A Copper Penny

In 1947, a rumor spread that the Ford Motor Company would give a Ford in exchange for every copper penny dated 1943. The rumor spread so fast that Ford offices throughout the country were jammed with requests for information, and in spite of a telephone strike, thousands of inquiries came in by telephone as well as telegram and mail. Washington also reported that a large volume of queries had been received at the offices of the mint. It all turned out to be a joke. The statistics of the mint show that in 1943 there was no copper available for coinage and that 1,093,838,670 pennies were minted of steel-zinc, but that the number made of copper was exactly zero.

There has been a rumor abroad in the human race for centuries that entrance into Heaven could be obtained by presentation of works. The fact is that there are no works made on Earth which are acceptable in Heaven. They all show the counterfeit of having come from the mold of the human heart. God has declared that He will accept only the work that bears the image of the Lord Jesus Christ performed on Calvary in dying for sinners. There is no hope apart from this. ” Not by works of righteousness which we have done….” ( Titus 3:5 ). ” Not of works, lest any man should boast ” ( Ephesians 2:9 ).

– Donald Grey Barnhouse

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