Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Wonderful Words of Life

The Bible says that our life here on earth is but a vapor (James 4:14). Don't let time slip away from you, and wind up in Eternity in your sins without the Lord Jesus Christ. Sin is deadly serious, Hell is very real, but Christ Jesus died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6).  That's means there's hope for all of us. God won't allow your sins in Heaven, and you can't get rid of your own sins. A special blood is needed to take away human sin. That's why God became a Jewish man, so He could pay for human sin with His own life and blood. Immanuel, God with us, was His name.  God's holy, sinless blood flowed through Jesus' veins.  This is the only blood type that can save a sinner.

Wake up! Pay attention for a few minutes!  If you reject Jesus Christ, your Crucified Creator, that will be the worst mistake you'll ever make. Prayer is spiritual begging (I Samuel 2:8), but human nature despises begging for anything, especially for Christ's free salvation, but the Poor in spirit will seek the unsearchable riches of the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 1:53). For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich (II Corinthians 8:9).

The Lamb of God was slain for lost sinners, He paid for all your sins with His own life (John 1:29). Christ's sinless blood has satisfied the holiness and justice of God. For Jesus' sake alone, Salvation is offered freely to bankrupt sinners like you.  You've spent many years loving sin and avoiding Christ Jesus, looking for some other way to save your soul, but listen, there is no other way but through faith in the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ (God manifest in the flesh) for you to get to Heaven safely.  There is Now pardon Free for all and a perfect Salvation through the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:24). Trust to Jesus' Blood with all your heart, soul and mind - that's all.  If your Salvation involves any of your doings, you are doomed.  Stop trying to save your own soul - you can't do it.  Genuinely fix your Faith in the Atoning Blood of the Lamb of God.  He was bruised, wounded, and crowned with thorns for you that dark day. The weight of all your sin and guilt was laid on the Crucified Creator (Isaiah 53:6).

Christ Jesus was made to be Sin for you, and suffered agony, wrath, and death on your behalf (II Corinthians 5:19-21).  Was ever love like this? The wrath of God was poured out on Jesus, because He bore your sins in His own body on the tree of Calvary long, long ago (I Peter 2:24). If you continue to reject God's call of grace, one day all hope for you will be gone, and doom you'll surely face. Come to the Cross today, and rest your soul under the sin-pardoning blood of your Creator. Much more then, being now justified by Jesus' blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him (Romans 5:9). Come now and cast your filthy soul into the fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel's veins; O plunge your guilty soul into the Precious Blood and lose all your deadly sin stains.

Jesus is the only way out of sin and into Heaven. Self-righteousness is a very deadly thing - flee it at once - trust only to Christ's Righteousness - what He did for you. Renounce and reject your own righteousness and human goodness, trust only in the sinner's Substitute, rely simply on the bleeding Redeemer. Rejecting Christ is a fatal error and a damning sin. All you have to do is take and trust what Christ has already done for you - His perfect Righteousness and atoning Blood. No man has ever trusted Christ, until he loathed himself. Bring Jesus your guilt, failures, and sin, and He will save you from the love of sin and the wrath to come. Christ Himself is all your lost, undone soul needs today.  Look to Him now and live eternally.

Christ, the blessed One, gives to all, wonderful words of Life;
Sinner, list to the loving call, wonderful words of Life;
All so freely given, wooing us to Heaven.

Sweetly echo the Gospel call, wonderful words of Life;
Offer pardon and peace to all, wonderful words of Life;
Jesus, only Savior, sanctify us forever.

Monday, September 21, 2015

Some Divine Assistance

If you ever get into a sure enough bind, and you need some Divine Assistance, remember this short three-word prayer found in Luke 23 - "Lord, remember me." This little prayer worked for the sinful, dying thief on Golgotha when he was between THE ROCK and a hot place, and it will work for me and you as well. A "certain beggar" will always gets God's attention. Whosoever shall call upon the name of Lord shall be saved. When it comes right down to it, you're going to need GOD to remember you and come to your aid in time of need. Just like a crying baby lying helpless in a crib, his cry moves the compassion of his mother's heart, and the loving mother comes to his aid. Ah, Lord God! I need some Heavenly Help for Jesus' sake, have Mercy upon me, according to Thy Lovingkindness! Remember me, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of Thy Mercy. According to Thy mercy remember Thou me for Thy goodness' sake, O Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Timeless Truths

Incarnation - The Almighty Creator God became a sinless Jewish man; Jesus of Nazareth was His name.  Substitution - God Incarnate bore our sins in His own body on the tree, He became Sin for us, and then He laid down His life, and shed His Precious Blood, taking the place and suffering what was due to every sinner, even me, so they could be freely forgiven of all their transgressions.

Every man is a sinner, and all sins must be punished, every one of them. All of your past sins are either on your soul right now, or they are on the the Lamb of God. Man wants self-rule and self-law; he is on a quest for self-power and total autonomy and independence from God.  He wants to play god, and redefine what is truth and falsehood, so he can continue on in his sin-loving ways.  Satan seeks power over your thoughts; he wants to control and define everything when it comes to truth, so he can deceive you and steal, kill and destroy your soul.  The world wants to drag the Lord Jesus Christ down to make Him look like you and me, because Christ's claim of deity, sinless life and sacrificial bloody death haunts their guilty conscience.

Your ultimate problem is that you are separated from God, and no amount of human morality can make you acceptable to God and gain you access to the presence of God. A salvation that involves any of your doing is a damnable falsehood.  Your spirit is dead in sins and dead to God.  As long as you're not born again and remain in your natural state, you are as lost as can be.  Jesus didn't come into the world to make bad people good; He came to make dead people alive.

Only by the divine mercy, grace and forgiveness of the Cross can God make you alive to Him and reconcile you to Himself.  Forgiveness is only for those who don't deserve it.  In every other earthy religion you must earn your right before God, but in Christianity Christ earned our right before God and we trust to His finished work. Are you in need of God's free forgiveness, or has it been one of those perfect weeks for you?  Have you thought, said or done anything that you would be embarrassed about?

You have a desperately wicked, evil seeking, self-centered sinful nature deep within that leads you to love the evil and hate the right.  What matters at the end of the day is the Truth. *John 14:6* The only way to get rid of your sins is simple faith in the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. God with us, Christ for us. God manifest in the flesh bleeding and dying to save sinners. Immanuel, God with us; Christ Jesus the Lamb of God died for us.

Incarnation, Substitution, Redemption, Propitiation, and Salvation are the all-important truths. Christ IS the Gospel, the Gospel is Christ Himself. Where Christ is precious, sin is heinous. If you feel, confess, and own your guilt, then Christ is the Savior you need. As a sinner, look to Jesus for everything you need. Quit your hold on sin, and lay hold on Christ by simple faith in His precious blood.  What are you relying on to keep you out of the Lake of Fire?

Trust Christ personally for everlasting salvation. Quit your dirty ways and wicked thoughts, and turn to Jesus Christ. Quit your false righteousness. Christ is the only Savior, it is His chief business to save the ungodly. The King of Heaven stooped to rescue His enemies from the wrath to come. Incarnate Deity, Bleeding Omnipotence, Immortal Love Crucified for my sins on Calvary's Cross. Christ's bleeding love is all you'll ever need. Cut your sinful connections, quit your evil companions. Renounce your secret sins. Jesus is the sinner's Friend.

