"WHAT CAN WE SAY?"

There is a beautiful song that we sing which goes something like this:

WHAT IF IN THE BETTER LAND
BEFORE THE BAR WE STAND
AND SOME POOR LOST ONE THERE...
SHOULD CRY IN DEEP DESPAIR--
YOU NEVER MENTIONED HIM TO ME!

How often I think of that song. It reminds me of the terrible responsibility I have to bring lost souls to Christ. I am given a great work by the Almighty. He has given the gospel into my hands to transmit it to others. What if I let down in my duty. What if I fail to do all I can to bring others to Christ?

I must tell you that it makes me tremble when I think that I might be the cause of one being saved or lost. How great a responsibility. And, you know, the Lord did not place this job with the angels. He did not say that he would thunder from heaven and tell people what to do...He placed the gospel in human hands. He trusted the gospel to me and to you. What shall our answer be in judgment for the way we have accepted this work?

In the Old Testament, we have a story told concerning the son of a certain woman in Shunem. This story is found in 2 Kings 4.

It so happened that this child died. The woman took his body and laid it upon the bed of the man of God. She then had her husband send a servant and a donkey to her because she had to hurry to see the man of God. The man of God and his servant, Gehazi, were on mount Carmel. Evidently, Elisha could see her coming from some way off. He told his servant to go and to say to the woman..."Woman is it well with you; is it well with your husband; and, is it well with your child.

The woman said little to Gehazi but continued until she came to where the man of God was located. She fell at his feet and took hold of his legs and would not let go. Gehazi came forward to push her away, but Elisha said..."Leave her alone. She is in great sorrow." Then, the woman told Elisha what had happened. Elisha told Gehazi to take his staff and go on and lay it upon the body of the child. But, the woman would not allow that to be the end of the story.

"As the Lord lives, and as thy soul lives, I will not leave thee."

In other words, this woman knew that it would take the personal touch from the man of God to bring life back to her child. And, she was right.

Remember how Gehazi went on before and laid the staff upon the child, but the child was dead. So, the scriptures tell us that when the man of God came into the house, he went up into the room where the child was laid upon the bed and the child WAS DEAD.

Then, the man of God lay himself down upon that child. He put his eyes upon the child's eyes; he put his mouth upon the child's mouth; and, he put his hands upon the child's hands. He got up and went downstairs and walked to and fro, then he went back up to the bedroom and lay himself upon that child again. The child's flesh waxed warm. The child sneezed seven times.

The man of God called his servant and said: "Call that Shunammite woman."

Elisha then gave that child back to his mother. That mother cried with joy and thank the man of God and went out.

Folks you do get the point, don't you? Sure you do. It takes the personal touch to bring life into the dead body. People are dead in sin. They need the new life that can only come when we give them the truth of God's word. Salvation is spoken of as a "new creature" in Christ! A person was dead...now, they are alive.

God has given us the power to bring life to dead souls. The power is the gospel (Romans 1:16). When we proclaim the Christ and people obey, then they will live.

Our Lord said: "Go and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned" (Mark 16:15,16).

- Dan Carter