Thursday, December 29, 2011

In Wrath Remember Mercy

Upon Calvary's Cross, Christ Jesus, God manifest in the flesh, bore the divine wrath of God that is due to your sins. God's justice, vengeance, and wrath had to be poured out upon human sin, for God would be unjust, if He failed to do so. The wrath of God on human sin was concentrated on the Lamb of God, when He bore our sins in His own body on the tree. God can now have mercy on sinners, because Jesus suffered all the punishment that our sins deserved. Every sinner really deserves God's wrath, no matter you think. What you think doesn't matter, its what the Bible says that is the Truth.  

Every man's sinful nature is really so bad that he deserves a holy God's eternal vengeance. Most men are inclined to see themselves as a fairly decent, nice, respectable, sophisticated, personable sort of person, that every now and then stumbles and does something that he wishes he didn't do, but basically at the root, he is really a pretty good person. But the thing that sinners most deserve is God's wrath, and the thing that sinners least deserve is God's mercy. Jesus bore my sins on Calvary's Cross, and became the Victim of my sins, and God the Father punished and forsook Jesus because of my sins. In God's wrath, He remembered Mercy at Calvary's Cross.

If you don't think you're really that bad, then you think God is really bad for saying He will angrily take out wrath on a pretty good person like yourself. You highly esteem yourself, and you don't think you're that bad; therefore, you think that God is unjust and irrational. All of sinful mankind is deservingly under the wrath of God (John 3:36) - the Bible says so. God's wrath is coming on human sin, flee from the wrath to come at the Cross. If you are living without Jesus Christ, the wrath of God presently abides on you, and it's just a matter of time before it falls on your soul like a ton of bricks. 

God is Just, and He poured out His divine wrath on Jesus, so He wouldn't have to pour it out on you. Every man's wicked sinful nature deserves the wrath of God. You have willfully avoided and rejected God's words and His Son. You have drowned out your conscience by your continual sinning. You are without excuse. God's wrath will eventually settle the score with all sin that has ever been committed. The normal man is not looking for the Righteousness of God (Romans 10:3-4); he thinks that his self-righteousness will avail with God, and he will somehow escape the judgment of God by his own human goodness. Human goodness that is mixed with many sins can never satisfy God Perfect Holiness. Man's vile inward nature is ungrateful, idolatrous, self-righteous, superstitious and perverse. Man refuses to retain God in his knowledge. Man can't find God for the same reason a thief can't find a policeman: he is not looking for God.  The man in his natural state is doing everything he can to avoid the true and living God found in the Bible.  After Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, he tried to hide from God in bushes, but God sought out Adam and provided him a way of escape from his guilt.

Your willful, sinful choices to reject Christ and love sin will send you straight to Hell. Divine Justice must punish every sin. Someone must pay forever for your sins. Jesus paid the full ransom price (Blood Atonement) for your sins with His own life and blood. God will only have mercy on a sinner through the Blood of Jesus Christ. God's mercy beseeches you today to personally come by Faith to Jesus Christ Himself, and trust to His Precious Blood to forgive all your sins. 

God laid your sins on Christ, along with all your guilt and punishment. The Eternal God Himself became a Jewish man in order to make Atonement for sins of the whole world - all the sins that were committed by us against Him. Let the Atonement which satisfied God's holiness for human sin also satisfy your guilty conscience. Christ Jesus Himself is the great Atonement for human sin. Jesus Christ suffered, that I might not suffer. He was made the Victim, so I could go free. Wrath fell on Jesus, so mercy could fall on me.

The Gospel of the Grace of God suits your wretched case exactly. Jesus Christ came to save the guilty and needy, that is the sort of person you are, so lay hold on His Blood Atonement. You have no one else in which to trust. Jesus stood in your place with your sins upon Him, and He rendered to God's Law a perfect obedience and to God's divine justice a perfect Blood Atonement. The moment a sinner simply comes to God as a sinner and believes in Jesus, God imputes Christ's Blood and Righteousness to that sinner's soul, and then God regards him as absolutely just through Christ's Righteousness. Jesus bore all the consequences of your sins against God.  Christ died for the ungodly.

Now understand - Mercy is only for the guilty, free forgiveness is for the unrighteous, and grace is for the ungodly. There is mercy now for sinners only, but there is no mercy for the self-righteous man who will not own himself as a guilty wretch and renounce his own righteousness. It is very galling to human nature to have to stand in the dock and answer, Guilty! If you want peace with heaven, you must take up your true position, and plead Guilty

The natural man cannot endure to be saved by mercy; he will not plead Guilty and throw himself on the mercy of the Great Savior. He will not be treated as a pauper spiritually and humbly beg for free forgiveness from Christ's pierced hand. The natural man desires to have his finger in his own salvation, so he can claim at least a little credit for it. He tries to prepare himself for free grace and assist divine mercy, or in some degree deserve eternal life by his own efforts. Proud human nature will not ask for Christ's Help; it will not receive divine Charity, it cannot endure the self-humiliation, it will try to make itself better and get to heaven by self-effort. The last thing that human nature still has, that is its own, is its pride (self-esteem). Self-righteous human nature will not take heaven on God's free terms of grace; it will hold to its own righteousness for dear life. All that a man can do apart from Christ's finished work is a vain and useless effort. Only the power of the Holy Ghost can lead a man to forsake his own righteousness, trust only to Christ's doing and dying.  Free grace and bleeding love via the Cross is the only way to New Jerusalem.

Come now and class yourself among the guilty and ungodly, or God's mercy and forgiveness will never come to your soul. Jesus clears all who believe in Him, for He personally bore their full punishment in His own body on the Tree. All that is necessary to save a sinner from his sins has already been endured by the Lord Jesus Christ. He ransoms sinners freely through His bloody death upon the Cross. Jesus suffered the whole weight of the wrath of God and has fully satisfied the claims of divine justice on your behalf. He paid all your sin debt and death sentence, if you trust to Him, the Law must let you go free Forever.

The Great Sin-Bearer has suffered in the sinner's place; divine justice smote Him; He willingly bore all the sinner's punishment, and now that your sins have been punished on Jesus, God can be Just, and yet be the Justifier of all who believe in His Dear Son. 

According to the Righteous Law of God, every sin ever committed must be punished. It is inevitable that God must punish sin. Your conscience tells you that it is impossible that your guilt can go without its due penalty. So Jesus came and bore your sins, and the dread penalty that was due to your sins. The Law has to fall on Someone, so Jesus took the deadly blows for you. God's infinite Justice determined that all sin must be punished, so God's divine Wisdom and Love devised the plan of Substitution, and Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, became the Substitute for sinners. Simply put - God punished Jesus instead of you, so you could be rescued from the wrath to come.

Let your first desire be free-pardoned sin, get your sins forgiven now, go straight to Christ the Mediator for this. Do not labor to attain a better life, or make some religious profession, or put on outward religiousness. Divine Pardon is the primary blessing to seek and obtain from Jesus. Look now to the Sin-Bearer who made a full, complete, absolutely acceptable Atonement on your behalf. Trust your soul with Him, repose on His promises, rest in His Atonement, rely upon His Finished Work, rejoice in His bleeding eternal love for sinners. 

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and now whosoever believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Believing is when the sinner ceases to trust in himself, and implicitly relies on the Lord Jesus Christ for all his Salvation. The only way you'll ever see the face of God with acceptance is through faith in the Atoning Blood of God's Son. You have no merits to plead before God. The merits of Christ must be imputed (set to) your account, and then you shall stand before God accepted in the Beloved, perfect in Christ Jesus. You have sinned against God; you're an enemy of God in your mind by your wicked works; you're guilty and condemned already; you're going to die in your sins and God will give you eternal divine justice; you're only waiting in the jailhouse of your sins for sentencing before the Judge of all the earth. Be wise now - Call upon Jesus, seek Mercy from God's Divine Justice through the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ right now.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Sin Revived 4

Death to Self-Righteousness is Brought to the Sinner by the Divine Law - All your hopes from your past self-righteous life die when the divine commandment comes and reveals to you your inward filthiness. You used to look back with great comfort upon your good works and religious efforts, but now you feel that you are an awful hypocrite, your heart was never sincerely in your motives, actions and words. You never really loved God or His Law at all. And then, all your hopes as to the future died. You have broken the Law, and all attempts to keep it in the future cannot mend the past violations and transgressions of the Law; and you know that as you had broken it in the past, you would be sure to break it in the future, and in that respect your righteous Self died. All your self-powers seemed to die. You realized God's pure holiness, and you perceived that every thought, word, and wish would condemn you, you sat before the Law and trembled, and entreated that those words might not be spoken to you any more. This is how all your hopes died. You felt that you were condemned forever. Your last ray of self-hope was gone. You were once quite secure in your self, and even boastful - you were self-righteous, but not any more. You have broken God's Law so often, and that you must perish and be cast into Hell on account of your sins, you feel yourself quite lost. When the commandment comes, the Law reveals to you your sinfulness, and it makes you mourn and feel you are lost. This is the first workings of the Holy Spirit on the lost sinner.

