Author: Silva

Many years ago, my wife’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.  At that time, there wasn’t necessarily the urgency around those things as there is now.  She was told to wait, come back in six months and reevaluate.  I’m not sure what it would be like if someone told me I had cancer and that I needed to “wait and see” – that would be a daily battle for me.  Nonetheless, she waited and returned six months later.

The cancer had spread greatly, infected those areas of the body that make battling it too difficult, and she died four years later.  It was a tragic and sad time for her and her family.  (My wife, did, however, have many questions of God that eventually led her to trusting in Him for her salvation; God has a way of using death to bring life.)  In the end, each day she waited, was a day that gave her cancer freer reign and access to her body.  As a result, each day the cancer slowly grew and spread and once they tried to reverse its effects, it could not be done.  Death came naturally as a result.

Richard Baxter points to a very similar action sin has in the lives of people who ignore it.

Moreover, the delay of conversion continues your sin and so you will daily increase their number and increase your guilt and make your souls abundantly miserable.

Are you not deep enough in debt to God already, and have you not sins enough to answer for upon your souls?  Would you fain have one year’s sin more or one day’s sin more to be charged upon you?  O, if you did but know what sin is, it would amaze you to think what a mountain lies already upon your consciences!  One sin unpardoned will sink the sinner into hell; and you have many a thousand upon your souls already, and would you yet have more?

Cancer is a true analogy to sin: to wait and see will lead to more of both.  Once present, no one really knows how much will kill the body, do they?  True also, the Bible tells us that tomorrow is not guaranteed for any of us, so why not turn to Jesus Christ today?  If you turn to Him and confess your waywardness and your rebellion, He will not refuse you – He will save you.

Pastor Gabe

What if you did something today that jeopardized tomorrow?  Would you do it?

“Maybe”?  Americans are masterful at cost-benefit analysis and so surely there are some among us who would judge today’s benefit to be worth tomorrow’s jeopardy.  In small things living in the effect of yesterday’s gambles causes little discomfort – some, but it’s manageable.  There are those times of great regret, however.  We judged something to be “essential” or “must have” or “entitlement” and we went for it!  Age and the pains of life taught us we were stupid.

Are you spiritually stupid?

Are you willing to risk a little more of self-centered living today believing that tomorrow you’ll take a Tylenol and the headache will go away?  Or, that God will suffer another day of being put off (“He’s patient and loving”)?  But what if tonight your soul will be required of you?  What if you open your eyes and find yourself in a cold, alone-place devoid of sound, heat or the brightness of light?  What if the only furniture in that landscape is a judgment seat directly in front of you?  Is today’s folly worth that risk?

Don’t be stupid.  You know the darkness in your own soul – you live to fill it every day.  And every day you spend your time and energy believing that it’s filled.  But then you wake in the morning and it’s empty.  Again…

Is your everlasting happiness a matter to be willfully hazarded by causeless and unreasonable delays?  If you delay today you are utterly uncertain of living till tomorrow.  If you put by this one motion you know not whether ever you may have another.  You know not whether ever the Spirit of God will put another thought of turning into your hearts or at least whether he will incline you hearts to turn.

Why don’t you turn to Jesus Christ in humility and with hope?  Do you think He will turn away from you?  He will certainly not.

Pastor Gabe

I live in a growing Southern city.  I don’t know when the South was given its nickname, “The Bible Belt” but I think that I live in its buckle.  In fact, in the (online) Yellow Pages for my city, there are 1199 listings for churches.  (That’s one church for every 667 people.)

Beyond that, no one can open up an internet browser and type in any religious word and lack options.  Blogs?  Podcasts?  Radio?  On-line booksellers?  There are even Christian books on the New York Times Bestseller list (which, by the way, is not a good reason to buy them)!

In my city and in our culture, if you don’t want to see a church, don’t want to read something religious, want to ignore Christian radio, avoid looking at Christian books at Barnes and Nobles or ignore someone saying “Bless you!” when you sneeze, you have to work very hard.  As a pastor looking at how Christianized parts of our culture have become, I can be nauseated; this saturation has watered down things (that’s a subject for later).  At the same time, the proliferation of the Christian message all around us gives anyone who listens manifold opportunities to find his way into the presence of the God who loves and redeems.

Richard Baxter saw similar things in his time and said this:

You have such times of advantage and encouragement as few ages of the world have ever seen and few nations on earth enjoy at this day.  What plain and plentiful teaching have you!  What abundance of good examples and the society of the godly!  Private and public helps are common. Seldom has the church seen such days on earth.  And yet is not the way of heaven fair enough for you?   Yet you are not ready to turn to God?  Will you delay till harvest time be over and the winter of persecution come again?

He writes in 17th century England!  What would he say to the tremendous opportunities and advantages present to people these days?!  My friend, you have no reason to claim you lack resources.  Turn to Christ now in trust and follow Him into eternal heaven.

Pastor Gabe