Saturday, January 28, 2012

Some Good Questions 2

* Can you say anything good about yourself?
* Is there one good thing about you?
* Are you not imperfect in your very best doings?
* Do you deserve to be saved?
* Have you ever been burdened under a sense of your sins?
* Are you in Christ Jesus, or in your sins?
* Is your best good enough to satisfy God's divine justice?
* Who sets your moral guidelines and standards?
* Are you in danger of eternal wrath?
* How can I glorify God in all this?
* Dost thou not fear God?
* What are you going to believe, human imagination or Divine Revelation?
* Have you been born twice?
* What do you rely on for significance?
* Is there a way out of my sin?  *John 14:6*
* Has the Gospel changed your behavior and character?
* Who shall add anything to what Christ has finished?
* How is that you have nothing to help you die?
* Are you trying to be your own savior?
* Have you actually the Spirit of God within you?
* Were you ever made to feel that there was no merit in anything that you ever did?
* What is your confidence for eternal life?
* Dost thou believe on the Son of God? *John 9:35*
* Do you have an inner conflict with your sins?
* Do you glory only in the Cross?
* Have you confided your soul's everlasting destiny into Christ's dear hands?
* Have you abandoned your self-righteousness, and rested in Jesus only?
* Have you taken Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, to be your soul's only confidence?
* Is there anything in you that can help save you?
* Who is your faith resting in now?
* What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
* Is a Savior necessary in your case?
* Will you go with Jesus barefoot over the gravel of persecution, or do you like a silver slipper religion?
* Have you any sins that you cannot get rid of on you own?
* Are you willing to be saved by Jesus Christ on His terms?
* Are there not with you, even with you, sins against the LORD your God?
* Will any of your doings help to atone for your sins, or help you to be accepted before God?
* Does a man have to do anything to help save himself?
* Is your righteousness one which you have attained yourself, or has the Righteousness of Christ been imputed to you freely by the Holy Ghost?
* Have you set up your own righteousness in opposition to Christ's Righteousness?
* Are you depending upon anything beside Jesus Christ and Him crucified?
* Why won't you simply trust Someone who loved you to death?
* What are you counting on to keep you out of Hell?
* Is there not sufficient merit in the Savior's bloody death to make Atonement for all your sins?
* Do you feel that you deserve God's divine mercy?
* How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Jesus Christ?
* Are you only living for yourself, or some temporary end and purpose?
* Will the object of your life die with your dying, and be buried in your grave?
* Have you taken the God who is your Maker and Savior to be the great object of your life?
* Are you a believer and truster in Jesus Christ, the living God?
* Do you have any reliance other than Jesus' Precious Blood?
* Have you a God to go to?
* How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?
* Can a child of God ever become a child of the devil again?
* Is there anything within you upon which you can depend?
* Are you allergic to Sin?
* Are you worthy of eternal life?
* Will you have Christ or not?
* Have you done sufficient works to merit salvation?
* What shall be the end of them that obey not the Gospel of God?
* Why would you ever want to add anything of your own to what Christ has already completed?
* Are you trying to put a few of your own merits together, a few odds and ends, a few fig leaves and filthy rags of your own righteousness to help Christ out?
* Are you bringing some of your own works to help eke out Christ's work?
* Do you hope to come to Christ one of these days when you make yourself better?
* Are going to make yourself better, and then let Christ do the rest of the work?
* Are you trying to do something to make a righteousness of your own?
* Are you happy with yourself? Are you perfect?
* Do you rejoice over repenting sinners? Do you feel intense sympathy for lost sinners? Do you dread lest they should be lost? Do you pray that they may be saved? Do you seek by your own personal testimony and entreaty to bring them to the Savior, Jesus Christ?
* Have you taken JEHOVAH JESUS to be your God?
* Are you dead set on dying in your sins?
* Do you claim to have been absolutely perfect before your Maker from your childhood till now?
* Is your righteousness one which you have worked out for yourself, or has the Righteousness of Christ been freely imputed to your soul?
* Do you look for Salvation by self, or by Christ, or by both?
* Are you too good to be saved?
* Is there anything in you that you can trust to?
* What do you enjoy most when no one is watching?
* Have you ever been a child of wrath, a child of disobedience, a child of Satan?
* Does your soul's eternal safety depend upon yourself at all?
* Do you have any merits of your own which can recommend you to God?

