The days that followed the destruction of the twin towers in New York on September 11, 2001 were filled with much anxiety. Rescuers were mobilized in one concerted effort to dig through the concrete and steel, looking for survivors. And as these rescuers worked against great odds, one by one those who had been pinned under were rescued. Each time this happened there was great relief and rejoicing as families were reunited with their loved ones.

But at the same time there were also grim reports of deaths. And even though the rescuers did their level best, working night and day without let up, time was against them and some of the survivors were not reached in time. They were dead by the time they were found.

That was an unforgettable event in world history and we must thank God that we are spared from being victims of such a disaster. Imagine what it must have been like to be trapped helplessly under piles of steel and concrete rubble, in silence and darkness, injured and without any food or water, day and night. Imagine the sense of hopelessness, with the real prospect of not being able to see your loved ones again, and dying without any comfort at all. Can you feel the plight of these victims?

If you can, then think of the fact that there are many people today who are in a worse plight than those victims. These are trapped in the darkness of sin. Time is running out for them as they sink deeper into a terrible eternity of torment in Hell. These are people without Christ and without any hope. According to Acts 4:12, "…there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Are you moved at the plight of these who are perishing? Do you feel sad and sorry that about 100,000 people in the world are perishing every day, abandoned to an eternal death?

If we forget their plight, not only would we be heartless but also disobedient, for Christ has given us the command to save the lost. Jesus said, "For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost…as My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you." (Matthew 18:11; John 20:21). We need to obey this command with a sense of urgency, because there is much to be done. The place to start rescuing the perishing is where the Lord has placed you: in your home, and in your place of work or study.

The Perishing in Your Home

For some of us, the situation at home is not very conducive to share Christ with our parents and siblings who are outside Christ. This may be due to a language barrier and we cannot communicate well in the dialect of our parents and grandparents. We may also face a cultural barrier. Christianity is often perceived by some to be a Western religion, which is irrelevant to them. But the most difficult barrier to overcome is perhaps the generation gap. It is particularly hard for older parents to receive advice or instruction on spiritual matters from their children. Usually the immediate reaction would be, "I have eaten more salt than you have eaten rice. Are you trying to tell me that you know better than me?"

In a situation like this, what you can do is to look for opportunities for your loved ones to come into contact with the Word of God, in some form that will circumvent these barriers: If your parent is able to read, then giving him or her a book on Christianity might help. You may be surprised at how God can use books to bring a person to Christ. My father became a Christian because my elder sister happened to leave a library book she borrowed on a table at home. The book was a biography of the apostle Paul. My father was curious and began to read this book and this made him want to know more about the God who had changed Paul’s life. This subsequently led to his attending church, attending Bible study and his conversion.

Sometimes you can overcome the language and cultural barrier as well as the generation gap by enlisting the help of a Christian friend who speaks the dialect well and is about the same age as your parents. I have a friend from another church who did that: He asked an elder of Life B-P Church who was of the same cultural background, spoke the same language as his father and was just a few years younger than him to come and visit. The Lord blessed their meeting and his father was saved and eventually baptised in his church! This was an answer to many years of praying.

In our weekly Tuesday night prayer meeting, many have shared similar testimonies of how the Lord marvellously saved their parents after years of praying for their salvation. Let this be an encouragement to Lifers who still have unsaved parents.

How about those of us who have children? Are you doing your best to ensure that you will see them in heaven? Praying for their salvation is not enough. As a Christian parent, you have a duty to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). Bringing them to Sunday School, Junior Worship, and Vacation Bible School will certainly help them to hear and respond to the life-saving Gospel of Christ.

However, there is nothing better than for a child to hear the good news of salvation from his or her own parents. By having a regular time of family devotions at home, parents can reach their children more effectively than anyone else can. Family devotions provide the opportunity to build up a child’s understanding of basic Gospel truths line upon line, precept upon precept (see Deuteronomy 6:4-7). When accompanied with godly parental example, such spiritual instruction received at home will go a long way to rescue the child from perishing.

The Perishing in Your Place of Work or Study

For most of us, our place of work or study is our main area of influence outside our home. We spend 6-8 hours a day at our working place or school, 5-6 days a week. We see our colleagues or classmates and they see us day in and day out. This is therefore our main area where we can have an influence for Christ on other people and witness to them.

In most churches, one will find that the majority of new believers who are added to the church do not come from tracting sessions in the streets, or from doing door-to-door evangelism in housing estates, but from the friends, work colleagues, classmates and contacts of church members, who introduce them to Christ.

However, not all are willing to do their part in rescuing their perishing colleagues and classmates. Some choose to remain as secret believers in order to maintain a public image that would keep them accepted and loved by everyone (cf. John 12:43). Such a desire to be loved and accepted by everyone is sinful, particularly when it is done at the expense of confessing Christ before men. Dear reader, if the praises of men are more important to you than the praise of God, how can you say that you believe in Him? Are you afraid of being deprived of the praises of men? And are you afraid of the ridicule and scorn that might arise from men, when you choose to receive the praise of God?

So let us be bold to confess Christ before men. Do not be a secret believer (Mark 8:38 – "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."). You can give away your identity as a follower of Christ in many subtle ways. If you are a student, a Christian bookmark in your textbook, or a Bible verse printed on your file or pencil box will let your classmates know that you belong to Him. If you are an employee, putting a Bible verse somewhere at your work space or as a screensaver on your PC will let your colleagues know that there is a Christian in their midst.

When you do these things however, you must also match your confession of Christ with Christ-like conduct (Matthew 5:16 – "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.") The testimony you bear before others is very important. And if you can consistently maintain a good uncompromising testimony before your colleagues, you may actually gain respect from them. They will regard you as being a person of integrity, someone that they can look up to. They might even seek your counsel and advice when they are facing problems or in trouble.

You can then make use of such opportunities to talk to them about spiritual things. Pray that the Lord will open these doors of opportunity, and provide a way for you to make a transition from the usual small talk or business talk to matters of the soul which are eternal. One of the easiest ways to share the Gospel with them is to share your own personal testimony of salvation. Tell them what Christ has done in your life, and how they can find salvation from their sins and a blessed hope in Him. Even though they may not respond immediately to what you share with them, they may now be one step closer to Christ through your witness. The Lord may provide more opportunities for them through you, or through others.

You can invite them to the Gospel Sunday that will be held at our 10:30 am service in two weeks’ time (30 November). It would be good for you to accompany them to Church personally, to help them to overcome the fear of being in an unfamiliar setting. Be in prayer for them as they listen to the message by Rev Tan Choon Seng on "Christ, The Way, The Truth and The Life." Trust in the Lord to convict them of their sins and to draw them to Himself. Since salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9), He should be given all glory for whatever good responses there may be to the Gospel message. But you can rejoice to have played a small part in God’s redemption plan to rescue the perishing! Remember that Jesus said, "There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." (Luke 15:10) –CS