Pastor A

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

All else pales beside knowing and doing His bidding. This was Paul’s testimony even as he neared the end of his life and ministry. Consider Acts 20:24, “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.“

In 1956, five young missionaries journeyed deep into the Amazon jungles to tell the good news of Jesus Christ to a tribe known as the Aucas. After just a few days, the primitive Aucas unexpectedly attacked and killed the missionaries. A search party eventually recovered their bodies and returned them to the United States for burial. Then, much to the surprise of many people, the wives and a sister of the slain men went back into the jungle to reach the same tribe responsible for killing their loved ones.

This time, however, the Aucas received Jesus Christ. In reporting on the deaths of the missionaries, Life magazine branded them “fools.” What makes this so interesting is that one of the five wrote in his diary a short time before his death: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

This is what death to self is all about… giving up a life you cannot keep  {no matter how hard you try, or how well you plan it, or how much you achieve in it}  to gain the eternal reward of those who do the will of God regardless of the cost.

One of the most prevelent beliefs in the world today is that God does not exist. More than one-third of the total world population is under the control or influence of governmental systems which religiously preach a “no religion” gospel. A Russian astronaut returned to earth from a brief ride in space and announced that God does not exist because “I didn’t see Him up there.”

Madalyn Murray O’Hair wielded enough power to force the removal of classroom prayer and Bible reading from the American public school system. She loudly bellowed protests against Christians who spoke up for their faith; yet, she fanatically defended her faith in no faith.

Every year thousands of new students enter college simply taking for granted that God exists; but soon come to feel there is really no basis for their belief. Others begin with a genuine, positive faith and leave with nothing but a shattered hope and dulled memory. Why does this happen? An observer explains how this change in attitude is caused:

“The opinion of an authority, the professor, is accepted as evidence without investigating his credentials, the facts which led to his conclusions, and the basic assumptions which colored his interpretation of the facts. Consequently, a student may accept his professor’s conclusions just as he previously accepted the Christian position without a thorough understanding of it.“

The belief that there is no God is really one of the most ridiculous of all possible concepts; because, to claim that there is no God is to claim that you know everything there is to know. It is impossible to prove that God does not exist. One of the laws of logic states that a negative cannot be proven. For one to state that there is no God, it would be necessary to have been everywhere in and out of the universe.

The atheist is actually the worst kind of know-it-all in the world. He reminds us of the words of Psalm 14:1 which warn, “The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.“