Some Good Questions 1

* Have you ever been really upset over your sins?
* How good does a man have to be to satisfy divine justice?  *I Peter 2:22; II Cor 5:21; I John 3:5*
* What have you done with Jesus which is called Christ?
* Do you deserve anything except Hell?
* Does God owe you His mercy?
* What do you think of most throughout the day?
* What produces your strongest emotions?
* What makes you tick within?
* Have you ever come to the end of yourself?
* Do you hate your sins? Do you swim against the stream of your evil tendencies?
* Is all your hope fixed on what Jesus did for sinners on Calvary's tree?
* Do you think any of your religious works can help cancel your guilt?
* Christ Jesus has done so much for you; what have you ever done for Him?
* Do you think that anything you have is your own?
* What do you throw money at?
* What does your mind feed on?
* How is your soul prospering?
* Do you know any sinner who Jesus Christ died for?
* What are the ruling habits of your life?
* Have you a longing in your heart to be the means of bringing others to Christ?
* Have you talked about Jesus Christ today? Have you spoken to anybody about their soul today?
* Who are you trying to please?
* Does your sin sicken you?
* Have you ever thought how greatly you have sinned against Jesus?
* What is your life's master passion?
* What bad habits do you struggle with most?
* What consumes your thoughts?
* Does God owe you His salvation?
* Will your future efforts help blot out your sins?
* What is your righteousness?
* Have you been to Jesus to have your sins freely, instantly, eternally forgiven?
* Do you have anything of your own to boast of?
* Do you have any trust in your own righteousness?
* Can I tell you how much Jesus loves me?
* Will you be able to claim any credit for your salvation?
* Are you resting at all on what you are?
* Can you earn God's divine mercy?
* Does God know you're saved?
* Who am I, what does living really mean, what is my destiny?
* Is there any good work of your own that you are relying upon?
* Do you have any claim upon God's mercy?
* Where is your confidence?
* Do you deserve God's love and mercy?
* How good do you have to be to get to Heaven? Answer: No good.
* Do you know your Best Friend?
* Are sins forgiven freely?
* How good does a man have to be to satisfy God's divine justice? Answer: Perfect
* Where are your sins right now, on Christ, or on your soul?
* Are you a self-saved man?
* Do you have two Saviors?
* Are you half-saved?
* Do you deserve God's forgiveness?
* What are the good works that can merit Heaven and ensure eternal life?
* Are you willing to be saved on God's free terms?
* Have you been clean delivered from all confidence in yourself?
* Are you trusting solely and entirely in the Blood and Righteousness of God's crucified and risen Son?
* Is there some private sin you don't want to give up?
* Have you passed from death to life?
* Was the Savior necessary in your case?
* Have you any sins from which you cannot escape of yourself?
* Have you ever felt the evil and guilt of your sins?
* Are you willing to be saved by Jesus Christ alone?
* Have you accepted the Christ, the whole Christ, the Man Christ, the God Christ, Immanuel, God with us?
* Is Jesus' atoning blood all your trust?
* Have you felt the burden of your sin? Have you ever taken that burden to the Cross by faith and given it over to Jesus Christ Himself?
* Are you confiding your soul's eternal interest with Christ Jesus alone?
* Does your religion have anything to do with your salvation?
* At your very best, do you have anything to boast of?
* Do you believe in the Crucified Creator God?

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Lessons from the Limpet

Saving Faith is simply clinging to Christ Himself for safety from the wrath to come on sin: True Faith is helpless dependence on the bleeding Savior for His free, eternal Salvation. Whenever you are down by the seaside, you will see the limpet (mollusk) sticking to a rock or a pier. You can walk up softly to the rock with a stick and strike the limpet quickly, and off he will come. But if you try to hit the next limpet the same way, you have given him warning; he heard the blow with which you struck his neighbor, and he will cling with all his might. You will never get him off the rock without destroying him. You can strike and strike him again, but you may break the rock before you get him off. Jesus is my Rock in this weary land, I will stick with Him, no matter what (Deuteronomy 32:4; I Samuel 2:2; Luke 6:48; I Corinthians 10:4; I Peter 2:8).

