Dr. Peter S. Ruckman's Two Steps for Salvation: Believe and Confess (The Sinner's Prayer in the 1960s-1970s) vs. Robert Breaker Who Calls It a Work, Part 4

Dr. Peter S. Ruckman always taught there were two steps for salvation.

1. believing

2. Confessing

And that confessing that took the form of a sinner's prayer.

Draw nigh. Draw near. Wouldn't you be in a mess Wouldn't you be in a mess if you

had to go through what some folks go through to get to God? Suppose you had a

prayer book. You know, before I was saved, I had a prayer book. We went to

church, we had a little prayer book that had some of the most beautiful prayers

written on it you ever saw, and it had prayers for all kinds of occasions. I

mean, they had some tremendous prayers in there, uh how to pray when somebody's

sick, how to pray when the car breaks down, how to pray when you miss your boat

or your plane, how to pray when you're a shell hole and shells are coming over,

and how to pray before a meal, and how to pray after a meal, and how to pray

when you're feeling blue, a prayer for every occasion. And wouldn't it be

something if you had to thumb through that thing and find just the prayer for

the right occasion at the right time?

Suppose you're in a church tonight, and the church began to burn down. Wouldn't

you be in a mess with timbers falling, and smoke, and all the pieces, and

everything explodes, and melting over your head, have to get a prayer book,

"Let's see: prayer for a Baptist in a burning church building. [laughter]

Page 375." Now, wouldn't you be in a mess?

Simon Peter one time got out there in the water, you know, and got uh going

across the water, and he saw the the waves uh were heavy, and uh threatening,

and he began to sink. And when they began to When he began to sink, you know

what he said? He cried out, and he said, "Lord," he said, "Lord," he said, "save

me! Lord, save me!" And the Bible says the Lord uh put out His hand and drew him

up out of the water, just like that.

Uh Simon Peter just said two words: "Lord, save me. Save me." Now, I know some

folks that don't know they're saved, even though they've asked God to save them.

I know some folks that have prayed, "Lord, save me," and if you asked them if

they ever asked God to save them, they'd say, "Yes, I asked God to save me, but

they couldn't believe that He really did it." And yet, you know something? When

you get right down to it, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall

be saved."

And if you're sitting in this building tonight, and you know you're a sinner,

and you know you can't save yourself, and you know Jesus Christ died to save

sinners, you know all you have to pray right now? "Lord, save me." And

immediately took him by the hand, picked him up. Draw nigh. Brought near. Brought near.

(On-screen text: 1965 | 45:35)

(Audio from cassette: "#2 Genesis 1:21 to 2:21")

Dr. Peter S. Ruckman: ...several Christmases ago. This original script was

written in 1960, and it is taped in 1965.

(On-screen text: 1965 | 10:49)

(Audio from cassette: "#16 Genesis 24:31 to 27:1")

Dr. Peter S. Ruckman: ...turn him down. And even at this moment, she could have

turned him down. And they called Rebekah and said to her, "Wilt thou go with

this man?"

And then here comes the most crucial passage in the New Testament. You say,

"Brother Ruckman, you're reading out of the Old Testament." I don't care, this

is the crucial passage in the New Testament. Or any Testament for you. The

crucial passage is three words. That is the passage that decides whether you

spend an eternity in heaven or hell depends on three words. And it isn't "I love

you," either. There are three words that until you speak those from the heart,

you're dead in trespasses and sins and lost. Eliezer, our type of the Holy

Spirit, is called "the man" in this passage. "Wilt thou go with this man?" And

Rebekah is given the invitation: "Wilt thou go with this man?" Type of the Holy

Spirit.

And she said—and the next three words decide her destiny, and they will decide

yours. It's all a matter of the will. Christ said, "Ye will not come to me that

ye might have eternal life." "How often would I have gathered you, and ye would

not." Whosoever will, let him come.

