Are You Safe?

In the heart of every person there is a desire to be safe and secure. Little children are often afraid of being left alone. They also may fear the dark, or the unknown. Children crave the security of being held in the loving embrace of their parents. There they feel confident and protected. As we mature, the desire to be safe and secure never leaves us. This inborn desire was given to us by our Creator. While some men act fearless, in their hearts they may fear the unknown, suffering, accident, or sickness. They may also have an uneasy feeling about what might happen to them after death.

God is the creator of heaven and earth. Making man was the crowning act of his creation. He placed Adam and his wife Eve in a paradise home called the Garden of Eden. They were secure, happy, and free. Then Satan appeared in the form of a serpent and deceived them. Because of their disobedience to God, they fell out of fellowship with Him and were driven from Eden (Genesis 3).

What a drastic change! Before, Adam and Eve had been safe and without fear. They were at peace with their Creator, enjoying his presence. Now, instead of inner peace, there was unrest, guilt, and fear. They were even afraid of God and hid from Him! They had experienced spiritual death, which is separation from God. When fellowship with Him was broken through disobedience, there was deep distress in their hearts. Only fellowship with the living God can satisfy the soul.

Man’s inner conflict has also caused all manner of outward conflict, often resulting in murder or war. There has always been much strife on earth; one tribe quarrels with another, one nation strives to bring another nation under its rule. In these conflicts, one nation has always emerged victorious, only to weaken later and become subject to another nation. The prophet Daniel says, “That the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will” (Daniel 4:17), and “He removeth kings, and setteth up kings” (Daniel 2:21).

The numerous, brazen acts of terrorism around the world have shaken the security of many people. These events have brought fear into many hearts and an uncertainty about the future.

Complete text of: Are You Safe?

We all hope that we can continue to live in safety and security. The success of a nation depends on God’s blessings. If men repent of their sinful lives and fear Him, He may choose to lengthen the days of that nation’s tranquility (Daniel 4:27). William Wilberforce, a former member of the British Parliament, said that his hope for Britain depended “not so much on her navies and armies, nor on the wisdom of her rulers, as on the persuasion that she still contains many who love and obey the gospel of Christ, that their prayers may prevail.” The safety of a nation depends less upon its military might and more upon the prevalence of righteousness and the fear of God among its people.

Our personal safety is a separate matter. We can have an inner security that no earthly nation can offer. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence” (John 18:36). The kingdoms of this world are in God’s hands and will not endure forever. Our personal relationship with God is of a different dimension. When we are in God’s kingdom, we are in a kingdom that is not subject to the success or failure of any earthly nation. His kingdom is much more secure than any superpower. There we are safe, regardless of what happens to any nation. Kingdoms rise and fall, but Jesus promised that no man is able to pluck his children out of his Father’s hand (John 10:29).

According to Bible prophecy, “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse” (2 Timothy 3:13). The future offers no security. The strife and turmoil around the world may grow worse as eternity approaches. There is a day coming in which God has determined “that there should be time no longer” (Revelation 10:6). In 2 Peter 3:10 we read, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” The Holy Scriptures say that every knee shall bow, and that all men will be gathered before the throne of the almighty Judge. On that great Judgment Day, when “heaven and earth shall pass away” (Matthew 24:35), no earthly power will be able to give us safety. All people shall bow before the great King and be judged. No caves or fortresses will be able to protect those who seek refuge in them. All means of transportation will come to a halt. Man-made weapons will be useless. There will be no reassuring wail of sirens, no emergency or law-enforcement personnel rushing to our rescue. You and I will face the great Judge all alone. At that point, our only safety will be if our name is written in the Book of Life in heaven (Luke 10:20). Our names are written in this book when we repent of our sins and believe in Jesus Christ. He then forgives us and we are cleansed through his precious blood, which was shed on the cross that the whole world could be saved. We are then accepted as children of God.

God’s children are not exempt from sickness or suffering. They may even lose their lives, but they need not fear because they are safe in the arms of Jesus. Regardless of what happens to them, they can trust that even suffering is for their good (Romans 8:28).

Do you long for security? Do you have deep inner yearnings that you cannot satisfy? Although the soul longs for God, the sinful nature of man reaches for fleshly desires. Without the peace of God, a sinner is “like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt” (Isaiah 57:20). In this conflict, too many people follow the path of least resistance and make a decision by indecision. Finally, they slip from life into death and face a long eternity.