The limpet, does not know much, but he knows how to cling. He cannot tell you much about what he is clinging to.  He is not acquainted with the geological formation of the rock, but he clings to it with all he has. Human nature clings to wordly filth; but the divine nature clings to Christ's Purity. Nothing but the Atoning Sacrifice of the Lamb of God will appease divine vengeance. The guilty, needy sinner has found out that he needs to cling to Someone besides himself who has a true Righteousness. That is the troubled sinner's little bit of knowledge, and he uses that knowledge by clinging to the Rock of His Salvation, Christ Jesus Himself.  It is the limpet’s life to cling, and it is our life to cling to the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  *John 14:6*

Have no more faith than this - Just know enough to cling to Jesus with all your heart and soul, and this will suffice. Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Jesus Christ is the sinner's Savior, He is strong and mighty, He is a Great Rock in a weary land; cleave to Him for dear life, and He will save your defenseless soul immediately. Cling to Jesus even now; Hold fast to the Crucified Incarnate God; never let Him go; for that is real Faith. Believe in His Precious Blood, trust to His Atoning Blood, depend on His Forgiving Blood, cling to His Saving Blood alway. Sinners who trust in the Blood are saved, those who don't are lost. As a drowning man would cling to a plank cast into the water to save him, even so trust in nothing but the Blood of the Incarnate God to hold you up in time and Eternity.

The limpet by the sea-shore can do little, but he can cling, and very firmly too. That is the one simple thing you can do too, poor sinner.  May the Holy Spirit lead you to cling to the Cross (Christ's Blood Atonement) at once.  Only Jesus' Blood can rescue you from God's divine justice. Jesus answered all the demands of divine justice with His obedience, sufferings, and blood.

God help you at this moment to cling to Christ, and if you do, you are saved, yes, saved at once. Cling to Christ, and you shall find free, rich Mercy. Jesus didn't come to save the righteous, moral, or good, for there are none. Jesus died for sinners, and especially you. Come on now to Jesus, and He will give your soul the Rest you need. Are you truly clinging to Christ? Is He your only Hope of Heaven? If so, then He is yours for sure. Just stick to the old truth that Christ died for sinners, and that He is your Substitute here in time and right on out into Eternity, just stick to Him like the limpet to the rock.

Is your very soul actually knit to the person of Jesus Christ by Faith in His Blood? When the tide of carnal security ebbs out in your life, and you begin to sense your sinfulness, danger, hopelessness and start to dread death, if you have any sense, you will cling to Christ Jesus for your soul's safety? Is Jesus' atoning Sacrifice all your trust and confidence? Do you rest only on His Precious Blood? If you trust to anything else whatsoever, you will perish in your sins. If you are clinging to Christ with all your heart, then Christ is yours. Turn all your confidence away from yourself, and trust only to Jesus. Cease to have any reliance in anything you've ever done, or ever hope to do. Personally cleave to the living Savior. Cling closely to Jesus under temptation and during trials.

He that believeth in Jesus hath everlasting life: there is where I cling, like the helpless limpet to the rock. Jesus said, “Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out.” If Jesus is the only hope that you have, and you simply cling to Him as the limpet clings to a rock, then all will be well with your soul forever. (Acts 11:23; Romans 12:9) Cling to Jesus (God manifest in the flesh); cleave to His Righteousness alone. It is your life to do it. Trust to the Innocent Substitute who bled for your sins. Clinging to the Cross kills your love for sins.

When the limpet lives and feeds on a rock for a long time, he slowly begins to blend in and look exactly like the rock whereupon he lives. Stick to the Bible closely (Psalm 119:31). This is also what happens to the wise Christian who continually feeds and clings to the blessed Rock of Salvation (II Samuel 22:2-3,47; Deut 4:4; Psalm 18:2; Psalm 62:2,6).