Think of what you are, and despair; then think of the who the Savior is, and take heart. The Great Substitution of Christ is the sinner's only hope. Quit your love and life of sin, trust Christ, love Him. The bleeding Savior is the substance of the Gospel. Jesus Christ was God and man mysteriously united in one Person. God Almighty Incarnate died for your sins especially. Quit your sinning: leave it, and loathe it. If you try to be something, you shall be nothing. Just be nothing, and let Jesus Christ be everything - that's it in a nutshell. Give up your trust in Darwin, or you will die in your sins.

Salvation is only given away freely, it can't be earned. The Great Physician has none but "gratis" patients. Ask Christ for grace to overcome your vile habits. Come to the Cross, and receive "Everything" for nothing. If you die with your face toward Darwin, you will surely perish. The Substitution of Christ for sinners is the center of the Gospel. Take Christ for your Substitute. Trust in what Jesus did, and your sins are no more. Whosoever believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting life.

Ponder the pierced One, meditate on the Mediator. Only the Holy Ghost can convince a man of his sinfulness. Think much of the spitting, scourging, bleeding, nailing, and piercing. Jesus made a perfect Atonement with His own blood for human sin. His life of doing good, working miracles of mercy, caring for the fallen, suffering poverty and shame, weariness and hunger, Gethsemane and the bloody sweat, Calvary and the gory death of the cross. He lived a life of service and suffering; He came not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. God Himself covered His infinite glory with a shell of human flesh, and in mercy dwelt here on earth among the sons of men. Divine Justice is no respecter of persons. Only Christ's bloody death paid the full penalty to Divine Justice for you.

The marrow of the Gospel is Jesus suffering for our sins. He His own self bear our sins in His own body on the tree. On the Cross Jesus bore the whole weight of divine justice in your place.Meditate earnestly upon Jesus' sinless life, His full blood Atonement, and His resurrection. The Precious Blood is the only satisfaction to Divine Justice. A sinner is freely justified in the sight of God by faith in the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. Read the Bible, believe the Bible, obey the Bible. Keep Christ always at the front, think much upon Him.

Religion believes that all paths lead to God, but the Bible teaches that Christ Jesus and His Blood is the only path to God.  Religion is all about thinking, feeling and doing; Christianity is all about understanding, trusting and knowing.  The carnal mind is hankering after a religious experience that define life for it.  Words are revealed thoughts.  The words of the Bible are God's thoughts.  You can remove any other founder from a religion and it can continue, but if you remove Christ from Christianity, then it can longer exist. It is only through Christ's bloody death and bodily resurrection through which we are saved from the wrath to come.

Jesus became Sin and a Curse for us, and then He paid for our sins with His own blood.  Ye must be born again.  Men wants identity; Who am I?  How am I to live?  What you are at the deepest level at the very core of your being is very scary.  Only Jesus can take you from darkness into light.  Ye must be born again, and receive eternal life as a free gift from Christ Jesus Himself.

Repentance means - you have offended God, and you are alienated from Him. But God is willing to forgive you freely.  You must acknowledge and admit your wrongdoing, and say, "I am wrong God, there is no excuse for what I have done, I am guilty."  Simply put your trust in God's promise and Christ's Precious Blood; Jesus paid for your sins, He is the Way, I put my trust completely in Him.

Be obedient to the Faith - believe that Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh, trust Him because He suffered in your place, trust to His bloody death that satisfied divine justice completely for you, rely upon the Blood Atonement which Christ has rendered, that's what it means to be saved - Be obedient to the Faith. Frequently think of Christ.

You naturally think of food often throughout the day, because your body lives upon it. Your appetite makes food impossible to forget. Likewise think of Christ continually, He is the Bread of Life that satisfies the hunger deep within your soul. Personally quit your sins, lay hold on Jesus Christ for eternal life. Count on Jesus, not on Darwin. Self-loathing and self-denial are some first signs of spiritual life.

As a cup hangs on a nail, likewise we must hang on Christ Jesus completely for all our Salvation from sin. Cheerfully consent to be nothing, and let Jesus be everything. God with us (I Timothy 3:16); Christ for us (Romans 5:8; Romans 8:32; I Corinthians 5:7; II Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; Titus 2:14; I John 3:16; Galatians 2:20).

Give Me Understanding

Give me understanding, and I shall keep Thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. *Psalm 119:34*

Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn Thy commandments. *Psalm 119:73*

I am Thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know Thy testimonies. *Psalm 119:125*

The righteousness of Thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live. *Psalm 119:144*

Let my cry come near before Thee, O Lord: give me understanding according to Thy word. *Psalm 119:169*

Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart? *Job 38:26*

Christ Jesus, God manifest in the flesh, died for our sins according to the Scriptures, He was buried, and He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.  All men are sinners; no sinner can help save himself. Only Jesus can rescue lost men from the danger and damnation of their sins, and they are only saved by grace through faith in Jesus' atoning blood.  The Lord Jesus Christ saves a sinner the very moment the sinner trusts to Jesus' person and blood alone.

More Light 2

The very first fruit of wisdom is inward purity, character and righteous conduct.  *James 3:17* Religion never changed any man's heart; you will need the Holy Spirit to do that.  Through faith in the blood of Jesus the heart is made anew.  Seek wisdom from above.  The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever.  Christ must be Preeminent in all things.  Whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, virtuous, praiseworthy, and of good report, think on them.  Dare to be pure.  Ask God for victory in your thought life.  True spiritual progress is only made through purity, humility and integrity.  Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you to overflowing.  Your Brain and Hands working in the Present, while your Affection is set on Eternity.  Sincere, honest faith in the Lamb of God. Entering into conflict with your sins will humble any man. What are you going to do with your life?  Learn and apply the Bible practically every day all for the glory of Jesus Christ and the benefit of lost mankind.  Think, Trust, Grow and Act.  Christ liveth in me.  Diligence leads to excellence and success.  My highest praise is to Jesus' name.  Simple Reliance, True Repentance, Real Conversion, Living Faith. A man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.  You need to count on Jesus, not yourself.  Let there be Light. God is the LORD; which hath showed us light.  Let us walk in the light of the LORD.  LORD lighten mine eyes.  Let light and understanding and excellent wisdom be found in thee.  In Thy light shall we see light. O send out Thy Light and Thy Truth.  But he that doeth truth cometh to the Light.  Holy Spirit, please lead me from darkness to light.  The LORD is my light and salvation; whom shall I fear?  Above all, put on charity and humility.  Live to the greater glory of God.  Creativity, Integrity, Priority, Generosity, Accountability, Aspiration, Adversity, Spirituality, Sincerity, Purity.  More Light, less darkness.  Look to the future, learn from the past.  Dare to do right.  The voice of truth is never silent.  Live for Jesus, Publish the Gospel, Overcome evil with good!   Not to be served but to serve.  Actions, not just words.  Without Christ, all is in vain.

More Light 1

Here's some knowledge they won't ever give you in college:  It is an impossibility for darkness to dwell with light - And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. For Thou art my Lamp, O Lord: and the Lord will lighten my darkness. For Thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.

And the Light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. And this is the condemnation, that Light (Christ Jesus) is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. I am the Light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of life. I am come a Light into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me should not abide in darkness.

For God, who commanded the Light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And what communion hath Light with darkness?

That ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous Light: This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all. The entrance of Thy words giveth Light, it giveth understanding unto the simple. Christ shall give thee Light.

P.S. Worthy is the Lamb!

