"To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you" (2 Cor. 10:16). These words, while they set forth the largeheartedness of the self-denying and devoted apostle, do also furnish a fine model for the evangelist in every age. The divinely-qualified and divinely-sent evangelist will fix his eye upon "the world." From house to house, from street to street, from city to city, from province to province, from kingdom to kingdom, from continent to continent, from pole to pole_such is the range of the "good news" and the publisher thereof. "The regions beyond" must ever be the grand gospel motto. No sooner has the gospel lamp cast its cheering beams over a district than the bearer of that lamp must think of the regions beyond. Thus the work goes on. Thus the mighty tide of grace rolls, in enlightening and saving power, over a dark world which lies in "the valley of the shadow of death."

Christian reader, are you thinking of "the regions beyond you"? This expression may, in your case, mean the next house, the next street, the next village, the next city, the next country, or the next continent. The application is for your own heart to ponder. Now I am not saying that you should abandon your present post, at least not until you are fully persuaded that your work at the post is done. But remember, the gospel plow should never stand still. "Onward" is the motto of every true evangelist. Let the shepherds abide by the flocks; but let the evangelists go here and there to gather the sheep. This is the design of the gospel. This should be the object of the evangelist as he sighs after "the regions beyond." When Caesar beheld, from the coast of Gaul, the white cliffs of Britain, he earnestly longed to carry his arms there. The evangelist, on the other hand, as he casts his eye over the map of the world, longs to carry the gospel of peace into regions which have heretofore been wrapped in midnight gloom, covered with the dark mantle of superstition, or blasted beneath the withering influences of "a form of godliness without the power."

It would be a profitable question for many of us to put to ourselves, how far are we discharging our holy responsibilities to "the regions beyond." I believe the Christian who is not cultivating and manifesting an evangelistic spirit is in a truly deplorable condition. I believe, too, that the assembly which is not cultivating and manifesting an evangelistic spirit is in a dead state. One of the truest marks of spiritual growth and prosperity, whether in an individual or in an assembly, is earnest anxiety after the conversion of souls. It is hard to believe that "the word of Christ" is "dwelling richly" in anyone who is not making some effort to impart that word to his fellow-sinners. It matters not what may be the amount of the effort; it may be to drop a few words in the ear of a friend, to give a tract, to pen a note, to breathe a prayer. But one thing is certain, namely, that a healthy, vigorous Christian will be |an evangelistic Christian_a teller of good news_one whose sympathies, desires, and energies are ever going forth toward "the regions beyond."

Whether the reader be an evangelist or not, I would earnestly entreat him to examine how far he is seeking to further the gospel of Christ. We must not stand idle. Time is short! Eternity is rapidly approaching! The Master is most worthy! Souls are most precious! The season for work will soon close! Let us, then, in the name of the Lord, be up and doing. And when we have done what we can in the regions around, let us carry the precious seed into "the regions beyond."

(From "Papers on Evangelization" in Miscellaneous Writings, Vol. 3.)

The apostle Paul addresses the Galatian assembly in regard to a serious doctrinal error which he refers to as "another gospel" that he did not preach. He states that some among them "would pervert the gospel of Christ" (Gal. 1:6,7). He describes the Galatian error in two forms. The first is the teaching that obedience to the law is mingled with faith as the ground of the believer’s justification; the second, that the justified believer is made perfect by keeping the law. In regard to this error Paul states, "If any man preach any other gospel unto you than ye have received [as he describes in this epistle], let him be accursed" (1:9). And he strongly repeats the statement as if to warn believers of this dangerous doctrine which, no doubt, is misleading to souls seeking true salvation.

What then is the true gospel of Jesus Christ that the apostle Paul preached? We read in this very Epistle to the Galatians:"Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified…. I am crucified with Christ:nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God; for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain" (2:16,20,21).

Again, in chapter 3 of Galatians we read:"But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident:for, The just shall live by faith. … If there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. . . . For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus" (verses 11,21,22,26).

If the reader can clearly understand these portions of Scripture, then he may ask why there appears to be a conflict in the Epistle of James, chapter 2:"What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? . . . Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works; show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works" (verses 14-18). The key to these verses is the word "say"’:"Though a man say …" The subject of James 2 is how one distinguishes a true believer from the mere professor. This chapter does not give the criteria for obtaining salvation as so many people have grossly misinterpreted it to mean.

