Monday, August 27, 2012

The Good Old Way

This poor world and all its vain pleasures will soon vanish like the morning mist. Eternity, Eternity, Eternity. Eternity is the longest word in the Bible. No one can live here on earth forever. Imagine yourself in your future state without Christ - endless darkness, lake of fire, infinite despair, eternal torment, unspeakable woe. Men want this world to think well of them. Lost men care more about what sinful men think about them than what God thinks about them. That's the main problem with human nature. Men can't stand the ridicule which the truth brings them. Sinful men will talk about anything (weather, sports, politics) but the Sinless man who died for their sins.

The Good Old Way is the Bible way of Free salvation by Grace alone through Faith alone in Jesus' Atoning Blood alone. Believe the words of God like a little child, living daily by faith in God, loving to obey God's divine commands, and close communion with Jesus Christ. Read the Scriptures with the eye of Faith diligently and meditate much upon them. The key word is "impossible". Without faith in Jesus Christ's Blood Atonement, it is impossible for you to please God. Don't attempt the impossible, for to attempt an impossibility is madness. *Hebrews 11:6* Salvation, the free forgiveness of your sins, is a miracle from God through His Son's finished cross-work. You must first be pleasing to God. You must first put your faith in Jesus Christ, and be born again by the Holy Ghost. In your natural state, you are so sinful that God cannot even look upon you.

You must first be reconciled to God, and Reconciliation can only happen through the bloody death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The way of Reconciliation is by God's own Atoning Blood. *Acts 20:28*  Rejecters of Christ are the enemies of God. Self-righteousness is an insult to Christ, and a revolt from God. You have already broken God's commands, you still break them, and you are in a chronic state of disobedience. 

 Another key word is "must". You must believe that God is.  JEHOVAH is God and God alone, there can be none than He. You cannot have a God of your own making, or a God reasoned out of your own thoughts. Think of God as a person - He thinks about you - let God be real to you. Let your consideration of God enter into everything that concerns you. God will either be pleased or displeased by you. Believe in God as you believe in any other person you try to please - your wife, mother, child, or employer.

God is the real and practical factor of your life. It is your main business to come to God through Jesus Christ. *John 14:6* There is only one way to come to God. How do you seek God? We begin by thinking on Him, then seeking Him, by trusting to Jesus, and then by calling upon His precious name for mercy, to seek salvation, that is, deliverance from sin and sinning. *Romans 10:13* - that is the grand promise.

Aim at God's glory, make Jesus Christ the grand object for which you live. One man seeks money, another reputation, others pleasure. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Trust on Jesus Christ alone. We deserve nothing at God's hands but wrath. You must seek God through His dear Son. You need God's free grace, a change of heart, the divine nature within, a true inward godliness.

Live to God - know Him, adore Him, commune with Him, become more like Him by grace. For to me to live is Christ. Jesus Himself is your best pursuit. He is the only One that can satisfy our hearts. To serve God is real gain. Godliness with contentment is great gain. Struggle against your sins, battle against inward evil by drawing upon God's grace. Believe in all the words that God speaks, surrender yourself to all God says in His Book, believe in the true and living God, and in the One Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. In your unregenerate state, you vex and do despite to the Holy Spirit day by day, obnoxious to divine anger, an heir of wrath. God is angry with the wicked every day.

Believe in the invisible Creator God who humbled Himself and became a Jewish man; delight to please Him and in secret serve Him sincerely. Render to God service unknown to others. It is sweet to give or do something simply to please Jesus Christ and no one else, without respect to public eye, only to please God. Live to please Him, even God. To please men and follow after everybody's whim is poor work and slavery. Many men are pulling you by the ear in their direction. They tug at you with their words, smiles, and frowns. Man is greedy for money and of vain applause. Gold is dust to a dying man. God can now abundantly pardon any sinner that comes to Him through Jesus Christ. Salvation won't cost you a dime. Jesus Christ runs the whole universe and He has controlled your birth, life, death, and destiny. God gone out of His way to become a man and bleed and die for you, so you can get back to Him and enter into Eternity safely.

Accept God's invitation to come to Jesus Christ. Embrace the Savior by Faith. All by Himself, Jesus paid the deadly price for all your sins on the tree.  Christ died for your sins, and He'll be merciful to you, only because of His Son's Atoning Blood. Accept His mercies right now: God be merciful to me a sinner, and save my sinful soul for Jesus' sake. Believe in Him, rest in His Atonement, rejoice only in His Righteousness. Real faith goes directly to the Lord Jesus Christ and trusts only to Him. By God's free grace, put your entire trust in Jesus Christ's Precious Blood.

The reality of our life lies in what Jesus did for us, and in what He enables us to do for Him. All the rest is only the chaff of life. The very best of our life is what we lived by faith upon the Son of God, who loved us, and gave Himself for us. Be willing to suffer shame and reproach for Jesus who suffered so much for you. Live more intensely and entirely to Him each day.

I cried unto the Lord Jesus Christ with my voice; with my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before Him; I shewed before Him my sin trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then He knew my path.  I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man here on Earth cared for my soul, but the man Christ Jesus did. I cried unto Thee, O Lord Jesus: I said, Thou art my Refuge and my Portion in the land of the living. Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low. Bring my soul out of sin's prison, that I may praise Thy name.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Saving Faith 8

Real faith in Christ Jesus purifies the heart, enlightens the judgment, subdues the will, sanctifies the intellect, makes the heart subjective to God's supremacy. Receive God's word as a little child, be willing to receive the truth of Scripture upon the faithfulness of the Eternal God. Be willing to be taught God's words. Genuine Faith in Christ cleanses within, beautifies without, makes the inner motive and exterior behavior clean. Your sins killed Jesus Christ. *Isaiah 53:5-6* You're guilty of sinning against God, you've been caught red-handed right in the act by the eyes of your Maker. *Proverbs 15:3* You have broken all the rules in the Book.

Study closely the simple subject of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The simple faith which depends on Christ for all. Have no object in life but to glorify Jesus Christ with your spirit, soul, and body. Learn this simple truth - Without Me ye can do nothing. *John 15:5* Ask God for the simple faith which takes His promises just as they stand. Run with every sin, temptation, and trouble you have straight to Jesus. The Gospel is simple enough for you to understand, and scriptural enough for you to receive and trust. Every sinner you know must be saved by Blood, Precious Blood, God's Blood. *Acts 20:28; I Peter 1:19*

Look away from self to Christ. Faith is the only way to Jesus. *Matthew 11:28* Coming to Christ means laying hold upon Christ with the hand of faith, looking to Him with the eye of Faith, for life, pardon, salvation, everything. Trust Jesus Christ implicitly, and you are delivered from divine wrath and from the power of natural sinful passions. Rest yourself for eternal salvation upon the Atonement and Righteousness of Jesus Christ. To have done once for all with all reliance upon your doings, and to trust in Jesus Christ and in what He did for your salvation. Christ Jesus came to save sinners, simple trusting upon Him is genuine faith. No works, no ceremonies, no merits, no orthodoxies are needed. You only need Christ Crucified, the Substitute for sinners, a Substitute for you if you really trust to His Precious Atoning Blood.

The path of life is Jesus Himself; the road of Salvation is out of self, and into Christ. These are only two steps to Heaven - out of Self, and into Christ. Leave your sins and self-righteousness behind. Take Christ as your all in all. Come to Jesus for Shelter, and you are saved. Trust your soul with Jesus, by hating sin and clinging to the great Sin-Bearer. Simple spiritual faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Modes of speech or dress, or worship are not marks of true spirituality. Faith is the root; Love is the bloom and fruit. The Finished Work of Jesus Christ is the object of saving faith. Bible Faith is to trust the Son of God with your soul. Faith changes the character and nature within, purifies you within, and makes you a new person to the praise and glory of God. Fall into the arms of Christ Jesus, that is genuine Faith.