When a sinner is killed by the Law, he truly understands where salvation lies - in Christ's Finished Work, and not in human merit. You have no merits of your own; you never will have any. Christ has all the merits that you need to take you to Heaven. If you will trust Christ to save you, He will save you, and His righteousness shall be yours. As long as you think you have any good in yourself, you will receive nothing from Christ, but when all your hope from your own goodness is laid at the foot of the Law, then the Gospel can save you. The Gospel then says this to you, "Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." The Gospel points you to Jesus crucified, who carried your sins, who was punished instead of you - The Gospel shows you how God's divine justice has been satisfied by the atoning blood of God. Believe and live! Take the mercy God freely offers you. Take it without money, without price, without works, without any preparation. Take God's free mercy now; simply take it as God presents it to you. Just as you are without having but one plea, and that is that Jesus died for sinners -- just as you are - take Jesus, and your sins will be laid on Him.

You are filthy, condemned, and guilty in the sight of God. God has pronounced the death sentence for you because of your sins. God's mercy is freely held out to you. You cannot be saved by human efforts. Let others try it if they will; you cannot, you know you cannot. You can only be saved by the Grace of God. God freely offers salvation through His Dear Son in the Gospel. God will not deny you, however sinful and filthy you may be within, or however vile you may feel yourself to be. You only have to Come, to Trust, to Believe in Jesus, Rely solely upon Him, to throw yourself upon Him, to lean upon Him, to hang upon Him, to depend on Him as a humble little child, and you will be saved forever. Look to Jesus Christ bleeding and dying and Trust Him with your Soul. Life is short, Eternity is not.

Sin Revived 3

Here's an illustration - A person goes down into a dark and dingy cellar that has been shut up for a long time, and there are lots of foul odors in the air and vile creatures on the floor and spiders creeping along the walls. The first time he goes down into the cellar without a flashlight, and he doesn't see the disgusting things dwelling there. But the next time, he takes a flashlight, and he soon wishes to get out of that place.

Now understand, this time the flashlight shows him all the rats, roaches, spiders, and all the other vile creatures that were lerking so closely to him. The flashlight (the commandment) did not create the vile creatures, but it only revealed and excited them. The Law does this in the heart of sinful man. The vile creatures (your sins) are all quiet, sleeping, and at rest while there is only darkness, but when the flashlight (the commandment) comes, your sins all scurry to and fro to escape the light. When the 'commandment' comes to the sinful heart of man, it does just that - it excites and reveals all the vileness of your sinful nature which has hidden before - it stirs up your sins, and you find out in reality that your sins were there all the time, always there, and then you will say, "Sin revived, and I died." The great "I" (righteous self) in all of us must die, before we will seek Christ Jesus sincerely.

The power of the divine Law begins to work in your soul. There is no sharper instrument with which to cut the soul than the broken law of God. There is no plow that can turn over the soul's fallow ground like that plow of the Ten Commandments. There is no arrow that can shoot and stick deep in the heart, and slay the soul's self-satisfaction as God's quick and powerful commandments. The Law opens up a man to himself, and makes him see himself as he really is. The Law searches and tries and weighs the spirit of man along with his motives and desires. When you see that they are holy, just, and good, you'll see that you've broken every one of them. Every breach of the Law is calling out for vengeance against you this very moment. The 'coming of the commandment' is a dreadful, but a necessary thing, that must come to heart of every sinner. You may think your sin is dead and buried by your good works or religion, but then 'the commandment comes' directly to you, your sins will revive and overwhelm you. Your sins LIVE, and every one of the them will torment you, and point at you, and accuse you as the Law condemns you. The way of transgressors is hard, and be sure your sin will find you out.

Sin also revives in another sense - You will begin to think that God is too stern and strict, and realize that you do not love God or His Law. The rebellion which has always been in your spirit begins to raise its ugly head and show itself in your thoughts, words, imaginations, and deeds. You will begin in your to feel a hatred against the Law that condemns you, and against God whom you have offended. Sin revives in your soul. Remember - Sin hates God, and God hates sin. Once the Law has visited your heart and revealed your real sinful state to you, He then point you up the stairs to the True Light, the light of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ. Coming out of the cellar of sin is Repentance. You can't stay in the dark cellar of Sin, and go to Heaven - you must Repent and Believe the Gospel.

You must acknowledge you're a sinner, and in need of a Savior, and then you can be saved by receiving Christ into your body and soul, and believing (that is, trusting implicitly) on His name and blood. Simply trust God's promise to save you from sin. Jesus said this, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life." (John 6:47) You must admit that you are helpless to save yourself. It is impossible for Jesus to cure those, that will not admit they are sin-sick. Jesus did not die for good people that think that can save themselves. The only people that Jesus came to save was sinners. Jesus is God as well as man - He was God manifest in the flesh. JESUS offered Himself up as a Sacrifice for ungodly sinners, not the righteous. He paid the price for redemption with His own life's blood. He saves all lost and guilty sinners that come to Him by faith in His precious blood. He then gives them assurance that their sins are forgiven and delivered from the just Judgment of God. Jesus received what He didn't deserve (the wrath of God on the Cross), so we could receive what we don't deserve (the mercy of God). There is only one way to get rid of your sin - Trust Only in the atoning blood of Christ.

The good things you've done, or will do, are not sufficient to save your soul. Church membership and baptism is not adequate, any amount of money you may give to charity or church is not satisfactory. When it comes to salvation - it is the man Christ Jesus Himself, the living God, that saves the guilty soul. You only need to know two things to go to Heaven - you are a sinner, and Christ is the Savior. You must first provide the sinner, and God will provide the Savior. Salvation is a miracle, man cannot perform miracles, God must get all the glory for the miracle of Salvation.

This is the strange process and experience that the soul of man 'must' encounter prior to receiving Christ. You must die, before you are born again. This is the only way a sinner is brought to Christ, and when the 'commandment' comes to you, remember it is only in tender mercy, so you will forsake all your self-trusts and place your soul's entire trust simply in the blood of the Crucified and Risen Savior - the Lord Jesus Christ. The blood of Christ is your only escape from the damnation of hell. What is Hell? Hell is SIN and SELFISHNESS on fire. If you are Selfish and think that you can help save yourself from Hell by your religious efforts and good works, you will end up burning forever. Abandon all your carnal trusts and self-goodness. Flee from the wrath of God to come. Only the blood of God can save you from the wrath to come. Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. You may be a deceitful scoundrel, or a horrible wretch, a lustful prostitute, or a covetous thief, or a respectable dignified bill-paying church-going citizen - but it doesn't matter - you still need Christ and His precious blood today. Look to the dying Lamb of God, He is alive forever more, Call upon His name, and trust Him now.

Sin Revived 2

Many professors of religion are living without the Law. They are living reputable, respectable, religious lives, and they believe they are converted, but they are alive without the Law of God. There is mingled with their counterfeit faith in Christ some sort of trust in themselves. They have never seen that the Law puts an end to all human power, strength, and righteousness as any assistance to help Christ out in the matter of Salvation. The commandment of God has not yet come into their souls and laid them low. Until the commandment comes from God, the self-righteous religious man will be in such a state as to think he is quite all right, because he does not know the Law - this is the most foolish and dangerous condition a sinner can be in. He doesn't truly care about the Law, he doesn't know it, and concludes based on his ignorance that he is righteous as a man can be. He continues to say he is all right - believe he is all right - think he is all right. But his future is dangerous, and will end in everlasting ruin.

The lost, natural man is like a ship out at sea that ought to have been decommissioned long ago and sank. There he is out at sea, living life everyday as if everything was just fine. He does not care to enquire whether the hull is sound, or whether it is not leaking, or whether the pumps work well or not. He has seemed to sail very well in fair weather, and he does not care to know anything else. No one in their right mind would like to go to sea in a ship like this. The sane person would want to know whether the ship would stand the strain of a storm, whether it was seaworthy, and, if it were not so, you would stay on shore. You may be in a leaking ship - a ship that is rusted through and through, and you will go to pieces when once the storm of death comes upon you. Only God can deliver you from false hopes, and living without the law; may the Law come onboard your vessel even now, and begin to inspect you closely. And when the Law's inspection is done, you will soon discover that your vessel is only fit to be abandoned. At that time, I hope you will get onboard a better ship, a ship that shall stand all storms, of whom Christ is the Captain - a ship which is Christ Jesus Himself.

* Sin coming to light - The Revival of Sin: "The commandment came, and sin revived." Sin before was dead in him. He did not believe he had any great sin in him. He is so good, there cannot be much sin in him, he hasn't done anything that bad. But what does the Bible really mean by the 'commandment' coming? It means this, you perceive the Law's real meaning. You never saw it before - that it had respect to your thoughts, wishes, and desires. God has sworn by Himself that He will carry out the Law, and will not spare those who dare to break it, and will execute judgment upon all those who defy Him to His face and break His commandments.