The Holy Spirit in the Epistle of James shows how we can recognize the true believer in Christ on the basis of his works or the fruit of the Spirit in him (Gal. 5:22,23). It is a method for man to use in assessing genuine salvation rather than a method of salvation itself. In this very chapter, James 2, we find statements as to the true way of salvation:"Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor [or humble] of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him?" (verse 5; see also Matt. 5:3 and 19:16-26). Also, "Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness" (verse 23).

James 2:22 states that the works of a true believer, like Abraham, reveal the true faith of the believer. We read in Gen. 15:6 that Abraham believed in the Lord and it was imputed as righteousness unto him; and this occurred some 40 years before he offered up Isaac his son. So we ask, what particular work or how many works would be imputed as our righteousness? The Scriptures know no such language! On the contrary, it is written, "They that are in the flesh cannot please God" (Rom. 8:8). And it is written, "Without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him" (Heb. 11:6).

The Lord Jesus illustrates the relationship of faith to works so clearly in Matt. 5:16 when He says:"Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven." It is important to notice here that the "Light" is the Lord Jesus dwelling in the believer by faith as it is written in John 1:4, "In Him [Christ] was life; and the life was the light of men." We know that only those who have trusted in Him have that Light. So James 2 is saying that either your light or faith is hid (see Matt. 5:14-16), not being accompanied by works, or that there is no light, faith, or spiritual life at all, which is indicative of the unbeliever.

It is imperative that we do not confuse our new birth with Christian service or walk. Our new birth is based solely upon the finished work of Christ and His shed blood (see John 19:30). James 2:14-26 is indicating that our faith in Christ and consequent justification are always evidenced by our spiritual walk and outward service for Christ. The Galatian error, as it is with so many today, was in failing to make this vital distinction between our new birth by faith in Christ and our Christian walk once we are saved.

Let us consider the following analogy in connection with new birth:Suppose we place a lifelike doll beside a living baby. Readily we see the true life signs such as breathing, crying, laughing, kicking, seeing, hearing, etc. God’s Spirit has produced life in this fashion just as He has provided for our new birth in Christ Jesus (John 1:12,13; 3:5). True, the devil has many good imitations, but there is only one source of life, both physically and spiritually, and both are the gift of God.

Furthermore, what is born can never be unborn. Some will say, "True, but one can die." That is only true of our natural birth and that is our doing, not God’s. God is the God of the living (Luke 20:38), not willing that any should perish (2 Pet. 3:9). He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 33:11). Those that are born again spiritually can never die. This is a promise from the Lord Himself:"Whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die" (John 11:26). He also said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Heb. 13:5). The true believer also has the confidence and joy that Christ is the Good Shepherd (John 10). He does not lose sheep. He recovers His stray sheep either in life or in death. The term "sheep" in Scripture is always descriptive of the believer, and once a sheep, always a sheep.

We may lose our crown or rewards just as it is so in this life, but that never changes our birth status. Once a son or daughter of man or God, so is it always. There is no record in Scripture of God deserting His own. "If we are unfaithful, He abides faithful, for He cannot deny Himself" (2 Tim. 2:13 JND). There is no record of believers being removed from Christ’s body, nor is there a record of the Holy Spirit ever removed from dwelling in a believer.

However, the believer’s judgment is carried out both in this life and at the judgment seat of Christ (see 1 Cor. 11; 2 Cor. 5:10; Gal. 6:7). On the one hand it is true that "There is … no condemnation [or judgment] to them which are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1); but at the same time God chastens His sons in this present life (Heb. 12:5-11) and will also review the lives of all of us at the judgment seat of Christ. The Corinthian fornicator was judged in like manner. His flesh was given over to Satan, but his spirit was preserved in the Lord (1 Cor. 5:5).

In all of the gospel accounts of the Lord Jesus Christ healing the sick He never said, "Thy faith and/or works have healed or saved thee," On the contrary, it was always, "Thy faith hath healed or saved thee." In James 5:15 we read, "The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up." It is His work and our faith in Him that heals and saves.

James 2:19 which states that "the devils also believe and tremble" is also grossly misapplied by the "Christ plus works" advocates. For we read in Matt. 8:29 and 25:41 that the demons know Jesus is the Son of God and they know (believe) that a final judgment is awaiting them. They have good reason to tremble just as the unrepentant sinners will tremble when they stand at the great white throne of God’s final judgment. The demons believe because they have seen God’s wrath and they know He will fulfill His word.

What James is saying here, I believe, is that merely believing in Christ Jesus as a matter of knowledge or history will not save a person. There are many in that category today! There must be a true repentance of sin, a trusting in the shed blood of Christ alone to save. Anything in addition to or short of this fact becomes the curse of "another gospel." There must be evidence of the new creature in Christ in order for there to be peace. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor. 5:17).

