Homeward Bound Ministries Newsletter V12N05

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Volume 12 Homeward Bound Number 05Our Twelfth Year

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (I Corinthians 3:11)

Homeward Bound Ministries P. O. Box 3351 Milford Connecticut 06460

(203) 449-6190 [email protected]

Modern Evangelistic MalpracticeBy Rev. Franklin D. Coleman

Ive noticed a curious problem today in the evangelical (and fundamental) world; one thatposes sobering questions for the church and for the individual believer. To get to the point, a greaarmy of personal soul-winners has been mobilized to reach the world for Christ. They are earnestzealous, enthusiastic, and persuasive. To their credit it must be said that they are on the jobStatistics show that they rack up an astounding number of conversions. Everything seems to be onthe plus side.

But the problem is this: The conversions dont stick. The fruit does not remain. Six monthlater there is nothing to be seen for all the aggressive evangelism. The modern technique of souwinning has produced stillbirths.

What is behind all this malpractice in bringing souls to the birth? Strangely enough it begin with the valid determination to preach the pure gospel of the grace of God. We want to keep thmessage simple, uncluttered by any suggestion that man can ever earn or deserve eternal lifeJustification is by faith alone, apart from the deeds of the law. Therefore, the message is onlbelieve.

From there the message is reduced to a formula. For instance, the evangelistic process is cudown to a few basic questions and answers, as follows:

Do you believe you are a sinner?Yes.Do you believe Christ died for sinners?Yes.

Will you receive Him as your Savior?Yes.Then you are saved!I am?Yes, the Bible says you are saved.

At first glance the method and the message might seem above criticism. But when taking closer look were forced to have second thoughts and to conclude that the gospel has been oversimplified.

The first fatal flaw is the missing emphasis on repentance. There canbe no true conversion without conviction of sin. It is one thing to agree

that I am a sinner. It is quite another thing to experience theconvicting ministry of the Holy Spirit in my life. Unless I have aSpirit-wrought consciousness of my utterly lost condition I cannever exercise saving faith. It is useless to tell unconvicted sinnersto believe on Jesus; that message is only for those who knowthey are lost. We sugarcoat the gospel when we de-emphasizemans fallen condition. With that kind of watered-downmessage people receive the Word with joy instead of with deepcontrition. They do not have deep roots and though (continued on page two)


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Homeward Bound Ministries Volume 12 Number 05.



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Modern Evangelistic Malpractice(continued)

they might endure for a while they soon give up all profession when persecution or trouble come(Matthew 13:21). Many have forgotten that the message is repentance toward God as well as faith inour Lord Jesus Christ.

A second serious omission is a missing emphasis on the Lordship of Christ. A light, jovialmental assent that Jesus is Savior misses the point. Jesus is first Lord, then Savior. The NewTestament always places His Lordship before HisSaviorhood. Do we present the full implication of HisLordship to people? He always did.

A third defect in the message is the tendency to keep theterms of discipleship hidden until a decision has been made forJesus. Our Lord never did this. The message He preached includedthe cross as well as the crown. He never hid His scars to windisciples. He revealed the worst along with the best and thentold His listeners to count the cost. We popularize themessage and promise fun.

The result of all this is that we have people believing withouknowing what they believe. In many cases they have no doctrinal basis for theidecision. They do not know the implication of commitment to Christ. Theyhave never experienced the mysterious, miraculous work of the Holy Spirit inregeneration.

And of course there are others who are talked into a profession of fait because of the slick salesmanship techniques of the soul winner. Or some that want to please thpersonable young man or woman with the winning smile. And some that only want to get rid of thireligious interloper who has intruded into their privacy. Satan laughs when these conversions areproudly announced on earth.

I would like to raise several questions that might lead to some discussion and possible changes

in the strategy of evangelism.First of all, can we generally expect people to make an intelligent commitment to Christ the

first time they hear the Gospel? Certainly, there is the exceptional case where a person has already been prepared by the Holy Spirit. Bugenerally speaking, the process involves sowing the seed, watering itand then sometime later reaping the harvest. In our obsession foinstant conversion we have forgotten that conception, gestation, andbirth do not happen on the same day.

A second question, can a capsulated presentation of the gospereally do justice to so great a message? Wouldnt it be wise to givepeople the full presentation as it is found in the Gospels or in the New

Testament?Thirdly, is all this pressure for decisions really scriptural?Where in the New Testament were people ever pressured into making aprofession? The practice is justified by saying that if only one out of tenis genuine, it is worth it. But what about the other nine disillusionedbitter, perhaps deceived and on the road to hell by a false profession?

