More Than Medicine
More Than Medicine
DWDP - A Line Unseen
This episode of More Than Medicine takes you through the harrowing journey of Mr. B, a patient who faced multiple heart attacks and the looming specter of death, all while grappling with his faith. Despite encouragement from both myself and the renowned evangelist J Harold Smith, Mr. B's fear of dying with unresolved sin weighed heavily on him. His poignant struggle serves as a critical reminder of the necessity to make sincere spiritual commitments, especially when time is running out.
We also tackle the delicate balance of living a vigilant, spiritually devoted life without crossing unseen lines into danger. Drawing on the lessons from Mr. B's experience, we emphasize the importance of making timely decisions about faith and the risks of waiting too long. This reflective episode underscores the urgent need for genuine faith, urging listeners to reassess their spiritual priorities. Join us for a thought-provoking discussion that highlights the thin line between mercy and wrath, and the profound implications of our spiritual choices. Tune in, follow, like, and share to stay connected, and may the Lord bless you abundantly until we meet again.
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Welcome to More Than Medicine, where Jesus is more than enough for the ills that plague our culture and our country. Hosted by author and physician, Dr Robert Jackson.
Speaker 2:Papa, can you tell me a story? Do you really want me to tell you a story? Well, you go, get your brother and your sisters and I will tell you a story. Well, you go, get your brother and your sisters and I will tell you a story. Welcome to Devotions with Dr Papa. Gather around, grab your Bibles and let's look into the written word, which reveals to us the living word, which is our Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2:I'm continuing in a series of lessons that I have taken from my medical practice. I told you that there are many things that happen in my medical practice that reveal to me biblical insights that I gain from my experiences with my patients, and I'd like to share with you a story that I gained from one of my patients that I'm going to call Mr B. This story is contained in one of my books. The Family Doctor Speaks the Truth About Seed Planting, equipping Believers for Evangelism, and there are many other similar stories contained in that book. The title of this chapter is A Line Unseen. There is a line by human eyes unseen, that crosses every path. It is the invisible boundary between God's mercy and God's wrath.
Speaker 2:Mr B, a patient of mine a long time ago, experienced multiple heart attacks over several years of time. Because of this, he was prone to experience episodes of congestive heart failure. During a hospitalization for heart failure, I became aware that he was experiencing a sense of impending doom, a very real and legitimate concern for him. I sat down with him in the coronary care unit and reviewed a gospel presentation with him. Obviously, he was very familiar with the gospel. However, he expressed a great fear of dying and admitted freely that he was not a Christian. In fact, mr B told me he had listened to J Harold Smith, a well-known evangelist, on the radio every morning for over 40 years. Because he had never made a personal commitment to Christ, he knew he had never been born again. He also was well acquainted with the eternal consequences of dying without resolving the sin issue in his life. Subsequently, he had a great fear of dying. I urged him to pray with me, to confess his sins, to repent of his former lifestyle and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as his only substitute, his only Savior. To my surprise, he stated he would really like to do that, but he simply could not. I asked for an explanation, but he could not give one. I urged him to think about it seriously and to not postpone his decision too long, since we both knew his life on this earth would not last much longer.
Speaker 2:As I was entering the coronary care unit in order to discharge him from the hospital two days later, I was met by none other than J Harold Smith and several of his associates. Someone had told the famous evangelist about my patient, and Reverend Smith had come to the hospital to visit him and share the gospel with him. As Reverend Smith was leaving the coronary care unit, he shook my hand, stared into my eyes and inquired about my spiritual well-being. I was impressed with his forthright manner and ensured him I had been born again as an 11-year-old boy. He quickly blessed me and then disappeared down the hallway with five young preacher boys in tow.
Speaker 2:I turned and spoke to Mr B, who appeared to be in a blue funk. I thought he would be exceptionally pleased that the famous evangelist had taken time to come by and visit him. As it turned out, reverend Smith had shared the gospel with him in the same way I had two days prior. Well, I asked did you ask Christ to pardon your sins and be the Lord of your life? Mr B sorrowfully nodded in acquiescence, perceiving what had happened. I then asked him did you really mean it, mr B? With tears streaming down his face. With tears streaming down his face, he admitted that he really prayed the prayer only to please the famous evangelist. I couldn't say no to the man was all he could say. I reproached him Mr B, you just lied to J Harold Smith, your favorite radio preacher. I can't believe you. Do you understand the seriousness of the issue before you? He began to sob uncontrollably and assured me he fully understood. I beseeched him Mr B, would you please pray with me a genuine sinner's prayer, asking Christ to be the Lord of your life? Looking at the floor with tears streaming down his face, he simply said I know I need to, but I just can't. I stared at him in amazement. I was completely bum-fuzzled by this entire situation.
