by Al Lacy
“That’s good to hear,” said Dr. Dane. “I just read to her what the psalmist said about God’s Word being true. And Carlene said she believes that.”
“And I’m eager to hear it!” Carlene said with a lilt in her voice.
FIFTEEN
Tharyn Logan was praying under her breath as her husband flipped the pages of his Bible and said, “Carlene, a few moments ago I quoted Romans 3:12 to you, emphasizing the word all. ‘They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.’ Now I want you to read another verse in that same chapter to me.” He lowered the open Bible so she could see the page. “Read me verse 23.”
Carlene focused on the verse. ‘ “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.’ ”
“Did you catch the word all?”
“Yes.”
“That means me, you, Tharyn, and all the rest of humanity, right?”
“Yes.”
He flipped more pages. “Since we are all sinners in need of salvation and cleansing from our sin, God did a wonderful thing. He sent His only begotten Son so that we could be saved and cleansed.” Finding his page, he said, “Let me read you 1 John 4:9. ‘In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.’ Who is God’s only begotten Son, Carlene?”
“Jesus Christ.”
“Right. Scripture says here that God sent Jesus into the world that we might live through Him. Not our good works. Not our religion. Not through church membership nor church ordinances, but through Jesus Christ. I want you to read another verse for me.”
He flipped back to Romans chapter 6, lowered the Bible once again so she could see the page, and said, “Read me the last verse of chapter 6. Verse 23.”
“ ‘For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ ”
“Please note that eternal life is a gift. You can’t earn a gift, can you?”
“No. If you earned it, it would be a wage, not a gift.”
He smiled. “Right! And note also that this gift of eternal life comes to us only through Jesus. See that?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Now … we’re sinners, aren’t we, Carlene?”
“Yes.”
“And what are the wages we get for our sin?”
“Death.”
“Yes. Physical death came upon the human race because of sin. But there is also spiritual death—separation from God. I told you when I got born again the fear of dying went away. Remember?”
“Yes.”
“Now I want to read to you where that phrase ‘born again’ came from.”
He turned back to John chapter 3 and explained to Carlene that the Lord Jesus was talking one night to a religious man named Nicodemus.
“Now listen to what Jesus said to him here in John 3:3. ‘Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ And again, down in verse 7, He said, ‘Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.’ So since Jesus said it, it has to be true, doesn’t it?”
“It sure does.”
Tharyn was still praying under her breath.
As he turned back toward the front of the Bible, Dr. Dane said, “Now I’m going to show you why a person must be born again in order to go to heaven, the kingdom of God.” He stopped at Genesis chapter 2. “Here, Carlene. Read me verses 16 and 17. In this passage, God has taken His first human creation, Adam, into the Garden of Eden.”
Carlene nodded. “ ‘And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.’ ”
“Do you remember the story, Carlene?”
“Yes. Satan came into the Garden of Eden and caused Adam and Eve to disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit. I’ve known that part of the story since I was a child.”
“Good. Now look there again in verse 17. When did God say they would die if they ate the forbidden fruit?”
She looked down at the verse and studied it briefly. “Why, that very day.”
“Do you remember the story well enough to tell me if God buried Adam and Eve that day?”
“Well, of course He didn’t. They hadn’t even had Cain and Abel yet.”
“But God had warned Adam that he would die the very day he ate of the forbidden fruit, didn’t He?”
“Yes.”
“So if they didn’t die physically that day, how did they die?”
“Oh, I see it. They died spiritually.”
“That’s right. So Adam’s spirit died, and so did Eve’s. They were dead spiritually and cut off from fellowship with God. You and I are descendants of Adam, and in 1 Corinthians 15 it says that in Adam, all humanity dies. Adam and Eve died spiritually that very day, and years later, they died physically—all because of their sin in the garden.
“So, since the wages of sin is death—both physically and spiritually—we all come into this world as descendants of Adam, facing physical death and already dead spiritually. We were dead spiritually when we were born into this world. This is why Jesus said we must be born again. If we don’t get born spiritually, we will go to hell when we die.”
Tharyn touched Carlene’s arm. “Do you understand so far?”
“I believe so.”
“If you have any questions as we go along,” said Dr. Dane, “feel free to ask.”
“Well, just let me say something here.”
“Of course.”
“I believe in God, and I believe in Jesus, so my sins must already be forgiven, and I must have been born again and didn’t realize it.”
“Not so,” the doctor said softly. “A person cannot be born again and not know it. You believe in God and His Son in your mind—your intellect—but in order to be born again you must believe in your heart. Let me show you.”
He took the Bible from her hands, and while turning to the Gospel of John, said, “We saw that Jesus said in John chapter 3 that we must be born again to go to heaven, right?”
“Yes.”