And I must add this:Is all this boasting about conversions really accurate? Weve met theperson who seriously tells you of ten people they contacted that day and all of them were saved. Ayoung doctor testified that every time he goes to a new city he looks in the (continued on page three)


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Modern Evangelistic Malpractice(continued)

phone book for people with his last name. Then he calls them one by one and leads them through thfour steps of salvation. Amazing enough, every one of them opens the door of his heart to Jesus. dont want to doubt the honesty of people like this, but am I wrong in thinking that they are extremelnaive? Where are all those people who are saved? They cannot be found.

What it all means is that we should seriously re-examine our streamlined approach tevangelism. We should be willing to spend time teaching the gospel, laying a solid doctrinafoundation for faith to rest on. We should stress the necessity for repentance, a complete about facconcerning sin. We should stress the full implication of the Lordship of Christ and the conditions odiscipleship. We should explain what belief really involves. We should be willing to wait for the HolySpirit to produce genuine conviction of sin.

If we do this well have less exorbitant figures of so-called conversions, but more genuine caseof spiritual rebirth.

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit John Payne

Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but thblasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word

against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoeverspeaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him

neither in this world, neither in the world to come. (Matthew12:31-32)

The other day while I was teaching a questioncame up as to why this sin against the Holy Spirit is

not a sin against the Son of God. Generallyspeaking, all sin is a sin against God, God in the

concept of the Trininty, the Three-in-One. Inthat They are inseparable, when you sin

against One, you sin against Them AllThis is speaking of sin in a genera

nature. In the matter at hand herethough, Jesus is making a very specific

distinction. Many take these two versesMatthew 12:31-32, out of context and build their

understanding of and teaching about it without fullylooking at all that Jesus is saying.

Notice that Jesus begins these two verses with the

word wherefore. This word means: for what?, owhy?, or for what or which cause or reason?. What Jesus iabout to say then is a conclusion or a follow up to what had jus

gone on in the immediate verses before. And, what happened in the verses just before verses 31 and 32? The Pharisees has just ascribe

the power with which Jesus had cast a demon out of a man to Beelzebub, the prince of devils (Satan)rather than to God the Holy Spirit. This, in truth, is blasphemy of the highest order.

It is noteworthy in scripture that Jesus does not often repeat things twice. When He does it iextremely important that we pay close attention to it. (There are even a couple points(continued on page four)


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Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit (continued)

in the Gospels that He repeats three times!) Here Jesus tells us twice that blasphemy against the HolySpirit will not be forgiven men. It is interesting to note here that this is the same accusation that thPharisees will make against Jesus and condemn Him to death for it!

Now, as to why this is a sin against the Holy Spirit and not a sin against the Son, I will try toexplain for you. The key is understanding just what is the that will not be forgiven and it is made clea by Jesus in verse 32. Try looking at it this way. This sins of speaking against that Jesus describing in these verses here are not blasphemy of the person of Himself or of the Holy Spirit, burather of the office and of the work of Himself and of the Holy Spirit. Jesus means that the things thPharisees are saying are not being taken by Himself and the Spirit personally as individuals, buagainst their positions in the Godhead,their official authorities as Messiah,Redeemer and Son of God, as for Jesus;and Creator, Comforter, Indweller,Anointer, Convictor of men, and so forth,as for the Holy Spirit.

The meaning in this passage thencannot be that the unforgivable sin is blasphemy against the person of God theHoly Spirit because blasphemy against theperson of God the Father and the personof God the Son is exactly the same sin.The blasphemy that Jesus is referring tohere is directed against the office or theoperation of the Holy Spirit. So, whoeverdenies or comes against the office or theoperation of the Holy Spirit, this mans sin

cannot be forgiven. And, the primary work of the Holy Spirit here on earth is to call men to JesuChrist, to convict them of their sin, for them to repent of that sin and to be saved. Therefore, a sinagainst the Holy Spirit of this type cannot be a sin against Jesus Christ (or the Father for thamatter!).

Ill just spend a moment with an explanation on the example of all this from the passage underdiscussion. Jesus is anointed with the Holy Spirit in the fullest measure (see Luke 4, in fulfillment oIsaiah 61). Jesus here describes this sin of blasphemy in the presence of the Pharisees because this iexactly what they had just done. It is also a record for the rest of us, to warn us all. The Pharisees hadjust accused Jesus of being possessed by Beelzebub! Jesus had just performed a miracle by the poweof the Spirit. The Pharisees accusation was a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit and not againsJesus. How is this the blaspheming of the Holy Spirit instead of Jesus? The answer is found in Jesus

response to them. Jesus said, But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God iscome unto you. (Matthew 12:28) Because Jesus had cast the demon out by the power of the Spirit, iwas then the Spirit that had done the work and then the Pharisees had blasphemed the work andoperation of the Holy Spirit rather than that of Jesus. The Pharisees were calling the Holy Spirit thDevil! Now, if they deny the power of the office and authority of the Holy Spirit, then He, the HolSpirit, is then helpless to bring these men to salvation through Christ, and therefore the sin will beforever unpardonable. They will die and enter eternity unforgiven.