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Consider - A Bible Word

Whenever you are traveling rapidly through a part of the country, your eyes have very little time to rest upon the different things you see. Likewise, men are very busy today and have very little time to consider what really matters. This is why death, judgment, and Eternity make no real impression on men's minds today. Men don't take time to rest their eyes on the Bible, the Gospel, the Savior, the Blood, the Cross. Most people never stop to think about Reality; they hurry along and never consider the brevity and frailty of life, and then they suddenly find themselves in Eternity undone forever. More souls are lost through want of consideration than any other way. Take some quality time to consider those things which are needful. The reason men are not awakened and troubled concerning their souls, is because the world and the devil never give them time to consider. Man's eye is fixed anywhere but on Christ; they are always looking to themselves, other men, this world, and they have no heart and no time for looking at Christ. Stop sinner, stop and think. Consider your ways, consider your latter end, but most of all consider Christ Jesus - God manifest in the flesh who bled and died to satisfy Divine Justice on behalf of guilty sinners just like you. The devil is always beguiling men away from simply looking and trusting to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

Consider Christ Jesus. Jesus was with God in Eternity. See John 1:1-3; Proverbs 8:22-23,30; John 1:18; John 17:5,24. Jesus is God who was manifest in the flesh. See Philippians 2:6; I Timothy 3:16; John 1:14; II Corinthians 8:9; Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 1:16. Jesus is now in Eternity - See Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25; 10:12; 12:2; I Peter 3:22; Colossians 3:1. Jesus undertook the cause of poor lost sinners. He put Himself in the sinner's place on Calvary's Cross to suffer all they should suffer, and He obeyed all that they should have obeyed. Consider Jesus - Look long and earnestly to Him alone. Entrust your case to the great Mediator between God and men. Christ's Blood Atonement is enough to satisfy Divine Justice; your sins must be forgiven freely; Jesus is the only Savior for sinners. This is good news for sinners - Christ died so you could be freely forgiven through childlike faith in His Precious Blood. Jesus undertook the cause of guilty, lost sinners. He bore the Curse and completed the obedience that the Law demanded. If you have ever tried to keep the commandments of God, to keep your eyes from unlawful desires, to keep your tongue from slander, gossip, and bitterness, to keep your heart from malice, envy, and covetousness, you found it to be impossible for you are a sinner to the core. You found that to try and stop sinning is a horrible struggle.

Consider Christ Jesus - Look long and earnestly upon His bleeding wounds, by His stripes ye are healed of your sinfulness and guiltiness. It will be safe to trust Him. His sufferings and obedience are enough to save your soul. Look to Jesus for complete assurance of eternal life through His finished work. It is good and wise to consider your ways, but it is far better to consider Christ's Blood and Righteousness. Christ Jesus is only safe place for the hell-deserving sinner to rest. Rest your soul upon Him. He tasted death for every man. He is the Atonement for the sins of the whole world. God gave His Son, Christ gave HImself for us. Jesus offered Himself up as the perfect Sin Offering to satisfy the demands of God's Holiness, for you, and reconcile you back to God. Don't wait a moment longer. Heartily take Jesus Himself to be your Sin-Bearer, receive Him as your Savior, and He will take away your sins instantly, and protect you from God's Divine Justice forever.

Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD He is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else. O that you were wise, that you understood this, that you would consider your latter end! Only fear the LORD, and serve Him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things He hath done for you. And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst Me against him, to destroy him without cause. For the LORD knoweth vain men: He seeth wickedness also; will He not then consider it? Therefore am I troubled at the Almighty's presence: when I consider, I am afraid of Him. For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me. Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.

When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him? Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble. And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of His doing. The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I will consider Thy testimonies. Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. The righteous man wisely considereth the house of the wicked: but God overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness. If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not He that pondereth the heart consider it? and He that keepeth thy soul, doth not He know it? and shall not He render to every man according to his works? The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it. Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.