Friday, September 11, 2015

Have You Forgotten? 9/11/2001

9/11/2011 As It Happened
Tuesday, 9/11/2001
* 5:33-5:40 am - Hijackers Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz al-Omari drive their rented 2001 Nissan Altima to the nearby Portland, Maine International Jetport Airport, entering its parking lot at 5:40 a.m. The FBI will later seize their car there.
* 5:45 am - Hijackers Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz al-Omari pass through airport security in Portland, ME (Portland International Airport). These hijackers flew from Portland, ME to Boston, MA on Colgan Air Flight 5930, and then boarded American Airlines Flight 11.
* 6:18 am – President George W. Bush goes for a four-mile morning jog in Sarasota, FL.
* 7:49 am - American Airlines Flight 11 departs Boston Logan Int'l Airport.
* 8:14 am - United Airlines Flight 175 departs Boston Logan Int'l Airport.
* 8:20 am - American Airlines Flight 77 departs Washington Dulles Int'l Airport.
* 8:42 am - United Airlines Flight 93 departs Newark Int'l Airport.
8:46:30 am – American Airlines Flight 11 (Boeing 767) (76 passengers, 11 crew, 5 hijackers) out of Boston (Logan) headed to LAX, crashes into the northern side of WTC North Tower 1 (with antenna) at about 466 mph, tearing a gaping hole in the building and setting it afire. Hijacker Mohammed Atta flew AA Flight 11.

* 8:55 am – White House Chief of Staff, Andy Card, informs President Bush of WTC crash.

9:03:02 am – United Airlines Flight 175 (Boeing 767) (51 passengers, 9 crew, 5 hijackers) from Boston (Logan) headed to LAX, crashes into the WTC South Tower 2 at about 590 mph and explodes. Both WTC buildings are burning. Hijacker Marwan al-Shehhi flew UA Flight 175. Three children died on UA 175 (ages 2, 3, and 4).
* 9:30 am - President Bush addresses the nation from Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, FL.
9:37:46 am – American Airlines Flight 77 (53 passengers, 6 crew, 5 hijackers) out ofWashington, DC (Dulles) headed to LAX crashes into The Pentagon in WDC. Hijacker Hani Hanjour flew AA Flight 77. Five children died on AA 77.
* 9:43 am – The White House and The Capitol are evacuated and closed.
* 9:45 am - U.S. airspace is shut down by the FAA. The groundings of all civilian aircraft will last until September 14.
* 9:57 am – President Bush departs from Florida aboard *Air Force One*.

* 9:57 am - Onboard United Airlines Flight 93, passengers Jeremy Glick, Tom Burnett, Todd Beamer, and Mark Bingham revolt, charge the hijackers, break into the cockpit, and disrupt the hijacking. "Are you ready, OK, let's roll!"
* 09:59:04 am – WTC South Tower 2 collapses 56 minutes after being struck, plummeting into the streets below. A massive cloud of dust and debris forms and slowly drifts away from the building.
* 10:03:11 am – United Airlines Flight 93 (33 passengers, 7 crew, 4 hijackers) out of Newark, NJ headed to San Francisco crashes into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania (near Shanksville), 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Hijacker Ziad Samir Jarrah flew UA Flight 93.
 UA Flight 93's target was the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, DC.
* 10:10 am – The Pentagon (west side) collapses.

* 10:28:25 am - WTC North Tower 1 collapses after 1 hour and 42 minutes from the top down as if it were being peeled apart, releasing another tremendous cloud of debris and smoke.

* 11:45 am - President Bush arrives at Barksdale AFB, LA aboard *Air Force One* and addresses the nation.
* 1:44 pm – The Pentagon sends two US Navy aircraft carriers, USS George Washington (CVN-73) and USS John F. Kennedy (CV-64), to protect the New York coast. 

* 2:50 pm - President Bush arrives at Offutt AFB, Nebraska aboard *Air Force One*.
* 5:20 pm – WTC Building 7 (47 stories) collapses.
* 6:35 pm - President Bush arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, MD aboard *Air Force One*.
* 6:54 pm – President Bush arrives at the White House aboard *Marine One*.
* 8:30 pm – President Bush addresses the nation from The Oval Office, saying, "Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil", and asks for prayers for the families and friends of victims."These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve," he says. The President says, “The U.S. government will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts, and those who harbor them.”
* 2,977 killed (including 19 suicide hijackers)

New York City: 2,349 civilians, 343 FDNY Firefighters, 23 NYPD Police Officers, 37 Port Authority Officers.
The Pentagon: 125 Civilians and Military Personnel
Shanksville, PA: 44 Crew and Passengers
4 Airliners: 253 Crew and Passengers
======================================
* May 2, 2011 - Usama Bin Laden killed by SEAL Team Six in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
* Sep 10, 2011 - UA Flight 93 Memorial Ceremony President George W. Bush Speech:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=488PgNH4IuM
Remain Vigilant America!
Don't take the Radical Islamic Terrorists lightly - they really want to kill us.  ISIL, al-Qaeda, al-Nusrah, Khorasan, and others still want to destroy you, your family, and our Free country.

Monday, September 7, 2015

Genuine Love

Genuine Love consists of the following things:
* Sacrifice - Jesus loved me, and gave Himself for me.
* Security, Safety - Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my Righteousness.
* Loyal Devotion/Commitment - I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
* Acceptance - To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved.
* Selflessness - Jesus went about doing good.  He offered up Himself as a sinless Atoning Sacrifice for human sin. And He went a *little farther*, and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt.  Think about, care about, and help out others.
* Respect - Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Be concerned how your words and actions may hurt others.
* Companionship, Communication - The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

Love God, love your neighbor, and love your enemies as Christ loved you.  That's all.

The Bleeding Love of Calvary

The “Bleeding Love of Calvary” is something that you’ll rarely hear about in the religious world today. The world is running here and there and yonder for something new, but the old, old story of God’s Bleeding Love is still what sinners need to hear and trust today. This most precious secret is constantly being hidden and buried by the world’s false religions and philosophies.  Jesus' love will last forever until the end of time and out into Eternity.  Christ Jesus, God manifest in the flesh, bled and died for the ungodly - that's all there is to it.

Every sinner breathing needs to hear, believe, and trust to the “Bleeding Love of Calvary." Everyone longs to be loved by someone. God so loved your soul that He gave His only begotten Son to suffer in your place the wrath that was due to your sins. Christ Jesus is the guilty sinner’s only Friend. The spotless Lamb of God is the only Help for the helpless sinner. *I Peter 2:24* Always be publishing glad tidings concerning what Jesus has done for sinners.  Christ receiveth sinful men, even me with all my sins.  No one needs Jesus' love and forgiveness more than I do.  He's in my heart, He's always on my mind.  Come to the Cross, He will give you rest; trust to Him, for His words are plain; He will take the sinfulest.  Now the Law condemns me not, pure before Divine Justice I stand, for He who cleansed me from every spot has satisfied its last demand.  Christ Jesus receiveth only sinful men.