I hope this explains how the Pharisees blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is a sin against theHoly Spirit and not against the Son (or the Father).


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THE GREATEST TEXT IN THE BIBLE - John 3:16By Dr. Harry A. Ironside

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in himshould not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

WHY do so many people think this is the greatest text in the Bible? There are other wonderfutexts that dwell on the love of God, that show how men are delivered from judgment, that tell us how

we may obtain everlasting lifebut no other one verse, as far asI can see, gives us all theseprecious truths so clearly and sodistinctly. So true is this that when the gospel is carried intoheathen lands, and missionaries want to give a synopsis of thgospel to a pagan people, all

they find it necessary to do, ifthey are going to a people thathave a written language, is totranslate and print this verseand it tells out the story thatthey are so anxious for thepeople to hear. If they do nothave a written languageinvariably one of the firstScriptures that they are taught

to memorize is John 3:16.

I have a slip of paper sent to me by my friend, Allan Cameron of China. In those odd characterthis same message is written, and that message put into the hands of the Chinese has often been usedto lead a soul to Christ. Not immediately, of course, for he does not understand it all at once, but it haled him to ask upon what authority is this statement based, and so eventually he is led to the LordJesus Christ.

Many Truths in One Verse

How many truths are wrapped up in that one verse! In the first place, there is the personality ofGod, "God so loved." A God who can love is a person. We had a woman in the United States whoinvented a religion a few years ago, and she said it was all love, and yet she said that God isimpersonal. But that is not possible. Just imagine falling in love with a cloud, or thinking that a cloud

is loving you! It is something utterly impossible; you cannot do it. Behind love there must be a personwith a warm, loving heart. "God so loved."

This Chinese translation which my friend Cameron sent me, says, "God so passionately lovedthe world, that he gave." It was a divine passion, a heart in heaven throbbing in loving sympathy withmen in all their trials and difficulties here on earth. What a wonderful revelation that is, and it is alwrapped up in this one verse. (continued on page six)


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THE GREATEST TEXT IN THE BIBLE - John 3:16 (continued)

Then there is the truth of the divine Fatherhood. This God so loved men "that he gave his onlybegotten Son." There cannot be a son without a father. If God gave His Son, God Himself is a Fatherand that is a revelation the pagan world never dreamed of.

Then again, there is the lost condition of mankind. God gave His well beloved Son, "thatwhosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." An unsaved man is in gravdanger. You, dear unsaved one, are in grave danger of being so utterly lost that you may be banishedfrom the presence of this God of love forever, and yet He it is who has provided a means whereby Hibanished ones may return to Him. God gave Him up toa sacrificial death on Calvary's cross for all men, "thatwhosoever believeth in him should not perish, but haveeverlasting life."

The universality of the offer of mercy is alsohere. It is a "whosoever" message, and what does"whosoever" mean? A gentleman came one time to myformer home city and took an entire week for a series

of lectures on John 3:16. During that time he laboredevery night to prove that the world that God loved wasthe world of the elect, and that "whosoever" was simplythe "whosoever" that God had chosen from thefoundation of the world. No wonder it took him a weekto try to make out that kind of a thing. Any child cansee the difference between a doctrine like that and that which is revealed in this text. Any one of school ageknows the meaning of "whosoever."

You may have heard the story of the oldScotchman who had been brought up with the idea that

God had predetermined just so many people to besaved, and all the rest were created to be damned. Hefelt that he ought to be willing to say, "O God, if it isThy will to damn me, I do not want to be saved"; but hedid want to be saved, and was in the deepest agony ofsoul about it. But still they all said, "If you are not oneof the elect, you cannot be saved."

One day he was out in the field plowing, whenhe found a piece of paper with a large text on it. Hetried to spell it out, but he was not very good atreading, and so he read s l o w l y: "For--God--so--

loved--the--world--that--he--gave---his---only---be-got-ten---Son--that--who-so-ever." He wonderedwhat that meant, but as he did not know, he passed on to the next part. "That--who-so-ever--be-lieveth--in--him---should--not--perish---but--have---ever-last-ing--life."