Speaker 2:Two months later, mr B presented to the Spartanburg Regional Medical Center emergency room in fulminant congestive heart failure. Despite heroic efforts by the emergency room staff, his life waned away slowly in the emergency room. He would pass into unconsciousness and then suddenly awaken. The entire scene was described to me in great detail by one of the ER nurses, since I was not there personally. Whenever Mr B awakened, a hospital chaplain would talk to him about his spiritual life.
Speaker 2:The chaplain discerned that Mr B was not a believer in Christ. Realizing that Mr B would very soon be leaving this world, the chaplain desperately urged him to pray a sinner's prayer over and over again. My patient said he would really like to, but he simply could not. In consternation, the chaplain begged him to pray to receive Christ as his Savior, and each time Mr B would politely decline. He then lapsed into unconsciousness while the doctors were performing CPR and giving medications intravenously. My nurse friend told me that this scene was surreal, with everyone in the ER praying for Mr B as the resuscitation lasted for nearly an hour. Each time he awakened, other people also encouraged him to receive Christ.
Speaker 2:It was an unusual resuscitation because it lasted so long and because he regained consciousness so many times, but ultimately he was placed on a ventilator and could no longer speak to the chaplain. When he occasionally awakened, he could only nod and squeeze the chaplain's hand, with many tears and loud urging over the noise and confusion in the emergency room. And as multiple doctors and nurses were administering to my patient, the chaplain, kneeling on the floor at the head of his bed, implored Mr B to receive the Lord Jesus Christ, before his life ebbed away. At this point all he could do was shake his head, indicating that he could not or would not. Finally, it was determined by the doctors. There was nothing more they could do to preserve his life and all life support measures were discontinued.
Speaker 2:My patient, mr B, slipped away into the next life, never having received the free gift of eternal life. A nurse friend told me there was great, loud weeping in the emergency room that night from many of the nurses and technicians who witnessed this soul-wrenching drama. They realized their patient, whom they really didn't know, had just slipped into a Christless eternity. That was 30 years ago. I was not even there. Yet I am weeping as I write these lines, weeping for the eternal, weeping as I write these lines, weeping for the eternal, never-dying soul of my patient, who had become my friend, as so many of my patients do. What happened in the ICU and later in the emergency room?
Speaker 2:I believe my friend had casually listened to J Harold Smith present the gospel on the radio every day for 40 years, without ever responding to a gospel invitation. Over time he hardened his heart to the voice of Holy Spirit calling out to him. He developed what the scripture calls a seared conscience in 1 Timothy, chapter 4 and verse 2, or a heart that is calloused to the subtle prompting of Holy Spirit. Sometime during those 40 years he had crossed the dividing line between God's mercy and God's wrath, and even though he wanted to repent at the end of his days, he simply could not, as Paul describes in Romans 1 and verse 28,. God gave them over to a depraved mind. Tragically, there is a point of no return. God may eventually stop trying to bring the chronically rebellious to repentance and give them over to their own way. No sinner knows when this point of no return is, so the better part of wisdom is timely repentance. The psalmist encouraged us to be timely, saying Today if you would hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.
Speaker 2:What happened to MrB was a mystery to those of us who looked on. It was heartbreaking as well, as I have shared this account with folks over the years. Some have said to me Well, my God is not that way. He would never harden a person's heart or give up on them. To which I respond your God is obviously not the God of the Bible. They then look at me like I'm an alien from another planet. While I calmly explain.
Speaker 2:You should ask the unrepentant sinners who beat on the door of Noah's ark before the flood took them away If in fact there is a line that can be crossed between God's mercy and God's wrath. Or, better yet, ask Pharaoh what happens when one hardens his heart against God's eternal plan so many times that God was the one who hardened Pharaoh's heart so he did not let the sons of Israel go out of his land. Ask all the Egyptians who lost a firstborn son what the consequences are in a nation when their leader hardens his heart against God. Oh yes, my friend, the God of the Bible is like that. He is a God of mercy and a God of wrath. He is not to be trifled with.