The Gospel is just this - Every man is a sinner, and lost in his sin, but God became a sinless Jewish man in order to save every lost man.  All His life long He lived for the glory of God and the good of men. He never lived for Himself.  Out of infinite love to His ungodly enemies, the Son of God took upon Himself human flesh, that He might suffer in your place. His sinless life, the bloody sweat of Gethsemane, and the Precious Blood of Calvary happened to rescue your sinful soul.  He laid down His life your sins, not your goodness.  He gave His blood and His life, His own self He gave. You see, your sins have to be paid for by someone. Someone has to suffer for every sin you've ever commited, or ever will commit. Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, suffered what you ought to have suffered. Jesus suffered a bloody death on Calvary's Cross for your ungodly soul. *I Peter 1:19*

God is Holy, and every man’s sins must be punished. God in His infinite wisdom devised salvation’s plan: God became a poor man, so He could suffer for your sins, and freely forgive your sins for Jesus’ sake. JEHOVAH, the Almighty God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, became a human being, God humbled Himself for us mean, wretched, miserable sinners. This Man was Jesus of Nazareth, the Savior of the whole world and the Lord of love; He laid His heavenly glory by, and in mercy He descended to Earth and dwelt in human flesh.  Jesus came to pay the dreadful debt of human sin, and become the Sinless Substitute for lost sinners. The best way is to go straightaway to the Cross, and say, "I rest on Jesus' Blood only." The Lord Jesus Christ is the God of Bleeding Love.

Christ Jesus came into the world 2,000 years ago to live, bleed, die, and be raised from the dead for unworthy sinners –that means you. Christ died for the ungodly. Jesus loved you and gave Himself for your sins. He came all the way from Heaven to win your soul through His free grace and dying love. Jesus died for sinners’ gain. Jesus saves self-ruined sinners.  It was at the Cross where Jesus proved His love for sinners like you and me.  He bore our sins and penalty and then He died in shame all alone at Calvary.  The sin-atoning Blood flowed from the hands, feet, and side of Jesus. Mercy and grace streamed from the bleeding Incarnate God. *I Timothy 3:16*

God was made flesh and dwelt among us. God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. He that believeth on Jesus is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His sin-forgiving Blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the Atonement. For God the Father hath made Jesus to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the Righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. *II Corinthians 5:21*

And why, dear Savior, tell me why
Thou thus would'st suffer, bleed, and die?
What mighty motive could Thee move?
The motive is plain - 'twas all for Bleeding Love!

With your heart’s eyes, look with me for a few moments to Calvary’s Cross – Stand with me beneath the Cross of Christ and gaze upon Love Incarnate. The Son of God went up Calvary and was nailed for your sins. With thorns His temples were torn and gashed, and streams of blood rolled down His face. They plucked out His beard and spit in His face. His back was lashed with the scourge. Up Calvary’s mountain He climbed with your sin burden on His shoulders. The enormous load of your guilt was laid on the Savior's shoulders.

There on the Cross Jesus groaned, panted, wept, and bled. His throat was dry with parching thirst, and they only gave Him vinegar and gall to drink. The Incarnate God bled for you. Free Grace, Mercy Divine. Jesus loved me so. Think much of the tears of Gethsemane, the gore of Gabbatha, the groans of Golgotha, and the gloom of His Grave that were all for your soul. The Bleeding Love of Calvary is my only hope of Heaven. *I John 4:10*

Such Grace! He was insulted by the Jewish priests, mocked by the Roman soldiers, and scorned by the howling mob. Amazing Love! The mighty Savior God is hanging there on the accursed tree. He was stripped and nailed naked. He suffered the thorns, nails, and piercing spear for your secret sins. Come and see His amazing pity, grace unknown, and love beyond degree. God’s Grace and vengeance met at the Cross. Marvelous Mercy through the Mediator! Look to the wounds of Christ and find your sins' free pardon there. Behold the Lamb of God – behold the amazing sight of God's Son dying in your place! *John 1:27*

Jesus cried out, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do!” The divine blood of God was being spilt for sinners. His closest friends forsook Him, and now God the Father forsakes Him too, because He bore your sins in His own body. He is suffering the wrath of God for you. God only saves sinners through His Son's Precious Blood. Christ suffered the sword of God’s justice for your lies, lusts, and greed. Then, the sky darkened, His suffering puts out the sun, and the earth starts to tremble. And after six long hours of unspeakable torment, Jesus cries, “It is finished!” The Law of God is satisfied, and your sin debt is fully paid. Christ died for the ungodly. *I Timothy 1:15*

Then, in the dark tomb, they laid and sealed Him. His disciples wept and worried for three days, but at the tomb a miracle was happening. The angel of the Lord descended, the stone was rolled away, and the Lord Jesus won the glorious victory. Then came Sunday!  Up from the grave He arose – JESUS is alive forever more! God raised Him from the dead. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.

The case of every unsaved man is a very terrible one. The deadly stains of sin are covering your soul now. They will condemn you at the Judgment – you need to be washed clean, or else you will perish. Come, wash in Christ’s soul-saving Blood, and you will be made clean immediately. Believe on JEHOVAH JESUS the Crucified Creator. Faith is His atoning Blood alone can redeem your soul from guilt. Put your fears to rest – come and trust to the Blood of Jesus today, and you’re heaven bound. Lean and rely wholly on HIM. *John 3:16*

Don’t try to save yourself – your sins are too many; you can never right all your wrongs. Your good works are worthless - only God’s Son can save your soul. God is able, willing, and waiting to save you. The man that neglects Jesus Christ wrongs his own soul and eventually damns himself. The lost sinner is in a suicidal slumber until the Holy Ghost causes him to feel his sin, guilt, danger, and helplessness. Faith is dependence upon the trueness of another, even Jesus. The faith that saves your soul is confidence in a Sinless Person who loved you and died for you. The faith that saves is not just a head-knowledge of Christ, or a consenting to the truth, but it is the laying hold of Christ Himself personally – that is, receiving the living Christ into your dead soul.

Do not turn Jesus away any longer. You can be saved this moment if you only WILL. Come and stand beneath the Cross, and let the Blood of the living God fall gently on your guilty soul. Come to Jesus for everything, He is the way, the whole way, the free way. There's nothing for you to pay, nothing to do, nothing to be, nothing to bring, no human merit needed, no preparations. God's Salvation is all of Grace. The most guilty heavy laden sinner is most welcome to the Cross any time. If you want to escape the guilt, curse, fear, power, and tyranny of your sins, Christ's atoning Blood is the only way. Flee to Him now. *Romans 5:9*

All that has to be done by you is to quit your own doing, and let JESUS do everything for you; stop looking to yourself, or looking to others, and simply come and hide yourself under Christ’s Blood and Righteousness. It is true wisdom to give up every other confidence but Jesus Christ's shed Blood. This present moment, rest all the weight of your soul on Jesus. The person, work, and name of Jesus is your only way out of this life safely. Trust your guilty soul with Him. Only His Blood will bring peace to your conscience and end the sinful strife within your heart. Don’t let this hour pass without receiving Christ Himself into your heart. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved; Whosoever believeth in Jesus' Blood hath everlasting life. Come on now, Yield to Christ's gentle bleeding love. Come to Jesus now by Faith, receive Him, trust to His Precious Blood and Mercy Divine!  *Soli Autem Crucis - The Cross Alone*

Sunday, September 6, 2015

The Power Source

Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.  But as many as received the Lord Jesus Christ, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name. For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.  For the preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. And they were astonished at Jesus' doctrine: for His word was with power.

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. According as God's divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue.

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.  The LORD hath made the earth by His power, He hath established the world by His wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by His discretion.  I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto Me. Ah Lord God! behold, Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee.  He hath made the earth by His power, he hath established the world by His wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by His understanding.

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.  Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.  But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.  To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever.  For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.  By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left.  Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  For though Jesus was crucified through weakness, yet He liveth by the power of God.

For we also are weak in Christ, but we shall live with Him by the power of God toward you.  And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.  The gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of His power.  Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.  Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness.

Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever.  We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned.  For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.  Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of His goodness, and the work of faith with power.  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.  Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to Whom be honour and power everlasting.

Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.  God is my strength and power: and He maketh my way perfect. Thine, O Lord is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.  Both riches and honour come of thee, and Thou reignest over all; and in Thine hand is power and might; and in Thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. God hath power to help, and to cast down.

Touching the Almighty, we cannot find Him out: He is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: He will not afflict.  Be thou exalted, Lord, in Thine own strength: so will we sing and praise Thy power.  The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.  Great is our Lord, and of great power: His understanding is infinite.  He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength.  The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power.  For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Beware of the Religionist!

You see, the deluded religionist thinks he has special favor with God because of his own doings, that is, his own cockeyed convictions that he dreamed up to make himself think he's right with God.  The only reason any sinner has favor with God Almighty is because of Jesus' Blood, for Jesus' sake, that's all.  God gives respect to Jesus Christ, and no other man.  *Acts 10:34; Matthew 17:5; Romans 2:11; Ephesians 6:9; Matthew 3:17; I Peter 1:17; Luke 3:22*  I don't believe Paul the apostle lived like that.  The religionist is a proud sinner, he boasts of his own righteousness; and you will never get self-glorying out of him.  Watch the religionist close - he desires self-glory, not Christ's glory. But remember, the God of the Bible is no respecter of persons.  The religionist's do's and don'ts have gone to his head and made him looney.  Now understand - Beware of the man that thinks he has some sort of special favor with God, because of the version of the Bible he totes around, his dress code, or his denomination! *Luke 20:46*

The old religionist, have you ever met him?  He stresses on the non-essentials, because he is lost. He wants glory from man, he lives for man's praise and applause.  He makes much of his own religious dos and don'ts. He is always strutting and trying to do something in order to make himself feel accepted with God, or to earn God's loving favor by doing and suffering in some way he has concocted.  When he enters, he wants all eyes on him - look at me, look at me!  He has a nitpicking, critical, judgmental spirit.  He thinks his convictions make him special - well guess what, you're not special; you're just a proud ego-maniac. *Mark 12:38*  The conviction-ite exploits and extorts simple-minded folks through fear, guilt and superstitious nonsense.

The clever religionist keeps his sheeple corralled up by using fear, shame, guilt, and superstitious tactics on them.  The vainglorious religionist's greatest fear is that one of his sheeple will finally see through his nonsense and figure him out, and leave his little clique for good.  He tells his sheeple to keep those without their same convictions at arm's length.  He doesn't want one of those normal outsiders to rub off on his robots. You see, without any sheeple, the religionist is out of business and it will affect his bottom line ($$$).

The hardest thing for any person to do is to live a quiet (meek), sincere (lowly), practical life without becoming religiously conceited, strutting around, and getting the big head. If you're not careful, self-righteous religion will slowly turn you into a cold, technical, strict, critical soul. Religion is that stuff you do that makes you think you're better than other folks. When human nature gets a little bit of religion, pride and haughtiness inevitably lurk into the picture and puffs them up bigger than a bullfrog. *Proverbs 16:18*

The religionist thinks he is right with his *god*, and he will flat out tell you so. *Galatians 6:3* The religionist attempts to create spirituality in someone with his made-up rules and regulations, but that is an impossibility.  Only the Holy Spirit Himself can make someone spiritual and Christ-like.  It is a dangerous and natural tendency of outwardly religious people to dream that they are advantaged over others simply because they attend a certain church building or keep some religious ordinance or sacrament.

The poor religionist is caught up and blinded in his own vain traditions and religious pride. You can't earn God's grace, that's why God's grace is only given freely to sinners. We are unable to earn anything from God, and we can never repay the Lord Jesus Christ for bleeding and dying for our sins. In the religionist's little world of church-ianity, he thinks he's something special, and completely forgets that God is watching and listening to him all the time.  The religionist is hung up on a religious front and show.  Every legend in their own mind must come to an end.  Religion will damn you quicker than dope or liquor or pornography.  The religionist's message never upsets anyone, for that might affect his pocketbook or attendance.  The religionist is always dwelling upon the "must nots" of his religion, as if godliness was a list of negatives.

The religionist often gets fanatical and inevitably goes off on a tangent on some religious non-essential. Religionists take God's goodness for granted. The religious expert loves empty church-ianity.  Every conviction-ite is a nitpicker which is overly concerned about insignificant religious details such as dress, diet, and ceremony with the intention of finding fault in others in order to justify and magnify themselves.  Pharisaic pride puffs up and blinds the religionist.  All religionists are control freaks; they want to play god, and they will try to control you mentally by fear and guilt.  The religionist thinks you owe him a living, because he puts on a show.

The religionist is very clannish, that is, he tends to exclude from his group and slander all those that do not adhere to his strange doctrines and his list of do's and don'ts. Religionists are egotistical strutters who stress on the non-essentials and lead others away from Jesus and off into hell. *Matthew 15:14* The high-browed religious con-man is so excellent in his own eyes, and so everything he ought to be, that he reeks of pride. The only one that doesn't smell the foul odor of religious pride all over him is himself.

In his own false judgment he is within a half inch of being perfect, but he is about a quarter inch from hell. He has a fond conceit of himself, fancying his own religiousness and laundry list of do's and don'ts. In his own mind, he is IT, he admires himself and hopes that others might attain to his level of religious consecration some day. The religious high brow thinks he is right with God in his own eyes. Beware of the arrogant religionist that is more infatuated with his convictions than he is with converts. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes; every man did that which was right in his own eyes; every way of a man is right in his own eyes; but the LORD pondereth the hearts.

The religionist's motives are self-serving; they are fame and money. He scams simple-minded people. He compares himself with others; he sets one duty or day or place above another. He feels himself to be wonderfully good, and thinks himself to be right with his god. He uses the Bible as a resource, but not as the Source. He mistakes duty for spirituality and creates extra man-made commandments which are not from the Bible in order to make himself seem more 'spiritual' than others. Oh yeah, and anyone outside of his religious clique  can never be not 'right with God'.

Don't be a critical, technical, cold, hair-splitting conviction-ite. Being right with God in the religionist's eyes is when you follow all of his self-made do's and don'ts. He will never give Jesus Christ all the glory and humble himself as a nothing. Keeping his list either leads people around him to pride or despair. Christianity is not keeping a list; Christianity is coming to Christ, and letting Christ help you purify your life out of simple gratitude to the goodness and mercy of God towards you. The religious con-man serves God through a sense of pride - Look at me, if you want to see someone that's right with God, just watch how I do it. He does plenty of religous stuff but none of it is spiritual. He mistakes his imaginary goodness and carnal zeal for spirituality. *Romans 10:2*

The religionist loves to strut, and he pumps himself up with his religious self-righteous attainments. He trusts in himself that he is righteous and treats others with contempt. A convictionite is a religious kook who thinks the more dos and donts he has, the more spiritual he is. He thinks his convictions bring him more favor with God, and he looks down on those that don't keep his kooky list.

The religionist uses superstitious fear and guilt to keep people in bondage that are stupid enough to follow him. Religion leads a man to judge everyone else, when he is guilty of doing the same thing or something worse that the sin he is judging others over. Religion makes you think you are better than others. If you only preached what you practiced, your sermons would be real short. Deceived religious people are not upset over their sins against God.