"Man !" he said, "here's good news for somebody. God so loved the world, that he gave his onlybegotten Son, that who-so-ever! I wonder who is meant by that word. Here is somebody who can haveeverlasting life, elect or not elect." And while he was pondering the question, he saw a lad going bywith a bunch of books under his arm. He called to him, "Here, laddie, can ye read ?" "Aye, that I can,he replied. "Well, will you read this?" (continued on page seven)


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Wanting to impress the old man with his great ability, the boy read like a race horse"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in himshould not perish, but have everlasting life." "O laddie, laddie, don't read it so fast; read it again, andread it slowly so I can get every word, and be careful with that long word," said the old man. And sothe boy read it again. "Does it really say there that somebody can be saved by just believing?" the oldman asked. "What does that long word mean?" "Oh," said the boy, "whosoever means you, or me, orany other body; but there goes the bell, I have to run," and away he went.

The old man stood there, and read it again, "For God loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that you, or me, or any other body believeth in him, should not perish, but haveverlasting life." "Man !" he said, "that's good news for a sinner like me; I don't need to find ou whether I am elect or not," and he dropped down between the plow handles, and there confessehimself a sinner for whom Jesus died. He took God at His word and his soul was saved.

One Text a Whole Week

One of the earliest stories I ever heard about D. L. Moody was one with which some of you arfamiliar. When he was in Great Britain, he met a young Englishman by the name of Henry

Moorhouse. One day Moorhouse said to Moody "I am thinking of going to America.""Well," said Moody, "if you should ever be in Chicago come down to my place, and I will give you achance to preach."

Now although Mr. Moody was not two-faced, he was merely trying to be polite, for mentally he

was saying, "I hope he won't come." There are so many people, you know, who want to preachalthough God never meant them to, and Mr. Moody was not quite sure of Mr. Moorhouse. He wasrather taken back one day when, just before leaving for a series of meetings, he received a telegram"Have just arrived in New York. Will be in Chicago on Sunday." "And now," thought Moody, "I amgoing away, and I told him he could preach here." So he said to his wife and to his committee, "Here'this young Englishman coming; let him preach once, and then if the people enjoy him, put him onagain." (continued on page eight)


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When Moody returned, he said to his wife, "Well, what about that young preacher?"Oh," she said, "he is a better preacher than you are. Why, he is telling sinners that God loves them."He is wrong!" said Moody, "God doesn't love sinners." "Well," she said, "you go and hear him." "Whyis he still preaching?, asked Mr. Moody. "Yes, he has been preaching all week and has taken only one

text, John 3:16," was her reply. When Mr. Moody went to the meetin

Moorhouse got up, and said, "I have been hunting andhunting all through the Bible, looking for a text, and Ithink we will just talk about John 3:16 once more."Mr. Moody always testified that it was on that nighthat he got his first clear understanding of the gospeand the love of God. Think what it meant in Moody'slife, and in the lives of tens of thousands who werereached through his ministry, to know that God lovessinners. Are you one of those who has been saying, "If

I were only a little better, I could believe that Godloves me?" O dear friend, hear it again: "Sinners Jesuwill receive; Sound this word of grace to all, Who theheavenly pathway leave, All who linger, all who fall.""This is a faithful saying, and worthy of alacceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world tosave sinners; of Whom I am chief."(1 Timothy 1:15).

Just Like African Boys

I remember when I was a boy, going to amissionary meeting. A missionary was there from Africa, and was showing us a whole lot of curiouthings, and then he said, "Now boys, I want to tell youthe kind of gospel we preach to the people in AfricaHow many good boys have we here? A lot of usthought we were good, but our mothers were thereand so not one of us dared hold up his hand. "Well,said he, "not one good boy here; then I have the same

message for you that we have for the heathen in Africa; God loves naughty boys!""My," I thought, "he is getting all mixed up," for you see I had heard people say, "If you are

good, God will love you." But, dear friends, that is not true. God is not waiting for you to be good soHe can love you; God loves sinners, and has proven His love for them by the gift of His Son, the Lord

Jesus Christ. "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be thpropitiation for our sins."(1 John 4:10) Instead of waiting for people to be good, "God commendethhis love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."(Romans 5:8) Do youbelieve it, dear friend?

