Sincerity Seeking Heaven

SINCERITY SEEKING HEAVEN
Rhoderick D. Ice
© 1995

Ben Trying had lived a reasonable life. He had been mostly honest and he treated his wife and children reasonably well. He had "obeyed the gospel," [a code phrase for accepting Christ and being baptized] when a young teenager, living in a rural area. Yet he felt without God, lost and hopeless. As he looked back over his life, he could find nothing that gave him assurance and confidence. He had been a church-member, present at some of the services. But, did he know Jesus? Was he really saved? He knew he needed help. If Jesus came tonight, he feared he would be lost.

His story begins and ends in Red Rose Hospital - in intensive care. Ben had been trying to be a Christian. He had been trying to be good. He wanted to believe, to have faith, to break through - but it all seemed useless, hopeless. Now he lay flat on his back, and time was running out. His three religious sisters tried to help him. Each claimed to be a Christian. Each had come to comfort and console their dear brother in this moment of crisis. If he could just come to know that he could be saved.

They were in the ICU waiting room.

"You can see him now," the nurse said to one of the sisters, Miss Nebulous N. Tangible. "You have three minutes." She quietly followed the nurse into the room.

She sat by his bed and looked into his eyes. He seemed so distraught and unhappy. He clutched her hand and moaned: "Please, Sis, help me break through...I don't... have much time...Help me to believe...Please help me...My time has come."

But how could she help? What could she do? She took a deep breath. "Ben, Ben, listen to me. You must give your heart to Jesus, quickly!"

Ben moved his hand over his heart and looked puzzled.

"You must reach out," she continued. "Reach out your hand and take His, then invite Him into your heart. You must behold the Lamb and turn away from sin and surrender all."

Confusion showed on Ben's face, so she continued. "You must fall on the Rock! You must rely on His merits and repent of your sins, then accept freely of His unconquerable robe of righteousness. This is your covering - your wedding garment. It is yours, Ben, when you repent and believe!"

A mournful sigh escaped his lips, and he trembled in despair.

The nurse came to the door. "Miss Nebulous, your time is up."

Miss Solid Ann Concrete, the second sister, sat at his beside. Before she could speak, Ben looked frantically at her and with great effort forced out these words: "O Sis, please help me...Help me to believe...I'm trying...to break through ... but I can't...I can't."

She leaned over and looked in his face. It showed the anxiousness of his heart. She took his trembling hand and said, "Ben, I can only tell you what the Bible says about the kind of people that will go to heaven. Their behavior will be in distinct contrast to that of the world. If you want to be there...well, it's up to you. But in order for you to have hope and in order for you to be a Christian, you must first renounce your old life of sin - your life of wickedness and selfishness. Your social habits - your behavior and conversation - must be drastically changed. Everything you do has got to go. It's evil. It's no good. I have to tell you the truth. You must give up your gambling. Stop smoking. Stop drinking. Quit going to those terrible bars and nightclubs. Change your habit patterns. Don't associate with your old friends. Make new ones. Lose all that weight. Quit being a glutton. Make your body a fit place for the Lord to dwell. Allow only good and uplifting thoughts to enter your mind. Stop reading those vile magazines and dirty stories. Instead, read the Bible. Fill your mind with things that are pure and lovely. Dwell on things in heaven. Love the Lord and hate evil with perfect hatred and...and... Ben!... Ben!...Are you listening?...Ben?... Are you all right? Nurse! Nurse!"

Ben gasped for breath. He choked and gagged. The nurse quickly took his pulse. "Could you wait outside, please," she said. "He's...almost...gone."

Moments later the nurse beckoned to the last sister. "Are you Ben's other sister? You don't have much time. And neither does he."

"I understand, nurse," she said" "Thank you so very much."

Sitting beside her precious brother, Miss Faith N. Christ took Ben's hand and prayed silently that her words would be an aroma of life unto life for her poor brother. She looked into his eyes with hope and courage.

"Ben, are you ready to die?"

"No...I'm not ready, Sis,...but I'm trying to be ready... I'm...trying to break through...I'm trying to believe,...Sis." He wrung his hands, and he wept and sighed and shook his head.
"But it's no use...the righteous are scarcely saved...I just can't believe...I just can't break through... I've tried as hard as I can - but it's no use...I can only think of my sins and my faults...It's no use, no use."