"Wilt thou go with this man?" That's the question. You see, getting saved is

just like getting married. Do you take this man to be your lawful wedded

husband, to love, honor, and obey, in sickness and in health, for better, for

worse, till death do us part? "I do." Do you take this woman to be your lawful

wedded wife, to love and cherish, to cleave to, to have and to hold, to love and

cherish in sickness and in health, for better, for worse, till death do you

part? "I do." I now pronounce you man and wife.

Jesus Christ, do you take this sinner to be your son, to be your child? Will you

accept him? Will you supply all his needs, justify him, and get him into heaven,

and get him by the judgment, even if it cost you your own life? "I will."

Sinner, will you take this wonderful Savior as your Savior, and trust him, and

trust his blood alone to save you from your sins and get you home to heaven?

"Well, the way I look at it, a fellow has to live it, and I just don't feel like

I will. Just go on to hell, then." Hell is a prepared place for a prepared

people.

All right, they say, "Wilt thou go with this man?" And she said, "Well, my

parents are of a different belief than I am, and I don't want to split the

family." "Wilt thou go with this man?" She said, "Well, I want to think it over

for a while." She didn't say that. She didn't say, "I just don't have any

feeling. I can't hold out. I can't live it. Well, not tonight, preacher. Well, I

just can't bear to leave the dear old First Babylonian Church in Mesopotamia."

She didn't say that. She gave the classic answer: "I... will... go."

That's it. A young man says to a young lady, "Will you marry me?" She says,

"Well, I don't want to hurt your feelings." He says, "Fine, marry me." She says,

"Don't misunderstand me. I don't exactly accept you, and then again, I don't

exactly reject you." He says, "Well, do you or don't you?" "Well, I just..."

Well, she's just turned him down. You will or you won't. I will. How about you?

Will you? Ask me. Go on, ask me. I will.

You say, "Well, I still think I live just as good..." Well, I'm not even going

to discuss that. Will you or won't you? That's all there is to it. You say,

"Well, the way I look at it..." The way you look at it is like a blind man in

the cellar at 12 o'clock at night. You either will or you won't. Don't try to

duck it. See how people try to duck personal responsibility? See how people

don't want to be responsible for their will? They don't want to make a decision

because they'll have to be responsible for it. So they say, "Well, I don't

believe anybody can know." "Well, I'm an agnostic. There may be a God, I don't

know whether there is or not." But you're yellow. You're yellow. You don't want

to be responsible for your decisions.

(On-screen text: 1969)

(Audio from cassette: "DR. PETER S. RUCKMAN - 197c. 'HELL'")

Dr. Peter S. Ruckman: I mean, 20 years ago, I was just an old instrument

drinking my way into a drunkard's grave.

(On-screen text card)

Ruckman was saved on 1949.

1949 + 20 = 1969

(On-screen text: 1969 | 1:12:45)

(Audio from cassette: "DR. PETER S. RUCKMAN - 197c. 'HELL'")

Dr. Peter S. Ruckman: If a building was burning, and you knew it was burning,

and you were in it, and it was burning to the ground, and a fellow put a ladder

up there, climbed up the ladder, held out his arms to you, and said, "Come on,

I'll get you down," how long would it take you to get out the window and get to

him?

You know if you don't, there's only one or two things wrong: either you don't

believe the building is burning—and a man'd have to be crazy to believe that if

the building really was burning—or else it would be just sheer old pride. That

would be the only thing to keep you from doing it. Christ said, "I am the way."

A fellow said to me one time, he said, "How can a man be the way?" Well, it's

just like a fireman climbing up a ladder. He holds out his hand and says, "I am

the way." He's the way down. The way down is the man! The man picks you up and

carries you down. "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the

Father but by me."

Now, if you've never received the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, you ought to

do it tonight. You say, "Well, preacher, how do I do it?" You do it by faith.