The difficulty is that men have this wrong idea about God, and are always trying to make outhat they are better than they are. "Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but afaithful man who can find?"(Proverbs 20:6) You will find people down in the depths of sin, but theyare always ready to compare themselves with other folk, saying, "I am as good as (continued on page nine)


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they are." But God has no message and no blessing for men who are trying to justify themselvesAs long as you try to make a good name for yourself, God can only condemn you; but when you cominto His presence and confess yourself a lost, guilty sinner, God has a message and a blessing for you"God so loved the world", a wicked, corrupt, and ungodly world, and you and I belong to it. ."As inwater face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man"(Proverbs 27:19) God's Word declares that"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord searchthe heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit ofhis doings." (Jeremiah 17:9-10) Yet, knowing all the wickedness of which myheart and your heart iscapable, God loves us andgave His Son to die for us.

My ! What a gospelthis is; what a message to

bring to poor, needy sinners!We do not come to men, andsay, "Turn over a new leaf;quit your meanness; give upthis, and give up that." Wedo not ask any one to giveup; we ask you to receive thegift of God, and when youreceive that gift, "the thingsof the world will growstrangely dim in the light of

Christ's glory and grace."A lad tried to preach on John3:16 one day. He was asked to give his testimony, but thought he had better get up a sermon. Hedivided his text into four heads: God loved. God gave. I believe. I have. Could you make a betterdivision than that?

A Girl's Horror of God

A little girl who lived in Luther's day had been brought up with a perfect horror of God. Shethought of Him as always watching her, taking note of every wrong thing she did, and just waiting tovisit judgment upon her. Her parents could not get that fear out of her mind. Her father was a printerand was working on Luther's first German Bible. One day she was in his shop, when just a comer of

one of the sheets of the Bible caught her eye. She looked at it, and as she read it, her whole attitudetoward God changed, and she said, "Mother, I am, not afraid of God any more.""Well, my dear," said the mother, "I am glad of that, but why are you not afraid of God?"Oh," she replied, "look what I found, a piece of the Bible, and it says, 'God so loved, that he gave.'" Iwas just a part of two lines. "Well," her mother said, "how does that take away your fear of God ? Idoesn't say what He gave." "Oh, but if He loved us enough to give anything, I am not afraid," said thechild. And then her mother sat down and opened up the whole truth to her. (continued on page ten)


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People are stumbling over the simplest things. Take, for instance, that word believeth. Youwould think that was plain enough for anybody, but all my life I have heard people say, "I have alwaybelieved, and yet I am not saved." It does not say, "Whosoever believeth the Bible, or creeds, or eventhe gospel story," but it does say, "Whosoever believeth in him." What is it to believe in Him? It meanto put your soul's confidence in Him, to trust in Him, God's blessed Son. When in Toronto, I pickedup a copy of a broad Scotch translation of the New Testament, and the first thing I noticed was thatthis word believeth is not found there at all. Instead of believeth there is the Scotch word, lippen, andit means to throw your whole weight upon. This is the way it reads, "Whosoever lippens to Jesusshould not perish, but have the life of the ages"--the life that runs on through all the ages

Just Lippen to Jesus

One day Dr. Chalmers spent hours with a poor, anxious soul, trying to lead her into peace, butshe could not understand what it was to believe, and finally he had to leave her. On the way home hehad to cross a creek with a shaky old bridge over it, and as he was feeling his way across in a very

careful manner, one of his parishioners who saw him, called out, "Can you nae lippen the bridge?Immediately he said, "That's the word for the old lady I have just left," and he went back to her, andsaid, "I have got the word for you, can you nae lippen to Jesus?" Lippen?" she said, "is it just tolippen? Aye, I can lippen to Him. He will never let me down, will He?" "Yes, that is it," he replied, "Hwill never let you down." Have you been struggling, trying, working; have you been promising andtrying to give up this and to do this, that, and the other thing? O dear friend, hear it, "Whosoevelippens to Jesus shall not perish, but have everlasting life."

Another "Whosoever"

But now notice the

alternative. They who trust inJesus will not perish, but whatabout those who do not trust inHim? There is another whosoever. In Revelation 2 where we have that solempicture of the last judgment, weread, "I saw a great whitethrone, and him that sat on it from whose face the earth andthe heaven fled away; and there

was found no place for them And I saw the dead, small andgreat, stand before God; and thebooks were opened: and anotherbook was opened, which is thebook of life: and the dead werejudged out of those things whichwere written in the booksaccording (continued on page eleven)


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to their works. And the sea gave up, the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up thedead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death andhell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written inthe book of life was cast into the lake of fire."(Revelation 20:11-15) Listen to it, sinner, whosoever inthe day of judgment "was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."Who arefound written in the book of life? "Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but haveeverlasting life." There they are, those who believed, and those that did not believe; those whoreceived the gift of God, and those who spurned the gospel, trampling under foot the grace of GodThey stand in the judgment as poor, lost, trembling souls to hear their dreadful sentence. You may besaved now without money and without price. "There is life for a look at the Crucified One, There is lifat this moment for thee; Then look, sinner, look unto Him and be saved, Unto Him who was nailed tothe tree." Look, sinner, look to Jesus just now and be saved.Dr. Harry A. Ironside c.1931