Here's the revival we need today - the "Sin Revival". The next so-called 'revival meeting' you attend, listen real closely, and see if you hear this message preached - I'm afraid you will not. But remember this: You MUST have a 'sin revival' before you have a 'righteousness revival'. Many people get this backwards today in Laodicea. The Bible still says in Romans 7:8-9: "For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once, but when THE COMMANDMENT CAME, sin revived, and I died." And in Proverbs 6:23 it is written, "For THE COMMANDMENT is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life." The Law comes and reproves and condemns us. "For thou art my lamp, O Lord: and the Lord will lighten my darkness." (II Samuel 22:29) You may not know it, but sin is lerking within your heart, and the Law of God is attempting to show you the exceeding sinfulness of your heart. The Law of God (the commandment) comes with a flashlight and attempts to show you what you never thought was in your heart.

Sin Revived 1

There is a little world within every one of us - it is called the human heart. Strange things happen there every day. There is a very remarkable process going on there which men do not understand. Men do not know what God is doing in their hearts, but He is working all the time in some way or fashion on your heart. It is the Holy Spirit's first work in our hearts to convince us of sin and guilt by using His divine Law.

* Life without the Law - Men are naturally trying to make it from this life over into Eternity on the 'rickety bridge' of their self-goodness. But this weak bridge will hold not up the sin-laden soul of man, and he will surely fall into the lake of fire. Many people have heard and read the Law and the Ten Commandments. Some have discussions and disputes with one another about the minute particulars of the Law. But the Law has never been brought home 'spiritually' by the Holy Spirit to the heart and conscience of most men. There are living in a state of false security. They 'think' they are keeping the Law. They do not dread dying, or standing before the Judgment Bar of God. They feel themselves perfectly ready to meet God - the Judge of all the earth. They hope their good will outweigh their bad somehow. Self-righteous sinners are comfortably resting in their own law-keeping, and feel themselves perfectly secure. They are perfectly at ease and have a false peace. Nothing disturbs them. He doesn't have sleepless nights thinking of his past iniquities. He thinks he is doing all he ought to do, leaving nothing undone that he ought to have done. He is alive without the law.

This false security brings men into a proud state, and he will look down upon others. They expect to be saved or help save themselves by their own doings. He has not yet understood about Jesus, the Son of God, who died for his sins, and who has risen from the dead to Freely Give them pardon - He has never trusted in the works of Christ, he clings to his own. The tree of good works that the self-righteous sinner finds shelter must be chopped down by the Law of God. He thinks he is good as he ought to be, and he is better than others, and sets out to try and make other people better. The Law of God, the axe of God, cuts at the root of self-righteousness. The "I" must be cut down and killed and left dead on the spot. Their notion is that the 7th commandment, "thou shalt not commit adultery" only meant an outward act of uncleanness. They feel perfectly innocent, because they had never committed adultery by a physical act. But what they don’t know is -- that the Law condemns the sinner if there has been even an unclean thought or filthy imagination, and that uncleanness of heart and 'thought life' is as obnoxious to the holiness of God as the actual physical act of adultery. God can see your thought life at all times. Have your thoughts ever gone after evil? Have your imaginations ever delighted in sin? Have you ever had corrupt desires or selfish ambitions? Have you come up to the standard of God's Perfection?

Once they discover this, their life of pride and self-security comes to an end. If you have hated someone in the heart, and were angry and wished him harm or spoken bitter words concerning him, you have killed him in your heart. You have already committed murder in the sight of God in your thoughts. Even anger is murder in the sight of God. The 10th commandment, "thou shalt not covet" condemns every sinner that has even the slightest "unlawful covetous desire". Sinners are not as secure as they think they are. They cannot afford to be proud and judge others. Most people live in a proud, haughty way, because they do not understand the Law.

Good self-righeous people have wrapped themselves up in the cloak of their own goodness, because they have really been very 'careless' about what the Law of God really means. They have not sincerely looked into it. It has not been thoroughly considered by them. They think the commandments are only a matter of religious teaching, but nothing more. Your conscience convicts you of committing sins against God. Some say "how does God know, and is there knowledge with the Most High? What if we do break His law - does God really care about it?God is very merciful. He won't be severe with us poor sinners. And if we have offended God, we will whisper a prayer or two on our death bed, and all will be blotted out." They think that God is such an one as themselves. They think they can mess around with sin, and so they think God will trifle with sin. The Divine Law is inflexible, it is holy.

The Spirituality of the Law 3

What have you gotten by hating Christ? You have gotten many stings in your conscience and a load of guilt, or maybe even locked up in jail, an empty bank account, a diseased body, addictive habits, a filthy heart, a troubled mind, sin-stained children, or a poor unloved wife. You hate Christ without a cause, for no good reason. This is always the case - Haters of Christ naturally love their sins. Why is it that you hate Christ? It is because you are so desperately set on mischief, because of your vicious sinful nature within. You rebel against God continuously, you cannot love God, because He's your enemy. God in mercy has spared you from going to Hell to this hour. Do you hate God for sending His Son to die for His sinful enemies? You are so estranged from God, you give Him enmity for love, and hatred for mercy.

God surrounds you with favors, lavishes you with His mercies, covers you with His lovingkindness, He has given you so many blessings in this life. But you have little gratitude for His ardent compassion toward you. You hate the lovely, despise the good, abhor the merciful, spurn the gracious Savior, and scorn His bleeding love. It is an enormous evil to despise Jesus Christ - God Incarnate. You are in a horrid state of heart when you scoff at God and hate Christ. You are out of your mind - You would rather rot in hell than believe in Christ and take His free forgiveness of sins. All unbelievers and especially atheists hate God. But for what do you hate Him? You hate Christ because He's REALLY GOOD. Are you God's enemy because He keeps your soul in life, or maybe because He raised you from your sickbed time after time? Or maybe because He gave you beautiful children? Or maybe you are God's enemy, because He sends you a free and loving Gospel? It is pure villainy to be at enmity with the infinitely good GOD.

This is an honest warning - Hell is real and you will go there if you keep rejecting the Crucified Creator. Is there anything in Christ that would make men hate Him? Absolutely not! Nothing was in Christ but Good and Love and Grace and Truth. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners from the Hell they deserve. Was there anything in that to make you hate Him? You don't have a legitimate reason for hating Christ, except you are innately evil and love sin and darkness.

You hate the Gospel because it is tells you of your sins, it goes against your sinful pleasure, that darling lust of yours, that is the real reason you will not believe on Jesus Christ. You would believe the Gospel, if you could believe it and still live on in your favorite sins too. You had rather remain a wicked wretch than give up your favorite secret sins. You had rather continue to feed your dirty habits, than feed on Jesus Christ and His precious word. Faith in Christ can never stand side by side with Sin, because the Gospel cries, "Down with Sin, Down with Lust, Away with Self!" The Gospel is too pure for you, therefore you turn away from it, because the Gospel will not tolerate your idolatrous lusts, or allow you to indulge in your pet evil, you hate Jesus Christ with a passion, because He wants to save you FROM your sins.

Hating Christ is a dead loss to you. If you keep hating Christ till you die, you will not hurt Christ by it, you will only hurt your own soul. There is a cedar tree growing in the woods around the end of November, and someone comes along with an ax and cuts it off from its life source. The man takes the tree home, decorates it, but then around the end of December this same tree begins to dry up and reveal that it is really dead. The little bit of water at the base of the tree cannot feed the dead tree. This is same thing that happens to lost men. Every man exists happily in his sin without God, but all of a sudden the Holy Spirit in mercy comes along with the ax of the Law, and begins to cut the man away from his source of fun, his sin. The man begins to feel his sin and guilt, and then he tries to decorate himself with outward religion, and put a little bit of water (human goodness) under him to try and keep himself alive, but he eventually dries up and is completely dead and ready to be cast away. This lost man's only hope then is to look away from himself and his dead religion to the Tree where Christ Jesus bled and died for His ungodly enemies. Then, all of a sudden, the lost man is given eternal life freely within and he no longer loves his sin or need his vain outward decorations to put a on a vain show. You see - fine, upstanding, religious people are still just as lost as the swearing harlot and the blaspheming drug addict. "Lost" simply means to be minus God. Salvation is getting Christ out of heaven back into man where He belongs.

Christ came to bleed and die and wash away your guilty sin stains. Self-righteousness flatters men into a notion of spotlessness. They think they are righteous in themselves. Self-righteous sinners are born in folly, and nursed by human conceit. They rely upon their own wisdom, perseverance, prayerfulness, spirituality, and strength of resolution. Ungodly men must be saved by the Gospel. Sin is devouring you. Don't believe your own hype, or be conned by yourself. Holy delight mingled with sacred grief, repentance with faith, patience with hope, humility with full assurance, conscious self-emptiness with all sufficiency of Christ. Salvation is the heart's resting upon Christ, not just your brain understanding facts.

Spirituality must never be divorced from common sense. Be very suspicious of super-fine spirituality. Purity, morality, spirituality, unction of the Holy Ghost. The work of the Law - see its exactness, spirituality, strictness, infinite compass of your thoughts, motives, words, and deeds. The Law judges the thoughts, desires, and imaginations of the heart. The plumbline of the holy Law is held up, we see how warped and out of plumb we are and become distressed.