Real and lasting peace can only be found when we surrender mind, body, and spirit to the One who has made us and loves us. He is not only the Master of the world, but He knows our lives from the beginning to the end. He came into this world “to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:79). He suffered and shed his precious blood so that we can have peace and security.

Do you feel the weight of sin in your heart? Do you worry about the future, or do you try to block it out of your mind? Are you burdened with more than you can bear? Do you desire to be safe and secure? Jesus said, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7). The Lord has a remedy for your sins. He is the great burden-bearer, and nothing is too difficult for Him. Acts 3:19 urges “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” God, speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, promised, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end… And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:11, 13).

Contact Us

Order Tracts

Have You Heard—It’s for You!

All Have Sinned

Many people today are like the man who said, “I am not good enough for heaven and not bad enough for hell.” They think they are pretty good and God will somehow give them a home in heaven.

What does the Bible say about man? It says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). I have—you have. We are like the man who was lost in the woods. He was finally so confused that he had to sit down and wait for someone to find him. Are you lost? Do you know where to go?

There Is Hope for You

You need not be lost and live in sin. You need not despair. Jesus Christ has opened the way for all to live a happy life. He has opened the door of heaven for you. Whether you are poor as a beggar or rich as a millionaire, whether you are highly respected or not, you have the opportunity to come to the Lord Jesus. He says in his Word, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). There is hope for you. You can come to the Friend of all men and be saved from your sins.

Jesus Will Give You Peace

The teacher held out his gold watch, saying, “The one who comes here to take this watch can have it.” None of the children came forward except the smallest boy in the classroom. To the surprise of the others, he got the watch. They just hadn’t believed the teacher. The offer was too good to be true, they thought. Now the opportunity was gone. The little boy had the prize.

Jesus holds out a greater prize. He says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Many people have already accepted this call. Have you? He is calling you now. These words are for you. If you are tired of sin, if your heart is troubled, come to the One who will give you rest. He will forgive your sinful past. He will carry your load of worries away. You can put on Him all your troubles because He cares for you. He is now reaching out his arms to help you.

You May Accept His Gift Now

Complete text of: Have You Heard—It’s for You!

The little boy believed his teacher, stepped up to the desk, and got the watch. In the same way you can receive the gift that Jesus offers you today.

“What shall I do?” you say. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,” says God’s Word, “and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). As you look to the Lord you see how sinful you are, and you say, “There is no hope for me. I cannot come to the Lord this way.” Listen again to the words of Jesus, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden” (Matthew 11:28). He does not tell you to get rid of your sins, to clean up your life and then come. No, come as you are. Tell Him your sins, tell Him your troubles, and apologize to those you have wronged. Believe that He hears you. Reach out, believing like the little boy, and He will give you peace of mind and rest for your soul.

Let’s see what else Jesus says. “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24). Notice the last part, “is passed from death unto life.” It need not take long. The price is paid, and you can be free right now. He paid the debt when He died on the cross. There your sins were paid for. But you must look in faith to Jesus who died on the cross in your stead.

Can you believe this? Can you take Jesus at his word and leave your load of sin and trouble to Him? Pray to Him now, repent of and confess your sins, and receive that free gift of peace—be born anew, be a child of God. Jesus says in the third chapter of John, “Ye must be born again.” That is, born of the Spirit.

You Can Enjoy Living with Christ

When you are born again, your old desire for sin passes away. Sin does not look so attractive anymore. Your heart is filled with peace, and you do not enjoy the foolishness of the world.

Now you love to pray. You enjoy God’s Word. You read it, listen to it, and study it. You even love those whom you did not like very well before. At home or in church you commune with God in prayer and receive strength to say no to the tempter. When trials or temptations come, you know that God is always near, ready to help you over the rough places. And as you grow in your Christian life you find that prayer is your vital breath—you cannot get along without it.

You Can Work for Jesus

Knowing that the Lord has saved you makes you want to do something for Him. You start by telling others of your experience with the Lord. Your heart overflows with joy, and you want others to have the same experience.

As you learn to know God’s Word better, you can reach out farther and help those who are in sin. Or you can help with other work in the Church. You can help in Sunday school, in Bible classes, and in church services. You can testify for the Lord in public. God will lead you into an active Christian life. In this way you can honor God and show your appreciation for what He has done in your life. God calls every Christian to serve Him.

