Right Up To Date
J. Allen Blair
Some people say the Gospel is old-fashioned. They say they believe in the old-fashioned Gospel. I understand what they mean. But I never like to think of the Gospel of Christ as being old-fashioned. It is right up-to-the-minute. In fact, it is far in advance of any discovery anyone has ever made. The Gospel is as modern as tomorrow. It may be the faith of our fathers, but it is also the faith of tomorrow's fathers. It is the faith of every yesterday, today, and all the tomorrows. It is as unchanging as the Savior, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Jesus Christ declared, Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. No, this is not an old-fashioned Gospel; it is relevant to the need of the hour. We drink water. Our fathers drank water. Our grandfathers drank water. We do not speak of old-fashioned water. Are we old-fashioned for breathing air into our lungs in the same manner in which our grandparents breathed air? No, these are vital to life as is the Gospel. Water, air, and God's Word are always fresh. No matter the century, it presents the message for today. Paul declared, It is the power of God unto salvation.
Customs change, styles change, many other things change; but the sinful hearts of mankind remain the same until the truth of the Gospel is appropriated. Then there is a transformation. It matters not how deep one has gone into sin or how self-righteous he may be, the Gospel is sufficient and necessary for all because there is not a just man on earth, who doeth good, and sinneth not. There is none righteous, no not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no not one. (Romans 3: 10-12).
And the way of peace have they not known. (v. 17). It is the Gospel that brings peace. It is for the uppermost and it is for the gutter-most. Whatever your state or standing in society, you need the Gospel of the truth of God. We need to hear about and to believe on Christ. It matters not how deep in sin one may be. God will forgive him. He will cleanse the heart from all sin, when we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
There was an ungodly sailor, about 60 years of age- one of the worst men in the little town in which he lived. He was a heavy drinker, cursing and swearing most of the time. One Sunday morning, he felt constrained to go to church. The preacher's text had to do with Jesus weeping as He approached the people of Jerusalem. The old sailor wondered if Jesus Christ ever wept over a wretch like him. He thought he was too bad for Christ to care for him. Nevertheless, after the service, he went to the minister and told him he wanted to give himself to Jesus Christ. The man did, and his life was changed. He became a mighty man of God. Yet, he was the last one you would have thought would be reached by the Gospel. God does care for the last one. He not only cares for the diamonds, He picks up the dirty pebble-stones as well. This is because of His great love, based on the fact that Christ died for the sins of everyone.
We hear a lot about self-improvement. If we are to have a better society we must improve the living conditions of people. I am sure such would help tremendously. But, I assure you that this alone is no guarantee for the improvement of society. Some of you can remember the days following the last World War. The leaders were promising that a new day was dawning. They were talking about the birth of the world of tomorrow, but the promises were soon forgotten. Those, who so hopefully talked about a new world, overlooked the fact that the trouble was never with the world but with those inhabiting the world.
There were also those who placed a great importance on the discoveries of science. As worthwhile as these discoveries have been, they have not given us the new world we want. It is not the environment that makes the man; it is the man that makes the environment. Suppose you took a patient out of a mental hospital with the idea that a new environment would change him or her. Before long, the person would change the environment.
The world is sick with the insanity of sin. We cannot cure the disease by merely improving the living conditions. We need to improve the people. Only the Gospel of Jesus Christ promises a new man for a new world. Reading and believing the Bible, I am convinced that there will never be world peace until the coming of the Prince of Peace. Yet, at this moment, one may know inner peace through Jesus Christ who declared, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.
If you have not believed in Jesus Christ, I can understand the emptiness, the frustration, and the fears of your heart. The great architect and builder of St. Paul's Cathedral in London ran short of funds during the construction. What would he do about the great columns to hold up the roof of the cathedral?-make them hollow and fill them with trash. Thousands visited and worshiped there not knowing that the great pillars were hollow until the roof began to sag, revealing the problem. The columns were not strong enough to bear the weight of the great roof. An investigation revealed the once hollow columns, which had been filled with rubbish, now unable to support the weight.
Many a life, which has appeared strong outwardly, has been lacking in the day of crisis. Why? He or she knew nothing of the peace of God which passes all understanding that comes through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ the Son of God.
If you have never taken Him into your life, you need Him. In fact, you don't know how badly you need Him. Not only do you need Him as a way into heaven, you need Him now, to provide for you, to care for you, to encourage you in the midst of sorrow, to help you through the conflicts of life and, greatest of all, to cleanse you from all sin that you might have a pure conscience before God. If you have never taken Him into your life, I invite you to do so now. You can become a Christian. You can be saved at this moment by believing the good news of the Gospel of Christ. You need only to realize that Christ died for your sins and that He rose again that you might have eternal life. Call upon Him, receive Him as your Savior and Lord, and know real peace in Christ.
Christ is not for some people only; He is for all people; He is the Son of God.
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12).