RESCUE
THE PERISHING
BREAD
22 Be
merciful to those who doubt; 23 snatch others from the fire and save them; to others
show mercy, mixed with fear--hating even the clothing stained by corrupted
flesh. Jude 1:22-23 (NIV)
18 Then
Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven
and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very
end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)
13 for, “Everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How, then, can they call on
the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom
they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can they preach unless
they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring
good news!” Romans 10:13-15 (NIV)
16 So
from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once
regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in
Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who
reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
19 that
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins
against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ's
ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on
Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that
in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Every Christian life ought to be a force
among men, a witness for Jesus and an influence for blessing and good. I know that
there are few people like Billy Graham, whom God calls to do great things for
Him. For men like me, and
perhaps you, the best thing that we can do in the small time allotted to us in
this world is to live out a genuine, simple, beautiful, strong Christian life. In
our little measure we can repeat the life of the Lord Himself, doing in our
imperfect way a few of the wonderful things He would do if He were Himself in
our place.” Wales
Goebel
“Rescue the perishing, Care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity From sin and the grave; Weep o’er the erring one, Lift up
the fallen, Tell them of Jesus, The mighty to save. Tho’ they are slighting Him, Still He is
waiting, Waiting the penitent Child to receive; Plead with them earnestly,
Plead with them gently, He will forgive, If they only believe. Down in the human heart, Crushed by the
tempter, Feelings lie buried That grace can restore; Touched by a loving heart,
Wakened by kindness, Chords that are broken Will vibrate once more. Rescue the perishing, Duty demands it,
Strength for thy labor The Lord will provide; Back to the narrow way Patiently
win them, Tell the poor wand’rer A Savior has died. Rescue the perishing, Care for the dying; Jesus
is merciful, Jesus will save.” Fanny J.
Crosby
“While visiting her friend, Howard Doane, in
Cincinnati, Fanny Crosby, the blind hymnist, was asked to speak to a group of
blue collar workers. Near the end of her
address, she had an overwhelming sense that ‘some mother’s boy’ before her ‘must
be rescued that night or not at all.’
She mentioned this to the crowd, pleading, ‘If there is a dear boy here
tonight who has perchance wandered away from his mother’s home and his mother’s
teaching, would he please come to me at the close of the service?’ Afterward a young man of about eighteen
approached her, ‘Did you mean me?’ he asked.
‘I promised my mother to meet her in heaven, but the way I have been
living, I don’t think that will be possible now.’ Fanny had the joy of leading him to
Christ. Returning to her room that night,
all she could think about was the theme ‘rescue the perishing,’ and when she
retired that night she had written the complete hymn. The next day, Howard Doane wrote the music,
and it was published the following year in his Songs of Devotion. Many years later, Fanny was speaking at the
YMCA in Lynn, Massachusetts, and she recounted the story behind ‘Rescue the
Perishing.’ After the service, a man
approached her, his voice quivering. ‘Miss
Crosby,’ he said, ‘I was that boy who told you more than thirty-five years ago
that I had wandered from my mother’s God.
That evening you spoke, I sought and found peace, and I have tried to
live a consistent Christian life ever since.
If we never meet again on earth, we will meet up yonder.’ He turned and left, unable to say another
word. But Fanny later described it as
one of the most gratifying experiences of her life.” Robert J. Morgan
“Taking a stand for Christ is increasingly unpopular in our pagan
and pluralistic society. If you believe that God created the world, that
He is a God of both love and holiness, that Jesus died and rose again for our
sins and is the only way to heaven, and
that we have a responsibility to take that message to a needy world – those beliefs will
vilify you in many segments of our society. Our world is determined to
intimidate, marginalize, and silence Christians. But our goal isn’t
popularity; it’s to know Him and make Him known. We shouldn’t be needlessly offensive, but we shouldn’t be afraid of the
‘offense of the cross’. These are exciting days in which to bear a
witness for our Savior!” Robert J.
Morgan
“Never, for fear
of feeble man, restrain your witness.” C.H. Spurgeon
“A witness in a
court of law has to give evidence; a Christian witness has to be evidence.” Geoffrey
R. King
HEART
SAVOR
- · I am to be both merciful and faithful in my witness for Christ remembering that He was both merciful and faithful to me.
- · Jesus tells me to go and make disciples.
- · Believers have been given the precious gift of the ministry of reconciliation and we are to be faithful to use it.
