Down in the spirit of my heart; down deep where the Holy Spirit dwells, behind all knowledge, behind all thoughts, behind all passing feelings, and passing moments, behind all economic concerns, and petty struggles of life:–the ground of all that I do, is based on a simple urgent conviction: I WANT TO RESCUE THE PERISHING!

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.
…
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.[1]

And although “duty demands it,” in my heart I feel it. Do you feel it too? The Holy Spirit put it in me the day I first felt I was saved from the wrath of God and Hell (Romans 5:9). From the moment I first repented from all sin and believed Jesus took the punishment for my sins. I have been given a spiritual sight to see the flames of Hell; not a physical sight, I don’t physically see Hell-fire. But the Holy Spirit put the sight in my soul from the moment I was first saved; and He gave me a security in the Cross that by my repentance and faith in Jesus, my sins ARE forgiven:–and a strong faith-based (or revelation-based) desire to preach the Gospel to all of mankind (Mark 16:15), as much as possible, before I die:–if I might just gain the ear of a few perishing souls, drowning in the sea of sin. Maybe it’s because I have police officers in my line that I have these feelings, I don’t know; a heroic, loving, urgent desire to save dying people in grave danger. It orients everything I see. At times I wonder why so many pastors seemingly don’t see this. It seems they don’t have faith in Hell; they don’t believe in Hell; and because of that, they don’t believe in salvation from it, and conclusively, don’t believe in the Gospel. Jesus told Nicodemus, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again” (John 3:3). The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news that Jesus came to save sinners from the eternal wrath of God in the flames of Hell; and He has provided a narrow way out:–the CROSS of JESUS. “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it” (Matthew 7:13). All who repent from sin and believe that Jesus bore the anger of God at our sins on the cross, will receive forgiveness of sins, and eternal life, provided they continue in repentance and faith (Romans 11:22). “‘He himself bore our sins’ in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by His wounds you have been healed’” (1 Peter 2:24).

The “Love” Gospel vs. The Gospel of Jesus Christ

True Christian love seeks and saves the lost! (Luke 19:10). It doesn’t settle for natural friendships and relationships; nor does it boast in one’s social skills. Love simply seeks to point men away from Hell and towards Jesus.

A different message is being preached in pulpits today. It’s a message of how much God loves everyone—it’s a trend, it’s a fad, and will peter out in time, as do all sweet-sounding heresies; it’s a syrupy hermeneutic influenced by psychology: unconditional, continual love: “God is love” (1 John 4:8), a cupidic, sentimental love, that does not speak out against sin, that accepts the sinner “just as I am,” without demanding, or providing, the necessary means for moral transformation by repentance and faith in the blood of Jesus. This is not the love of God spoken of in the Bible! God’s love is universal, but so are His holiness and justice. And unless pastors and elders and Christians in churches get a hold of this, they will never realize that they are worshiping a love idol. A love-god of their own imagination. The real God is “angry with the wicked every day” (Psalm 7:11). But this new love-god being spoken of in this nation’s churches has no Ten Commandments, no Day of Judgment, and virtually no Hell: maybe “eternal separation from God” and His love, but never the eternal Hell-fire that Jesus spoke of in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. This is a different god than the one Jesus taught about; a god with no Hell is not the God of Jesus:–and woe to the man who follows any crafty idol, a “loving” one or otherwise, other than the God that is revealed through Jesus Christ in the Synoptic Gospels. I trust Jesus; and I will choose to take Him at His Word; why should I mince the words of Jesus, when He went through all the trouble of suffering and dying on the cross for me and the whole world? “‘Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?’ ‘We can,’ they answered” (Matthew 20:22). JESUS SAID:

Matthew 5:22: “I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be IN DANGER OF HELL FIRE.”

Matthew 5:28-29: “I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for YOUR WHOLE BODY TO BE CAST INTO HELL.”

Matthew 10:28: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, BE AFRAID OF THE ONE WHO CAN DESTROY BOTH SOUL AND BODY IN HELL.”

Matthew 18:8: “It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be THROWN INTO ETERNAL FIRE.”

Mark 9:42-28: “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, TO GO TO HELL, INTO THE FIRE THAT SHALL NEVER BE QUENCHED—where

‘THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE,
And the fire is not quenched.’

And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be CAST INTO HELL, into the fire that shall never be quenched—where

‘Their worm does not die,
And the fire is not quenched.’

And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be CAST INTO HELL FIRE—where

‘Their worm does not die,
And the fire is not quenched.’

All of these warnings come from the Captain of Our Salvation, Jesus Christ! (Hebrews 2:10). He is the One in charge of the armies of Heaven (Revelation 19:14). He is the One who will judge the living and the dead (2 Timothy 4:1). JESUS is the One in charge of sending men to and saving men from Hell. So, better to be saved at the Mercy Seat of the Cross in this life, than condemned at the Judgment Seat of Christ in the next (Romans 3:25; 2 Corinthians 5:10). Hear me! I am trying to RESCUE your perishing souls in DANGER! Do you believe you have a soul? Jesus did.

Do you see, do you see–all the people sinking down?
Don’t you care, don’t you care–are you gonna let them drown?[2]

George wandering like a lost soul among the tombstones, Clarence trotting at his heels. Again George stops to stare with frightened eyes at a tombstone. Upon it is engraved a name, Harry Bailey. Feverishly George scrapes away the snow covering the rest of the inscription, and we read: IN MEMORY OF OUR BELOVED SON –– HARRY BAILEY –– 1911-1919. “Your brother, Harry Bailey, broke through the ice and was drowned at the age of nine.” George jumps up. “That’s a lie! Harry Bailey went to war! He got the Congressional Medal of Honor! He saved the lives of every man on that”–“Every man on that transport died. Harry wasn’t there to save them because you weren’t there to save Harry. You see, George, you really had a wonderful life. Don’t you see what a mistake it would be to throw it away?”[3]

Jude 1:23: “OTHERS SAVE WITH FEAR, PULLING THEM OUT OF THE FIRE.”

There’s only one way to do this. Hell is not a flood of water, but of fire. The right way to save others is not by non-judgmental, sentimental friendships and relationships; not by anything passive or worldly-minded. People who would take such an apathetic approach must not see either the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of the devil. There’s only one way; and the matter is URGENT…

Mark 16:15: “PREACH THE GOSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE!“

—–

[1] Fanny Crosby, “Rescue the Perishing,” 1869.

[2] Keith Green, “Asleep in the Light,” 1978.

[3] It’s a Wonderful Life (1946).