Just simply say, "Lord, I believe what the fellow said about my condition, about

my destiny, my destination. And tonight, I'll accept your Son the best way I

know how as my Savior." Isn't that simple? Isn't that simple? Anybody could do

that here tonight. Any of these boys and girls four years old up can understand

that. You boys, you don't want to go to hell when you die, do you? You want to

burn? Nobody with good sense wants to burn. You older folks tonight, some of you

gray-headed and white-headed and well on your way, you don't want to go to hell

when you die. You say, "I don't believe it." Well, if it's true? What if it's

true? That message has been preached for 1,900 years, just like that. Must be

true. What if it is true? Will you accept Christ as your Savior tonight? If you

will... say, "Lord, I will."

(On-screen text card)

1970s

Dr. Ruckman in the 1970s was in his 50s

(On-screen text: 1970 | 24:33)

(Audio from cassette: "130c DR. PETER S. RUCKMAN - Soul Winning, The Greatest

Thing You Can Do")

Dr. Peter S. Ruckman: ...have more than a couple of thousand there in 15 or 20

years in the ministry. And I know some men that get that many in a year in some

of the meetings.

(On-screen text card)

“15 to 20 years in the ministry”

Ruckman was ordained in 1950.

Ruckman puts 20 as the max time.

1950 + 20 = 1970

Even if it isn’t 1970 exactly.

Still golden era young Ruckman.

(On-screen text: 1970 | 43:17)

(Audio from cassette: "130c DR. PETER S. RUCKMAN - Soul Winning, The Greatest

Thing You Can Do")

Dr. Peter S. Ruckman: One time down in Pensacola, I was able to lead an atheist

to the Lord. And to lead that fellow to the Lord, I used R.A. Torrey's method.

And it isn't original, but it's a good method, and it works. That kid was a...

he had a mother who was a widow, and she worked hard in a restaurant to raise

him right and prayed for him every day of his life. And he was 18 years old, he

still wasn't saved, and he went off and joined the Marines at 18. And I didn't

see him again till I was saved. And then when I got saved, I came back to

Pensacola and was preaching one night. And here was this old boy out in the

audience, and he was a Marine. And a big old strapping boy, skin just like

leather, just tough as nails. Then he was about 23.

And at the end of the invitation, down he came. He came up to me and said,

"Pete," he said, "I want to be saved," he said, "but I don't even believe there

is a God." And I said, "Well, are you willing to find out if there is one?" And

he said, "Well, yeah, but I don't believe in one." I said, "Never mind that. Are

you willing to find out if there is one?" He said, "Well, yeah, I'm willing." I

said, "Come on."

I took him back in the prayer room. We knelt down, and I said, "Now, you pray

after me. If you're sincere, if you really want to find out, you pray after me."

And I said, "Dear God..." And he said, "But Pete, I don't believe there is a

God." I said, "Never mind that." I said, "Pray: 'Dear God, if there is a

God...'" And he said, "Dear God, if there is a God..." And I said, "'...if I'm a

sinner...'" And he said, "If I'm a sinner..." I said, "'...I want to know it

right now.'" And he said, "I want to know it right now." I said, "Amen." He

said, "Amen."

I said, "Let's try another one." I said, "'Dear God, if there is a God...'" He

said, "Dear God, if there is a God." "'...and if Jesus Christ be your Son...'"

He said, "And if Jesus Christ be your Son..." I said, "'...I want you to show me

right now.'" He said, "I want you to show me right now." I said, "Amen." He

said, "Amen."

I said, "Did you mean that prayer?" He said, "Yeah, I meant it." I said, "Let's

try another one." I said, "'Dear God,' I said, 'I know I'm a sinner.'" And he

said, "Dear God, I know I'm a sinner!"

And I'll make a long story short. I put him through eight of those things, and

we got to the last one. He was down there on his face, bawling, and saying, "God

be merciful to me, a sinner, and save my poor, rotten soul for Jesus' sake.

Amen." And he went out of there a saved man. Walked out the door, went up to his

mother out there in the front. She's out there in a little old third-hand car

that she'd been driving about 10 years, waiting for him. And he came up and

stood by that car, and I said, "Tell your mama what you did."