Just give up your doing, give up depending upon anything that you are, or do, or ever hope to be. Depend upon the complete merits, finished work, and precious blood of Jesus Christ. Anything of your own doing spoils it all and will surely damn you. Your reliance is to be nothing but that which is in Christ Jesus. Jesus suffered the punishments for human sin. Faith is miraculously implanted in the believing soul by the Holy Spirit. Childlike faith is the royal road to Jesus. The root of your mischief lies in your distance from Jesus and His words.

Slight thoughts of Christ and the depravity of man is at the root of false theology. As long as a man has anything in himself to boast of, there is no salvation for him, but the moment he has nothing of his own, Christ Jesus is his on the spot. When you are nothing, Christ is everything. Turn your gaze at once to the Cross of Calvary where God Incarnate bore all your sins in His own body and suffered for your sins.

Regeneration is the implanting of the divine nature by the Holy Ghost - faith in Christ, repentance of sin, conversion from that which is evil to that which is good. Here Jesus is, I believe in Him, I take Him now, I accept Him the best way I know how as a guilty sinner, He is mine forever the moment I receive Him into my heart by simple faith in His Precious Blood. If you could help save yourself, then why did God become a man and die on the Cross? Jesus Christ came down here and died on the Cross for sinners to take away their sins. There is no allowance in the Gospel for you to do anything to help save yourself. Regeneration is the only way. Ye must be born again.

Repentance is a change of your mind, to be sorry for what you are, and what you've done. Forsake your old ways and filthy habits, be turned, becoming a new creature by the grace of God. The atheist hides behind the bushes of evolution and darwinism and finds a temporary false rest. The atheist is a self-made man who adores his own maker, his maker being himself. Regeneration is when the new nature is given by the Holy Spirit to the sinner who believes on Christ Jesus.

Rehabilitation doesn't reform a man; it is the Holy Ghost's Regeneration that reforms a man inwardly first and then outwardly. The chief work of the Holy Ghost is to strip you of yourself, and bring you to receive the simple words of God, that say, Christ died for sinners, He saves sinners, sinners just like you. Jesus freely washes away sins, pardons, justifies, the indwelling of Holy Ghost. If you are poor and needy within, burdened with sin, and full of guilt, then Jesus is the Savior for you. Come and take Him, come and trust Him, come to His feet and receive Him by Faith in His Blood Divine.

The Holy Ghost in Regeneration creates in a man a new nature that causes him to hate his sins and love Jesus Christ. Fight against and overcome your besetting sins. You are hunted by Satan, molested by inward corruption, tempted by the world, slandered by cruel tongues, plagued with foul sins and corruptions, damnable uncleanness, and detestable lusts. Sins forgiven, lust conquered and subdued, growing in grace, being conformed to the image of His holiness. Look up to Jesus, yield to the Holy Ghost working the image of Christ in you, changing you from glory to glory. Only Christ can extinguish the evil craving of your sinful nature, and the longings of your restless spirit.

The Gospel is free, gratis. The Lord Jesus will not barter with bankrupt sinners. A sinner can never deserve God's mercy. You can never make yourself fit for God's free salvation. If you were sifted, there would not be a grain of goodness found in you. If your soul was swept from top to bottom, there could not be found a speck of merit anywhere. True obedience to God only springs from genuine faith in the Precious Blood. Conviction of Sin, Real Repentance, True Faith in Christ's Atoning Blood. Faith is the great saving grace. What exactly is Faith? Faith is absolute trust to Jesus Christ. The Faith that saves from sin is a belief that Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh offered a perfect, everlasting Atonement for human sin.

A firm conviction and a simple trusting in Christ's Blood Atonement for free forgiveness of sins. Look to Jesus' suffering upon the Cross as the sinner's Substitute. Faith is resting your soul upon Christ alone. Care more for the world to come, than for that which now is. Faith works humility, meekness, lowliness into the heart and mind. Complete dependence upon the merits and Blood of Christ, sense of pardoned sin, low esteem of our own self. When others think and speak ill of me, it doesn't trouble me that much, for if they really knew me, they would think much worse of me. Faith promotes unselfishness. All of our unrest lies at the root of Self. All of our true Rest lies in Christ Jesus Himself.

Friday, August 17, 2012

The Highest Love

Here is the Highest Love - The Incarnate God, Jesus of Nazareth, bled to death to save sinful men, and those same men hate God so much that they will not have Jesus even as He dies to save them.

The self-righteous man does good in hopes to merit heaven. If you are not saved right now, the main reason is because you're not tired of your sins yet. Stop messing around with sin, it will damn you to Hell. Don't refuse the Precious Blood, for God's Blood is your life. The Christ of God bled and died for sinners, and if you reject His Blood, you have committed the most heinous offense imaginable. Men refuse to be reconciled to their Creator - this is evil indeed. Proud disdain of the Gospel is a damnable thing. The more unfit you feel yourself to be, the more you are invited to come to the Cross.

You can't conquer your depraved habits in your own strength. You must be willing to be saved from sin God's way, that is, submit yourself entirely to Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit must first make you feel the bitterness and burden of sin. Say farewell to the sins you have loved so long. Within the lost man's heart, there is a lingering love for the far country of sin. Be willing to have a divorce from your sins. Only Christ can deliver you from the power of your sins. Trust Jesus to make you pure within.

You must owe all your salvation to the free grace of God. You must be saved completely through the power of the Blood of Jesus Christ. Believe in the pure, honest, truthful Savior. Go to Jesus just as you are, and confess what you are, and ask Him to save you from continuing on in your sins. Believe on Jesus Christ, ask Him for repentance. Trust your soul implicitly with Him, ask now for immediate pardon through His Precious Blood, and you will not be denied.

Believe on Jesus actively, really, and truly. In the future, you will kick yourself for rejecting Jesus Christ. You are helpless to break the bonds of your own sins. Be conscious of your utter helplessness. Jesus wants to deliver you from the tyrannic rule and dominion of evil. The words of Christ save, pardon, renew, preserve, purify, perfect; obey Jesus' words. The Law leads the sinner to the Cross. The only qualification for becoming a Christian is unworthiness. The way of the transgressor is hard.

You have no righteousness of your own that can please God. You must be absolutely Perfect in thought, word, and deed to make it past the White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15) in your own righteousness. Trust to the person and work of the man Christ Jesus. He was perfectly Righteous all His life, and He kept all the Laws you couldn't keep. He died on the Cross and took the punishment that you deserve. Once you are in Christ, you are perfect in God's sight, and Jesus gets all the credit and glory for being Righteous, not you. Crave the free forgiveness of Jesus Christ, ask Him for a change of heart. 

O God, I have no righteousness of my own, I need your Son's Righteousness, please make me just in your sight through the Righteousness of Jesus now.

The most wicked and grievous sins you can commit are to forget God and neglect Christ. Never forget God, ascribe to Him all the glory. He never forgets you. He poured out His own blood for your sins. He loved you even to the death. Forget not all His benefits. The only way to avert eternal doom is through childlike faith in Jesus Christ's Precious Atoning Blood. Stop quarreling with your Best Friend, don't avoid your defenseless soul's only refuge. Hope in the Savior's veins, confide in His tender mercy. Till Jesus is your Savior, you are in the utmost danger - in danger of eternal punishment. Your pet Sins should be hated and avoided. By nature, a lost man loves what he ought to hate.