“You see, Carlene, this new birth also puts us in the family of God. As human beings born into this world in the image of Adam, we are God’s creation, but we are not God’s child until we have been born into His family. When we get born again, we not only become alive spiritually, but we also become God’s children. Let me read it to you here in John chapter 1. Speaking of Jesus Christ, it says, ‘He came unto his own, and his own received him not.’ That is, He came to God’s chosen nation of Israel, but they rejected Him.”
“I see.”
“Next verse. ‘But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.’ His name is Jesus, which means Saviour. To believe on His name is to believe that Jesus, alone, does all the saving of the soul all by Himself with no help from man. It says that only those who have received Him have become God’s children. Do you see that?”
“Yes.”
“All right. Next verse. Speaking of those who believing on His name have received Him, it says, ‘Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.’ They got born again, but it wasn’t of blood. It doesn’t come through family … bloodline. Just because a person’s parents have been born again doesn’t mean they have.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“ ‘Nor of the will of the flesh.’ We can’t give ourselves the new birth. ‘Nor of the will of man.’ This eliminates all mankind. There is nothing another human being can do to give you the new birth. So churches, religions, ministers, priests and such have no power to give a person the new birth. It is God who gives it. And He does so only when a person repents of his or her sin and, believing that Jesus is the one and only Saviour who d
oes all the saving all by Himself, receives Him.
“Only those who receive Jesus get born again. They already have the intellectual knowledge of Him. They have Him in their mind. But that doesn’t bring salvation. He must be received into the heart. In Ephesians 3:17, Paul said to born-again people, ‘That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.’ There is a big difference between our hearts and our minds.
“Believing in Jesus in our intellect—our mind—does not give salvation. We must believe in Him in our heart, the very center of our being. Now you’re probably wondering how to believe in Him in your heart.”
“I sure am.”
He turned to Romans chapter 10, handed her the Bible, and said, “Read me verses 9 and 10.”
She located them quickly. “ ‘That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.’ ”
“Carlene, God says if you believe in your heart that He raised His Son from the dead, you will be saved. See that?”
“Yes.”
“Then notice that God says it is with the heart that we believe unto righteousness—having all our sins forgiven and washed away. Not the mind, the intellect. And it’s with the mouth that confession is made unto salvation.”
“Yes.”
“Now look at verse 13. What does it say?”
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
“So do you see? You believe in your heart when you call on the Lord with your mouth and ask Him to come into your heart and save you. This is receiving Him. So this is what gives the new birth. Now look again at verse 9. God says you must believe in your heart that He raised His Son from the dead. This ties with God’s definition of the gospel. Let me show it to you.”
He took the Bible from her, turned to 1 Corinthians 15, and handed it back to her. “Look at the first verse, Carlene. What does Paul say he is declaring to the people at the Corinthian church?”
“The gospel. He says he had preached it to them.”
“Right. And the gospel is found in verses 3 and 4. Read them to me.”
“ ‘For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.’ ”
“Right. Now listen as I quote what Jesus said in Mark 1:15. ‘Repent ye, and believe the gospel.’ Repentance, Carlene, is a change of mind that results in a change of direction. When we come into this world, we are sinners headed for hell. We’re going the wrong direction. When we hear the gospel and understand that we are lost in sin and are headed toward hell, we must change our mind about whatever religion or philosophy we cling to, and let it go. We must change our mind about Jesus Christ and turn around 180 degrees to Him in repentance. We must believe the gospel, ask for forgiveness for our sins, and ask Him to come into our heart and be our Saviour. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Good. You see, in the gospel, we are told that Christ died for our sins. The Bible tells us that on that cross, He shed His blood as the Lamb of God. But He didn’t stay dead. He arose from the grave, and is alive to save us from hell and to wash our sins away in His precious blood. When we repent, believing the gospel, and call on Him, receiving Him into our heart as our personal Saviour, trusting Him and Him alone to save us, we get born again. He saves our lost soul, cleanses us of our sins, forgives us, and makes us a child of God. We know this because the Scripture says so. Do you understand?”
“Oh, Dr. Logan, I most certainly do. I have never repented of my sin and received Jesus into my heart. I want to do this right now. Will you help me?”
Tears had already flooded Tharyn’s eyes and now were cascading down her cheeks. She took hold of Carlene’s hand as Dr. Dane said, “Romans 10:13 says, ‘Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ Let’s bow our heads, and you tell the Lord you’re coming to Him as a repentant lost sinner, trusting only Him to save you and cleanse you of your sins, and that you believe the gospel, and want Him to come into your heart and be your Saviour.”
Tears flooded Carlene’s eyes. She closed them, squeezing Tharyn’s hand and weeping, and called on the Lord exactly as Dr. Dane had told her to do.
When she finished, Dr. Dane prayed for Carlene, asking the Lord to bless her, give her peace, and use her for His glory.
She smiled up at him, wiping away the tears on her face.