And I'll never forget it. That big old Marine standing there, you know, just had

a couple of stripes on him. Been in about four or five years, standing there

looking down at that little wizened-up woman, you know, been working for him all

her life. He looked down there like that, her only son, and she says, "What'd

you do, son?" And I thought for a minute he wasn't going to make it. I mean, he

had that expert infantry, you know, sharpshooter marksman, all that business

sticking up in here. And he looked down like that, you know, and got trembling

and all kind of dry around the mouth. And I said, "Tell her what you did." And

she said, "What'd you do, son?" She'd been praying for him all those years. And

that old boy looked down and said, "Mama, Mama!" And he just got all tore up, he

never made it. And he just got bawling, and he fell down and grabbed hold of the

side of that car this way, and then looked up at her and said, "I got saved!"

And she got out of that car and they knelt out there in front of the church.

Might have had a camp meeting right out there on the ground in front of the

church.

I mean, don't you want to be a soul winner? I mean, what could be any duller

than the Beatles?

(On-screen text: 1970 | 51:24)

(Audio from cassette: "130c DR. PETER S. RUCKMAN - Soul Winning, The Greatest

Thing You Can Do")

Dr. Peter S. Ruckman: Now, listen. Get the fish in the boat. Christ said,

"Follow me, and I'll make you to be fishers of men." Don't lose him here. Did

you know, I make my preaching just as rough and mean as it can be until I get to

the place: "Where will you receive Jesus Christ?" And when I get to the place:

"Where will you receive Jesus Christ?", I wouldn't put anything in the world

between you and the cross. Nothing. Nothing! I'd make it just as hard as I could

for you until I got there. When I got there, I'd just open the door and say,

"Jump, buddy, it's free!"

And that's the way it is. Well, young people, listen to me: If Jesus Christ

loved you enough to die for you, do you think he's going to keep you waiting

there all night if you come to him? I mean, come on now! If he loved you enough

to die for you, you think he's going to keep you standing there all night? If

you stand there all night in an invitation, it's just because you want to stand

there instead of coming to him. He'll take you the minute you come. He'll take

you the second you come.

Now, there are all kinds of ways to give an invitation. And I don't care what

kind of an invitation it is. If it's an invitation to receive Jesus Christ,

that'll do it. Folks say, "What about all these folks that go down that don't

mean business?" Well, that's not my business, that's the Lord's business. It's

my business to give a clear invitation. It's my business to make it plain. And

if I make it plain, and you act on it, and you come receiving Jesus Christ as

your Savior, I take you to be a boy or girl of your integrity, or a man or woman

of your word. And when I give an invitation to receive Jesus, and you come, I

take for granted you mean what you're doing.

Why, you know, you can invite folks to come and kneel, that's good, I like that.

You can invite them to go to a prayer room. You can invite them to come and just

take a seat in the front row. It don't matter as how you do it, as long as the

invitation is clear, see? Why, I know a fellow who can go down an aisle, kneel

down, pray for 30 minutes, and get up, jump up in the air, and yell, "Glory to

God, hallelujah!" and be just as lost as when he went down.

And listen. I've known a fellow to come down, take a seat in front of a church,

shake hands with the preacher, and say, "Yes, I will take Christ," and the

fellow today is in the ministry. Now, do you understand what I'm saying? What

I'm saying is, the important thing is receiving Jesus Christ. I don't care how

you do it. If I said, "If you will receive Christ as your Savior, come up and

stand on your head in that organ," that's a legitimate invitation! Folks say,

"Well, you can't get saved standing on your head in an organ." You can if that's

the invitation! Some folks say, "Well, you can't get saved taking the preacher's

hand." Yes, you can, if the invitation is, "If you will take Jesus Christ as

your Savior, come and give me your hand." See, that's the invitation.