It Is Finished

He was crushed under the weight of His cross. He had been beaten, bruised and bloodiedbeyond recognition. And to add insult to unimaginable injury, He was forced to carry the cross uponwhich He was to be crucified; the cross to which He was to be nailed for our sins. Who knows jushow far He got before its weight became too much for Him to bear or His injuries overwhelmed HimSimon of Cyrene, over one thousand three hundred miles from his homeland, perhaps here for thegreat feast, was compelled, was forced to carry the cross for this Man, the Messiah, to the place of the

skull, Golgotha.Once there He was stripped of

his clothes and He was nailed to thisrough, rugged cross. He did not

resist, He lovingly submitted to thisfinal indignity, even asking HisFather to forgive the men who drovethose spikes into His hands and Hisfeet. It was a point between Heavenand earth from which He surveyedthose who remained to see Him, tohear Him in His last moments. Mosthad fled.

Three short years, fromobscurity, to fame to infamy. Each

step of the way planned out in themost precise of detail since thefoundation of the world and carried

out in the deepest of love for man, the pinnacle of His creation. You could have almost heard thteardrops from His Father falling upon the earth that day as His only begotten Son was made theperfect offering for sin and mans final redemption price was paid in full.

Remember all of this the next time you are about to put your hand to a willful andpremeditated sin and call yourself by the name of Christ. An attempt to shame you (continued on page twelve)


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It Is Finished (continued)

or perhaps anger you? No. This is simply to remind you of what this God-man did in love for you sothat you no longer have to do what you are about to do. Perhaps you might never take such adecision so lightly ever again.

Or maybe you forgot. He suffered, died and rose again in fulfillment of prophecy, according tothe plan and foreknowledge of God that the power of Satan, sin and death would be forever broken inyour life. These three, that had held dread sway over the sons of Adam since the day in the Gardewhen man first fell through disobedience, no longer have any power over you because this Son of Godsaid it is finished on the cross of Calvary.

Those three precious words now ring throughout eternity like a liberty bell proclaimingfreedom to all those who will stand up to Satan and be free indeed. Ringing first throughout thgrave, alerting all those who had died in faith awaiting the promise of the Redeemer long before. Thgraves of many of these faithful men and women breaking open could not contain them, walking thestreets of Jerusalem and seen by many on the day the Mighty Maker died upon that cruel cross. Andheard since that day by all those who have read the account of the saving Gospel of Jesus ChristThats you and me. For those of us who have both heard and believed and have chosen to follow Him

in love and obedience it is finished indeed!John Payne

God Cannot Please Sinners

In my meditations early this morning, I re-read a sermon by Charles Finney entitled "GodCannot Please Sinners". I had read this a number of years ago and this morning the power of it shownthrough more clearly than in the past. I have always highly recommended Finney, being one of thefew authors I do in any way support and promote. Ihave provided here the last paragraph of that sermon.I do not think that any man alive today has heard froma pulpit more passion for the lost than you will read

here. It grieves my heart that there are few men who will stand for the Truth (as did he) in these times. Ihope with all my heart that you will hear and feel inyour own spirit the passion for lost sinners that passesfrom these words to your soul and mind, all to the endthat you will become a fervent soul winner for Christand His Kingdom.

Further, in my time spent with Him thismorning, He impressed upon me that everything inthis world, in all of history, all that happens to comeinto ours and other people's lives has been done so asto bring us to a knowledge of salvation and after thathaving been so accomplished in our own lives that we will reach out to others as well. There inothing more important in this life than connecting with God through His Son Jesus Christ in thesalvation of our soul. It is vital that we become His. Just as we need air, water and food, without Himwe perish indeed.

If you would like a copy of the entire sermon, please either call or email me and I will send itdirectly to you. Without additional comment, I leave you with this awesome paragraph.