Speaker 2:Postponing repentance not only leads to a hardening of our hearts, but it also leads to a forestalling of certain blessings from God that accrue to our spiritual accounts when we repent. By delaying repentance, we miss out on God's spiritual refreshment. In the book of Acts the Bible says Repent, therefore, and return that your sins may be wiped away in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. In addition, we may not prosper. He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion. That comes from Proverbs 28.
Speaker 2:My friend, if God is calling you to repent of your sins and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, then I encourage you to fall on your knees this very moment. Cry out to Jesus asking for forgiveness of your sins and he will save your eternal, never-dying soul. Don't postpone, don't procrastinate, don't allow your heart to become hardened to the sweet invitation of Holy Spirit. It is a dangerous thing to say no to Holy Spirit repeatedly. We never know when our heart will become insensitive to the subtle and sweet invitation of our Lord Jesus Christ. If you have friends who have been delaying their decision for Christ, then implore them to hasten their decision. Do not allow your friends to put off their decision indefinitely. Every day they postpone, their heart becomes a little harder and a little more insensitive. The Bible tells us that we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us. We beg you, on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. This is a matter of urgency. Why? Because there is a line by human eyes unseen.
Speaker 2:When I was a small boy, the Forest Service conducted controlled burns of the pine forest around my home in the lower part of the state of South Carolina to clear out the small trees and briars that inevitably grew underneath the tall pines. I used to go with my young friends and watch the forest service men set the fires and burn up the pine needles on the forest floor, along with the briars and small trees. All of us, adolescent boys, were young arsonists at heart, so this spectacle thrilled us to no end. I noticed the fire would set old stumps aflame for a while, but they would usually turn black and burn out very quickly. Not only did they blacken, but they also hardened Whenever another controlled burn would be conducted. A year or two later the fire jumped over these old stumps. They were too hardened by previous fires to catch fire the second time around.
Speaker 2:When I was much older, I watched revival fire sweep through churches, catching many hearts on fire with Holy Spirit, conviction of sin, and bringing repentance and newness of life in Jesus Christ. I also observed hardened hearts, hardened by sin, hardened by years of saying no to Holy Spirit, and they were skipped over by that same revival fire. Those same folks would say things like what's the big deal? Why all the emotion? What's everybody so excited about? They missed all the joy because the giver of joy just jumped right over their hardened hearts.
Speaker 2:Now let me give you a word of caution here. None of us knows when someone else crosses that unseen line. Only God knows that. We can never assume someone has crossed that line. In fact, we should assume Holy Spirit is working in everybody's life and beg them, on Christ's behalf, to be reconciled to God until they take their very last breath. We all know people who are born again on their deathbed. God still saves people at the last moment. It is true that God is gracious to us and a person may be able to repent up until the day he dies, but we should not live presumptuously.
Speaker 2:I share this story not to deter us from evangelism, but to encourage our friends and family not to procrastinate. I tell you, now is the time of God's favor. Today is the day of salvation. A quote attributed to DL Moody says if God's today is too soon for your repentance, then your tomorrow may be too late for God's acceptance. I can put it no other way.
Speaker 2:How about you, good friend? Have you postponed making a decision for Christ? Do you know in your heart of hearts that you have never been born again and that you have listened to a hundred gospel presentations without responding. You realize now what's happening, don't you? Just like my patient, mr B, you are developing a seared conscience, a calloused heart that will very soon no longer be responsive to the voice of Holy Spirit. That's dangerous ground. There is a line, by human eye unseen, that crosses every path. Make sure you don't cross it. Tomorrow may be over the line If you wait too long. Well, you can ask Mr B. You're listening to Devotions with Dr Papa. If you like what you hear, follow, like, share and download, and we'll be back again next week. And download and we'll be back again next week. And may the Lord bless you real good.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to this edition of More Than Medicine. For more information about the Jackson Family Ministry, dr Jackson's books or to schedule a speaking engagement, go to their Facebook page, instagram or their webpage at jacksonfamilyministrycom. This podcast is produced by Bob Sloan Audio Production at bobsministrycom. This podcast is produced by Bob Sloan Audio Production at bobsloancom.