The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider. When the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened. Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him, Christ Jesus, that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Adrian Rogers Quotes (5)

* Everything we truly believe, we obey. Everything else is just religious talk.
* Character is what we are in the dark.
* I'm no better than my private life.
* God didn't call us to Sit, Soak, and Soar, but to Serve.
* You have all of God you want.
* Lukewarm Christians are the alibi for sinners.
* Decision determines destiny.
* God does business with those who mean business.
* Faith is the response of the heart to the word of God.
* Life is lived in depth - not length.
* If you're not growing in grace, you're living in disgrace.
* Faith is not believing that God can do something. Faith is knowing that He will.
* Is what I'm living for, worth Christ dying for?
* You save a lot of time waiting on God.
* Nothing is politically right that is morally wrong.
* It's the object of your faith that counts, not the strength of it.
* The definition of failure is succeeding at the wrong thing.
* Faith is not receiving from God what we want, but accepting from God what He gives.
* Cut yourself loose from yesterday.
* Whatever a man does without God, he will fail miserably, or succeed even more miserably.
* What you think and do should agree with what you say.
* Where God guides, He provides.
* When you're not afraid of dying, only then can you live.
* Good things become bad things when they keep you from the best things.
* Religious activity is no substitute for worship.
* Sin cannot win. Faith cannot fail.
* Bitterness looks back, worry looks around, but Faith looks up.
* Faith believes in spite of the circumstances and acts in spite of the consequences.
* Whenever God develops inner character, He's never in a hurry.
* Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.
* Praise is Faith turned inside out.
* Faith says please, praise says thank you.
* Don't put a question mark where God has put a period.
* When you get saved, every place is a holy place, and every day is a holy day.
* Whom God chooses, He uses.
* Faith is belief with legs on it.
* We set the sail, God makes the wind.

Adrianisms

Adrian Rogers Quotes (4)

* Try to define the Trinity, and you'll lose your mind; deny the Trinity, and you'll lose your soul.
* Every time God says, "Thou shalt not," He's simply saying, "Don't hurt yourself." And every time He says, "Thou shalt," He's saying, "Help yourself to happiness."
* God only wants for us what we would want for ourselves, if we were smart enough to want it.
* Christianity is not a code, a cause, or a creed, but Christ.
* It's not Jesus and -- , or Jesus or -- it's Jesus ONLY.
* We can preach truth, but only the Holy Spirit can impart truth.
* If I put things between Christ and me, it is idolatry. If I put Christ between me and things, it is Victory!
* The Christ-filled life is a self-emptied life.

* The will of God is not just something you have to do, it is something you get to do.
* There's only one alternative to obedience to Christ, and that's disobedience.
* No man can serve two masters, but he *must* serve one.
* I read other books, but the Bible reads me.
* The best lies sound the most like the truth.
* If you want to understand the part of the Bible you don't understand, then obey the part you do understand, and before long you'll begin to understand what you didn't understand. Understand?
* The Bible is God's love letter to His children. If you don't understand it, it's because you're reading someone else's mail.
* Prophecy is history pre-written.
* How to understand a Bible passage: Read it through, Think it clear, Write it down, Pray it in, Live it out, Pass it on.
* Your spiritual life will never rise above your prayer life.
* When trials come, don't wring your hands -- bend your knees.
* Courage is fear that has said its prayers.
* The greatest problem we face is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer.
* Prayer is the Christian's greatest privilege.
* We can do more than pray after we've prayed, but we can do no more than pray until we've prayed.
* Prayer is never an excuse for laziness.
* Happiness is like a thermometer, it registers conditions. Joy is like a thermostat, it controls them.
* The devil would rather you believe a wrong thing than do a wrong thing.
* Humility is knowing what I am, acknowledging that God made me that way, and giving Him glory for it.
* Justice is God giving us what we deserve. Mercy is God not giving us what we deserve. Grace is God giving us what we don't deserve.
* The devil's four main lies - 1. God is not good; He is severe, harsh and cruel. 2. God is not truthful; His word cannot be trusted. 3. God is not just; He will not judge you or punish your sin. 4. You can live without God; you need to be liberated, you can be your own god and do your own thing. The devils denies the Goodness, Truthfulness, Holiness, and Graciousness of God. The devil wants you to think negatively and skeptically about God. The devil hates Genesis and Revelation; in Genesis his doom is pronounced; and in Revelation, his doom is carried out.
* If we believe what we believe, why do we do what we do?
* Holiness is not the way to Christ, Christ is the way to Holiness.
* God doesn't want me to do anything for Him. He wants to do something through me.
* The most miserable man on Earth is not an unsaved man. The most miserable man on Earth is a saved man out of fellowship with Jesus Christ.
* Don't ever insult God by saying He can't use you.
* God will give you more light when you live up to the light you have.
* The devil tells lies about the biggest subject - God.
* The best way to know God's will for the rest of your life is to do His will right now. It's hard to steer a ship that's not moving.