Every want of conformity to the divine law of God is Sin. Darkness hates light, the tolerance of sin is sin. Does any of your salvation rest on your own doings? If it does, you are lost. Your self-effort can never help justify or sanctify you. Think much about your sins, danger, inability, and guilt. Hate your sins, cry out to God for mercy, believe in Jesus Christ, trust the Savior's Blood, become obedient to His will. Seek God, yield to the Gospel, trust Jesus' Blood Atonement. Your own righteousness cannot deliver you from the wrath to come, but Jesus can. The man who hates God and loves his sins is miserable and wretched. Any idol will suit men as long as they can be rid of the living and pure God who died for them. Self is every lost man's god. Jesus was the bleeding Sufferer, bearing offenses that were not His own, so that His enemies could be rescued from damnation.

The just God is angry with the wicked every day. God is so angry with the man who sins, that He will damn that man, unless there is someone who will be damned for him, and suffer the punishment his sins deserve in his place. The Gospel is all about Substitution. Jesus took the punishment, the wrath, the guilt that we deserve, and now any sinner who puts his trust in Christ's Substitution can escape eternal punishment. Christ my Substitute is all my hope. Seek Christ's love, mercy, and grace now through faith in His Precious Blood. Jesus died for His enemies. Divine Mercy is only available to the guilty.

The atheist takes delight in his sins and others' sins. The atheist is a raving hater of truth, light, and Jesus Christ. It is a bitter thing for an atheist to leave his sins. God cannot lie, but darwin did. Let God be true, but every man a liar. There is no peace to the wicked, saith my God. Atheists want to live and think any way they want to. They resent the Scriptures, because they reprove their secret sins. Atheists loathe and detest the Reprover of their sins, and reject Him. Atheists have their own self-made laws, rules, guidelines, and principles - they worship themselves in their own way, they are their own god.

Trust Jesus, and then you will begin to hate your sins, and desire to fear and please your Maker. Always be repenting and praising God. Crave fellowship with God, be covetous of that, love everything that keeps you in fellowship with God, and hate everything that leads you from communion with the Holy Ghost.

We must give all glory to Jesus' holy name. To God all the glory belongs. It is a happy and healthy habit to give all the glory to Jesus Christ in all things. God must have all the glory. Shun evil thoughts and desires simply because you hate them. Do right only out of gratitude to God. Gratitude causes the saved soul to hate that which displeases the Savior. Faith which worketh by love. Faith is the soul's mouth whereby the hunger of the heart is removed. To Jesus be all the glory. Sin now causes me inward pain and is irksome to me. My soul recoils with horror at sinning against God. Oh, how I hate my sins which crucified my God, the sins that made my Savior bleed.

My sins are all gone forever through what Jesus did on my behalf. Jesus offered Himself as a sinless bloody Sacrifice for guilty men. Jesus bled to redeem lost men, and paid the full Ransom price upon the Cross. When Christ is loved, sins are hated. Gratitude for free pardon, and sorrow over my sins. Desire truth in your inward parts, confess your sins with deep contrition, Atonement by Blood, Redemption by Substitution, Justification by Faith. Hate sin, heartily loathe self, thirst to be pure within and without, to be like Christ in your daily activities, to bring glory to His name. Hate your sins, watch your deceitful tendencies, zealously seek to be pure and true to Jesus.

A Christian who is sincere in his faith will hate his sins. A loving, bleeding Savior leads me to take revenge on my sins. Searching of heart, stern resolve, bitterness of regret, deep repentance. Hate your sins every day for love of Jesus. Ye that love the LORD, hate evil. Love Christ thoroughly, hate your dirty habits intensely. Hearty adoration of Jesus from whom all grace comes, and to whom all glory must return.  For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. Sin is a plague and burden to the saved soul. Be willing to give up any and every sin for Christ's sake. You must learn to be self-denying and hate sin at the feet of Jesus Christ. Lip-love is not real. Real practical love to Jesus is needful and essential. The fear of God is to be sorry for sin, to abhor sin, to wish to escape the slavery and bondage of sin. I am saved by grace through faith in Jesus' atoning blood, by the pure mercy of God.

Give Jesus Christ all the glory for His perfect finished work on Calvary's Cross. Receive Jesus Himself by faith into your empty soul. The moment you trust to Jesus alone, you are perfect in Him, and accepted in the Beloved. Trust Jesus' Blood alone, then begin to deny yourself daily, that is, seek to follow Jesus in your thoughts, speech and behavior, desire to be like Him every day.

Monday, August 13, 2012

The Incarnate God 4

God became Incarnate and stooped from the throne of Heaven to the manger of Bethlehem's stable. God was made flesh and dwelt among us in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Fully rely alone upon Jesus Christ for your full and free salvation. Implicitly trust the merits of His agonies. Without any other confidence, cast yourself fully upon the great atoning sacrifice of Calvary. Look away from all other confidences, look to Jesus now for pardon, complete pardon, pardon forever. Rely upon the sufferings and death of the Incarnate God, who has gone into heaven, who lives today to plead before the Father's throne, the merits of His precious blood which He poured out on Calvary for guilty sinners.

Only one thing kills the love of sin in your heart and mind, and that is the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Only the Cross can put your love of sin to death. Look to where Jesus died in your place. God wants us to trust His Son, God wants to destroy the works of the devil, that is sin, in us. God wants us to obey His words, seek His will and glory. Sin killed the Savior, so your sins should be repented of. Sin saps our strength and destroys our comfort and peace with God. Sin robs us of usefulness, sin is the foe of all that is good. Sin is the curse of curses, the fountain of hell, the heart of the devil. To the awakened sinner, sin is a burden, a misery, a horror, a nightmare which haunts him, he can never escape from sin on his own. Even forgiven sin, the memory of it makes a man go softly all his days. My sin is ever before me.

Sin killed Christ, let Christ kill your sins. Let sin have no throne or dominion in your heart. Sin crucified Christ, let your private lusts be crucified. Every wrong desire must be nailed up with Christ. Live for God's glory and man's good. Only the Grace of God can kill your sins. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. The love of Christ and sin are are like the two balances of a pair of scales. If sin goes up in our esteem, our love to Christ goes down. Whenever our love to Christ is going up, then sin must go down in the same proportion.

Christ Jesus, the eternal Son of God was born of a Jewish virgin named Mary and became a poor man. He lived here on earth a life of holiness, shame and suffering, and at the last He was nailed to the Cross. In agony Jesus died, He was buried, He rose again from the dead, He ascended into Heaven, He intercedes, He is coming again. And now God commandeth all men everywhere to repent. Whosoever believeth on the Son of God shall not perish, but have eternal life. God was manifest in the flesh - His name was Jesus. Christ was really and actually punished for your sins, and you cannot be punished if you trust Him, for God cannot punish your sins twice. Believe in Christ, cast your soul on His Atonement that He finished long, long ago. Your sin is as black as hell, and as wicked as Satan.

Believe that the Man who died on the Cross was God your Creator, and that He took your sins upon Himself and paid the full penalty due to your sins. Call upon Jesus' name, trust only in His name. Have reliance upon the blessed name of Christ. Sensible of your guilt, awakened to your imminent danger. Find your soul's delight in Christ Himself. Here is your sin's only remedy - Christ Jesus, the Son of God, became a Jewish man, born of virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, buried, and risen from the dead. Christ died on the Cross to save sinners, such as you are. You are nothing, take Christ Himself to be your Everything.

Jesus Christ, the High King of Heaven, left His heavenly kingdom and became a Jewish peasant. Deity became Incarnate. The iniquity of man like a huge load was laid upon Christ's shoulders, and He stood there before Pilate as the sinner's Substitute. Hell's waves rolled over His soul, the eternal wrath of God spent itself upon Jesus' head and heart. Justified by faith which is in Christ Jesus, and saved by the free mercy of God for Jesus' sake. Jesus suffered the curse which was due to lost men. Jesus the God-Man bled, died, and bore the wrath of God instead of me. Receive the free mercy of God as a poor, guilty, lost, helpless, undone sinner.

