EVANGELISM-URGENCY
It is said that Satan once
called to him the emissaries of hell and said he wanted to send one of them to
earth to aid women and men in the ruination of their souls. He asked which one
would want to go. One creature came forward and said, "I will go."
Satan said, “If I send you, what will you tell the children of men?” He said,
“I will tell the children of men that there is no heaven.” Satan said, “They
will not believe you, for there is a bit of heaven in every human heart. In the
end everyone knows that right and good must have the victory. You may not
go.” Then another came forward, darker
and fouler than the first. Satan said, “If I send you, what will you tell the
children of men?” He said, “I will tell them there is no hell." Satan
looked at him and said, "Oh, no; they will not believe you, for in every
human heart there's a thing called conscience, an inner voice which testifies
to the truth that not only will good be triumphant, but that evil will be
defeated. You may not go.” Then one
last creature came forward, this one from the darkest place of all. Satan said
to him, “And if I send you, what will you say to women and men to aid them in
the destruction of their souls?” He said, “I will tell them there is no hurry.”
Satan said, “Go!”
Tide Riding, Preaching Today, n. 30.
The
gospel is only good news if it gets there in time.