Our second point is that Christianity written on the heart is Christianity in its most legible form. When we receive a letter from someone, we want to be able to read it! I’ve seen some awfully poor penmanship in my day. You probably have, too. We had a neighbor some years ago, and when they moved away, this dear lady communicated with us from time to time, and I promise that was the worst penmanship I’ve ever seen—utterly and completely undecipherable! Betsy and I used to pass her letter back and forth between ourselves and try to read it word by word to see if we could decipher what this dear lady was saying. Sometimes we could, and sometimes we couldn’t.

But if you and I are the epistle of Christ, our lives should be easy to read. Jesus said, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven,” Matthew 5, verses 14 through 16. People ought not to have to puzzle in their minds and say, “I don’t know about you. One day I think you might be a Christian, and then the next day… Well, I just don’t know about you.”

Christianity written on hearts is also Christianity in the most positive form. A well-written letter contains clearness of meaning. Once again, when you receive a letter, you don’t like to have to go through it again and again, and then say, “I can read the words, but for the life of me, I cannot understand what this person means!” I can tell you again about a couple of people who have communicated with us over the years. One is a dear friend in Germany. The other is a brother in the Lord from India—a native of the country of India. Both of them have a good command of the English language, but they both have trouble forming thoughts into things that can be comprehended. And there again, sometimes when we have received communications from these folks, we pass the letter between us and say, “Now, what do you think they really mean here. I’m reading the words. I see what they’re saying, but I’m not really sure what that means.”

You and I are called upon to clearly and positively set forth the Gospel of Christ so that people will not have to wonder where we stand on certain vital issues. But as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 16:13, we are to “stand firm in the faith.”

Also, Christianity written on the heart is Christianity in its most convincing form. We want to be convinced of things. “Show me some proof or evidence,” we might say. Harvey Porter used the illustration this morning in Bible class about being able to throw a baseball from the platform here, and hit that “Exit” sign at the back of the room. I don’t know about you, but several of us here were wanting to see some proof of that! And he promised that he’s going to demonstrate that for us sometime! But that’s the way we are. We want to see proof!

Good books have been written about “the evidences of Christianity.” But one life patterned after the Lord Jesus Christ is far more convincing than ALL of the Christian apologetics [the group of books or writings that are written to make clear, or defend, a certain belief, especially the belief of divine origin and the authority of Christianity; from the Latin word apologia: to defend]. He who has been transformed by the power of the Gospel of Christ from a sensual, selfish and corrupt person into a spiritual, benevolent and holy person, furnishes an argument that baffles even the critics of Christianity. One noted infidel said, “I can answer all the arguments of Christianity but one: The saintly life of my godly mother.”

Christianity written on the heart is Christianity in its most enduring form. We want things to last, but when it comes to letters, we know that they don’t. The tablet upon which we write a letter, the material thereof, is perishable. You may put truth on paper, and the paper will decay. You may put truth in the institutions of men, but they will pass away as a cloud. You may put truth on marble or brass, but even these enduring materials will eventually erode and fade away. But Truth enshrined in the souls of men will live forever, because, as the Psalmist said, “Your heart will live forever,” [Psalm 22:26].

Our third point is that Christianity is a supernatural thing. To the Corinthian Christians, the apostle Paul wrote: “Not that we are sufficient, or competent, of ourselves to think anything of ourselves, but our sufficiency, or competence, is of God,” verse 5 of 2 Corinthians, chapter 3.

Paul was careful to guard against boasting. He had spoken often of the success of his ministry among men, but he did not want to be understood as affirming that any of the success had come from himself. He knew full well that he had no self sufficiency—that he had no power in himself to convince and convert sinners. But all of the success of his Gospel ministry was to be traced to God. He had said in the previous epistle to these same Corinthians, “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planted anything, neither he that watered; but God that giveth the increase,” 1 Corinthians 3, verses 5 through 7.

I think one of the greatest mistakes that people make is to imagine that Christianity is simply a “natural thing.” They believe that Christianity is an ordinary life lived on a “high moral plane”, if you will. Someone might say, “I feel that I’ve been too selfish, too worldly. I’m going to try to do better. I’m going to start to live in a Christian way. In fact, I’m going to go to church!” Well, you can do all of these things outwardly and still not be a Christian at all! Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. And NO MAN cometh to the Father, but by Me,” John 14, verse 6. And again the Lord said, “I am the Vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing,” John 15, verse 5. And Peter said, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved,” Acts 4, verse 12.