Many would-be professing Christians today are what James is describing. They know the historical and social Christ, but not the saving Christ. There is no apparent change in their daily habits or lifestyle. Beware! These signs serve as a warning that one may not be saved at all.

In closing, we would appeal to the unsaved reader that it is faith in the finished work of Christ alone that determines our salvation, and none of our own efforts. We urge you, trust in Christ alone, today!

"Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" was the first question asked by Saul of Tarsus when the Lord first revealed Himself to him on the road to Damascus. And such was the sense of the Saviour’s grace toward him afterwards, that he became a most devoted servant, and is considered a good example of following Christ.

Now service to our Lord is not the privilege of a few only, but of all God’s children. In saying this we have young believers particularly in mind, as they have the needed physical and mental energy. Each young Christian, we believe, should seek some particular line of work for Christ, such as taking a Sunday school class, visiting the sick, the hospitals, or the jails, and witnessing for the Lord.

But the department of Christian work of which we wish to speak in particular is that of tract distribution_a service for all. The circulation of gospel tracts should commend itself to Christians desirous of furthering the knowledge of the truth among men because this work is open to all. No special gift is required, nor is it necessary to possess an unusual degree of physical strength. Any one with a heart for it can do it. Some may have little knowledge and are not apt at approaching strangers. This should be no hindrance, for usually only a kind word is necessary; sometimes the less said the better. Besides, no great courage is required in certain forms of tract work. One can mail suited tracts to those who have been bereaved of their loved ones, using an obituary column to draw from. Tracts may be slipped under doors or put in some place where they will almost certainly be picked up. Of course, the better and more effective way is to hand them to the person directly with a wise and kind word accompanied by prayer. Think of the Lord’s gracious eye upon you, and the value of the soul to whom you present God’s way of salvation. It will enable you to rise above timidity and thoughts of yourself.

(In Help and Food, Vol. 41.)

We are truly thankful for the awakening that appears in many quarters concerning the subject of repentance and faith and we hope this will produce fruitful and glorious results for eternity. We have suffered great loss, we are persuaded, because there has been lack of wisdom and exercise in giving repentance its right place; and the wonder now is that so many of us have in measure neglected it, when the Word of truth gives it so prominent a place, and leaves us in no uncertainty as to the order of proclaiming it.

Whether in the past or present dispensations (before law, under law, or now under grace), ever since the fall of man (Gen. 3), men have become a prey to sin. All like sheep have followed their own way, but God’s call has been loud and long to men on every hand. The light of His Word, wherever it penetrates, leads distinctly, and with no uncertain sound it cries, "Repent, repent!" This was the voice of the Spirit in the prophets of old; it was the special mission of John the Baptist; and when the Saviour Himself appeared, His call to men was, "Repent, ye, and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15). Later on when He sent out the twelve, they went out and preached that men should repent (Mark 6:12); and His answer to those who spoke to Him concerning the dreadful end of the Galileans was, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:1-5).

Now let us note the order in which the Holy Spirit presents that truth to us. "Repent ye, and believe the gospel" was the divine order in which the Lord Himself presented it; and if Scripture is closely followed, this is the divine order always. At the beginning of this subject let us state, however, that repentance is not the gospel. We need to distinguish with care, yet not separate, the two themes. We truly believe that this is where mistakes have been made; the deep, searching, penetrating effect of the Word of God has been hindered and clouded by not rightly understanding and giving repentance its true place in preaching.

The message of repentance is the loud and faithful call of a righteous God to His disobedient and sinful creatures_responsible creatures. He has entrusted the preaching of it to the evangelist as he goes forth among the masses of mankind. It is a message sent to sinners:"I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Matt. 9:13). This is where God’s work begins in souls; just as the plow prepares the ground for the seed, it is the breakdown of the sinner which prepares the heart and the conscience to receive the gospel. The same hand that holds the plow also sows the precious seed which produces new life with its golden harvest. The plow and the seed basket are not one and the same thing. They are to be rightly distinguished, but not separated. To use one without the other would be fatal; there would be no harvest.

As is God’s order in nature, so, we believe, is also His order in spiritual things. Repentance comes first; in order that the work be solid and abiding, and that souls be not deceived or led into too free a way of confessing Christ, the conscience must be plowed. We have often heard the expression, "I believe in the Lord," and with yet no apparent conscience about sin. Of this danger we would be warned, and seek also to warn others. We would warn everyone who preaches the Word, as well as Sunday school teachers and parents:Look for exercise of heart and conscience in every case of professed conversion, because it is written, "God . . . commandeth all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30).