Why, you can have them kneel, you can have them stand, go to a prayer room,

anywhere you want to do it. But the invitation is for Jesus Christ. That's the

invitation. Now, a good way to do it is just to ask the man to give you his

hand. You know, when I was saved, the preacher led me to the Lord in a radio

station. And I'd just finished playing Doris Day, and Gordon MacRae, and

Rosemary Clooney, and all the loonies and moonies. And I was just coming off

work there, and this fellow came by there, and he said, "Morning." I said, "Hi,

preacher, what do you know?" He said, "I know the Lord Jesus Christ. What do you

know?"

I about swallowed my stogie, and I said, "Well, I don't know him, but I'd like

to know him." And he said, "Well, what are you waiting for?" And I said, "What

do you mean, what am I waiting for?" He said, "Come here." He took me back in

the record room, took out a Bible. He said, "You believe this is the word of

God?" I said, "Yeah, I guess." He said, "You believe you're a sinner?" I said,

"Oh yeah, I know I'm a sinner." He said, "You believe Christ died for sinners?"

I said, "Well, I guess he did." He said, "You believe he could save a sinner?" I

said, "Well, I suppose he could." He said, "Well, do you believe he could save

you?" I said, "I don't know." And he said, "Well, would you ask him to save

you?" I said, "Sure."

I'd lived 27 years in sin, man. I knew a good deal when I saw it. And that's the

first time I ever heard the gospel right there. And he said, "Would you ask him

to save you?" I said, "Sure." He said, "All right, take my hand." So I took his

hand. He said, "Now bow your head." I bowed my head. He said, "Now go on and

pray." And I said, "I only know two prayers: Hail Mary and Our Father." And he

said, "Well, just in your own words, ask him to save you."

So I bowed my head and closed my eyes, so I'm not much good at praying. He said,

"Just in your own words." So I said, and got through the thing, you know, and it

must have been horrible. I mean, I'd been four years a DI and hand-to-hand, and

I couldn't talk without cussing every five words. I just cussed on through the

prayer, you know, and got to the end of it. And when I got to the end of it, he

looked up at me, and he said, "Did you really mean that prayer?" And I said,

"Yeah, I meant it." And I did, see?

And he said, "Well, then you're saved." I said, "What do you mean, I'm saved?"

He said, "You're not going to go to hell when you die." I said, "I don't feel

any different." He said, "You're not supposed to feel any different." I said,

"Well, how do I know I'm saved, then?" He said, "You just know." I said, "No, I

don't." He said, "Yes, you do." I said, "I do not." He said, "You do so." I

said, "I don't either." And he opened the Bible to 1 John 5:13 and said, "Read

it." And it said, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name

of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life." He says, "God

says there you know. Do you know or don't you?"

I said, "Well, I guess I do." He said, "What do you mean, you guess? It says

there you know. Do you know or don't you?" Man, he had me between a rock and a

hard place. And I read that thing, and it said, "These things are written unto

you that you may know." I said, "All right, I guess I do." He said, "What do you

mean, guess?" And I said, "Well, I know." And I felt like I was lying, but I

just took God at his word. And you know something? In one week, I knew I was

born again. And I know it right now.

All right, when you get them down there, you know, get the hand. That's a good

way to give an invitation. And if they don't know how to pray, show them how to

pray! I mean, don't lose the fish just because he's scared. I mean, when you get

down with a fellow, say, "Go ahead and pray." Well, sometimes he prays,

sometimes he doesn't. You know why some folks don't pray out loud? They're

scared to. Some folks think if they don't pray like a holiness preacher, they're

not praying, you know. I mean, you couldn't count all the fellows who go to hell

because when they come down to pray, they think they've got to go, "Oh God! Oh

God! Oh God!" and they don't want to do that. And listen, you don't have to go

to hell just because you don't know how to pray. That Bible says, "Whosoever

shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." You didn't find old Peter

out there in the sea saying, "Oh God, oh my Father, oh have mercy upon this

poor..." He just said, "Lord, save me!" That did it. That did it. Just three

words: "Lord, save me!"

