God's Plan with Men

Excerpt

INTRODUCTION

"Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord."—Isaiah.

"If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from my self."—Jesus.

"And ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart."—Jeremiah.

"Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord."—Hosea.

This work is not written for sceptics; yet while preparing to write for the benefit of others than sceptics, the author's heart has gone out toward that large class of his fellow-men who are sceptical; who, from different causes, have been led to doubt or deny the Bible's being a revelation from God; and he has yearned to say something that would at least arouse the attention of this class sufficiently to cause them to give an earnest investigation, or re-investigation, to the question. The bare possibilities that there is a Hell and a Heaven, that the soul can never cease to exist, and that Jesus is the real Saviour, are enough to cause every doubting one to give the most earnest consideration to any evidence bearing on these questions, and to undertake the most careful investigation of anything that promises to lead to certainty. It will be admitted by every honest disbeliever that no writer has ever made it certain that there is no future existence; that there is no Heaven; that there is no Hell; that Jesus was not the Saviour. The most that such writers have been able to produce is doubts. If, now, there is the possibility of reaching certainty on the other side, surely the reader should be willing and anxious to undertake a calm, searching examination, or re-examination, of the question. If there is no Heaven or Hell, no future existence, no one will ever find it out, before or after death; and there would be but little, if anything, gained if one could find it out. But if there is a Heaven and a Hell, and Jesus is the Saviour, then there is everything to be gained by finding it out and everything to be lost by neglecting to find it out. So important are the issues at stake that you, reader, should be willing to take years, if need be, to make a thorough investigation of the matter; you should be willing to read and study many books, and there are many that would help you; but I wish to urge you to read two books only, before reading this book. Surely your eternal destiny and the destinies of those over whom you have an influence (for "none of us liveth to himself") are enough to cause you to give earnest attention to the reading of three small books. The bare possibility that the reading of the three books may lead to your making sure of Heaven as your eternal home, is enough to prompt you to read them and to read them most carefully and prayerfully. The first is "The Wonders of Prophecy," by John Urquhart. The second is "The Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation," by J. B. Walker (American Edition). Having read these two books prayerfully and carefully, then give this book a careful reading....