When it comes to Salvation - God must give all, Christ must be all, the Spirit must work all. Your Maker whom you have offended became human flesh. For my sake He suffered what I ought to have suffered. Salvation by the free mercy of God through Jesus Christ His Son. If salvation was by human merit at all, there would be no good news, but free and rich mercy is sweet to the guilty sinner's ear. Jesus stood in the place of guilty men and bore man's punishment so God might be just, and yet the Justifier of him that believeth on Jesus.

Divine justice owes you nothing but eternal death, mercy alone can spare you. Cast yourself upon the mercy of Heaven's court, ask for free, undeserved mercy, unspeakable mercy. God became a man, and loved His enemies to death and came to earth to rescue those sinners who rebelled against His authority. Doing better, straightening up, flying straight, turning over a new leaf, will not help you at all. Jesus loved guilty men, He suffered to the death for you.

Remember - Jesus saves from the power and practice of sin. Practice Christ, not sin. The Incarnate God had all human sin imputed to Him, all your transgressions were laid upon Him. You are either saved by grace or by works, but never by grace and works. If you miss the Gospel, you miss Heaven. Your feeble efforts are useless. He who only hath immortality condescended to die for sinners. Jesus is God, and He became a man to suffer in your stead.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

What is Faith?

Faith is the step out of self and into Christ by which we enter eternal life. There is nothing simpler in the world than to believe in Jesus. Faith is simply trusting in Jesus, and rejecting yourself. There is nothing to be felt, done, or endured. Faith is ceasing from human effort, and resting completely on Christ's atoning blood. Sin makes a complete fool out of every man. Our ignorant minds cannot understand truth until the Holy Spirit comes, and takes the blindfold from our eyes. Do not believe in yourself at all. The very first lesson about Jesus is to believe in Him wholeheartedly. *Proverbs 3:5; Acts 8:37*

Faith is like hiding under the shadow of God's wings. *Psalm 57:1* There is a hawk in the sky, the mother hen sees it. She gives her "warning" cluck, and her little chicks understand and flee to her for shelter. The mother hen is crouching down on the ground, close to the earth. She calls the chicks fervently till every one comes and hide beneath her wings. There they are out of the hawk's sight, now the hawk will have to the attack the mother hen, and kill her to get to her chicks. The hawk's pecks and talons will have to tear at the hen now. *Ruth 2:12*

Now Christ Jesus is the Savior, He is our Shield. I hide myself under Him. The justice and wrath of God must smite me, or One who is able and willing to suffer in my place. The first law of the universe is that sin cannot go unpunished. Divine justice flies toward me, but Christ comes and interposes between me and the deadly sentence of God's law. The vengeance of God seeks me, but I hide away under Christ's wounds, and all the blows of God's wrath are dealt upon Jesus, and I am safe from harm. Christ Jesus was wounded, rent, and torn so that any sinner could hide beneath Him and escape the punishment their sins deserve. *Psalm 3:3; 91:4*

Faith is like hiding behind someone else to defend you. On the sides of the Alps, a mother mountain goat feeds, and an eagle spies out her kid. The ravenous bird seeks to pounce and devour the kid. Down soars the eagle, but the little kid runs and crouches low at its mother's side, and the mother warts off the eagle with her horns. She fights for the life of her kid. The little kid is hidden away behind its mother as she defends it to the death if need be. Just as the kid, we must hide behind the Savior. Put your defenseless soul behind the Savior. Say to God, "Deal not with me, deal with my bleeding Substitute. O God, interpose the atoning Sacrifice on the Cross between your just wrath and my guilty soul.

Faith is like resting in the shadow of a Rock on a hot day. *Isaiah 32:2* Travelers in the heat of the day hide beneath a rock. The heat of the sun is beating down and reflecting back from the sand. They are faint, weary, and thirsty. In the rock's shadow, the heat is not felt. They are ready to faint, but it is almost chilly inside the Rock. Christ is the Shadow of a Rock in a weary land. Come into Him, let His shadow come between you and the burning heat of divine justice. The heat will fall on the Rock, and not on you. You will be safe and refreshed, and He will screen you from all harm. Come and put Christ between you and God. Christ Jesus is the interposer between God and men. True faith gets inside side the Rock, and hides away beneath His sheltering shade.

Faith is like fleeing into a city of refuge. A manslayer seeks safety in the city of refuge. The next of kin of the man killed are seeking revenge. They follow hard after the manslayer, and the poor man's only hope of life and rescue is to hurry quickly into a refuge city, and once he is through the gate, he is sure of a fair trial. He could not be put to death. Once the city gate was shut behind him, he could breath freely, for he was safe. Come now guilty soul, run away into Christ. Jesus is the great Gate between you and the avenging wrath and justice of God. You are perfectly safe in Christ forever. Hide away in Christ from the pursuit of God's vengeance, from the righteous indignation of God. Only Christ can bring eternal Safety to the guilty soul. Safety is of the Lord Jesus Christ. *Numbers 35:25-27*

Faith is like hiding in a Rock. *I Corinthians 10:4* The badgers make their houses in the rocks. When they are sought after and in danger, about to be destroyed, the badger seeks sees an opening in the rock. He slips in the cranny and is perfectly safe, the wolf growls at him, but still he is safe and sound. He is safe there from hunters, hawks, and wolves. The badger's heart beats fast, the wolf looks up and down, but he cannot see the badger. The wolf can see the rock, but not the badger within the rock. He is hidden away from the one would destroy him. Right now, hide away in Christ who died for guilty sinners. Trust into Him, believe IN Him, believe that He will save you. Hide your defenseless soul in the Rock of Salvation. Squeeze yourself further back into the Rock, hide away there, place more and more faith in the Rock. You must believe on Christ for yourself. It is only personal faith in Christ that saves the guilty soul. Once you are safe in Christ, all is well with your soul. *II Samuel 22:47*

Faith is like dropping anchor in a storm. A ship in a storm hastens to the safe harbor, they enter the port, down goes the anchor, the rattle of the chain, the clank of the anchor is the sweetest sound to the sea sick sailor. The fear is all over. The ship may still rock and roll, but it is safe. Let your anchor down, trust Christ, lay hold on the Rock Christ. This is the welcome day of the Gospel. *Hebrews 6:19*

Faith is like casting a heavy burden off of your back onto another man's shoulders. *Psalm 55:22* Cast your burden upon God, roll it all onto Christ. Unburden your soul at the Cross. Jesus is the great Sin-Bearer. When a sinner believes in Christ, he shifts his sin burden from his own shoulders onto the shoulders of Christ. You are stooping down beneath the crushing load of your sins, and Christ comes to you, and says, "Lay your burden on Me." If you lay your burden on Christ, then you no longer bear it. Roll your burden on Him, and it is no longer upon you. If you are toiling under the load of guilt, come to Christ and be relieved of that heavy load. A thing cannot be in two places at one time. If you sin is on Christ, it is no longer on your soul. *I Peter 5:7*

Your sin burden will crush you lower than the lowest hell, lay it all on Christ immediately, this is the act of Faith. Do not take the sin burden up again. It is gone, as far as the east is from the west. Christ has infinite grace and mercy toward guilty sinners. God forgets all our sins, He casts them all behind His back forever. The greatest mercy of all is when God forgives an unworthy sinner for Jesus' sake. Under Jesus' Blood, our sin is gone forever, it ceases to be. Sinners groan under the great load of their sins every day. Tell them about Jesus. Jesus is willing to take your sins away. Jesus will blot out all the black record of sin against you, let it all go, and Jesus will take it from you.