The Law is carefully considered and inwardly perceived. The Law is given to point us to Christ, to be our schoolmaster and shut us up to Christ, to convince us of our need of Christ, shut us out from every other hope. The glory of the Law is Christ. Realize the urgency of your plight. Love to God, care about the best things. The Law enter into the spirit of man's nature even one single "sinful thought" spoils the perfection of the Law. An idle word or a wrong act you have done. We have broken the priceless vase of the Law into shivers - it is clear that we cannot keep it at all. It is absurd and wicked to think we can. All a sinner can get out of the Law is a curse (Galatians 3:10). Your deficiencies and transgressions will inevitably bring a curse upon your head. The Law brings sins to our knowledge, but it never kills our sin. The Law never thinks of pardoning sin, let all your good works go, fling them all away, let go of all confidence in anything that you can do or be. Your goodness is all full of death. Whenever someone dies of a foul disease, you don't keep a single piece of their clothing, you burn it all, and get rid of it all. You say, "I've always tried to live right, and observe the golden rule."

Are you prepared to die? Is the Divine Law satisfied with you? Is your sin pardoned? You must give up your evil practices, renounce your sins, abhor all your own righteousness. You must trust in nothing but Jesus' doing and dying. Simply depend on Him for Everything. Will your sudden death be sudden glory, or doom and damnation? Are you prepared to meet your Maker face to face? You are sleeping over hell - there is a fire on the first floor, you are sleeping upstairs, I am yelling up to your window. I'm trying to awake you. Wake up and weigh the solemn matters of Eternity. Salvation is only by Jesus and His Blood Atonement - Look now to the Cross - turn to God with full purpose of heart. Come to Christ Jesus - and He will save you now.

The Spirituality of the Law 2

We must understand the spirituality of The Ten Commandments. They search out our open sinful deeds as well as our impure thoughts and haughty imaginations. The Law condemns us all without exception. The commandment proves our guilt, reveals our proneness to evil, pronounces a curse upon every one of us, and gives us over to the condemnation of the Law. The commandment pays us no respect, it shuts us up in the jail of hopeless despair. Those who are self-righteous and full of self-esteem are slowly killed by the Law. The Law pulls puffed-up men down from their elevated conceit of self. The Law regards all men as poor sinners, and comes to condemn and curse them. The Gospel comes to sinners with free pardon. The Gospel treats men as lost and comes to save and bless them. Look now to Jesus - He is the sinner's Best Friend.

Now understand - God Commandments mean not only what they say in words, but they touch your thoughts, heart, and imaginations. The Law means a great deal more than the mere word seems to convey. The very thought of adultery and fornication is condemned. The indulgence of an unclean look has broken the 7th commandment already. The Law deals with desires and the imaginations, where you fantasize and picture your sins within your mind, and feel a sinful pleasure in a picture, though you have not actually committed the sin, you are already guilty. God looks at our thoughts, imaginations, desires, and words as well as at our actions. We stand in awe of the Law, for we cannot keep it, we are already condemned by it. What way of escape is there for us? How can I get my sins forgiven? How can I be reconciled to God?

If a man says that he can keep the Law, it is because He does not know what the Law is. Human pride breaks the Law as much as lust, lying, or murder. It is utterly impossible to come up to the holy standard of God's Law. Only by perfection can you live by the Law, and you know that human perfection is impossible. The Law is a sharp arrow and it pierces deep into the heart and conscience. You cannot save yourself by your own doings, you cannot keep the strict Law. The Law takes in all your actions, private as well as public; your words, even your idle words and gossip. You cannot live without sinful thoughts for you are a rebel in your nature. Just your sinful thoughts are enough to send you down to the lowest hell. You cannot keep the Law, it is impossible, the Law is too holy and great, you cannot attain unto its holiness. But Christ kept the Law perfectly for you.

The commandment is exceeding broad. The Law examines our unchaste glances, lustful thoughts, vile imaginations, causeless hatred, and covetous desires. Evil desires break the Law of God. Uncleanness of thought is as obnoxious to God as uncleanness of life. This ends our life of pride and self-security. Bitter and hasty words are written down in God's book as being a sin. The Law condemns covetous desires, you are not as secure as you thought. You cannot afford to be proud, you cannot afford to judge others any longer, you can only judge yourself. Men live a proud, haughty life until they understand the spirit of God's divine Law. By the Law is the knowledge of sin. Perceive the impossibility of ever keeping the Law of God, leave off attempting to work out salvation by an obedience of your own. The holiness which the Law demands absolute sinless Perfection, no sinner can do that.

God knows all about your sins, He has seen them all, heard them, and wrote them down in His book of remembrance. I the Lord search the heart (Jeremiah 17:10). God knows all about your motives and thoughts. He has seen all your selfishness, and you trying to save yourself. You seek to do what is right merely that you might be saved by it. God has watched all the wanderings of your heart, and all the evil imaginations of your mind. The Law will show you no mercy, it will only condemn and punish the guilty.

It is not just the overt act, merely, that will damn a man; it is the thought, the imagination, this is the conception of sin, and it is sufficient to ruin your soul. If you had never committed one single act of sin, yet the thought and desire for sin, the imagination of it is enough to send you to Hell. The Law detects the heinous evil of sin and the weight of guilt. You begin to fear dying in your lost state.

Be honest for just one minute - your conscience often whispers to you and reminds you of your past sins. You have rejected Christ, despised the Holy Spirit's call, trampled many prayers, and wasted numerous sermons. You are by nature at enmity with God, you neglect Him, you intensely hate Him. It is a fearful thing to die with God as your enemy. Your inward nature is hostile toward Christ. You snub Jesus Christ, you think He is not needed in your life at all. But Jesus took your sin, shame, and blame on the Cross. You are indifferent toward honesty and purity. You resist the Holy Spirit's tender call to Repentance. For which of Christ's works do you hate Him? Do you hate Him because He has spared your life by His tender mercy? Why are you at enmity with God? You curse Him for some odd reason. But you are only hurting yourself by rejecting Jesus Christ.

You have intense hatred toward God's holy Person. God keeps breath in your nostrils, He continually gives you health, food, raiment, and shelter. Answer this question - Do you hate the mother who led and fed and clothed you all your life, or do you despise your father who wisely watched over you? No. But you hate God, because He has been so Good to you, and that is because you are so evil, and that your heart is so far removed from right. This is your great and crying sin. God gave you talents and money and you have turned these things against your Good Creator and Sustainer. This is a diabolical crime. You are indifferent to Christ - and it is a terrible sin to be at enmity with God.

The Spirituality of the Law 1

The Divine Law of God requires absolute moral perfection, it is unflinching in its severity, it can never take away the sting of death in your soul. You cannot overcome sin yourself. You cannot cancel your guilt by your self-righteous works. With your own efforts, you will only build a house of bubbles. The strength of sin is the Law. The stern severity of the Law leaves you helpless and guilty. Let's be clear - the Law deals strictly with the thoughts and intents of your heart. The Law can only be truly revealed to a man's conscience by the Holy Spirit. You can't grow a conscience. When the commandment comes, self-righteousness is shriveled up into nothing and becomes filthy rags and dung. The commandment is exceeding broad in its extent and strictness. The law condemns us for our offenses. Without hope of pardon, like a millstone, sin is bound around the sinner's neck.

The Law deals with the sins of the thoughts; the very imagination of evil is sin. The transit of sin across the heart and mind leaves the stain of impurity behind it. The Law extends to every act in private, business, home, and religion. The Law discovers the least bit of wandering from the strict path of integrity, it condemns us all. It is utterly beyond our power to keep the divine Law in its entirety. By the Law, we can never be saved, only made guilty. Consider the spirituality of the Law, the Atonement, Justification, Sanctification, and real union to Christ. Get a true view of the spiritual extent of the Law, the divine command. See Matthew 5:28. The very thought of evil is sin. You cannot keep the Law of God, you cannot do it, it is impossible. Wrong expressions, angry temper, fears, and doubts are all sins. Did you ever pass a day without sinning? Where are your past sins right now? Did you always honor your father and mother? Did your tongue always speak the truth? Remember all your youthful sins.

Your sin has put you over your head in debt to God's divine justice. You have broken the priceless vase of God's commands. In the sight of God, your filthy hands are soiled with your Sin. You can never satisfy God's divine justice. Only Christ's Blood Atonement can do that. Your nature is as evil as your thoughts, words and actions. Your bones are filled with lust, and your blood boils with a black stream of sin. A fountain of evil is within your soul, there is a sinful leprosy which lies deep within your being. You are an enemy of God, and your carnal mind cannot be reconciled to God by your human merit. Only the Holy Ghost by the New Birth from above can give you a new heart and a right spirit. Your old sin nature is so bad it cannot be fixed by you.

Men passionately strive to save themselves by keeping the Law, but they find out quickly that the spirituality of the Law is far too strict. You've attempted to give up outward acts of sin, but you are still condemned for allowing the thoughts of them in your heart. Even a look may be fornication or adultery, the lustful desire of the heart may be theft or covetousness - straining after another man's goods, and envying him for the enjoyment of them. You cannot control your evil passions or the propensities of your sinful nature. False doctrine, heresy, schisms, hypocrisy, formalism, fanaticism, pretenses of high spirituality, and worldliness all defile you.