Adrianisms

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Changing Places with Christ 1

This is the greatest fact ever heard by human ears. Every human being is born in the Black Circle of Sin. The Black Circle of Sin is the place of extreme danger, darkness, guilt, divine justice, vengeance, condemnation, and wrath. We cannot escape the Black Circle of Sin in our own strength, that is, through our own natural human goodness. Our good works are no good, they are tainted with our sins and selfishness, they cannot help save us at all. The Bible says, "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Your sins against the Ten Commandments have separated you from God (lies, thefts, lust, greed, and hatred). Sins against God demand Divine Justice and eternal death, so Jesus had to die. The fear of Death and the coming Divine Justice haunt your mind and conscience continually. God is just, He must punish every sin, you're a sinner, therefore, He must punish you. But God devised a wondrous saving plan to rescue the guilty sinner from His coming judgment and wrath. God became a Jewish man, His name was Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus stood and suffered in the sinner's place. He bore our sins in His own body, and He was punished as if He had committed our sins. Now, whosoever trusts in Christ Jesus Himself (His Blood and Righteousness) alone will not suffer and perish in Hell, because God has punished Christ in the place of the sinner.

Here’s God’s marvelous plan of Substitution: First, you must take the sinner’s place, admit you are lost, own your guilt before God, and confess that you are an ungodly and undone sinner in need of free forgiveness from God. Salvation is not about what you do at all, but what Another, Christ Jesus, has already done for you. While you procrastinate and remain in the Black Circle of Sin, you continue to face certain Divine Justice and the Wrath of God continues to abide on you (John 3:36).

There must be a change of places between you and Christ. If you die in the Black Circle of Sin, you will have to be punished for your sins forever and ever in Hell. But God doesn’t want you to suffer. God sent His Son, Christ Jesus came into this world to suffer in your place and die for your sins. This is called Substitution. Second, you must now call upon Jesus Christ and He will come and stand in the Black Circle of Sin with you. He will then give you His robe of Righteousness (absolute perfect HOLINESS), and you must give Him your filthy rags of sin.

There must be an exchange between you and Christ personally. Christ steps into the Black Circle and dies there in your place. Third, the moment you take Christ's Righteousness (stop trying to save yourself, and put your trust entirely on His doings and blood), you can then step over into His White Circle of Holiness, and then you’re safe. Christ takes your place, and gives you His place as a gift. Christ is condemned, and you’re saved. Take the Sinner’s Friend as your friend, because you’re a sinner. Christ is the gift of God to you. God’s Pardon is a free gift for lost, bankrupt sinners. This is the Gospel – You’re a sinner, Christ died in the sinner’s place, when you trust Him (exchange your sins for His Righteousness) – you’re saved forever. At that moment, your sins are not your sins anymore, they are transferred from you to Christ forever - they are put on Christ, and Christ's robe of Righteousness is put on your naked soul. You can take Christ's place, because He took your place. This is the only hope for sinful man.

Here is the main truth you must trust – God became a human being and bled in the sinner’s place. Christ Jesus suffered in the sinner’s place, Christ bore the sinner’s sin; Christ was smitten with the sinner’s stripes, thorns, and nails. Christ stood in the place of the lost sinner (Black Circle), He was treated as if were the sinner, and now the sinner that trusts Christ's blood and works alone is treated by God as if he were the Righteous One (in the White Circle). It is simply a change of places: Christ becomes the sinner; He stands in the sinner’s place and is numbered with the transgressors. You stand in the Savior's place, and appear before God in Christ's Righteousness. Here and now, if you will trust Christ alone to save you, God will put you into the Savior's place. God will look upon Jesus as if He has been the sinner, and then God will look upon you as the Perfect One. Remember – Trust nothing but Christ, Christ alone.