Faith is like turning your case over to a defense attorney. Stop answering the devil accusations, for you have an Advocate. Don't try to do your legal business yourself, for you will fail. Refer every accuser to your Advocate. Say to them all, "Go and settle with Him!" The devil says, "You're a sinner, you deserve eternal death." I reply, "Yes, but there is a sinless Man who stood and died in my place, and that sinless Man is my Advocate. Go and settle my account with Him. He undertook my case completely, and He will plead my case with His own atoning blood. I must refer you to my Advocate, He can settle with you, I cannot." My Advocate says, "All the evidence against this man is inadmissible, for I have already paid His debts and penalties with my own Blood." *I John 2:1-2*

Faith is like staying upon God. *Isaiah 50:10* The word "stay" means to lean hard on someone. The more I feel faint, the more I lean. You must lean your soul wholly upon Christ, lean hard on Him with all your weight of sin, lean on Jesus Christ. Don't try to hold yourself up now, throw yourself completely on Him, rest on Him, let Him bear you up. Stay your soul upon Him. You must believe that the Lord Jesus is able to hold you up. He is God as well as man, well-pleasing to the Father, a mighty Savior. Trust Christ with your sins. He is able to save you to the uttermost.

You no longer have to support yourself. Come with all your sins, faults, weaknesses, doubts, fears - the harder you lean, the more you love Him. You do not need strength to lean on Christ. Christ will give you everything, it is all or nothing with Him. Full salvation and ease of mind are only found when you just give yourself up to Jesus. Resign yourself to Christ. Just like the sheep over the shoulders of the Shepherd, Jesus carries you home. *Luke 15:4-6*

Christ can save, He will save, stay yourself on Him. Perfect leaning on Christ. Both feet steady on the Rock. No confidence in baptism, sacraments, prayers, good works, or living it. No confidence but the finished work of Christ - that foundation can never be moved. I have no hope but in His blood and merits. Your good works are just as bad as your sins. Fling them all away, and cling to Christ alone. There is much in your works that is selfish and faulty, and no man can be quite sure that has ever done enough to satisfy divine justice. It is best to trust only to the merits and works of Christ Jesus.

Just trust in Jesus, and in Him alone. Have done with any reliance upon yourself whatsoever, have done with all your religiousness. Just come as you are, and depend on Christ who died for guilty and undeserving wretches. Bankrupt sinners, ruined wretches, hopeless rebels, come and stay yourself upon the immovable foundation of the atoning blood Sacrifice of the Lamb of God. You can ruin and damn yourself, but you can never help save yourself. Have done with trusting yourself. Put your soul out of your own hands into Christ's hands.

The Two Sides

There are two sides - God or Satan, Truth or lie, Righteousness or sin. One has your heart, one commands your service. Whatever your choice shall be, it means Eternity. It means either Heaven with its glories, or Hell with its terrors. It means either the white robe of Everlasting Life, or the blackness of darkness with weeping, wailing, and unending misery. You are either for God, or His enemies. Jesus said, "He that is not with Me is against Me." This decision to take Christ's side should be made as early in life as possible.

You must bring your weightiest thoughts to this business, you must concentrate all your wit and wisdom with deliberation and resolution and determination. It is a dreadful standing halfway between God and the devil, heaven and hell. That midway place is really the region of death and darkness. Don't waste the best part of your life halting between two opinions. Decide for Christ, don't just consider. Give your heart and soul to Christ now, don't hesitate. Draw God's sword, the Bible, against your sins, never make a truce with the enemy within you. This decision should be made at once. Death is nearer to you than you realize, Eternity could begin any day for you. Don't make a foolish choice, delay is dangerous, don't end up a condemned procrastinator.

Decide on the spot. This is decision of greatest importance, it will influence every subsequent decision throughout the rest of your life. Give your love to truth; favor righteousness. True worship and godliness should be found at home, business, amusement, the field, the street, voting booth, and market. Everything we come in contact with should involve the Lord. The Lord's side may be unpopular, but it is Right. This decision will be the pivot on which your whole character will turn. Decide for God - He is your Creator, don't be opposed to the One who made you and can condemn you. He died for you, and shed His own blood to rescue you. He is your daily Preserver, your breath is in His hand, don't live in rebellion towards Him.

We are indebted to God for our being, every favor which we now enjoy comes from Him. Be on your best Friend's side. Your instant decision should be for Christ. Be on the side of truth, the Gospel, the Savior. The way is plain and simple, there's no need for debate. Only the Holy Spirit can influence your mind and deliver you from the slavery of your sinful lusts. Don't be swayed by your own self-centered interests. Many men are influenced by the fear of man and ridicule. Don't indulge in the sin that your conscience and the Bible condemns. The opinion of man matters nothing with God. You must make enemies and lose old friends, or disobey God. Take the Right side. If you are on God's side, you are on the opposite side from the world. Don't team up with the Betweenites - if they could, they would go on both sides, or neither side, they want to let it alone, they wish to keep themselves, and say nothing and do nothing either way.

You are an enemy of God until you are made God's friend. Are you God's friend or enemy? Honest or dishonest? Pure or filthy? Saved or lost? This is a matter about which cannot be neutral. One of these days that slumbering sin of yours will rouse itself, like a viper that is warmed after winter, and then bites all that come near it. As the lion cub which has not tasted blood and is tame as a house cat, but eventually it grows into a furious wild beast of prey. You must choose to serve God and Christ, or you must be the servant of Satan and sin. Holiness and purity must lead you, or sin and self will deceive and snare you.

Heaven must win you, or Hell will damn you. You must not hide your colors. Be not wickedly silent, don't conceal your will. Come forward out in the open. Let Christ be your Lord, come follow in His steps, keeps His words, proclaim His Gospel, defend His kingdom. Come to Christ, follow the Lamb. Avow your allegiance, enlist under His colors, enter into fellowship, make your decision for Christ as speedily as possible. Only God is to be worshipped (First Commandment), and worshipped in His own way (Second Commandment). Don't pay any religious honor to anything which can be seen with the eyes. Truth, righteousness, the words of God, the will of Christ. Be true, be thorough, be upright, be Christ-like through the power of the divine Spirit of God. Fearing God, reverence, trust, love, service, worship to the Lord. Be a believer, a fearer, a truster, a lover, a worshipper of the living God. Don't be a neglecter, rejecter, or hater of Him.

The two sides are this - obedience to the commands of God and pleasing Him, or the desire to please ourselves. Endeavoring to keep the moral law for Jesus' sake, or seeking to be happy by having our own way. Man naturally makes himself into his own god. Man allow his own lusts and passions to be the supreme governing influence over him. Men say, "I will have my own way, I will do as I please, as long as I can make myself happy, I care nothing about the will and words of God." It is either the will of the flesh, or the will of God.

The two sides - Christ and His Righteousness, or your own self-righteousness. Cleansing in God's Blood and covering with Christ's Righteousness; or salvation by your own works, prayers, giving, by anything of your own. Salvation by works is a lie, and an impossibility. Salvation by Christ, or salvation by self.

The two sides - The Gospel of the Grace of God, or the superstitions and falsehood of religious man. Sinners are only saved by believing in Jesus Christ, but superstition says, you can be saved by water baptism or by being sprinkled with water from some priest or minister. Salvation by Christ, or salvation by priests. Salvation by Christ, or salvation by denomination. You must go directly and immediately to the Lord Jesus Christ as your Great High Priest, and trust alone to His merits and atoning sacrifice. Religion teaches you to confess your sins to a man, to pour into his ears your sins, and to defile him even more than he is already. Catholic priests are deluded with the false notion that they can absolve human sins. Who can forgive sins but God only?

The two sides - Holy Scriptures, or human tradition; divine Revelation, or human reasoning. The Old Holy Bible from the Spirit of God, or religious tradition decreed by popes and imams. God's word, or man's word. Christ Jesus, or Charlie Darwin. Thus saith the Lord, or thus guesseth sinful man.

