It was November 4, 1979....forty-five years ago today....and I was at the bedside of my father as he died of cirrhosis of the liver. I quit alcohol that day and did not have another drink for sixteen years....and have never had more than one drink in a day since then. I was working for a finance company....selling loans and doing collections. Something else was going on in the world that day as Iranian students took over the American embassy in Tehran and took 52 hostages for 444 days. A few weeks after my father died I received a phone call from the local employment bureau in response to my putting my name in with them some time before. I could not even remember doing it. So I took an entry level job with a power company. I wore a three-piece suit to the interview....and the personnel manager reminded me that it was an entry level job. I would basically shovel coal and hose lime slurry for a few years. A little over two years after switching jobs I was born again.....with God showing mercy upon the lowest of the low.
I remember distinctly that when the heart monitor stopped beeping beside my father's bed....that I instinctively looked up....as if I could possibly see his soul leaving his body. I tried to put on a brave face at his funeral but in reality I was a mess. He and my mother had been legally separated....for twenty years....with no divorce. Looking back....I had about thirty-three years to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with my mother. It took about thirty-two years for her heart to soften. I had no opportunity at all to tell my father about Jesus. There was an acclaimed film back in 1970 titled....I Never Sang For My Father.....well....I never sang the praises of Jesus to my Father. I do have a hope though....that in that hospital over those fall months of 1979.... there was someone roaming the halls....asking God for courage and guidance....and stopping in various rooms to ask the bedridden patient...."May I tell you about Jesus Christ....and your need of Him....and His offer to you?"
So no....I never did that for my father....but I can do it for you....who saw my bumper sticker....or picked up one of the Books of the Bible bookmarks that I leave around. No one else is involved here....not your fiance....or your wife or you husband or your best friend or anyone who you work with....no one to show off in front of. You don't even know me....it is just you and God.
I have to be brief. I'll leave a YouTube....but this is step number one....there is nothing you could ever do to work your way into heaven. That is what is called a....works salvation....baptism....good works....going to church....that type of thing. It works great with the neighbors....but it will not save you. You have to become as a child....to his father. He speaks....and you listen....and you trust....and when you pray the Our Father after that....it will be as if you had never uttered those words before....because your heart will have been regenerated....you will have been given the faith to believe....and you will have been....born....again!
I've taken enough time....please listen to this sermon by John Piper....
