Scare Tactics

In the episode of Way of the Master dealing with “conscience,” an atheist said something to the effect that he wouldn’t do anything out of fear. Some people who hear about the need to mention Law, judgment and hell believe that these are scare tactics to cause people to get saved.

In The Evidence Bible, the “Question & Objection” note for Hebrews 10:31 (“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God”) is “You are using scare tactics by talking about hell and Judgment Day.” Ray Comfort’s response is:

In the late 1980s, TV commercials in the U.S. asked, “What goes through the mind of a driver who is not wearing a seat belt in a head-on collision?” Then they showed a crash dummy having its head crushed by a steering wheel in a collision, and said, “The steering wheel!” Those were scare tactics, but no one complained because they were legitimate scare tactics. That’s what happens in a head-on collision if you are foolish enough to not put on a seat belt.

To warn of hell is fearful, but it is absolutely legitimate, because the Bible says that it is a fearful thing for a sinner to fall into the hands of the living God.

As a biblical example of someone fleeing to the Savior out of fear, look at the type of salvation that we find in Noah’s story. Hebrews 11:7 says,

By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

Genesis 6:8 and 9 tells us that Noah “found grace in the eyes of the Lord,” “was a just man” and that he “walked with God,” yet upon hearing of God’s coming judgment against the earth, he was afraid. It was his fear that caused him to build the ark. It wasn’t his love for God or God’s love for him that caused him to build it. It wasn’t that he wanted to please God in building it, or even that he built it out of obedience. Instead, he wanted to save his skin. He didn’t want to go through the judgment unprotected.

Another way to read Hebrews 11:7 would be, “By faith, Noah built an ark because he was scared of the coming judgment.”

Shouldn’t we, too, be scared of the coming judgment? Not only should we flee to the Savior because of the coming judgment, we should be warning others. Noah’s belief that God would do what He had said – “I will destroy man” (Genesis 6:7) – caused him to act. When people in our generation realize that another, even harsher, judgment is coming, then they too will act.

Let us be faithful in declaring God’s coming judgment. Don’t let anyone persuade you to stop using this absolutely legitimate scare tactic.

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(This article was written by Stephen Smith.)

The Greatest Tragedy

When one considers all of the suffering in New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast due to Hurricane Katrina, it is difficult to avoid being overwhelmed by feelings of sadness and woe. Most of those same emotions were evoked this past December when the tsunami took approximately 200,000 lives in Southeast Asia.

In just a few days, many will remember another event which brought grief and indescribable sorrow to untold millions. This Sunday is the fourth anniversary of the historic September 11th attacks on New York City and Washington D.C., regarded as one of the greatest national tragedies in American history.

While considering these horrific events, we should also consider a far greater tragedy, indeed, the greatest tragedy that there is. Every day approximately 150,000 people die. Whether by accident, murder, or illness - whether young, old, or somewhere in between - on average almost 2 people reach the end of their life every single second. Death, however, is not the greatest tragedy. Where the majority of these souls end up after death is far, far greater.

Jesus said, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matt. 7:13-14, NIV). According to Jesus, only a few will find eternal life... Only a few will end up in heaven.

If the majority of those who die every day, and the majority of all people whom have ever lived end up suffering for eternity in the place known as hell, what could be more tragic?... The greatest tragedy of all is the fact that every one of those people could have been saved from spending eternity in that place, had they turned from their sins and trusted in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior...

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God... Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him" (John 3:16-21, 36, NIV).