And yet sometimes the will... I remember I got one of the greatest shocks of my

life in Greenville, South Carolina, one night. I was walking down the street,

and I stopped a cripple fellow at about 11 o'clock at night and gave him a

tract. And I said, "Are you saved?" And he said, "No." And I said, "Would you

like to be saved?" He said, "Yes." And I said, "Well, Christ died for your sins,

was buried, rose from the dead. You believe that?" He said, "Yes." I said, "The

Bible says whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You

believe that?" He said, "Yes." And I said, "Well, let's call on his name." And I

tried to get him off the street, see, to step into an arcade there and get out

of the way, you know. And that fellow dropped on his knees right in front of me

in the middle of the street at 11 o'clock at night. And he began to cry with a

voice you could have heard for four blocks. Man, God got me under conviction!

I remember another time I was out preaching on the street in Simpsonville, South

Carolina. And when I got all through with the message, a big old tall fellow

stepped forward and said, "Preacher, I want to get saved." Well, I said, "Well,

praise the Lord for that, brother." I said, "Let's step around behind this

building and have a word of prayer." And he said, "Listen, friend." He said,

"I've got a Christian wife at home that's been praying for me for 40 years." He

said, "I've been on the bottle 35 years." And he said, "I'm a drunkard, and I've

broken her heart." And he said, "I'm going home and tell her she's got a

Christian husband." And I was about to say something, and he took off his hat

and stepped right out into the gutter. And he said, "I appreciate you wanting to

get off the street to pray." But he said, "I was born in the gutter, and I've

lived in the gutter, and sinned in the gutter, and I'm going to get saved in the

gutter." And down he got on his knees, right in the gutter, man! Right in the

gutter.

And you know, some of them start like that, and some of them don't. I had a

fellow by the hand the other day down in Pensacola, had his head bowed. I said,

"Go on and pray." Silence. That's the most dangerous place, see? And then you

encourage him. You say, "Just in your own words," see? Then if he still doesn't

pray, you say, "All right, now if you mean business..." Now put that in there,

see. "If you mean business..." Be sure and put that in there. Say, "Now if you

mean business, why, I'll pray, and you follow me in prayer." And then teach him

how to pray. Tell him... get him to pray for salvation, put his faith in the

shed blood. You know, when I get through praying with them, I always just have

them praying, "Lord, fill me with the Holy Ghost," you know. I mean, that isn't

too good a doctrine, but I mean, you got him in the boat, why, just knock him in

the head after he gets in, make sure about it. And then have him thank the Lord

for salvation.

(On-screen text card: December 19th, 1970 | 02:23:19:43)

Dr. Peter S. Ruckman: That's my testimony as of December... December 19th, 1970.

(On-screen text: December 19th, 1970 | 1:27:06)

(Audio from cassette: "9b Dr. Ruckman's Full Length Testimony I / II")

Dr. Peter S. Ruckman: ...on something like $80 a month. A hopeless case. His

only comfort left is liquor. And that's the end of the family line. Oh, the

sister married out of the name. I had a younger sister named Tottie or Marion,

she's dead now. Died without ever confessing Christ. My two aunts that were

living both died without confessing Christ, although one of them had at one time

made some statements that might lead somebody to think that perhaps maybe she

had had an experience many years ago. My one uncle died of cancer, unsaved. And

that's the end of the family line, there isn't any more. I'm the last of them.

(On-screen text card)

Dr. Ruckman uses “without confessing Christ” and unsaved interchangeably.

(On-screen text: December 19th, 1970 | 1:36:35)

(Audio from cassette: "9b Dr. Ruckman's Full Length Testimony I / II")

Dr. Peter S. Ruckman: ...shop by the newsstand on the corner of Palafox and

Garden Street that was open back in those days. It was a restaurant in there,

and half of it was open for early morning breakfast. I went on down to the radio

station to open up the radio station. I opened up the radio station that morning

in the morning hour, and along came a little old country Baptist preacher named

Hugh Pyle, who was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Brent, Pensacola. He

came in there and sat down, gave his talk, got up and walked out. And missing

contact with him, I came back to the control room and found a tract left on the

console, the turntable there, the old Gates turntable with the console.