John Payne

(continued on page thirteen)


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God Cannot Please Sinners (continued)Sinners should not follow their feelings, but obey the voice of conscience. In other cases

where sinners find their feelings opposed to their better judgement, they will often set down theifoot, and resist the current of their feelings. They will say, I am not going to be carried away, and

throw up the reins to my feelings, I must exercise

my judgment. I must act like a reasonable beingBut oh, on the subject of religion, how perfectlymen give themselves up to their wicked heartsSinner, you ought this moment to come forthpromptly, and act like a man, and say you willnot go another step in the way of death. Whythrow up the reins, and give loose to passion?Why drive with such furious haste to hell? Whysuffer yourself to be carried hither and thitherby every gush of feeling, and by every breath oemotion that passes over the surface of yoursoul? Why, sinner, if you do not exercise yourreason; if you do not listen to the voice ofconscience; if you do not gather up the reins, girdup your loins, and address yourself to the work oyour salvation like a man; if you do not make upyour mind to resist the whole tide of your carnafeelings, and put yourself under the clear blaze oheaven's light; and when conscience gives forth

its verdict, unless you will promptly obey, you must die in your sins; and now will you here, in thehouse of God, while your character and danger are before you; while mercy waits to save, and death brandishes his weapon to destroy, while heaven calls, and hell groans; while the spirit strives, anChristians pray, will you have the moral courage, the decision of character, the honesty, and

manhood, to resolve on immediate submission to Jesus Christ?

Are we in tune?

Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are

automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each

other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one

hundred worshippers meeting together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart

nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become unity conscious

and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship. Social religion is

perfected when private religion is purified. The body becomes stronger as its members

become healthier. The whole church of God gains when the members that compose it

begin to seek a better and a higher life.

A.W. Tozer-


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How Shall We Escape

How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation.(Hebrews 2:3)

Indeed, dear brothers and sisters. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation. Jesuthe Christ, Who God the Father has chosen to speak to us in this time has revealed unto us the way

out of this life alive in order to spend an eternity with Him. Oh how precious then are His Words Words of life, eternal life. And oh so many reject, neglect and avoid them at the expense of theieternal future.

The Greek word here translated escape means: to flee out of, flee away, to seek safety inflight. The truth is that there is no safety, no safe place for us to flee if we neglect, or as the Greek herimplies to be careless of this great salvation.

Go back to verse one of chapter two here in this marvelous Epistle to the Hebrews. It beginsTherefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at anytime we should let them slip. What a warning for you and for me. A warning that for many goeunheeded. Have you heard?Have you heeded?

Quite a while agosomebody placed a littleGospel tract in my hand. Onthe one side were printedthese words: What must I doto be saved? Below these were written Gods answerfrom Acts 16:31, Believe onthe Lord Jesus Christ, andthou shalt be saved. Then itsaid, Turn over, and I

turned it over. On the otherside of this little tract was written this question, Whatmust I do to be lost? andfollowing this was the answerin just one little word:Nothing. Absolutelynothing! You and I do nothave to do anything in order to be lost. We are already lost and if we do not do something about itand do it quickly, we will be forever lost!

I repeat, How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? All that is necessary to be

lost today, for all eternity, all that is necessary to bring upon our own heads the awful wrath oalmighty God for our casual and contemptuous treatment of the Gospel proclaimed by the lips of andpurchased by the atoning death of His Son, all that is simply required is to neglect it.

The remedy for both you and me, indeed for all mankind, is that we answer the call that Jesushas proclaimed from Calvarys hill. The salvation He has provided for one and for all is freely offeredWe need to accept it for ourselves and surrender to Him and then go forth in obedience and share itwith others that they too may escape. Let not us or anyone we know be lost due to neglecting so greaa salvation!

John Payne


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Scandal!

A couple weeks ago a man resigned his position as Police Commissioner here in the town I liveThere is nothing newsworthy about this in and of itself. I have known this man since moving here in August of 1997, almost eleven years now. I have always had

the deepest respect for him and love him dearly. He was thePastor of the church I attended and began to serve in once theLord began to open doors of ministry for me. This manpastored that church for twenty one years before resigning totake up the position of Chief Executive Officer of a local nonprofit dealing with troubled and abused youth, a job he hasdone exceedingly well. He is also on the States EthicsCommission and been on the board of the United Way andthe Red Cross. He has always been very involved, hasexceptionally served his community and is generally wellliked. He has a lovely family, a wonderful wife filled with the

Holy Spirit who has lovingly supported her husband and two grown children.This all seemingly began to unravel with the story behind his resignation. Feelings of regretshame and anguish from my own sinful past overwhelmed me as I read the newspaper accounts of theactions that led to this mans stepping down from the post he has held for the last eleven years. Thinow possibly jeopardizes his career helping the young people which he is so passionate about. A nighout in a local bar and restaurant, becoming intoxicated, embracing a woman who is not his wife

vomiting upon himself and a policeman, a police officepreventing him from getting into his own

car and then driving him home. Hewas caught on security cameras in

the restaurant and then madepublic through a Freedom ofInformation Act request by alocal newspaper, and caught as

well on the street by the publi who snapped pictures w

cameras and cell phones and othersordid details. Scandal, a genuine

local scandal.Brethren, we have all seen in the

public press and on television the disgraceful events of famoustelevangelists and national religious leaders. Jimmy Swaggart. Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. RoberTilton. Ted Haggard. We wag our heads and think our thoughts but when it happens to somebody inour own town, a religious leader that we personally know, it is somehow different. For me it camsharply into focus.