Tharyn wiped her own tears, bent over and kissed Carlene’s cheek, and with quivering voice said, “Oh, Carlene, I’m so happy for you!”
Dr. Dane told her that he would let Pastor Mark Shane know what had happened here, and that the pastor and Mrs. Shane would come see her at home and guide her further concerning her newfound salvation and what the Lord expected of her now that she was a child of God. He quickly added that the very first thing would be to get baptized and unite with the church as soon as she was able to do so.
She sniffed and wiped away more tears. “Oh, yes. I want to do that just as soon as I’m feeling well enough.”
Dr. Dane said, “Well, sweet wife of mine, we’d better see about those patients out there in the waiting room.”
Tharyn bent down and kissed Carlene’s cheek once more. “We’ll be checking on you.”
“Yes, we will,” said Dr. Dane, taking hold of the curtain that surrounded the section. “You try to get yourself a nap now.”
He started to close the curtain to give her privacy, but paused when she said, “Dr. Logan …”
“Yes?”
“Thank you for showing me how to be born again.”
He smiled broadly. “My pleasure. You rest now.”
With that, he closed the curtain, and took Tharyn’s hand as they walked toward the office door together.
It was ten minutes before five when Tharyn looked up from her desk to see Eric and Nelda Cox pull up out front in their buggy. Tharyn was taking payment from a man who had just been treated by the doctor.
By the time the payment had been made and the man was walking toward the door, Eric pushed it open for Nelda. She still had to use a cane to walk, but was doing better at it day by day.
“How is Carlene doing, Tharyn?” asked Eric.
“Quite well,” Tharyn said. “Her chest pains have eased considerably. Dr. Dane is with her. I’ll go let him know that you’re here. Please sit down in the waiting area.”
Tharyn hurried away, and was back in less than two minutes. She moved up to the Coxes, and Eric rose to his feet.
Smiling, with her eyes brightening, Tharyn said, “I’ve got wonderful news!”
“Tell us!” said Eric.
“Dr. Dane talked to Carlene after you left, Eric, and led her to the Lord! She’s going to be baptized as soon as she feels up to it.”
While the Coxes were rejoicing, they saw Dr. Dane come into the office, steadying Carlene as she walked beside him.
Nelda stood up, leaning on her cane, and headed for Carlene with Eric right behind her. They expressed their joy in Carlene’s salvation.
Tears filled Carlene’s eyes as she said, “I want to thank you both for the times you tried to talk to me about being saved. The Lord had to get me over my stubbornness by letting me have this coronary artery disease.”
“We’re just glad you opened your heart to Jesus,” said Eric. “Now you’re our sister in Christ.”
She smiled. “Oh, yes! Thank the Lord, I am!”
“So tell us about Carlene’s heart condition, Dr. Logan,” said Nelda.
“All right. Let’s everybody sit down over here in the waiting area.”
When they were all seated, Dr. Dane said, “We know for sure that along with the use of the nitroglycerin, Carlene is going to need plenty of rest.”
“I’m sure that’s true,�
�� said Nelda.
Dr. Dane looked pointedly at his patient. “No more strenuous work for you, dear lady, until I say so. Since you have the Coxes, here, and the other neighbors you told me about, you must learn to let them help you. I’m sure they will be more than happy to pitch in.”
“We sure will,” said Eric. “And I know the other neighbors will.”
Dr. Dane nodded. “Some days will be better than others, Carlene, and in time you’ll be able to discern when and how much activity you can handle.”
She smiled. “Yes, Doctor.”
He rose from his chair and patted Carlene on the shoulder. “I feel quite sure that you will do just fine. Best of all … now that you’re personally acquainted with the Great Physician, you can depend on Him to help heal you of this problem.”
Tears filmed her eyes. “Oh, yes! How wonderful to be personally acquainted with the Great Physician!”
Running his gaze from Carlene to the Coxes, Dr. Dane said, “Tharyn has written instructions for mixing the nitroglycerin with water. I’m sending a bottle of it home with her. She must have the prescribed dose once a day until I say differently. I’ll come by the house periodically and check on her.”
Dane and Tharyn walked outside with Carlene and the Coxes, and Dane helped Eric get both women into the buggy.
Doctor and nurse held hands as they watched the buggy pull away.
The Logans were about to enter the office when they heard their names called. They turned about to see Jack and Sally Miller in their buggy, moving toward them along the street.
Sally was holding a tiny bundle in her arms, wrapped in a blanket.
Dane looked down at Tharyn, a grin on his lips and a beam on his face. “Here we go. You’re going to get your hands on little Lydia Marie, and we’re going to talk some more this evening about starting our family.”
Tharyn giggled. “Get ready!”
He laughed. “Oh, I’m ready!”
SIXTEEN
Jack Miller swung the buggy up to the hitch rail in front of the office and smiled. “Howdy, Doctor … Mrs. Logan.”