I'd never seen a tract before. That was the first one I'd ever seen in my life.

I picked it up and opened it up and read it. It was a little old booklet

consisting of about 20 or 25 pages. I'll never forget it. That book had in it

the plan of salvation, the first time I'd ever seen it in my life. I was 27

years old. I'd been in 38 of the 48 United States and four foreign countries.

Been across into the Canadian border. And I had never seen a gospel tract.

I read it. At the end of that gospel tract, it said this: "Since I am not a

hypocrite, and am not afraid to tell people what I believe and how I think, I

now sign this blank—there was a blank place there—saying that here this moment,

I do accept for time and eternity the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior."

Then below that there was a second blank. And it said, "Since I am not a

hypocrite, and am not afraid to take a clear-cut stand for either side, I reject

Christ as my Savior, and not believing that he was God's Son or that he died for

me, I am unafraid and unashamed to sign my name in this blank and confess that I

do this moment reject him as my Lord and Savior." And then the tract end with

words to the effect: "If you're not a hypocrite, sign one of these two blanks."

Well, that put it over pretty plain now, didn't it? I've always appreciated that

kind of a thing. I must confess it made me kind of uncomfortable, but at the

same time, I couldn't help but admire the man who wrote that thing. I said to

myself, "Now, that that that makes sense. That's right or left, up or down,

heaven or hell. Now, that's clear." I'd had just about enough of Hegel, I guess.

I said, "Now, that thing's clear."

And I said to myself, since I don't know really know anything about Christ or

about the Savior and all this kind of stuff, why, I'll just sign my name saying

I reject him. I picked up the pen. I looked at the two blanks. The two blanks

said, "For time and eternity." Well, I didn't believe in eternity up till about

January. But the longer I looked at those two blanks, the more it occurred to me

that a man would have been a fool to sign the second blank. Because if there was

any possibility, a mathematical probability, a statistical probability, that the

things in the tract were so, then a man had cut his throat. And I said to

myself, "Well now, regardless of what you know or don't know, you'd be a blank

idiot to sign that second blank. Because if you don't know, you don't know. And

if you don't know, the other side might be true."

I signed the first blank. Put the tract away, forgot it, and later lost it.

But the week went on. At the end of the week, around Friday, in came this

Baptist preacher and sat down again. And that morning, another very strange

thing happened. I was watching him through the glass of the announcer's booth,

between the announcer's booth and the studio. Had my cigar as usual, my

Coca-Colas—Coca-Cola in the studio, beer when you left it. And I set his program

up, and then began to audition records. You see, most radio announcers were like

me: when a religious program came on, they'd shut the thing off with a switch so

they couldn't hear it, and then play good music—good music in this case meaning

jazz music—through it until the program was over. And many announcers flipped

the wrong switch and put the jazz music on the air in the middle of a religious

program. That's happened more than five times, I can assure you. I had a friend

in... friend in Mobile, Alabama, WKRG, that had to put on the Lutheran Hour

Sunday morning, Walter Maier. And they come on there saying, "The Lutheran Hour,

bringing Christ to the nation." And as soon as he said, "bringing Christ to the

nation," my friend flipped the switch and got the wrong channel through there,

and a Dixieland jazz band came in. And we used to laugh about things like that.

That was a big joke.

Well, anyway, this morning, I didn't turn on my music. I watched this little

preacher through the glass. And to me, he was a curiosity. Of course, I was a

curiosity to him. And now that I'm saved, you see those things very clearly, but

the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. And if any man is

in Christ, he's a new creature—not creation like the corrupt Scofield Bible and

the ASV—a new creature. And I was looking through that glass watching him,

sitting there.

And a voice I hadn't heard for about four or five nights said, "Now, you're

always talking about men, and you're always talking about guts and being a man.

Why don't you check that fellow out there right there? He's a man." I looked in

through the glass. He was small, he was skinny, he was pale, he had freckles, he