There must be a change of places. Christ and the sinner must change places. Christ in your place, and you in His place. Christ took upon Himself the responsibility, the blame, the curse for your sins. The sinner forsakes himself, trusts Christ alone, and then becomes absolutely Righteous, because he stands in Christ's place. See II Corinthians 5:19-21; Galatians 3:13; I Peter 2:24. Jesus Christ willingly puts Himself into the sinner's place on the Cross, and whosoever will trust Him, will be put into Christ's place by the grace and power of God. Come now, change places with Christ, and rely only on the Great Savior that took your place. Trust this simple truth – Christ instead of you. Jesus, the Offended One, suffers in the offender’s place. You trust Him, and your sinful deeds are transferred to Christ’s account, and His merits are transferred to your account. This is call Imputation (Read Romans 4:5-9 closely). Trust *Him* here and now, changes places with Him, give Him your sins, and take His Righteousness!

Changing Places with Christ 2

This marvelous truth of Christ changing places with poor sinners is God's Message of Mercy. You are standing in a black circle called Sin. You were born in this circle of Sin. You cannot escape it in your own strength. You were born wrong, you need to be born again by the Spirit of God. Christ Jesus, God manifest in the flesh, is standing in a white circle called Righteousness. Jesus wants to swap places with you, so that you'll not have to suffer for your sins against God. You must repent, and ask Jesus to take your place. You must simply step out of your Sin and into Christ’s Righteousness, and then Jesus will step into your black circle of Sin, take your place, and suffer for your sins. You get to go free, and He suffers (John 8:36). Please do not die standing in the black circle of Sin. If you do, you will be condemned, face Divine Justice, and suffer the Divine Wrath of God forever. Your soul is in extreme danger, and there's only one way to escape the damnation you justly deserve. A great exchange must take place; you must swap places with Christ now. You must no longer stand in your sinful self, but in Another's place. The Law of God is against you, you have sinned, and you are already condemned to die an eternal death (John 3:18).

You can change places with Another, who kept the Law of God perfectly for you, and in whom you can stand lawfully and innocently in the sight of God. Christ is willing and able to stand in your place, and He will let you stand in His place - Righteousness. When you enter Christ's white circle, then God's law will not condemn you. Christ's Righteousness will eternally clear you before God; and more than that, it will defend you forever against all your soul's adversaries. Behold the miracle of Mercy! Christ Jesus, the innocent Son of God, died for guilty sinners like you, that you may be covered with His Righteousness, and be accepted in His name. This is the root and essence of the Gospel: “You stand in Christ’s place, because He stood in yours." The Law of God cannot be against Christ, for He fulfilled it, and made it honorable. So, if you put your trust on Christ alone, the Law of God can no longer be against you, because you are in Christ.

Here's an illustration: A prisoner is tried, and condemned to death. He is a guilty man; he cannot be justified, because he is guilty. But now, suppose for a moment this happens — that some Innocent second party was introduced, who could take all that man’s guilt upon himself, who could change places with that guilty man, and by some mysterious process become that man, or take that man’s character upon himself. The Innocent man takes the place of the rebel. And then the Innocent man lets the rebel go free, and he makes the rebel a righteous man.

Here is the only way God Almighty justifies a guilty sinner. Imagine this, you are the guilty sinner standing before God, you are condemned to die an eternal death for your sins. God says, “Sinner, I must condemn you, I must — My Divine Justice requires Me to punish you for your sins against Me.” But then, you sense your guilt and you cry out to the Just Judge, "Have mercy on my dying soul, I put all my trust on Christ Jesus the sinless Bleeding Substitute, save my soul for Jesus’ sake!" Right then, Christ the Substitute comes in, puts you aside, and stands Himself in your stead. When the plea is demanded from the Judge, Christ cries, “Guilty!” Christ takes your guilt to be His own guilt. When the punishment is to be executed, Christ steps forth, and says, “Punish me, I have put My Righteousness and Honor on this guilty rebel, and I have taken this condemned man’s sins and guilt upon Me. Punish Me in his place, and consider this sinner to have been Me. Let him go free and live eternally in Heaven; let Me suffer his misery and death. Let Me endure this sinner's curse, and let him receive My blessing. Let me suffer as a sinner in his place, and let him appear spotless before your throne in the robes of My Righteousness."

