be surprised to lift the hood and find the engine to be exactly as the manual stated. The maker's handbook gives me insight into the unseen workings of the vehicle. This is also true with human beings. The Maker's manual tells us how each of us thinks and why we react the way we do. It lifts the hood and reveals the inner workings of homo sapiens.
In doing so, the Bible discloses an oftenoverlooked tool that we can use to reach the lost. That tool is the "fear of death." For the Christian who may find such an approach to be negative, it may be looked at in a positive light. The tool may also be called "the will to live." Every human being in his right mind has a fear of death (Hebrews 2:15). He doesn't
want to die. He sits wide-eyed, staring out the window of the speeding train watching life pass him by.
Here is how to use that tool when speaking to an unsaved person: "Let's assume that the average person dies at 70 years old. Then if you are 20 years old, you have just 2,500 weekends left to live. If you have turned 30, you have 2,000 weekends left until the day you die. If you are 40 years old, you have only 1,500 weekends left. If you are 50, then you have just 1,000 weekends, and if you are 60, you have a mere 500 weekends left until the day death comes to you."
Even as a Christian that thought concerns me. I somehow can relate to "weekends," while "years" puts death into the distance. It shakes me enough to ask myself, What I am doing with my life? It sickens me that I am doing so little to reach the lost. It also deeply concerns me that I have dry eyes when I pray. My train will take me into the presence of God. For those trusting in Jesus Christ, death
has been defeated. But the train of the unregenerate will take them to horrific disaster. Their end will be eternal hell. In light of such terrible thoughts, all my activities outside of warning the world of their destination seem trivial.
It has been wisely stated that every one of us is unique ... just like everyone else. In truth, each unique individual is uniquely predictable. Every sinner has a fear of death. No one can deny that he naturally has a will to live. Therefore, it makes sense to confront him with reality by reminding him that he has an "appointment" to keep. Bluntly tell him how many weekends he has left. Then appeal to his reason by saying, "If there was one chance in a million that Jesus Christ 'has abolished death, and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,' you owe it to your good sense just to look into it."
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven
him.
16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
17 Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
20 Let him know, that he which converts the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
Mormonism
OFFICIAL NAME: Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS, Mormons)
FOUNDER: Joseph Smith Jr., on April 6, 1830 CURRENT LEADER: Gordon B. Hinckley (b. 1910)
HEADQUARTERS: Salt Lake City, Utah MEMBERSHIP (1998): Worldwide: 10.3 million in 28,670 wards and branches in 162 countries; United States: 5.1 million in all 50 states and D.C.; Canada: 152,000.
MISSIONARIES (1998): 58,700 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was founded by Joseph F. Smith Jr. (1805–1844). Smith claimed to have had a visitation from God in 1820 in which God directed him to establish the true church. Consequently he organized the Mormon Church on April 6, 1830, with six original members. Beginning with a few hundred followers the church moved to Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois before Smith's death at the hands of a mob at the Carthage, Ill., jail. Smith had been arrested for encouraging the