The religionist harps on social issues, not the person and blood of Jesus Christ. The religionist tries to appear like he has a burden for missions and lost souls overseas, but he has never sincerely tried to reach his next door neighbors for Jesus Christ. Religionists are strange birds. Just like the Pharisees, "they say, and do not." *Matthew 23:2-3* The religionist focuses more on tithing and giving money to missions, than walking humbly with God, adoration of Jesus Christ, and inward purity.

Religious bosses are highly interested in filthy lucre that keeps their religious machinery operating. The religionist loves entertainment, and he tries to religiously entertain people to keep them coming to his meetings. Religionists are peculiar self-righteous folks.  Religion gives men a false hope that damns them. Religion cannot change the heart; it tries to hide wrongdoing and forgets that God see everything.

We have no merit at all to please God with. The religionist wants to be a Christian, but he ends up only being super-religious. He is on the treadmill of religion, going nowhere really fast. Stay at it, work at it, try and live it - that is the religionist's motto. The religious con-artist is more interested in what he can get out of people, than what he can put in them. The religionist isn't concerned about filling the hearts of people with God's word, no he wants to fill up his pockets or ego. Human nature loves to put on a religious show; it loves religious programs, buildings, drama, settings, performance, entertainment, personalities, paraphernalia, and propaganda. Superficial external religion is a hard chain to break.

Hireling religious politicians are after your membership and pocket book. Religious emotionalism is the dangerous counterfeit of holy zeal and worship. You can be sound in your doctrine, religious in your conduct, and moral in your daily life, and still wind up in Hell. Self-righteousness is a hellish thing. The most damning, blinding, and dangerous pride there is is religious pride. You can never religionate yourself into favor with God. Make sure your guilty soul is regenerated, not just religion-ated.

The religionist has much external formalism, but no internal dealings with the living God, Jesus Christ. Professional religious bosses will always try to put something between you and Jesus Christ. The religionist is hopelessly arrogant, self-righteous, and orthodox. He say he believes the Bible, but he never does what the Bible says - walk humbly with God, do justly, and love mercy. Human nature loves the religion of show, but it neglects the religion of the heart, of inward and personal private purity (that is, careful conscientious daily discipleship). Pride (me first) and presumption (I can do it) fill the religionist. Religion says,"Pay up!" But the Cross says, "Everything is paid in full by Jesus' blood, come now and take everything you need from Him freely!"

The religion con-man loves the outward parade of religion; he makes a living swindling people out of their money and then helps damns their souls. He cleverly manipulates simple souls using his religion to cause fear, guilt and superstition. But you don't need outward religiousness; you need inward grace. The Love, Blood, and Grace of God is what your poor soul needs. Religious services will ruin you if you put them in the place of personal dealings with the Mediator. The conviction-ite spends more time looking at his convictions than he does looking at Christ's vicarious Sacrifice on the Cross. The religious externalist is starched and ironed, but he's never been washed. The religionist wants attention, and he wants to be Somebody. The conviction-ite is a mechanical Pharisee. The religionist thinks his convictions make him right with God and impressive to God. The conviction-ite has much religious activity, but it is has no true spiritual eternal value.

The inner thought of the true religionist is this,"God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I can't let people with fewer convictions than me draw me away from You." The griping hunger of human nature feeds on the restraints, duties, and formalities of religion in order to try and satisfy the guilty conscience. The religionist is an artificial charlatan who is busy protecting his turf and polishing his title. Be very sure you are regenerated, not just religion-ated. Religious conceit is a dangerous thing. The conviction-ite is a professional religious sham. The religionist worships his own foolish self-image; this is the highest form of idolatry. The religious man joys in false profession, hypocritical formality, and a vain show. The conviction-ite is hopelessly trapped in his religious stupidity; he is hopelessly preoccupied with religiousness. The religionist loves to put on a show with his fake Christianity.

Being religious will never take away your sinfulness inside. Human religiousness is of no value, Christ-less religion is worthless. One small breath from the Spirit of God is all it takes to wither all your human pride and conceit. The Cross dashes in shivers all man-made religiousness. The religionist makes himself comfortable in his own useless do's and don'ts. The conviction-ite thinks much of his accomplishments, but he is as dead as a door-nail in God's sight. The religionist preaches morality, not the Cross. Your moral deeds, acts of charity, religious performances, and empty ceremonies are all in vain. The religionist believes certain days and places are more sacred than others. He strives to maintain orthodox religion, but he still has an unclean private life. The conviction-ite loves to put on a religious show.

The religious flimflammer strives to maintain orthodox religion but he has an unclean private life. The conviction-ite pretends to adore God, he mocks the LORD by a feigned heartless worship, he loves Sunday-religion, but not Monday religion, his service is a pretense with no heart in it. The religionist doesn't actually know he is a sinner indeed, but because of his self-made morality and the rigid strictness of his life, he has a high conceit of his own excellence in the sight of God. A lofty view of your own excellence will tempt you to look down upon your neighbor who is not as 'religious' as you.

The religionist seeks to win friends and influence people with his carnal charisma. Religious con-artists are known as unaccountable personalities. Whatever he says is truth. Whatever he speaks, he expects you to believe it, because he said it. His followers should not question him. He may say, I prayed and God told me what you should do in a particular situation in your life. He sets himself up as the authority. He alone is the source of spiritual insight. He takes advantage of people's insecurity, loneliness, poor health, simple ignorance or religious superstition. The religionist is off limits, he is out of your jurisdiction, you can't touch him, you just need to keep to your self. The religionist is more interested in what he can get out of people, not what he can put in the people. He want to fill his pockets and ego, not the people's souls with Christ. He can never be wrong. If you question him, you are being rebellious. But remember, no one is ultimately unaccountable.

The religionist thinks he is the only one who speaks for God. He has empty speech, worthless words with no real substance, no solid content, fluent but Biblically shallow. They promise things they cannot produce. They have smooth words without spiritual life. They so beautifully and smoothly say nothing. You can't pin them down, they wiggle around the real issues of Scripture. The truths about sin, rebellion, judgment, salvation, the Cross, hell, and heaven are avoided. Jesus is only a buddy, a good model, a political messiah. They may tack on the plan of salvation at the end of their social issue message in order to make it sound Biblical. They say you need to saved from low self-esteem, financial problems, an unfulfilling job, racial oppression, or bodily sickness. Rule over your credit card, or your credit card will rule over you. You can quit smoking, quit drinking, and improve your marriage, and still go to Hell. They say the Gospel is not sufficient, Grace is not satisfying, Jesus' atoning blood is not enough, you have to do something yourself to earn Heaven.

The false teacher focuses on everything but Christ Crucified. They will teach you how to get gold, parenting skills, better health, you should have no problems now, you should be prospering. Look to the crucified atoning Lamb of God for sinners slain who is risen from the dead and is soon coming to rule and reign. The root goal of their religious activity is a buck, power, influence, and prestige. Wealth, health, and prosperity is their trinity. This is the promoting of self for the sake of gain. They fill up their wallets, not the believers. They try to take shortcuts, ignore the map of Scripture, and wind up lost forever. Don't be conned, be careful. Don't be scammed, be vigilant. Yield your desires to God, and submit to His will.

The religionist never speaks of Holy Ghost conviction which comes from reading the Bible and listening to the preaching of the truths of the Gospel, the unconditional love of God in Christ, or assurance and certainty of the free forgiveness of sins through simple faith in Jesus' atoning blood. He is all quiet about the Crucified Creator who was rejected and denied, the God who stooped to become a Jewish man to redeem sinful man by shedding His own innocent blood to satisfy His divine justice, so that sinners could be saved by simply trusting in His atoning Blood.