Don't be ashamed to come over on the Lord's side. Lay down life and limb, substance and honor, faculties and talents, give up everything you have for the cause of Christ and truth. Swim against the current of this world, speak unpopular truth, declare what God says plainly. Rally to the Cross, test everything by the word of God, hold forth the word of life most freely and clearly, be willing to be a minority. You must be consistent, don't let falsehood, error, and sin overcome you. Quarrel with error, dispute with falsehood, fight against your sins. Worldly men covet the glance of approving eyes and the smile of sin-loving men.

You must first receive Someone into your heart, even the Lord Jesus Christ. *John 1:12* He is the free gift of JEHOVAH'S grace. Take Jesus on His terms, as your Savior, Captain and King. Change clothes, take off the filthy rags of your self-righteousness, and put on Christ's Righteousness. Trust to Christ's Precious Blood. Confess Christ openly, confess your faith in Him to friends and strangers. Submit yourself to His discipline, follow loyally, then instruct others.

Breathe the Spirit, Believe in Jesus, Battle your Sins. Fight the good fight of faith - the very first war must be a civil war within your own soul, a war to the bitter end against every secret sin, every evil habit, every false word, every impure thought, all iniquity must be driven from your spirit and soul. Carry the war into Satan's territory as well, on all sides, tell your friends and family about Christ. Plead with those you work and live with, witness to companions and enemies, tell them all about the Lamb of God. Be sure of this - enthusiasm for Christ and godly living will bring reproach and persecution.

The Better Birthday

There is no salvation in any outward religious ceremony. Eating a wafer, or taking a sip of wine, or dipping in a baptismal pool is of no benefit to your poor lost soul. Do not rest in water baptism, church going, or prayers. Your salvation lies entirely outside of yourself, that is, in Christ Jesus alone. Flee to Jesus for Mercy. Salvation is not about what you achieve, but on whom you believe. *Acts 16:31* Seek the Lord Himself, not to just know doctrine, or to learn the Scriptures. Seek the LORD, there is a living Person named Jesus Christ - Seek Him. The key-note of the Gospel came from the lips of Jesus - Come. *Matthew 11:28*

Seek not to your minister, prayer book, or even your Bible, but seek the living Savior. Come to Christ by faith, don't miss the mark - His Precious Blood. You must personally come to a personal Savior, by putting your trust completely in Him. Trust in His five bleeding wounds, the bloody sweat, the thorny crown, the deadly Cross. Trust in the Lamb of God at once. This alone is the way of salvation. With deep resolve seek the Savior. Act with speed concerning your soul's needs. There is but a step between you and Hell, unless God's mercy intervenes and Christ's Blood interposes. If your health fails, your soul will be lost. Put everything else aside, seek the LORD with heart and soul. You must belong to Christ, see that you have Him. Give me Christ, or else I die.

You will have the Savior when your whole heart and soul are after Him. Born to die the first time, born to eternal life the second time. Born once, die twice; Born twice, die once. Born in the fallen depraved nature the first time, born in the divine nature of Christ the second time. You need that better birthday. Ye must be born again. *John 3:7* If you die in your natural sinful state, you will perish. The time to seek the Savior is right now. You don't have to get better first. You will never come to Christ at all, if you wait to be better, for when you feel better, then you will not come. There's no time like the present to forsake your sins and self-righteousness, and come to the Lamb of God.

Starving soul, come to the Bread of Life. Thirsting soul, take the water of life freely. Believe and live. Faith in Christ's Precious Blood brings God to you, and you to God - this is called Reconciliation. You can never better yourself. Have done with that foolishness, confess yourself a helpless sinner, born in iniquity, conceived in sin, depraved in heart, reprobate in mind, needing the free Mercy of the living Savior. Make Jesus your sole reliance. Cry out to Him. You cannot escape your sins except by the Blood of the Lamb. Atheists, despisers of God, drunkards, unchaste, dishonest, blasphemers, swearers need the Savior. Carnal man lives to gain wealth, fame, and popularity. Stop lingering, loitering, and longing after the world. Cease from clinging to vanities, ease, carnal pleasure, love of money and self.

Jesus' free forgiveness is purchased by His own agony, stripes, wounds, bloody death. The carnal mind doesn't think of Jesus, He is nothing to the natural man. The carnal mind despises Christ's blood with willful blindness. The natural man plainly rejects the Savior who died for sinners. In His very presence he continues his rejection, and bars his heart against Christ. He will not yield or trust Him. Many men go through the forms of religion, but real personal holiness is not on their mind. The unconverted man hates real holiness, he is disinclined to anything that is pure and holy. His nature is set against the law of God, he cannot obey it. He especially despises the Savior, he thinks little of the world to come, or of God's book and people.

Jesus Christ died in the place of sinners. You deserve to be punished eternally for your sins against God's law and love. There is no pardon for sin except through the blood of an atoning Sacrifice. Jesus Christ, God in human flesh, the Christ of God, is the one sinless Sacrifice for human sin forever. Every sinner who trusts to the Blood and love of Christ is a saved soul. God can be just, and yet forgive the guilty. He can forgive without violating His divine justice. He can put away your sins and pardon your iniquities, because a sinless Substitute laid down His life. The Great Sufferer bore our sins in His own body. Whosoever believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting life. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ with all your heart, and you are a saved soul on the spot.

You must surely die, it is inevitable. Come to Christ with helpless dependence on Him. It must simply be His grace, plus your nothingness. You must be absolutely, completely, totally relying on Jesus. This means humility. Self-respect must be put away. Come now and unburden yourself at the Cross. Leave your man-made, man-centered religion. You cannot earn the righteousness of Christ. You cannot merit the grace of God, that is unscriptural and impossible. We are given the grace of God, through the merit of Jesus Christ alone. Grace is the undeserved favor of God. *Ephesians 1:7*

Your past life, your secret sin, your natural corruption, your inherited vices and evil habits have grown stronger and stronger in you, so long practiced and loved. Your past guilt and enormous load of sin must be transferred to Christ. Put your trust entirely upon Christ Crucified. He who trusts in Jesus is eternally secure. Look to His atoning Sacrifice on Calvary's bloody tree. Look only to His Atoning Blood, and your soul shall live right now.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

The Gospel Way

The Gospel Way is to end your doing and fretting by sitting down content with Jesus' doing and dying, satisfied with His Righteousness, and satiated by His Precious Blood. God's way of pardoning sin is that your sins must be laid on Jesus. You can obtain all the merits of His great Atonement of Calvary by a simple act of Faith. What is the Gospel? The preaching of a full, free, present, everlasting pardon to sinners through faith in Jesus' atoning blood. All have sinned, Christ died for sinners, and for all penitents that put all their trust in Christ's finished work, and confess His name, there is a full and free pardon.

In old time, the Jew laid his hand upon the victim which he brought for sacrifice, then the victim was his substitute. Jesus is our Victim, our Substitute, our Lamb of God. By simple faith, lay your guilty hand on the divine Victim. Only Christ's Blood can remove your guilt and cleanse your transgressions. Jesus is not a dead Savior, He is the living God. The Great Redeemer lives and is able to save your soul to the uttermost. He has great Mercy for great sinners. God will only save you as a guilty person who deserves to be damned to Hell.

Good conduct and decent morals can never help save you from the wrath to come. Never trust in human merit, but only on the Lord's mercy. Plead your misery and guilt. Plead Jesus' Blood. Christ died for the ungodly. He justifies the ungodly freely. The unjust He makes just through His Righteousness. Christ Jesus delivers the needy when when he crieth, and the sinner when he has no helper. The tide of self is ebbed out, there is nothing in you to help, no good left in you, and now will Christ come to you. The Holy Spirit kills and makes alive, He wounds and then heals. Cast your soul upon the eternal merits and the finished work of the Great Substitute. Human nature wants to save itself. Give up and let Jesus save you. Trust your sinful soul entirely to the Son of God. A simple belief in the merit of the Lord Jesus wrought in us by the Holy Ghost. We must deny all human merit. The self-righteous man clings to his doings, his feelings, and human merit for dear life.

