First, Second and Last Chance

The man to whom this happened is a dedicated soul winner in our church. This took place in the mountains of East Tennessee in January, 2005. With his permission, I retell this true story.

It was Sunday afternoon, and as usual, he had planned to go out visiting to witness to the lost. Most Sundays, he partnered with our pastor, but this time the pastor couldn't go with him. This brother didn't let that stop him, for he had a certain man on his heart and mind; a customer at his corner store. The two of them had spoken about the Lord and salvation in the past. He knew that the customer, now in his forties, had been on drugs since he was twelve and was thinking about trying to get off them. Burdened by the Holy Spirit, this afternoon the soul winner went all alone, no doubt hopeful of seeing his customer saved, but the Lord had other plans. He arrived at the home and the man wasn’t there. Instead, he talked to the homeowner about salvation. The man listened, but decided not to receive Christ. After about a half hour, the soul winner left, both of them unaware that he was the last Christian witness this man would ever hear. We can only hope he decided to pray later. Within a few hours, the homeowner was in eternity, the victim of a murder in the very house where he may have turned down his last chance to be saved.

This is a chilling story, for the unsaved and the saved alike. If you are unsaved, how do you know when your last chance will come? Whether we are twenty or seventy, none of us knows when we will draw our last breath. Why put off salvation if the Lord is working in your heart and mind about it? I believe this story illustrates the truth that the Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (II Peter 3:9) He sent the soul winner to a man about to go out into eternity, just as he was, in his lost condition. It was not necessary for him to clean up his life before the Lord would save him. Loving the sinner and knowing what was about to happen, God reached out to save him and forgive him. There are no coincidences with God and nothing takes Him by surprise. He loved him enough to send a last-minute messenger to give him one last chance.

As for the other man, the man he originally went to see and who wasn’t home at the time, he is the murderer. Today he sits in a jail cell where the soul winner continues to plead with him about his soul. He has confided that, had he gone to church that night, this crime wouldn’t have happened.

For the Christian, none of us knows when the Holy Spirit will want to use us to give someone their last chance to be saved. As bad as he feels, how much worse would that soul winner feel today if he had not gone when the Lord told him to? This brother is glad he went and also praising God for protecting him that day. How many times have we heard it said that the safest place to be is in the center of God's will? And make no mistake, it is God's will to share the Gospel with others (Mark 16:15, Matthew 28:19, 20). Sometimes it takes repeated visits and even years of caring, but when one thinks of hell, isn’t one soul worth it?

Saved or unsaved, please hear what the Holy Spirit of God is trying to tell you with this true story!

Saved or unsaved, please do not fault me for sharing it with you!