You cannot shake off the slough and filthiness of your old nature. The Law condemns your unchaste looks and impure thoughts. Men read the Ten Commandments and only see the letter, but they never feel the spirit cutting them. Hatred is the seed to murder. Unrighteous anger is a violation of the Law. Do you do anything to destroy or shorten your life? The commandment touches the heart. A licentious look is adultery, the foul desire condemns and defiles the soul way before the outward act of uncleanness. Let the Law with all its blaze of light flame into your soul like a filthy dungeon. The Law condemns every sinner on earth. Recollect your individual secret sins, recall them one by one, set them in the light of God's countenance.

Consider your spiritual sins, sins against the Bible, prayer, taking God's name in vain, sins against the love and blood of God, the strivings and calling of the Spirit, sins of omission and commission, failures in duty at home, church, and work. Shortcomings in speech and thought and act. Cold heartedness and apathy toward the Savior. Our minds often hastily and wrongly judge others. The sins of your imagination, the sins of your desires and delights, sins in hopes and fears. Your whole head is sick, your whole heart is faint. You've sinned against light, knowledge, against conscience, divine love, the callings and warnings of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has warned you of your imminent, impending danger, and given cautionary advice. You ignored the Spirit's gentle reproofs, caution, and direction.

You have ignored the tender warnings from the Holy Spirit's gentle voice. One ounce of a Christian's sin has as much evil in it as a ton of a lost man's sin. The heinousness of all sin is that it is against a kind, good, forgiving, loving God. You've sinned against a perfect Law which was intended for our good. Remember your wanton sins, mischievous sins, the sins in which you hurt yourself, foolish sins, despicable sins, against holiness and purity. Fix your eye on Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice. Be a constant confessor of sin, live as a repenter and believer in Him. The wounds of Jesus speak peace and preach penitence. The Atonement gives us rest and leads us to be meek and lowly under a sense of abiding faultiness. We sinned, Jesus suffered. Daily as long as you shall live, confess your sins, and find free cleansing in Christ's blood from all your unrighteousness.

The human heart is a den of evil. Be a quick and constant confessor of sins. Salvation and holiness, justification and sanctification, pardon and purity. Be a confessor of Christ, and a confessor of sin. The Law cries - condemned already, dead in trespasses and sins, guilty before God, the wrath of God abideth on you. Now is mercy's moment. Heavy laden, condemned sinner, listen closely to the Grace of God. Law-condemned sinners, hellish sinners, abandoned wretches, outcasts of society are welcome at the Cross. Acknowledge your sinfulness, here is mercy, broad, ample, free, immense, and infinite. If all the sins men had ever done in will, thought, word, and deed since the world and time began were laid on one poor sinner's head, the sprinkling of Jesus' precious blood would remove the entire dreadful load instantly. Jesus' blood contains many mercies and pardons. Forgivenesses that excel the stars, the sands of the sea, the drops of dew, the sprinkles of rain, one act of blood-bought pardon cancels all your debt and the mountain of iniquity shall be cast into the sea. Your black sin stains shall be washed out by the cleaning power of the Redeemer's blood. Satan's black train is racing to hell.

Sin has brutalized and hardened your life. Your natural feelings and conscience have been defiled and seared. You have yielded your life to the evil one entirely. Let go of your sin, lay hold on Jesus. Read over the Ten Commandments and think about your sins against each one of them. Lustful glances, fleshly desires, and carnal imaginations are all sins, the Law humbles you in the dust. We have broken all the commandments thousands of times over and over. Sins against your wife, your friends, your business associates. Sins of the eyes in idle glances, sins of the tongue in idle words. Sins of the ear - heard the gospel in vain, lent your ears to dirty jokes, gossip, slander, unholy words and wicked stories, against your neighbors. Only the Holy Spirit can melt your heart with His tender influences into contrition. In every sin, there is a world of iniquity in it, there is a mine of sin in every sin. In every sin, there is a host of sins. There are many kinds of evil in every transgression. Be humbled by every one of them. God, I submit to the capital sentence. Submit yourself to the punishment due to your offense, then make an appeal to the mercy of God alone and say, "For Christ's sake, for His blood's sake, have mercy on me." Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out. This is the right way of coming to Christ - confessing your sin and the end of it, and then turning to the Great Substitute for deliverance from sin. Say that you deserve hell, cast yourself upon the mercy of God in Christ Jesus, trusting only in the Great Sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Everyone was against Jesus Christ. The men of rank and position despised the carpenter's son. Superstition abhorred his simplicity and spirituality, ceremonies and rituals would have nothing to do with Him who said the temple was to be destroyed, skepticism could not endure Him, He gave no ground to its doubts and speculations, kings and governors derided Him, Jesus spoke of a kingdom not of this world. Human nature is hostile toward the pure and simple Gospel. The wisdom, power, eloquence, skill, and superstition of this world is arrayed against the simple Gospel of Christ. Religion uplifts their crucifix in the place of the doctrine of the Cross, sacraments in the place of the living Bread of Life and His Atoning Precious Blood. Religion preaches salvation by priests and wafers (works and worry) instead of the pure Gospel of salvation by the grace of God through Christ Jesus alone (trust and know). True faith is supernatural - divine power of God. Real progress of Christianity must be supernatural - the work of the Holy Spirit. Gospel teachings are radical, humbling, pure, spiritual, so much above our thoughts. Health, carnal ease, money, and time to enjoy them - the selfish American way. Human religions control people by fear, shame, and guilt.

Tell It Like It Is (4)

“Boast not thyself of tomorrow for thou knowest not what day may bring forth. What is your life? It is a vapor that appeareth for a while and then vanisheth away. My spirit shall not always strive with man. Seek ye the LORD while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. See that ye refuse not Him who speaketh from Heaven. How shall you escape if you neglect so great salvation? He that believeth not shall not see life, but the WRATH OF GOD abideth on him. What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? You have nothing worth going to Hell over, and you cannot escape God’s judgment in your own righteousness. What do you suppose God will allow to happen to a sinner who deliberately substitutes his own good works/self-righteousness for God’s Righteousness, Jesus Christ, and claims it has more merit than the righteousness of the only sinless Man who ever lived? If God let a sinless Man be tortured to death, what do you suppose will happen to YOU?

“Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the Lake of Fire. The smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever, and they have no rest day or night.” Jesus will say: “Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.” And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, pain, torment, shame, and contempt. They shall be “punished from the presence of the Lord” and the glory of His power with everlasting fire; where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. In Hell, the rich man (Luke 16) lifted up his eyes in torment and cried, “send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame!” All the nations that forget God shall be turned into Hell; wherefore hell hath enlarged herself. Jesus commands: “Bind him hand and foot and cast him into outer darkness!” There shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. If God lives forever, how long will it take to pay for a sin committed against HIM?

Jesus said, “Ye will not come unto me that ye might have eternal life.” How often He would have gathered you as a hen gathers her chickens under her wing, but YOU would not! What will you say in the Day of Judgment when you see Him as a righteous Judge, when you have accepted him as a loving Saviour? What excuse will stand before the eyes of injured love, when you try to explain why you turned down a perfect Man, who loved you enough to die in your place? Will ANY excuse do? Pilate said, “What shall I do with Jesus which is called Christ? You can do anything you want to with Him, but five seconds after your soul has departed from your corpse, He will do anything with YOU that He desires, and you will be powerless to stop Him or influence Him. You will “die in your sins” and where He went, heaven, you will not be able to go! Why not bow your head this minute and receive Him as your Saviour? As many as RECEIVED Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe ON HIS NAME.”

You must willingly receive Him [Jesus] and His Righteousness. You say “How do I do that?” It is very simple. Wherever you are this minute (it doesn’t make any difference where), bow your head and pray this simple prayer: “Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner, and unless you save me I am lost forever. I come to you now, the best way I know how, and ask you to save me. I receive you as my Sin-Bearer, and trust you to justify me and present me faultless and righteous before God’s throne in the day of Judgment.” You say, “It can’t be that simple!” “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise…” (1 Corinthians 1.27). The Lord has made salvation simple enough to be understood by a little child. “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
(Matthew 18.3). IT IS that simple. If you pray like that, with a simple, childlike faith, meaning it from the heart, you will have made the greatest decision of your life – to choose God’s gift of eternal life! If you now receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, don’t be ashamed, tell someone: “…Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” (Romans 10.11).

Tell It Like It Is (3)

“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weigheth the spirits. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. Therefore to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness! Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than for him. Be not deceived! Let no man deceive himself! Broad is the way that leadeth to destruction: wide is the gate and many there be that go in thereat.” Judas was a lost, healing evangelist. Simon was a lost man who had “believed and was baptized.” Cornelius was a devout, praying, vision-seeing Roman and he was lost! The rich young ruler was better than any man you know (Luke 18) and he was lost. Nicodemus was very religious and needed to be born again. Are YOU fooled, too?