You must be altogether saved by the merits of Another by the free undeserved favor of God. God will look to the poor in spirit, destitute of all merit, who has no good works, who have nothing to rely upon of their own, this is the man who God will look to. Lie down as a dead sinner at Jesus' pierced feet. Contriteness is when you feel your sins and hate them. There is salvation only in the crucified Redeemer. There is salvation in no other but Jesus. Stand still and receive the salvation of the Lord. Faith is simple trust of confidence in the finished work of Jesus Christ. The Good News of a finished salvation that is freely given to lost sinners, a complete forgiveness for the guilty, acceptance of the ungodly, by simply believing in Jesus' Blood and Righteousness.

Christ's merit is transferred to you freely and saves you from the wrath of God. Christ doesn't seek out worthy ones, He seeks blind beggars, with nothing but poverty, with no claim by way of their own righteousness. Trust only what Christ has already finished. Knock at Heaven's gate as for dear life, the knock of a starving beggar who cannot afford to be unheard. Christ for me, the Cross for me, the Blood for me, none but Jesus. Hold to Jesus for dear life. Cleave to the old infallible truths of Scripture for dear life. Take every word of God's Book and hang on to it for dear life. First, rest in Jesus by a simple faith in His finished work, and then treasure His every word, and strive to keep His commands. Fight against your inward sins for dear life. One thing is needful - faith in Christ, be filled with Him. Submit yourself to Christ's Righteousness. *Romans 10:3-4*

Ye must be born again. Receive Jesus and become submissive to Him. There are consequences for your sins - only Christ can pay those consequences for you. Loathe the very thoughts of self-righteousness. You only merit to be driven from the presence of God forever for your sins. The greater matter of concern for anyone of us is the eternal salvation of our soul. We need to be saved and pardoned, according to the scripture of Truth. There is but one way of salvation, but that way doesn't seem to be in favor among the sinful sons of men. The great rule, that is popular all over the world, no matter whether the people are Muslim or Mormon, Catholic or Hindu, Protestant or Buddhist, is self-salvation - they want to attain eternal life by human merit. The great worldly principle of unregenerate man is that he is, somehow or other, to save himself.

Salvation is only by the grace of God through Jesus Christ, by simple faith in Him. The Gospel Way is by divine Mercy, not human merit; by faith, not by works; by grace, not by the efforts of man. I must be saved by the merits of Jesus, I cannot be saved by my own, for I have none. You have sinned, you are guilty and condemned, you need the free mercy of God through Jesus Christ. What think ye of Christ? Is His atoning bloody death necessary for your sins? Have you any sins? Do you have any sins from which you cannot escape by yourself? Have you ever felt the burden of your sins? Are you willing to be saved by Christ on His free terms? Jesus must receive all the glory of your salvation.

You have nothing to do in order to obtain His free salvation. The Gospel is as free as the air you breathe. You do not pay for breathing, you do not pay for sunlight and rain. There is free pardon available now at the Cross for the worst sinners. Jesus will put away your sins and save your soul. A gratis Gospel, a Gospel of grace, which asks nothing of us, but gives all to us. Trust only what Jesus did for you. Trust what Christ has finished long ago. I am saved to the uttermost, and beyond any risk of being lost. There are not two gospels. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved; if you do not believe on Christ, your soul will be lost forever.

An act of faith in Jesus' precious Blood saves the soul; a simple trusting in Him, and your soul is deliver from all sins. Sinful self is evil, but righteous self is even more devilish. Put this down - Self-righteous, superstitious human nature will believe anything but the Bible, and trust anyone but Jesus Christ. Human nature is completely ignorant of God's Righteousness. Christ is guilty sinners only. Man-made religion is mere idolatry and vain pretense. Money and possessions are nothing but dust to a dying man. Don't take anything with you to Christ but your sinfulness. By faith take all your sins to the Cross, and Jesus will wash them away in His Blood instantly and forever.

Sin, misery, guilt, emptiness, aching void, danger, ruin, rags, inability, depravity, vileness, ignorance, worthlessness, despair, despondency, and bankruptcy is the lost sinner's condition. Human effort and ability can only build a house of cards spiritually. Let your misery and wretchedness lead you to Christ for help. I must have Jesus, I cannot live without Christ. You must stoop to be saved entirely by His merits. Do everything by way of gratitude and not by straining for merit. Human nature desires to go to Heaven partly by what it does, and partly by the merits of Christ. God will only forgive you through the merits of His Son.

The Gospel is an expensive business, for the very heart of Christ bled to pay the Ransom price, but it costs the sinner nothing, nothing of merit, nothing of preparation. The wedding garment is freely provided for you. The self-righteous cannot accept anything gratis from God, and be saved by God's free mercy in Christ. Trust in nothing but what Jesus has done for you. Abjure and renounce all confidence in everything but the finished, atoning Cross-work of Jesus Christ. Be ye reconciled to God, come to Christ through faith in His Blood. Is there one good work of your own that you're relying upon? If so, you are still dead in your sins.

The foundation, structure, and capstone of Salvation are all of Grace. Sinful and sad, covered with filthy rags, conscious of guilt and shame, come to the Fountain filled with Blood drawn from Jesus' veins, and be made white as snow within. Christ Jesus is the only Substitute for human sin. He alone suffered the penalty due to the unjust sinner, to the violated law of God. His atoning blood pleads my case. Every sinner deserves nothing but damnation. Our one foundation is Jesus only. Christ is All, or nothing; He must save you from top to bottom, or you shall never be saved at all. If your trust is partly on Christ's finished work, and partly on the sinking sand of your unworthy doings, the whole house totters and it must soon come down.

Do not dispute with your doubts, go straight to the Cross for assurance. Never dispute with the devil, go directly to the Lamb of God. Jesus, I trust you, I trust you wholly, and you alone forever and ever. Today, Jesus is still willing to receive sinners, and He is still able to save sinners. Christ's Precious Blood is all my confidence. Look to Jesus for all your salvation, and then by His help, live meek, lowly, humble, broken-spirited, ready to do anything so Christ will be glorified. In Jesus' service, deflect and ascribe all praise to Him.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Saving Faith 7

Come directly to Jesus just as you are - filthy, hard-hearted, good-for-nothing, ragged, wretched, lost, ruined, and undone. Don't try to be your own salvation. There is no preparation needed, just lean wholly upon Christ. Drop into His arms, repose upon Him now. Your salvation must begin and end with Jesus. There's nothing worth living for but Christ Himself. Nothing in the world is worth a thought but Jesus Himself. Only God is Eternal; everything else is but a puff of smoke that the wind of death will soon dissipate forever.

You're going to die, you're going to give account to God, you can't make it by the Judgment in your natural,sinful condition, God loved you, God wants to save you and reconcile you back to Himself, He doesn't want you to go to Hell, God made a provision to get you by the White Throne Judgment, His provision is the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you are safe; Believe the words of God, and you are sure; Live for God, and you will be satisfied. God's Riches At Christ's Expense - G-R-A-C-E.

When a man gets saved, it makes sinning against God very difficult. Dear soul, be delivered from all trust in self or man, and be brought to rely wholly and simply on Jesus Christ. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. *I John 5:12* Run into Christ's arms with all your corruption, sin, cares and misery. Religious people stumble all over the Gospel trying to find a hard way to get to Heaven. Trust to Jesus Christ, and let Him save you freely by His grace and blood.