The apostle Paul gives us some good instructions along this line. He says, “My beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

One thing we need to remember is to be obedient to the Word of God and to the Holy Spirit who leads us in the right path. Jesus emphasizes it very strongly that we must be doers of the will of our heavenly Father (Matthew 7:21).

God Will Reward You

How does God reward you? Actually there are two stages of reward. One is here in this life; the other is in the life to come.

Let’s look at the words of Jesus again. He says, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). The peace He speaks of here is for those whose sins are forgiven, whose hearts are washed with the blood of Christ. It is for those who have completely given their lives over to Him. He gives that peace to men so the Christian life will be worthwhile. You can have peace in your heart as you turn to Him in all your problems. That is part of the reward.

He helps you to resist temptation. He hears your prayers when you call to Him for help.

If you remain faithful to the Lord you will have a reward in heaven. In this life you will have disappointments, but in heaven you will have eternal happiness. When you get to heaven, all the troubles and cares of this life will have vanished. You will be with God and the angels and all the faithful Christians forever and ever. That will be the eternal reward.

Jesus Is Coming Soon

The Bible tells us that Jesus will return again. He is not coming as a loving Savior as before. This time He will come as a judge, and He will “reward every man according to his works” (Matthew 16:27). The sinner will go to the place “prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). There hope is gone. No one will be able to turn to God for forgiveness. The Bible describes it as “outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12). Jesus warns us about the place “where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:44).

As a child of God you need not fear the coming of the Lord. Jesus is coming to take his children home to heaven. He says, “Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is” (Mark 13:33).

Contact Us

Order Tracts

Your Life - Recorded

The Bible tells us that God knows everything, and that He is keeping a record of our lives. On the Judgment Day, we will be required to give an account of what He has recorded (Romans 14:11-12). “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works” (Revelation 20:12). When we stand before God in judgment, it will be too late to change our eternal destiny.

God sees both the good and the evil that we do. He knows our very thoughts and attitudes—good or bad. “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:13). We will be judged by the record of our deeds. “For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14).

The Choice Is Ours

In this life we can choose to follow Christ and his teachings or to follow the desires of our sinful flesh. In Galatians 5, the Bible lists the sins of the flesh. These are “adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like” (Galatians 5:19-21). If we are guilty of these, this scripture tells us we cannot inherit the kingdom of God. By the grace of a loving heavenly Father, we receive forgiveness when we repent and believe in Christ. The blood of Christ then covers our sins and erases them from the record.

The Bible also lists the fruit that is produced in our lives when we surrender to God. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22-23). It is a miracle of grace that we can have this fruit associated with our names in the records in heaven.

Complete text of: Your Life - Recorded

The Word of God warns us about the pitfalls and perils that will confront us, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2 Timothy 3:1-5). It is evident that conditions in the world are not favorable to Christian living. We are surrounded by evil of every description. Since we are accountable for our every word and deed, we must make those choices that will bring forth the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

There are many passages in the Bible that warn us about neglecting our salvation. “And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1 Peter 4:18). “And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book” (Exodus 32:33). “Come, see a man [Jesus], which told me all things that ever I did” (John 4:29). Although these are sober words, God has promised to forgive our sins when we repent and believe in the atoning blood of Christ. Instead of blotting out our names, He will blot our sins from the records.

Is Your Name in the Book of Life?

In order to have our names written in the book of life, we must accept the invitation of Jesus: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). No one is exempt from the guilt of sin without the atoning blood of Jesus. Because of his love, He voluntarily shed his blood on the cross for our sins. Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). He also said, “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). Jesus invites everyone to come to Him and be saved from sin.

After our names have been written in the book of life we do not want to have them erased. Jesus says, “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown” (Revelation 3:11). And again, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). These verses warn us to be watchful and not to neglect our commitment to serve God. Satan, the enemy of our soul, is described as a roaring lion that will devour us if we do not firmly resist him with faith (1 Peter 5:8-9). We need to search God’s Word and be constant in our prayers, or else our salvation may slip away from us. We are promised, “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels” (Revelation 3:5).

Be Ready for the Judgment Day

Today is the day of grace, an opportunity to set our house in order and to prepare for the judgment day. When we die, our mortal bodies will return to dust. But when Jesus returns to judge the world on the resurrection day, everyone will receive an immortal body that will live eternally in heaven or in hell. If there is any stain of sin on our hearts, let us turn to Jesus today to have it washed away. Then we can be ready to enter heaven on that great and notable day. “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Revelation 21:27).

Contact Us

Order Tracts