Faith leaned toward him. "My dear brother, I understand how you feel. Would you just listen?"

As Ben calmed down, she began to speak. "Ben, even while we were sinful, God showed how much He loved us by having Christ die for us. Ben, the Father gave His only begotten Son for you! He loved you and chose you to be with Him in eternity. All of heaven was emptied and the treasures of heaven were given for you! You have been redeemed, forgiven and accepted in Jesus, His Son. Yes, God the Father has done all this for you by His grace. Ben, it is God's riches, at Christ's expense, by grace alone. Two thousand years ago you were saved by Christ - His Cross & Resurrection. Two thousand years ago, when the fullness of the time had come, God the Son, your Savior Jesus, left heaven because all of its stupendous glory was not a place to be desired while you were lost and unforgiven. He, whom the angels loved and worshipped, stepped down from His exalted throne and position, and came to this dark planet earth."

Ben moaned and moved his head.

She reached her hand to his forehead.

"Ben, at Heaven's appointed hour, He was born in a lowly stable for you. He grew up, lived, and suffered shame and humiliation as the rejected One in order that you might be the accepted one. For your sake He became poor that through His poverty you might be rich! He was treated the way that you deserve for your sins, that you might be treated the way He deserves as God's Son. An old song says: 'Jesus paid it all! All to Him I owe! Sin had left a crimson stain; He washed it white as snow!'

In the Great Commission, Jesus sent out the disciples to the east and to the west with His sacred and everlasting message of how people can be saved forever. Sin was dealt with once and for all two thousand years ago at His Cross & Resurrection. He wore thorns that you might wear the crown of life. The vinegar and gall were His that the honey and sweet might be yours. And by His crucifixion and death He has taken your sins and put them in the tomb, burying the old life of failure forever. He destroyed death, defeated the devil, shut the gates of hell, and opened paradise. We are saved by His works and His righteousness - not our own. He rose to life again the third day, and by the power of His Cross & Resurrection, He has taken that perfect, flawless Life and Righteousness to the Throne of God. And Ben, when the Father received, honored and embraced Jesus back, it was the same as if you were received, honored, embraced and accepted, because your humanity was constituted in Him. Ben, through the Doing and Dying of Jesus, the victory is accomplished. God the Son has reconciled you to the Father. The Son has saved you and all who will accept Him by His life and death."

"And that's not all, my precious brother. Even now God the Holy Spirit is present to give you faith through the hearing of the Gospel. It is His work to convict us of sin, righteousness and judgment. It is His work to create faith in our hearts as the Gospel is heard. He loves you and will comfort you. The Spirit causes us to see the goodness of the Father in giving His Son, which leads us to repentance and faith in His amazing kindness and love. We love Him because He first loved us!"

"Ben, God the Father loves you and saves you by His amazing kindness in giving you His Only Son. God the Son loves you and saves you by giving you His life, His death - His Doing & Dying & Raising to life again. God the Holy Spirit loves you and saves you by giving you faith to accept the fact that your sins were paid for on the Cross. You may believe on the name of the Son of God so that you may know, Ben, that you have eternal life, and that this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life."

Now, Ben really had believed, but as he heard the everlasting Gospel, faith was kindled in his heart. By the light provided by the Holy Spirit, he saw that he was accepted because Jesus is accepted by God. Jesus is his personal Representative and his Righteousness at the Father's right hand. He saw that, "Will God accept me?" was the wrong question. Rather, "Will I accept the fact that I've been accepted?" He was amazed that sinners were entitled to come to Jesus! In Jesus - bruised, mocked, and hanging on the cross - he saw the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! He knew the truth of what Paul wrote: "If you belong to Christ Jesus, you won't be punished." Gratitude swelled in his heart for Jesus. Tears rolled down his cheeks. Joy filled his soul. Melted and subdued, a smile broke out on his face as he said: "I see it!..I see... that... it... was... for me! I accept it. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God! I claim His righteousness and His victory!"

That was Ben's last message of mercy. That night he was called home. He never lived to see another day. God raised Ben up to eternal life! "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!"