I am fully absolved because of Jesus' blood and merits. He only is my Rock and Salvation. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Human nature is nothing but ignorance, emptiness, and nothingness. Your head will soon be upon your death pillow. You will meet God in reality and hear the thunders of His wrath. Poor helpless sparrow, the hawk of death is after you, you cannot fight him, you will soon run out of strength. You can't escape death, unless you fly to the cleft of the Rock and hide yourself. The wounds of Jesus are the clefts of eternal safety. Jesus died that you might live forever. You are bankrupt, He is rich. *II Corinthians 8:9*

The Holy Spirit's light shows us our emptiness, poverty, and wretchedness, and then Christ's fulness, riches, and grace. Earthly pleasures are only bubbles and emptiness. Now learn this - His fullness, your emptiness; His grace, your sins; His goodness, your badness; His merit, your demerit; His salvation, your damnation; His cleansing, your filthiness; His mercy, your guilt. The marvelous Mediator, wondrous Redeemer, unthinkable Grace, special Savior, unimaginable Mercy, unspeakable Gift, unknown Pity, incredible Pardon, Free Forgiveness, Loving Kindness.

Simple childlike dependence upon Jesus. His fulness and your emptiness are the two most real things in this world. Jesus only shall be enough to save and comfort you. Without Christ, we are all emptiness, utter vanity, and spiritual death. It is a good thing to know and be conscious of your unworthiness. You are nothing, but Christ is all in all. Lie down helpless at Christ's feet, confess you are a sinful nothing, a vile nobody, simply be empty, and the Savior will fill you. Jesus wants your sins, but not your works; He wants your soul, but not your self-righteousness. Jesus wants you, but He wants nothing of yours. Jesus wants your emptiness, but He wants not your self-goodness. Come to Christ as an empty beggar. Your poverty fits you for heavenly alms, your sickness fits you for His free medicine; you being nothing fits you to have Christ, your nothingness is all He wants. Immediately take to begging, this is the way to be rich towards God.

God is a consuming fire; He cannot come into contact with that which is sinful without destroying it. Low down at the Cross, in the dust, we are in ourselves less than nothing, vanity, and folly. Nothing am I Lord, come and save me. God the Father, Christ the Redeemer, The Spirit the Comforter. Receive only what is freely given, and nothing else - this is the Gospel precept. Jesus, I come to You, polluted and defiled, sinful and condemned, miserable and wretched, naked and bankrupt. Lord Jesus, have mercy on me. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Him that cometh to Jesus, He will in no wise cast out. Whosoever believeth on Jesus hath everlasting life. Christ died for the ungodly. The Son of man is come to seek and save that which was lost. The danger of not trusting Jesus Christ is the Lake of Fire.

As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him. Let Him be first in your love. Live for eternal things, not worldly vanity. Work in Christ's vineyard, toil in His harvest field. Lord, teach us to number our days. Time and talents, substance and faculties, all should be given to Jesus. He is worthy of your heart and soul and body. Exalt Christ, lift Him up on high with the Gospel. We must have Jesus. The highest and noblest is a work for Christ. You're going to be humbled, but by the grace of God, get back up and walk humbly with God. Ask the Holy Spirit for His warmth, tenderness, and sympathy. Bible, Prayer, and Witnessing, not magazines, gossip, and television.

Saving Faith 6

Your hope lies altogether in the mercy of God. Rest in Christ's finished work alone, wait patiently on Him. Lay your soul down at mercy's door and knock importunately. No doings of yours are needed to complete the work Jesus has already completed. Your first business is to get to Jesus. Pray always with your eye upon His finished Propitiation. Plead the merits of Immanuel.

Believe in Christ, or you shall be damned. Your chief business is to believe on the Son of God. Accept God's terms of grace, which are that you be nothing, and that Jesus be everything. Behold the Lamb of God - flee to the Cross, plead the Blood. Keep Christ's Atoning Sacrifice to the front, and God will bless His word alway. Will you believe God, or make HIm a liar? Believe on the risen Christ Himself now. He does save from sins, from the love of sin, from the guilt of sin, from the dread and wrath of Hell, from the anger of God, from despair. Jesus saves at once, He saves all sinners who come to Him. Come straight to Jesus now. *Matthew 11:28*

God's way of punishing sin, forgiving sin, and free mercy is only through an atoning blood Sacrifice. Eternal free Pardon through faith in Jesus. The Holy Spirit wounds, heals, kills, and then makes alive. Each and every sinner must be convinced of his sin and led to Christ by the Holy Ghost. Make your own calling and election sure, and then seek to bring others to Christ. Lay hold on eternal life at the feet of Jesus. Go straight away to Jesus, you're a sinner; He is the only Savior for sinners, so trust Him, and find immediate salvation. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and shall never come into condemnation, for he has passed from death unto life. Flee from the wrath to come.

You have no need and no time for anything else but the Gospel. Men try to add their foul, infected self-righteous rags to Christ's garments of pure righteousness. Jesus Christ is God in human flesh who came from Heaven to die in my place. Jesus was the God-man; Immanuel, God with us. Jesus was virgin born, bled, bore the wrath of God, and died for my sins. Human nature kicks at the idea of being pardoned through the merits of Another. Come now to Christ and take His Atonement.

You are a great sinner, but Jesus is a greater Savior. You must be saved by the merits of Another. Trying to win salvation by your own merit is disgusting to God. Cast your soul upon His atoning merits, and give yourself up entirely to the Savior's holy guidance. Jesus Christ is the infinite Savior, and nothing you can do can add to or exceed the merit of His Precious Blood. Jesus' Blood has sin-removing power. All your hope lies in divine mercy, for you have no merit. Your opportunity for finding mercy is passing away. Christ is All, you are nothing. The self-righteous man can never speak of the assurance of eternal life. He is always insecure, for he wavers between Christ and self, hope and fear, he lives a joyless, unsatisfied life. Depend simply upon the merits of Christ and the work of His Spirit. Faith in Christ's finished work brings security, confidence, and peace.

Trust now at once in the finished work of Jesus Christ, who as a Substitute was punished for your guilt. Rely only on Him. Lean the whole burden of your soul's eternal destiny upon His finished work. Acknowledge Him, learn of Him, believe Him, trust Him. Turn your weary eyes away from your sins and emptiness to Christ's righteousness and fulness. There is not an emptiness in your heart which Christ cannot fill. Seek Christ's power, grace, blood, love, and purity. Gather up all your needs and wants and bring them to Christ. Know your emptiness, and then go to Christ for filling. Understand the hollowness of sinful pleasure, and the emptiness of worldly vanity.

The Holy Ghost shows us our nothingness, teaches us our emptiness and reveals our filthiness. Faith is simply receiving Christ into our emptiness. Faith learns to depend on Jesus for all things, and on self for nothing. Learn the deceitfulness and desperate wickedness of all human merit. Human pride is self-idolatry. The Holy Ghost leads the lost soul to feel a great hungering, thirsting, emptiness, uneasiness, perpetual pining, yearning, longing, groaning. Jesus is the perfect and complete Savior for the ungodly; He is able this very moment to pardon all your sins, and to give you His perfect Righteousness.  Faith is the gift of God, and the work and fruit of the Holy Spirit.  Simple faith in the actual, literal, living Mediator.  Ask God for more and more faith. Faith is practical obedience to the will of God found in the Scriptures.

Always be ready to serve God when no one can see you. Your main and immediate business is to humble yourself and pray to Jesus. Prayers with precious blood on them touch the heart of God. Prayer with faith in Christ. Your first business is serving God, whether you are useful or not. God will see to that. Remember Jesus. Our chief business is to glorify God. The one great business in this brief human life is to know and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. Your chief business is to worship and exalt the Lord Jesus Christ - this is the noblest purpose under heaven. Tell out the soul-saving message of the Gospel of the grace of God when you have opportunity. Nothing can ever equal the matter of winning souls in importance.