What a man calls “Living a good life,” God calls “a refuge of lies.” Man’s view of his nature is positive, but Jesus said, “If ye being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more…etc.” Jesus recognized that human nature was basically evil and needed to be regenerated, not exercised, educated, cultured, or pampered. This means that if Jesus was right, there is nothing you can do or have done or will do that can stand the righteous revelation of a Holy God dealing with your sins at the Judgment. Like Adam’s fig leaf, the straw house of your religious “self-righteousness” will blow away like the chaff in the wind. “Sincerity” is one of the many roads to hell, where it does not recognize and honor the truth: “Every man at his best state is altogether vanity.”

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand! “All other ground” means churches, religions, lodges, creeds, sacraments, “faiths,” beliefs, ideologies, education, science, philosophy, mankind, the future, the past, the present, and everything and everybody connected with it. The LORD Jesus Christ is the “Rock,” the Stumbling Stone, the Rock of Offence, the Stone which the builders rejected: and God hath made Him “The Head of the Corner.” He is, unto us who believe, “A Precious Stone.” We are moved, He is not. Our feelings change, His finished work cannot. Our faith falters, His prayers avail forever. Our works waver, His one, effectual, Finished sacrifice pays the demands of the Law, meets the demands of a Holy God for perfection, and enables Him to clasp God in one hand and sinful man in the other hand. Five bleeding wounds He bears, received on Calvary: they pour effectual prayers, they strongly plead for me, “Forgive him, oh forgive, they cry, nor let that ransomed sinner die.” He is my Propitiation and Atonement. He is the Substitute, Scapegoat, Advocate, Mediator, Rock, Fortress, Anchor, and Strong Tower for those who have asked Him. Is He yours? Why isn’t He? Do you have anything/anyone better than Him [Jesus].

You cannot hide behind a hypocrite unless they are a bigger kind of hypocrite than you are. You would do better to spend a lifetime in a church with a few of them, being saved yourself, than spend an eternity in Hell with them as one of them. “ So then everyone of us shall give account of himself to God.” You alibis for rejecting Christ and clinging to some “Religion” are only proof that you yourself are somewhat of a hypocrite. Why do you profess to be “trying” when God said, “to him that worketh not but believeth on Him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness”? Why do you talk about “doing the best you can” when you have not received God’s Son, and that is by far the best thing you can do? Are you not a little inconsistent yourself? You say, “Well, I have my own ideas.” “Let God be true and every man a liar, that the whole world may become guilty before god and every mouth stopped. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the Judgment of God?”

First John 5:12 has two parts to it. When you receive God’s son, you pass from death to life (Jn 5:24); you become a “new creature in Christ,” born not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but born of God. You are adopted into the family of His Dear Son. You are translated from the Kingdom of Darkness in the Kingdom of Light; turned from the power of Satan to the power of God. “Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new.” In Him you have remission of sins and redemption, justification and forgiveness. Whereas you were “alone in the world without hope and without God,” an alien from Israel and the covenant promises of God, you now become “accepted in the beloved,” one of His own, flesh of His flesh, and you are supernaturally placed in His body, seated with Him in heavenly places. Furthermore, you are sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise unto the Day of Redemption, being cut loose from the flesh (inside), by the circumcision not made with hands; you are “BORN AGAIN.” Has this ever happened to YOU? Where? When?

God deals differently with His children than with a lost man. As a son of God you will be chastened and whipped when you sin against your Father, but you will never be left nor forsaken. He has promised grace sufficient for every task and a way out for every temptation, plus the supply of “every need” according to His “riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” In Heaven you have a reserved inheritance “that fadeth not away.” At the Judgment Seat of Christ Christians will be rewarded for the service rendered to Him AFTER salvation (which was wholly free and by grace). He says: “He that hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the Day of Jesus Christ.” He is able to keep you from falling and present you “faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” Your whole body, soul, and spirit will be preserved blameless unto His Coming, for God hath predestinated you to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

“Behold, I stand at the door [your heart] and knock. If any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in and sup with him and he with Me!” Because I called and you refused, I knocked and no man answered, therefore will I laugh when your calamity cometh. I will mock when your fear cometh upon you. Why will ye die? “As I live, “ saith the LORD, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that he turn form his wicked way and live.” The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. “All day long I have stretched forth my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people.” Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your heart. He that ears to hear, let him hear, for there is no “other Name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” ARE YOU SAVED? Have you heard His voice? Did you let Him come into your heart? Are you certain? Why not make certain right now?

Tell It Like It Is (2)

He was wounded for your transgressions, He was bruised for your iniquities: the chastisement of your peace was upon Him, and with His stripes ye are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way, and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Christ bore our sins in His own body on the cross that we being dead to sin might live unto righteousness, “by whose stripes ye are healed.” He poured out His soul unto death and made intercession for the transgressors, and made His soul an offering for sin. God hath made him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be make the righteousness of God in Him. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up…that whosoever believeth in Him…should have everlasting life.” Christ died, the Just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. Will you let Jesus bring you to God?

“For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Christ died, the Just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.” God said, “This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased,” in Whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins, and He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the whole world. Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world!! Christ died for the ungodly. “God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then being now justified by His blood we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” We love Him because He first loved us. “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” If you miss this love, you will have missed the only true unselfish love the world has ever seen.

Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world!! Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Christ took away the handwriting of ordinances that was contrary to us, and took it away nailing it to His cross. He gave up His life as a “ransom for many.” They crucified Him between two thieves: “He was numbered with the transgressors.” He came to save sinners and call them to repentance. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. The greatest Christian who ever lived said, “This is faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. “ By Him all that believe are justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the Law of Moses. How shall YOU escape if YOU neglect so great a salvation?

“God hath given all men assurance, everywhere, in that He hath raised Him from the dead.” He was declared to be the Son of God by the Spirit of holiness and the resurrection from the dead. Christ became the firstfruits of them that slept: for it was not possible that death should keep Him. His soul was not left in Hell, neither did His flesh see corruption. He arose the third day according to the Scripture. Wherefore he is able to save to the uttermost those that come unto God by Him, seeing that He ever liveth to make intercession for them. “If Christ be not risen from the dead, your faith is vain…You are yet in your sins…of all men most miserable, and we are false witnesses.” You can find the grave of every religious leader in the world but this One, and 500 eyewitnesses saw this One walking around after a Roman centurion and a medical doctor declared Him dead! If anyone could find ONE BONE of His body the Bible could offer man nothing better than “one more religion,” for all religious leaders are dead and buried.

As a risen, living Saviour, He stands at the crossroads of eternity, where he HAS been inviting sinners to come to Him for more almost 2000 years. He says: “Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” And again He says, “You will not come unto Me that ye might have life. Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out. Whosoever will, let him come and take of the water of life freely. Come now, saith the Lord, let us reason together, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. How often I would have gathered you as a mother hen gathers he chickens under her wings, an ye would not! Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let return to the LORD and to our God for He will abundantly pardon.” Will you come to Him today? By faith, the best way you know how? Why not? What do you hope to gain by a delay?

“For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” “If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. If we say we have no sin, the truth is not in us. All have sinned and there is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not . No man has ever kept the Law except one, Jesus Christ. As many as are under the works of the Law are under a curse. By the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified in His sight for by the Law is the knowledge of sin.” Those who count on the Law to save them are “fallen from Grace.” They, being ignorant of God’s Righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the Righteousness of God, for Christ is the end of the Law of righteousness to everyone that believeth. If you really were honest with yourself, what would your self-righteousness look like if it were laid alongside God’s Righteousness?

You see, the whole issue is RIGHTEOUSNESS. Man has a thousand ways to justify himself and sidetrack the issue, but the issue is RIGHTEOUSNESS. It has nothing to do with “religion” except where man has erected such religions as Protestantism, Catholicism, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, Confucianism, etc., for the purpose of getting around the issue. The issue is God’s Righteousness, and God’s Righteousness is JESUS CHRIST. Any system which pits man’s righteousness against God’s Righteousness is a man-made system no matter what authority is quoted, including the Bible itself. There are two kinds of RIGHTEOUSNESS: God’s and man’s. With God it is DONE, and you are to believe it; with men it is “DO” and you have to work at it indefinitely. God will give assurance of eternal life to any man who substitutes his righteousness for God’s Righteousness! This is why millions of people in the world don’t know where they are going at death. They still insist on trusting their own
self- righteousness. Every priest, preacher, pope, bishop, or prophet on earth who does not know where he is going at death is inwardly trusting HIMSELF or his religion. What are YOU trusting in? Your self-righteousness (filthy rags) or GOD’S perfect Righteousness.

Tell It Like It Is (1)

My soul shall boast only in the Lord Jesus Christ's Blood and Righteousness: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. “What is your life? It is a vapor that appeareth for awhile and then vanishes away. Your days are as a hand’s breadth. All the glory of man is as the flower of the grass. All flesh is as grass. The grass withereth and the flower thereof falleth away, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. Man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward. He that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy! Boast not thyself of tomorrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth, for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesses: beware of covetousness!! We brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out. Job said for all of us, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb and naked shall I return hither.” God said to a rich man, “Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee and then whose shall these things be?” They will bury you just like they did your ancestors.