Much religiousness and superstition is found in the heathen of America and third world countries. Many conviction-ites have been brought up religiously, they respect ministers, church music and ordinances. He reverences Sunday, the Bible, the church, and its ministries. He has a superstitious trust in religious things, his light becomes darkness. He regards public worship as a substitute for inward grace. He looks to membership with a particular denomination as a certificate for spirituality. He may even think that baptism helps put a sinner into the body of Christ. Baptism only makes you wetter, but not any better on the inside. The conviction-ite forgets to look wholly and alone to the Lord Jesus Christ for everything his soul needs. Outward forms of worship will not help your guilty soul at all. It is possible to be intensely active and very diligent in religious duties, and yet know nothing of Christ Himself and the workings of the Holy Spirit. The externalist is stuck on himself and his religious attainments. It is a horrible snare for people to trust to any man whatsoever.

The religionist tries to do right and stay right with God, but then he falls and becomes guilty - that is idolatry, because he is the source of his own joy, his joy comes from himself and continual self-working, but the true Christian's joy comes from the finished work of Jesus Christ. On your very best day, you are wretched and rotten. Stop looking to yourself and trying to please God with your own efforts, because you can't do it, but Jesus did. Come and Rest in Christ's Precious Blood now (Matthew 11:28). The religionist wants to be something big; he doesn't want to take the backseat. Trust in Christ's perfect works, not your own self-perfection. The religionist is a professional church operator, an ambitious egotist, a self-exalting narcissist. Stay humble before God: "Lead us not into temptation" is an admission of sinful weakness.

Trust in Christ's perfect works, not your own self-perfection. The moral religionist is a professional church operator, an ambitious egotist, he loves the preeminence and spotlight, he is a self-exalting narcissist. They have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof. A technical religionist doesn't walk with God in secret and he is concerned about private godliness. He is eager to be seen of men, and is covetous for publicity. Superficial surface work will never make you a new creature in Christ, or cause you to pass from death to life. If you know not the Spirit of God in truth, you are still carnal and sensual, dead in sin, and the flesh will profit you nothing. Don't be white-washed by human religion, part with self, and be washed whited in the Blood of the Lamb. The religionist becomes enamored of new convictions, he falls in love with his own scriptural interpretations, he makes himself look good by appealing to strict elitist Christians, and he comes to love self, stuff, flattery, popularity, and money. The religionist preys upon the superstition and ignorance of human nature.  The religionist's doctrine is just as straight as a gun barrel, but it is just as empty and cold. The Bible in your head produces proud self-righteousness, but the Bible in your heart produces humble purity.

Wandering eyes, a distracted heart, a discontented soul, and uncontrolled affections lead the conviction-ite down a dark path of religious nonsense. The vain religionist is an empty show - he wears the cloak of religion to appear more respectable, or to help out his wallet. He thinks the Gospel is a good message for thieves and harlots, but not for him for he has many good works to boast of. Remember, you have no good works except in your dreams. High-browed religionists trust in themselves that they are righteous and despise others. The vain religionist loves admiration from his followers. If you try to make a savior out of your convictions, you will be lost as surely as if you made a savior out of ceremonies. The conviction-ite uses his religious dogma as a means to an end. Religiosity is only behavior modification, a facade of hypocrisy, a long list of religious chores that make you worse that you were before. Religion is like putting perfume on dung (Philippians 3:8), it just doesn't work. Salvation is not based on your merits, but on Jesus' obedience and blood alone.

The religionist is a stickler for the form, but he neglects the inner life that is needed to walk humbly with God. The conviction-ite has a formal religiousness with a hypocritical heartless nominal profession. His religion is worldly, his prayer mechanical, in public he is one thing, and in private another. He prefers emotion to regeneration, he is a cloud without rain, a well without water. They throw out the kernel, and cleave to the husk.

The religionist has three fatal flaws. He believes that outward appearance is all that matters. He thinks if he appears righteous, that he is righteous (Matthew 23:25-28). The Pharisee still does his dishes the same way in the 21st century, as he did in the 1st century. He washes the outside sparkling clean, but he leaves the inside filthy and reeking. The religionist is filled with hypocrisy and iniquity. There is no excuse, and there is no escape. The problem with the conviction-ite is on the inside, not on the outside. He is a pretender, a great big actor, a respectable religionist. He thinks that if you don't have any problems, you are walking with God. The conviction-ite seeks to put a yoke of bondage of Do-Do-Do on your life, so that you will have to come to him for help, and he thinks he is the one that determines whether you areright with God or not.

The religionist is self-deluded and self-deceived, and he makes merchandise of human beings. He loves it when religious people look to him for spiritual guidance and direction. He thinks that if you don't have any problems, you are walking with God. The religionist is a vainglorious professor with no real holiness of heart. He is in bondage attending church every week and trapped and lonely in his vain religion. The religionist is interested only in preserving religious exercises in an irreligious world. Outward religiousness is unimportant, get your sins forgivenfirst, believe now on the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you are saved.

The fashionable religionist has a form of godliness and nothing else. They think they are on"the inside" just because of their family, or their denomination, or their doctrines and convictions. But your religious morality never changes you on the inside. Only the Holy Ghost can change you inwardly, and He must get all the glory, so face it, you have absolutely nothing to boast of. Daily, you must ask the Holy Spirit to make you a Christian within, and not become super-religious. With the religionist it is all about competing, comparing, conceitedness, and convictions. The conviction-ite wants to manipulate you so you will follow him, and not the Lord Jesus Christ.

Religion promotes Self, runs its mouth about Self, honors Self, and brags on Self. Religionists love religious drama and man's admiration. The religionist rests on outward forms. The conviction-ite crosses his I's, dots his T's, and spells the word wrong. He dresses right and talks right, but he's crooked as a dog's hind leg within. He has a form of godliness, but he doesn't have Christ - the power of God. Men think they can please God with their religiousness, outward performances, and by religious strictness and correctness - human nature sets up its own faulty disobedience against Christ's sinless obedience.

The religious moralist always majors on external issues, and not the internal issues. The externals have little or nothing to do with your inward character. The religionist imitates spirituality, he love to strut in his ecclesiastical correctness, and this will eventually damn him. Human religion always wants to try to shine you up on the outside without any real heart change inwardly. The religionist tries his dead-level best to do right on the outside, but he has never been changed on the inside. The religionist tries to control people and micromanage everything you think and do; he wants you to be accountable to him at his church, but not with God in private. The religionist wants you to need him. But what you really need is to be conscious of and sensitive to God's eye (what He sees), God's ear (what He hears), and God's heart (what He feels). This is what the Bible calls the fear of the Lord.

The religionist leads you to always think about him and his do's and don'ts and never about God's continual presence. The conviction-ite will only show you his approval when you live up to the standards he has selfishly created for you to follow. The externalist will have nothing to do with you, if you do not attend his church or obey his religious regulations. The moralist enforces too many of his carnal preferences on others, he thinks his preferential rules are the same as Biblical commands and standards. It's all about what the religionist prefers, not what pleases God. The pretender is all about unnecessary separatism, they don't want you to be involved with anything that involves those worldly "heathen" who might defile you.

The religionist becomes a spiritual elitist and begins to not even associate with some of the people at his own church, because of a strange fear that he might be affected by someone without his particular convictions. The externalist is always fault-finding and nitpicking, being critical of everything, producing a constant attitude of criticism and condescension. He only wants to be around people like him, and that meet his standards, he continually shows favoritism to his little conviction-ite clique. The Pharisee takes himself way too seriously and is often glum. He builds up himself and his denomination, not the Savior and His Cross. The religionist focuses on external morality, not inward regeneration and sanctification.