The matter is simply this. When you are a servant of God in a very public position, a positionof public trust, there comes along with it accountability before both God and man. When you sinpublicly there is always forgiveness from God but the stigma remains. You have sullied and soiled thereliance you have been entrusted with and though God may once again place confidence in you thereare those in the world around you who will only see you as tainted goods, covered with mud. God iso merciful, unlike men. The Bible says, The LORD is merciful and gracious, (continued on page sixteen)


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Scandal! (continued)

slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger foever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For athe heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as th

east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressionsfrom us. (Psalm 103:8-12)It is so very important, for the sake of the work that God

has entrusted us with, that we who have been called by Him toserve, that we walk in humility, walk circumspectly, walk inholiness, walk in the fear of God, that no blame can be laid at Hisfeet or shame be brought to His Name before men. It is simplythat important. I pray for this man, his wife and family. I knowthat many in town are laughing at him and mocking him for whathe has done. I know the shame he, his wife and children will facearound town from neighbors and passersby. From this dayforward much of what he has done will be forgotten and when heis seen on the street he will be remembered not for the thousands

of lives he has touched over the past thirty years, including mine and my son Christophers, but forthis one incident he will be thought of.

A good name is better than precious ointment. (Ecclesiastes 7:1) This is a warning to all ous who serve God whether we are pastors, teachers, evangelists or other leaders in the public eye. Wmust be constantly aware that our common enemy Satan is out to destroy us and in due course thework of God. The Bible says,Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaringlion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. (I Peter 5:8) Forewarned is forearmed! TheWord also says, lest we be overly confident, Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heedlest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithfulwho will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make

a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (I Corinthians 10:12-13) I constantly teach this. Asour enemy comes and presents us with temptation to sinand drag us down, God has promised never to allow us to be tempted beyond our limit of endurance. This meansthat we will never be tempted beyond our ability to say NOto the temptation. This also means that when we aretempted to sin that if we do fall it is because we either willfully chose to do so or we forgot the other half of thisverse. The latter half says that God always provides a wayof escape, a way out of the temptation so that we do notHAVE to sin.

So, dear brethren, when we find ourselves in such asituation as my friend in this article, we are without excusebefore God. There is no necessity to shame Him before men. We must always be aware WHO we arin Christ as well as WHOSE we are (and that is Christs!). As an ambassador representing both theKing and the Kingdom of God we have an awesome responsibility to live holy here in this life beforemen. Jesus says, Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, andglorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16) The apostle Paul also warns us, Let notthen your good be evil spoken of. (Romans 14:16)

John Payne


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Ur of the ChaldeesHome of Abraham

Ur was an ancient city in southern Mesopotamia in what is modern day Iraq, located near themouth (at the time) of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers on the Persian Gulf and close to Eridu. It is

considered to be one of the earliest known civilizations in world history. Because of marineregression, the remains are now well inland in present day Iraq, south of the Euphrates on its rightbank, and named Tell el-Mukayyar, near the city of Nasiriyah and south of Baghdad.

The site is marked by the ruins of a ziggurat, still largely intact, and by settlement mounds.The ziggurat of Ur is a temple of Nanna, the moon deity in Sumerian mythology, and has two stagesconstructed from brick. In the lower stage the bricks are joined together with bitumen, in the upperstage they are joined with mortar. The Sumerian name for this city was Urim. At one time, circa2300BC, it was the largest city in the world with an estimated population of about 65,000. Below arepictures from the archaeological site as well as a satellite photo of Ur as it appears from approximately1,600 feet up, courtesy of Google Earth.


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Homeward Bound is published by Homeward Bound Ministries, Post Office Box 3351, Milford, Connecticut,

USA, 06460. Homeward Bound is a teaching ministry attempting to edify the body of Christ, prepare men and

women to serve in the Great Commission and furnish articles of timely interest and content relevant to our dayand the issues we face in our daily walk with Christ. We invite you to write to us and ask questions regarding

the Bible and matters of faith, and submit articles, testimonies or other pieces for publication that glorify God

Thank you for taking the time to read this issue of Homeward Bound!

2008 Homeward Bound Ministries

Homeward Bound Ministries Newsletter V12N05

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