You leave all at the grave. You cannot take anything with you. Good things and bad things alike are only things, and “things” can save no one. “He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” Isaiah stated that, “all the nations are as a drop in the bucket to God; less than vanity worth less than nothing.” No man can save himself. Death comes alike to all, regardless of station in life, or income, class, sex, age, color, or attainment. You are not ready to live until you are ready to die. In Adam, all die. “The wages of sin is death.” You die because you sin. “For all have sinned, and the soul that sinneth, it shall die. “Religion” never saved anyone. “Thou shalt call His name “JESUS” for He shall save His people from their sins.” An “it” cannot save you. “It” is not God! You can take no “its” with you through the funeral parlor. You must have someone [The Lord Jesus Christ].

It is appointed unto men once to die and after this the Judgment. God has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained, and hath given assurance to all men everywhere in that He hath raised Him from the dead. “In the day that God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ. God shall bring thee into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good or evil.” Every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. So then, every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Though thou sayest “I shall not see Him,” yet judgment is set before Him. “I saw a Great White Throne and Him that sat on it, before whose face the Heaven and the Earth fled away…and I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. The judgement was set and the Books were opened, and the dead were judged by those things written in the Books. And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the Second Death.”

If there is a Holy, Righteous God at all who lives forever, then the following statements are true: “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. There is nothing hid that shall not be uncovered. Nothing done in secret that shall not be made known.” David confessed, “Thou knowest my downsitting and my uprising…Thou knowest my thoughts afar off! O LORD, there is not a word in my tongue that Thou dost not know altogether.” For every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment. “Thou hast set our secret sins in the light of Thy counsel.” There is no shadow of darkness where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. He that made the ear, shall He not hear? He that made the eye, shall He not see? “God shall bring thee into judgement with every secret thing, whether it be good or evil, in the Day that God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ…” Are you ready to have your secrets judged?

God has said: “My thoughts are not your thoughts and My ways are not your ways, saith the LORD, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My thoughts are higher than your thoughts, and My ways are higher than yours.” The LORD seeth not as a man seeth. Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh upon the heart. The heart is deceitful above all things, who can know it? Hell and destruction are never satisfied: neither is the heart of man. There is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not. The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise…that they are vain. The foolishness of god is wiser than the wisdom of man. “Let God be true and every man a liar” There is no respect of persons with God. “Add thou not to His words, lest He reprove thee and thou be found a liar!” You may not believe this estimation of man’s goodness, but the Bible anticipates this unbelief when it says: “Let God be true but every man a liar.”

The Bible’s picture of man is absolutely negative. It never flatters man. “Every man at his best state is altogether vanity. There is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not. “There is not that doeth good, no not one.“ All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on Him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all. Not by works or righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. Not of works, lest any man should boast. By the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified in His sight. Every man will proclaim his goodness, but a faithful man who can find? “There is a generation that is pure in their own eyes, and yet are not washed from their filthiness.” As someone so aptly said, “You are against the Bible because it is against you.”

You may be the best man or woman in the town in which you live – which is doubtful – but even if your are you could not hope to pass a perfect Judgement by a perfect Judge. You are a fool to even imagine that you can! Let no man deceive himself! The rich young ruler of Luke 18 was better than any man in your town, but he was lost; the Pharisee of Luke 18 was more religious than any Christian leader in the world today, and he was lost; Cornelius was a just man, a devout man of good report; he prayed, fasted, and gave alms, but he was lost; Simon the Sorcerer believed and was baptized, and he was lost; Job’s righteousness (in Job 31) was far superior to the righteousness of any Pope or Cardinal who ever lived, and God told him that his own righteousness could not save him. Paul kept the Law and was “blameless” in it, but he was so lost alongside God’s righteousness, he call his religion “dung.” This is what happens to any man who gets a glimpse of real Righteousness.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

What Is The Origin of Evil?

This is a deep question. This question is often asked by Christians, seekers, skeptics, and atheists. Human nature always questions the Goodness of God, because human nature cannot discern God's divine purposes and is always trying to find some way to alibi their sin and rejection of Christ. God gives each of us the free will to choose good or evil. Lucifer (Satan), the anointed cherub, and the angels obviously were given the same free will and ability to choose to obey or rebel. In other words, they were not religious robots. (See Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:13-15; II Peter 2:4). God has created the condition in the world where the ability to rebel against Him is possible. Yet, the LORD is not responsible for our rebellion once it has been committed. Therefore, sin originated with Lucifer who was the first to rebel, then sin entered into the world through Adam and Eve who were tempted by Satan and likewise chose disobedience.

The direct answer to this question is not found in Scripture. God desires that His creatures respond to Him with an obedient love that is free and not forced. Satan abused this freedom and became a slave of evil. Sin is the absence of God, just as darkness is the absence of light. Satan chose to rebel against God and this is where sin began. Satan was filled with self-will ("I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.") His rebellion has repercussions even till today. Likewise, our rebellions have long-lasting repercussions at times. Satan will be bound in the Millennium (Christ's 1,000 year reign on earth after the Great Tribulation) , but man will still continue to rebel against God. But always remember, the real giving and receiving of love requires choice and choice implies the possibility of disobedience and evil. We can't blame all our sin on God, the devil doesn't always tempt us. Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of HIS OWN lust, and enticed. Sinners entice sinners as well. We can't blame all wrongdoing on the devil.

“What is the origin of evil?” This is the question of the sin-loving man that is normally trying to justify his sin.  He should be asking, “How can I get rid of my evil?” Not, “How did evil come into the world?” but “How am I to escape from my evil?” For example, the sane man with terminal Cancer doesn't ask the doctor where did Cancer originally come from, no, he immediately seeks the guidance from the Doctor on how to get rid of his Cancer. Not, “How is it that I have cancer?” but “Are there any possibilities that I can be healed? Is there a physician to be found that can restore my body to health?” We should be seeking out, not the cause, but the remedy; not the reason of the disease, but the way by which the disease can be cured. Human nature trifles with conjectures while it neglects certainties. More questions have been asked concerning the origin of evil than anything else.

Men have puzzled their heads, and twisted their brains into knots, in order to understand what men can never know — how evil came into this world, and how its entrance is consistent with divine goodness? The absolute fact is this, there is evil; and the question should be, “How can I escape "my" evil and from the wrath to come, which is caused on account of my evil?” Man's real want is to know how he can be saved; if you are aware that your sin must be pardoned or punished, your wisest question will be, “How can my sins which I have committed against God all of my life be pardoned freely? How can my iniquities be forgiven immediately and forever?” Human nature loves to speculate about uncertainties, while ignoring the certainty and immediate need of the forgiveness of sins. The carnal mind is fond of curious topics which cannot be answered, but the carnal mind resists the answer to its sin problem - the Blood of Jesus Christ.

Human nature will squander away its time in useless and curious enquiries about the origin of moral evil, and so forth, and generally people who are too idle to attempt the practical getting rid of their sin, and therefore will kill their time, quiet their consciences by abstruse controversies and vain janglings about subjects which do not matter, and wind up their losing their soul. Only a fool would sit around and try to figure out where his disease came from, when he could be getting the cure down at the doctor's office.

There was a farmer once whose son said to him, “Father, the cows are in the corn. How did they get in there?” “Son,” replied the father, “never mind how they got there, let us hurry up and get them out as quick as we can.” There's some good common sense. This is our main business as well, to get the cows out of the corn. How they got there is a matter that can be thought of later on, when we have nothing else to do. The origin of evil is a point that puzzles a great many people; and there is no reason to worry your brain too long over that question; if we do, it is very foolish. But if we are wise, we will not trouble ourselves so much about the origin of evil, as about how to conquer it, in ourselves, and in others. Let's get the cows out of the corn first, and then we can find out how they got in. And if we can, let us prevent ourselves and them from getting into the corn again.

We shouldn't be troubled so much about how evil came into the world as about helping to get evil out of men's lives. Practical common-sense seems to say, “If there is a thief in the house, let us catch him, or else get him out, and after that, we will try to find out how he got in.” Our Lord Jesus Christ did not come into the world to tell us how sin was brought here, but He came here on purpose to show us the only way in which sin can be gotten out of our souls, and that is, by the door which he opened in His own side on Calvary. It is by Jesus' bloody death that sin can be expelled from the soul. A wise man deals with his evil and seeks to get rid of it at the Cross, rather that raise useless questions about it.

People always want to know, what is the origin of sin; they ask ten thousand questions which, if they could be answered, would not make them a bit better. But when it comes to the Gospel of Christ, sin-loving men are content to procrastinate and neglect it without making any earnest enquiry, or setting themselves to ascertain Gospel truth which can save them from the love and damnation of sin. The Gospel teaches about your sinful condition before your Maker; The Gospel declares how God can be just and yet be Gracious to sinners through the bloody death of the Son of God. The Gospel shows us how we can safely approach our Maker through the Mediator, become His child, be conformed to His image, and live with Him forever in glory.