The external without the inward is good for nothing. Years of reputable external religion is not worth a minute of grace: "Ye must be born again;" the Holy Spirit must come into your soul or else you are still dead in your sins. Outward morality and religion cannot reach the sinful soul's internal leprosy. The religionist is externally washed but not internally quickened. Form, ceremony, position, image, and convictions is the religionist's blindness - they can only worship God in a wooden box, they call the "house of God." They begin to feel smog and arrogant, they think they are God's favorite and they become proud of knowing God's will and what's important to God. The clean-living, morally upright, sweet-smelling, conviction-abiding, legalistic, conceited religionist looks down his nose at those outside his religious circle. All other churches are compromising apostates and not "right with God". The conviction-ite is a silly, blind slave to his religious games and rules.

The religionist thinks that God has put them here on earth to be everyone's guide and corrector - they are super-religious authorities - they think they have been given to this earth to set the record straight, and they begin to fill up with arrogance and become spiritual balloons. But they are still needful of this one essential - an inward spiritual life and fellowship with God. They still lust in their mind and boast in their religion. They trust in themselves and view others in contempt, they think they are a cut above everyone else. For the religionist, it's all about maintaining a religious image no matter what. Their mind is all wrapped around their self-importance - they become religious narcissists. They use naive people and see others as inferior. But their mind is just as vile, and their inward nature is no purer than any other human being. They are all offensive in God's sight. The religionist uses fear and intimidation to maintain loyalty and devotion to "his group". Any question of the religionist's authority is treated as rebellion, and you are not willing to take his correction. Superficial, mechanical, second-hand, lifeless religion is the way that the professional religionist deceives the simple.

Some definite symptoms of a Christ-less religionist:
* Dress codes become more important than your inward moral code. Religious, super-pious, hypocritical, conviction-ites always major on the minors.
* Try to appear and sound more spiritual than you really are.
* Begin to use religious rules (convictions) to control women, teenagers, and the spiritually naive.
* Begin to think you're something, when you're really Nothing.
* Add regulation upon regulation, you make Christianity a wearisome burden that no one can follow. Become unyielding in your spiritual pride, position, and performance. Earthly religion always goes full speed in the wrong direction.
* Choose rules over relationship, facts over fellowship, works over worship, rituals over righteousness, convictions over communion, activity over an authentic relationship with the living Christ. Going full speed in the wrong direction.
* Constantly, persistently, continually seeking another way (convictions/religious do's and don'ts) to make yourself feel better about your own religious self.
* When you pray or give of your money or time, you want to make sure someone knows.
* You say, and do not; you talk of good works, but do none; you bid others to do them, but do not practice them yourself, very strictly and severely force them on others, but are very careless yourself to observe them.
* You say you've made yourself "right with God". You continually let everyone know you are "right with God."
* You want to perform religiously. You seek to build a monument to yourself. Look at me! Look at me!
* Feel you have been called to "fix" other people; you only see what's wrong in others and never what's right with them. You are obsessed with the clothes people wear, not the good of their soul. You don't pray for people, you only judge them in your heart.
* Neglect private and family worship, Bible reading, closet prayer, and personal evangelism with souls.
* It becomes harder and harder to submit to anyone spiritually or be taught by anyone.
* Don’t evangelize your neighbors, friends, and work-mates. Don't invite people to church anymore.
* Become so "separated" that you can't fellowship with anyone except for the one or two souls left that have all your kooky convictions.
* Find better things to do than serve in your local church.
* Fill your life with questionable movies, music, television, and internet.
* Your thought life becomes filled with self-righteous and judgmental thoughts (evil surmisings). Externalists love superficial, second-hand, lifeless religion.
* Set aside fellowship and accountability with fellow brethren in Christ.
* Let your study of divine things become dull, mechanical, boring, lifeless, and mundane.
* Don’t read to learn and do; read only to refute what you believe is wrong and build your list of endless convictions.
* Spend more time blogging than studying and praying and witnessing.
* Avoid Sunday School and church and other opportunities for corporate worship.
* Forget that your primary responsibility is to care for your family through provision, shepherding, and leadership.
* Master and love your favorite theologian or preacher more than the Law, Prophets, and Apostles.
* Gain knowledge in order to merely show others how much you know or to win arguments. Don’t expand the effort it takes to deal with your own heart and inward sin.
* Pick apart your pastor’s sermons every week. Only point out his mistakes and his poor theological reasoning so you don’t have to be convicted by anything he says.
* Only be nice to those folks that support you and follow your convictions.
* Protect yourself from real fellowship by only talking about theology and never about your personal spiritual issues, sins, and struggles.
* Resent, behind-the-scenes, unrecognized service. You only want to serve in areas where you are sure you will be seen and receive public praise and accolades.
* Must appear spiritual and knowledgeable at all costs. Don’t let others see your imperfections and ignorance, even if it means you have to lie.
* Love books and sermons more than the Bible, denomination more than sound doctrine, convictions more than communion with the Holy Ghost, and ministry more than personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
* Let your passion for the Glory of God and the Gospel be replaced with a passion for complex doctrinal speculation, that is, strange doctrines and kooky convictions.

*Everything for Nothing*

You'll trust your vehicle with only a reliable Mechanic; you'll only entrust your money with a reputable Banker; you'll only turn your ailing body over to an experienced Surgeon; you'll trust your aching tooth with only a qualified Dentist; you'll only trust your court case with a good Lawyer; and you would be most wise to trust your immortal soul with the Crucified and Risen Creator - The Lord Jesus Christ Himself.  Simple reliance upon Christ Jesus is the only way to Heaven. Faith in His Blood is the beginning and end of Salvation. Give up your soul to Jesus Christ completely for safekeeping. Humbly come to Jesus Christ for everything now, let Jesus do everything and He will meet all your poor soul's needs.


Jesus helps real sinners simply and only because they are needy and lost. Your soul is in great need today, in awful need, because you are such a sinner, and your *love for sin* only makes your need all the worse. Your FIRST business is to trust your soul to Jesus Christ, and only then you will begin to quit loving your sin and self. You need Righteousness for you have none at all; you need a new heart, a right spirit, you need a total change within, ye must be born again, your vile nature must be renewed by the power of Christ, you need everything Jesus IS, for you have nothing in you but sin and misery.
JEHOVAH only saves sinners through His Dear Son's Blood Sacrifice for your sins. God freely forgives sinners for Christ's sake.  Christ Jesus must do everything for you when it comes to Salvation from sin, or He will do nothing for you at all.

This is Bible Salvation - *Everything for Nothing* because Jesus paid it all. Salvation is pardon for free, Christ is free, Heaven is free. Eternal life is the pure gift of Heaven's charity. The only terms of the Gospel is *Everything for Nothing*. Have done with your own doings, and cast your lost soul on Jesus who has done everything for you, labor no more, but take freely the Righteousness that Christ has worked out for you.

You must bypass earthly religions and denominations, and go directly to the Merciful Mediator as a guilty sinner, and find divine mercy in HIM alone. Christ Jesus is the only One who can save you from your bondage, love, and practice of sin. Come to the Lamb of God at the Cross and receive *EVERYTHING for Nothing*. Ask Christ for everything, for ALL your salvation. At the Cross, there is nothing for you to pay, but everything for you to freely receive. Let Jesus' blood do everything for your lost soul.