If we only had one more opportunity to speak to our lost loved ones, we should urge them to ask for mercy from God that is only found through Jesus Christ.
James: If you knew that you had a week to live or a day, and all of your grandchildren who are not Christians were brought into this room, and you could speak directly to them about the gospel, what would you say? What would you say as far as the gospel? Maybe you only have five minutes to speak to your grandchildren; talk about Christ. And then, you’re going to die and be with Christ. What would you say to them?
Geoff: I’d say to them, isn’t it wonderful to look back through our lives and to realize how good God has been to you and me? What wonderful parents He gave us! What health of mind and body! And what friendships we had and lovely members of our family. All the material things that we had that made life sweet, and the places we went to. Isn’t that wonderful how God gave us all these things in life? And even when we were at our worst, He still kept blessing us so wonderfully. And now, I’m not going to see your face much longer. I’m going to go to Heaven. I’m not going there because I did good things, but because God did such wonderful, good things for me and in me. Like He’s done so many good things to you. But, I acknowledge that they come from God. And they’ve come to me because of His grace, not because of any deserving on my part. He saw the file on me. He knew everything about me, and He still blessed me, like the way He’s blessed you, but I acknowledge that I was unworthy of these things, and I cast myself on the mercy of Jesus Christ. That’s my longing for you, that you’ll say, “Here I am, Lord,” and “have mercy on me.” And when I see Him, that’s what I’ll say: mercy… Mercy, mercy… that’s all I’ll want from God is mercy in that day. And I hope that you’ll see you’re a debtor to mercy alone too, and that you will ask Him to show that mercy in giving you a new heart and new life so that we can be in Heaven together. Do everything in your power to make sure that you’ll be in Heaven with me.
Those would be the sort of things I would say to them, if I knew they knew about Jesus Christ and why He lived and why He died. If I was speaking to an unbeliever, of course, I couldn’t presume, but my grandchildren have been prayed for and have gone to church and know the gospel only too well, and you want to go up another way. And if I’m talking to a stranger then about things, I want to know what his main concern is. Is his main concern, as I judge it, ignorance and he needs knowledge? He needs to know about Jesus Christ. Or, is his main concern his guilt and shame? And he needs then to know about pardon and forgiveness and mercy through the righteousness and the bleeding Lamb of God. Or, is his need fear for the future? And he needs someone to protect him? Somebody who’ll be with him? Somebody who’ll keep him? Or her, of course? And he needs to know about the kingship and the one through whom all authority on earth is given who can keep us; to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before God as our great King. So I want to know just where they are and what their concerns are and then I can go that way to them. But, in the end, we want to show them that they are sinners and that there’s deliverance in Christ.