Repentance, let us repeat, is the work of the Holy Spirit in sinners. It may be deeper with some than with others; it will grow deeper in all as they go on with God. But let us not accept a profession of salvation as genuine apart from manifest repentance.

But what is repentance? We have already quoted from the words of the Lord Himself that it is sinners who are called to it; hence it is a work of the Spirit of God with sinners. It is the breakdown of the responsible man before God, and the confession of what he is, as very strikingly illustrated in the case of the publican in the temple (Luke 18:13). When man is brought into God’s presence by the Spirit of God, and gets a right view of himself and his sins, there will be conviction, and confession too_the soul gives in and is conquered. This is repentance; and now is seen the great struggle with the enemy of souls who ever seeks to hinder men from it. It is the time when the preacher needs to be especially alive, needs to be of a specially prayerful spirit. When the cry is heard, "I have sinned," the answer is readily given, "Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom" (Job 33:24). New birth now introduces the soul into a new relationship with God; the man is no more a sinner, but a child of God; forgiveness of sins and salvation are his. God, who is sovereign in all His works, may use various means to produce this_to reach the conscience and heart of man_but whatever means He uses, all can be said to be His goodness, for it is "the goodness of God that leadeth thee to repentance." It may be an earnest warning of the judgment to come, an appeal as from God’s love, the holding up of the cross and the work wrought there by the Son of God, the second coming of the Lord, or any other part of the truth, to subdue man’s spirit. Whatever it may be, the Spirit uses it as He wills, but all to get at the heart and conscience of man, and lead him to repentance.

The soul is thus made ready for the good seed of the gospel; and when this gospel message is received by faith into the heart, life_new life_and salvation follow. Hence the Scripture order is repentance first, and remission of sins second (Luke 24:47); repentance and conversion (Acts 3:19); repentance unto life (Acts 11:18); repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21); and repentance to salvation (2 Cor. 7:10). Repentance is a divine work, and must not be confounded with divine life. Repentance is connected with the conviction of sin, divine life with new birth. One is the closing up of the old life and history; the other, the beginning of the new.

Oh that we were everywhere alive to the necessity of such work as this! A servant of Christ remarked some time ago, after this truth of repentance had been preached, "I see my mistake. I have preached the gospel, but it has been like sowing seed upon the unbroken soil of the prairie. I have not been using the plow, and there has been no breaking up_ hence no fruit." Let these words carry weight. Let us, in all our service, be definite and more decided in our appeals to men. Let us yearn over sinners, plead with them, and warn them. Let the compassion of Christ fill our hearts. Let His tears run from our eyes, His love constrain us, and remember in this earnest work that preaching is not teaching, nor mere expositions of Scripture, but, with the Scriptures in hand, a heart-to-heart contact with men. When souls are broken down it is an easy matter to unfold the gospel; the heart is ready then, the soil is prepared, and the precious seed of the gospel has but to be sown to produce readily new birth and new life.

Do we really believe in hell? No doubt we hold proper Biblical doctrines concerning hell. But do we really believe hell is terrible, hell is eternal, and thousands of people around us are doomed to spend eternity there? Have we ever had an insight into what it will be like to spend eternity in the blackness of darkness, completely separated from God and from all light and all love?

It is rather ironic that the sects which claim that there is no hell (for example, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Mormons, and the Seventh-Day Adventists) are extremely active in evangelism, while many people who hold all the right doctrines seem content to let men go on to hell, since they make little or no effort to change the course of the unconverted.

We must have compassion on the lost. Where are the "weeping prophets" or "weeping preachers" for whom the thought of men and women in hell is so terrible that they will cry to God for the souls of the lost? We must rid ourselves of complacency. We must overcome inertia, fear, self-indulgence, or whatever is holding us back from telling to all we can their frightful danger.

We must pray. We must wrestle in prayer, for we are in conflict with a determined and desperate enemy. Satan knows his time is running out as well as time for lost men. He is using every possible weapon to ensnare men’s minds. Whereas in so-called Christian societies he may previously have worked mainly as an "angel of light," he is revealing his true nature_the power of darkness_in the present day. Men and women are yielding to his temptations as never before. We must ask the Lord to prevent Satan’s influence over those to whom we bring the gospel, for He it was who triumphed over the powers of darkness at the cross (Col. 2:15).

If we really believe in hell, let us act as if we believed. Proper doctrine without love, compassion, and action is a cold, useless thing, as offensive to God as to the world.

(Reprinted from Words of Truth, Vol. 16)