People today are sunken down in vice, and steeped in their sins. We must forget about the conjectures - How did evil come into the world? How did they get into this condition? or, What is the origin of moral evil? or, How is evil transmitted from parent to child? We will have those questions answered after the day of Judgment, when we will have more light; but now the main thing is to see how you and I can get evil off of our soul, and how we can help restore other poor sinners who are lost and gone astray. If we see a child drowning, we don't lecture him about swimming in too deep a water. We don't question him on how he got into the deep water. No, no, we first save the boy on the bank, dry him off and dress him, and then tell him not to go there again, lest a worse thing come unto him.

Many folks puzzle themselves about the origin of evil. But Christ did not come to explain the mystery of the origin of sin; He came to put an end to SIN. Getting rid of your sins is an infinitely more practical subject than that of speculating about how evil first entered into the world, or how it entered any individual soul. Christ came to tell you how to get rid of your sins.

Bottom line - God is never anything but Good; we must always trust His heart and wisdom and will. True love must have a choice in order to be true love. God took a great risk in creating Lucifer and us with a free will -- but only then could our love for Him be real. But God also sent His Son into the world with a free will, and He lived an absolutely sinless life. Jesus took our sins upon Him and paid sin's awful price with His own Precious Blood. This was planned before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4).

God had mercy on Sinners, but not on Satan and the fallen angels (II Peter 2:4). We can thank God today that we can escape the condemnation of God through His dear Son. God let sin enter into the world through Adam, but He also let True and Everlasting Righteousness enter into the world through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Moral evil was defeated by the bleeding love of God at the Cross. Jesus overcame evil with Good and gave us the Victory over our sins at Calvary. All Glory be to Him who died for me! Let the Lord Jesus Christ be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of His servants.

Friday, December 23, 2011

A Matter of Life and Death

Self-righteousness boasts "I will not be saved God's way. I will make my own road to heaven. I will not bow before God's grace. I will not accept the Perfect Blood Atonement of God in Christ Jesus. I will be my own redeemer, I will enter heaven by my own strength, and glorify my own merits." Self-righteousness insults the glory and honor of the Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot keep the law. God will never forgive your sins as long as you attempt to win His favor by your dead works. Throw away your self-righteousness once and for all. There is no hope for your soul as long as you cling to it. Self-righteousness is the very height of rebellion against Christ. Look to Jesus - simply trust to Him, put all your confidence in His blood and merits. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. What every sinner needs is to reject his own righteousness and rely only on Christ's Righteousness to protect Him from the holy divine justice of God.

The Gospel Light first comes home to the sinful heart. The Gospel's Light makes us conscious of our guilt and ruin, and turns our eyes to Jesus. Only Christ can take away your tremendous burden of sin and guilt. The atheist's conscience is always uneasy. Atheism gives no real rest for the sole of your foot. The guilty man feels the aching void, he needs something to satisfy his inward emptiness, but he knows not what. It is the Cross of Christ and faith in a Crucified Savior that alone can supply the cravings of man's inner nature. The insatiable craving can only be satisfied by the person and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The only reason you will not believe in Christ is because you will not. You will perish a spiritual suicide, and you'll end up ruining yourself. Purgatory is only preached to fill the pope's coffers, and make merchandise of your soul. There is no neutral ground with Christ. You say in your heart, "Who is the Lord that I should serve Him?"

Deep down, you know there's a God, but you cannot stand Him, because He's holy and just, and you love your Sin. So you try to create an idol in your heart. You want a self-made Religion without the true and living and holy God. Your vile nature cannot tolerate the Crucified and Risen Creator. You try to create a new religious structure with some of the same tenets, but without the holy Creator God you despise. Why? Because this is the God of the Bible with whom you must do. You don’t want to deal with the real God – Jesus Christ. In fact, the true offense about Jesus, is that He’s the One that says to you, “No you can’t!” You can’t save yourself, Jesus must do it ALL, and you Hate Him because He says that. Why? Because you love yourself. You can’t keep the rules, you can’t make it on your own, you just can’t do it. You say, “Well, I’m a good person, I have my life under control, if there is a God, he has to be pleased with someone as good as me, if anyone goes to Heaven, it has to be ME.” You have a high estimation of yourself, but God doesn’t. Jesus says, “Oh no, I’m not pleased with you at all, you need to be rescued from your sinfulness!” Your sins and self-righteousness are really bad, and they have made you displeasing and obnoxious to God. You think that really bad people don’t deserve to be given salvation freely while you are busy trying to earn and pay for your salvation. Even though you are a moral, charitable, decent, and pious person, you’ll still end up in the Lake of Fire, unless you trust Christ alone to save you. The love of sin and the love of self will soon damn you. You think you’re a good person, and that you'll be judged completely or partly based on your self-goodness. Human religion says "pay up", but the Gospel of Christ says, "Jesus paid it all for you, trust His atoning blood alone, and be saved right now."

You undervalue the merit and power of Christ's blood, you deny the truthfulness of God, and detract from the grace and favor of God, you are guilty of a deadly error. Your honesty, outward morality, and generosity can never help save you from Sin. If you think you can help save yourself, you are crippled too high for crutches. Now understand - If you try and live a real good life, God will never reward you for it. You’re so sinful, mixed up, and deluded. The Bible says, “Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not take the Lord’s name in vain.” You’ve lusted, and lied, and stolen things, and dishonored your parents many times - you are condemned already (John 3:18). You will be judged for your actions, unless you have a Substitute to take your penalty and punishment. Jesus, the Sinless Substitute, took the hatred and wrath your sins deserve on the Cross of Calvary, so that you could be freely forgiven through simple faith in His precious blood. No matter how many sins you've committed, one or one million, you cannot do enough good to remove even ONE SIN from your dark record book in heaven. Be wise - Trust Christ Jesus Himself, not yourself - that is all.

Condemned or Forgiven? You are either one or the other. There is hope yet for you. Christ is still lifted up , and whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. The gate of mercy is still open for you. Believe in Christ alone, God help you to believe. Trust Jesus now, you are constantly sinning - you are afraid of damnation, but not sinning; you dread hell, but not your lusts; you fear the Lake of Fire, but not your hard heart, and your soul's deadly state. Real Repentance is a holy fear of sinning against God. Repentance of the actual deed, not just the punishment which is to follow the deed. There is no light penalty for sinning against the Almighty, it will cost you your soul. Human effort, human goodness or merit, mere ceremonies have no power whatsoever to save the soul. God is terribly just and will by no means spare the guilty, Someone has to pay for your sins. Justice was met by Jesus Christ who stood in the place of all sinners. Your conscience knows that God must punish you. Look to the Cross now - Christ was punished instead of you.

Your life is on the line; the eternal destiny of your soul is at stake. This is a matter of life and death. There is no resting place for the guilty conscience and sinful soul but at the Cross. Hide you in the wounds of the Crucified One. The dreadful thoughts of the wrath to come haunt you. Lay hold on Christ's mercy. The Blood is the only satisfaction for all your fears and guilt. Trust the eternal merits of the Cross, the infinite virtue of Christ's sinless blood. Merit is something that deserves or justifies a reward or commendation, a commendable quality; excellence that deserves praise, a claim to respect and praise, excellence, or worth. Depend on Christ, simply place your soul in His hands for safekeeping, and you are saved. All human merit and all hope in human strength is a delusion. Place your implicit faith in Christ's merit, not yours. Your sins crucified Jesus Christ, you join the world's jeering when you refuse and reject His shed blood, don't despise God's love and blood. The world has wicked principles and practices, damnable errors and heresies, and vile sins and lusts, which pave the broad road that leads to destruction. "Ye must be born again" is the death-blow to all salvation by human effort. Human effort, human goodness, or human merit only mock the thirsty, lost soul. Justification is not at all by human effort, but by the free gift of God. Human nature tries to make salvation to be partly a matter of human effort.

We cannot approach an eternal holy God by any thing we do, or know, or have. Christ Crucified and Him alone, must lift us up into the presence of The Holy God. Conversion is by the work of the Holy Spirit alone - a simple faith in Christ, by having done with self-righteousness and sin, and coming straight to Christ alone who can rescue sinful men. Only the sinless blood of Christ and His meritorious obedience must be depended and relied upon for our salvation. Guilty we are in ourselves, but we are "complete in Him". The works, merits, and self-righteousness of human nature is in direct opposition to Christ's merit, blood, righteousness, God's appointed Mediator (I Timothy 2:5-6). Substitution is what saves sinners. There is merit enough in Christ's blood to forgive all your sins immediately and forever. Have done once and for all with your human merit, resting with child-like dependence and confidence upon the finished work and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Rest entirely upon the Person, Righteousness, Blood, and Merits of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Christ died for the ungodly, not the righteous. Christ's message is grace, pure grace. Human merit, darkness of ignorance, falsehood and idolatry, chains of superstition, deadly self-righteousness is the way of human nature. Jesus still saves sinners from the guilt, power, consequences and pollution of human sin.