Christ and every sinner must change places before death. There must be a transference and exchange! Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, not good people. Christ took upon Himself the responsibility for your sin; He stood and was condemned, He died in the ungodly sinner’s place; Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God, was punished as if He had committed your sin, though in Him was no sin. The wrath of Almighty God that was due to your transgressions was poured out upon Him when He died on Calvary's Cross. God's divine justice that ought to have punished you forever fell upon the Savior's head. This is the divine plan of God to redeem sinners. The Just dies for the unjust; the offended Judge Himself becomes a man and suffers for the offense against His own law. This is God's matchless plan of free Salvation. The sinner is lost and hopeless, but God puts Another in his place who is able to bear his sin, and puts the sinner into the place of that other, Christ Jesus Himself. The grace of God puts the sinner into the Savior’s place, and God looks upon the Savior as if He had been the sinner, and then upon the sinner as if he had been the Perfect One. Christ and the sinner must change places. This is the priceless Gospel Message.

The way that God saves a sinner is not, as some say, by passing over the penalty. No; the penalty has been all paid on Calvary's Cross. It is the putting of Another person in the rebel’s place. The rebel must die. God says he must perish. But Christ says, “I will be the Substitute for the rebel. The rebel shall take My place; and I will take his.” In God’s infinite mercy, He devised and consented to this plan. God said, “My Dear Son, You must stand in the sinner’s place; You must suffer what the sinner ought to have suffered, You must be accounted guilty, just as the sinner was accounted guilty, and then I will look upon the sinner in another light. I will look at the sinner as if he were the Righteousness of Christ My Son; I will accept the sinner as if he were My only-begotten Son, full of grace and truth. I will give the offender a crown in heaven, a robe of Righteousness, and I will take him to My heart forever and ever.” This is the only way that sinners are saved by the grace of God. The Bible says in Romans 3, “Being justified FREELY by God's grace, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.”

Come to Christ and change places with Him now, confess and acknowledge that your own righteousness (self-goodness) is but filthy rags, admit that there is nothing in you that can merit anything of God; and, next, realize that the Lord God has put His dear Son into your place, God has laid on Him your sin, and smitten Jesus with the strokes of wrath that ought to have fallen upon your soul; Jesus willingly became your Substitute. You must believe this if you are to be saved from your sins. That being done, you must accept what Christ has endured as being done for you, and trust in His Finished Work (Blood Atonement) with your whole heart. You must, in fact, change places with Christ — let Him stand in your place (the Black Circle of Sin) and be reckoned as the sinner, that you might stand in Him (the White Circle of Righteousness), and be looked upon by God as you are like his Son, perfectly Righteous, spotless, and without sin. Jesus clothes Himself in your filthy rags, and He puts on you His royal robes. Bible faith from the Holy Ghost leads you to trust what Christ did to save you, and nothing else. God’s plan of Salvation is a grand one, and there is none other under heaven that can save a sinner. This is the one way of life— that you acknowledge yourself to be nothing, and you take Christ to be your everything — that you, come to the Cross of Christ with only your sin and misery, and by a simple act of faith, take Christ to be all your Righteousness and your Salvation; and this being done, you are accepted in the Beloved.

One of two things must happen, either you must be saved without deserving to be saved — saved by the works of Another — or else you must keep the whole law, and inherit heaven of your own right and goodness, but that is humanly impossible, because you’re a guilty sinner. So then, if you are willing to come to Christ, just as you are without any preparation, but just simply as a sinner, then Christ has made Atonement for you; and your guilt will be put away: God accepts you: you are a freely pardoned man. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved from divine justice. Place all your trust on Christ's Precious Blood alone, and you are saved immediately and forever.

“Confounded, Lord, I wrap my face,
And hang my guilty head;
Ashamed of all my wicked ways,
The hateful life I’ve led.
“I yield — by mighty Love subdued;
Who can resist His bleeding love and wooing charms?
And throw myself, by wrath pursued,
Into my Savior’s arms.”

“The moment a real sinner believes,
And puts His trust on the crucified God;
God's eternal pardon at once he receives
Salvation in full through God's Blood.