Thought for the week: Remember that now is the accepted time!
The late Dr Stanley Bertram Cooke was one of the founding fathers of the Free Presbyterian Church. He was also for many years the highly esteemed deputy moderator of the denomination, and professor of homiletics and pastoral care.
In addition, he pastored with great blessing the congregations in Mount Merrion (East Belfast), Rasharkin and Armagh.
Dr Cooke was born into a Christian home where both his parents desired that their children would get saved and live for the Lord. The young Bert Cooke went regularly to many church meetings, but he did not personally come to Christ in salvation.
After he completed his education at Methodist College, Belfast he started to train as an accountant, but he also really enjoyed swimming and ballroom dancing, and he was a devoted supporter of Linfield Football Club. Sadly, at this time Bert was considered the "black sheep" of his family and was becoming increasingly worldly and godless. His mother was very concerned about the direction that his life was taking, and often when he came home late he would find her on her knees pleading with God for his salvation.
In the autumn of 1949, the internationally-known Canadian evangelist Dr Oswald J. Smith came to Belfast to hold a two-week gospel mission in McQuiston Memorial Presbyterian Church. Bert was encouraged to go to those meetings by his mother, and to please her he attended on the final Friday night September 30, 1949. That night, the Lord spoke to his heart, and he knew that he needed to get saved, but in his pocket, he had a ticket for a ballroom dance that he wanted to go to on Saturday night.
So, he decided that he would go to the dance and then return to the final meeting of the mission on Sunday evening and get "saved" then. But as they were singing the words of the closing hymn, ‘I hear thy welcome voice’, Dr Smith stopped the singing and said - "There maybe someone in this meeting thinking I will wait to Sunday night to get saved, but Sunday night may be too late!" Just at the moment the words "My spirit shall not always strive with man" (Genesis 6:3) came powerfully to Bert’s heart. He trembled as he thought of his spiritual condition and as a result before he left the Church that night he received Jesus Christ as his Saviour.
Maybe you are planning to be saved at some later time but remember that could be too late. The first message that S. B. Cooke ever preached was on Second Corinthians 6:2: "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation".
Let me urge you to hasten to Christ for salvation now, while you still have opportunity.
* The Rev Dr S. B. Cooke died on December 5 last, aged 96.