What is Faith Anyway? (2)

Soul-saving faith, first of all, rests upon Jesus Himself, as God Incarnate. Jesus, the Son of God, was born in Bethlehem's manger; God was made flesh and dwelt among us. Faith believes in the great mystery of godliness - God was manifest in the flesh. Jesus framed the heavens, all things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. The eternal Word came down from heaven to live in a Jewish virgin's womb. Faith heartily receives Christ as the living God. Faith next, rests upon Christ's sinless life, He was perfect in obedience, He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. Faith delights in Jesus' complete obedience to the Law of God. Christ's Righteousness is mine, Christ has kept the Law for me. But chiefly, faith looks to Christ as offering up Himself upon the the Cross. Jesus was the Bleeding Substitute for guilty man. Faith stands at the foot of the Cross, and views God made flesh, the spotless Lamb of God, bleeding, dying, the Son of God suffering with pangs, blood, agonies, thorns, and unutterable death throes, obedient unto the death for his mocking enemies.

Faith is trusting, expecting, and resting. Trust the word of God, the Son of God, the Gospel of God, the Blood of God, and the Spirit of God; Expect God to keep His word, and rest in His Son's finished work on Calvary's Cross to save your immortal soul from the hell you richly deserve. Faith is trusting God to do something you cannot do. You cannot save your own soul, and rid yourself of your sins. But Jesus can. Faith hears the cry of the dying Sin-Bearer, "It is finished!" There is ENOUGH power in Jesus' blood and wounds to wash away all my sins, and to propitiate the wrath of an angry God. There is ENOUGH merit in Christ's Righteousness to cover my naked soul from head to foot, and win the smile God's infinite justice. The holy eye of God can see neither spot or blemish in me. Only faith in Christ's Righteousness can bring a soul into a condition of acceptance before the Judge of all the earth. Faith builds everything on the chief cornerstone of Christ's finished work. Faith beholds Jesus buried, and then on the third day, Jesus lives forevermore - God is completely satisfied with His Son substitutionary work. God accepted Christ's work, His resurrection from the dead proves it. We trust in Christ and stand accepted in the Beloved Son because He is risen. Faith trusts also in Christ's intercession at the right hand of God. True living faith rests in Christ living in the flesh, Christ dying in the flesh, Christ rising from the dead, and Christ pleading in glory. Faith's chief cornerstone is Christ Himself and all that He has done and doing. Faith looks altogether away from self and out of self to Christ Jesus alone. The divine work of the divine Savior is the only object of faith's confidence. Precious faith trusts in precious promises, precious blood, in the precious Person of the Perfect Savior, Jesus Christ. Precious faith supplies our greatest want, delivers us from the greatest danger, and gives us access to the greatest glory. Faith is hearing and trusting in the Christ of the Gospel Message (Romans 1:16).

Whatsoever is not of faith is sin. If you have not first put all your faith in Jesus' finished on Calvary, all your works are sin. If you are trying to help Jesus save you, all you are doing is sinning, and you are still in your sins on your way to the Lake of Fire. Unbelief disables every man from performing any good work. Your morality, honesty, work ethic, and sobriety are all commendable things in the eyes of man, but as long as you are relying on your self-goodness at all to help save you, you are doomed and in the utmost danger of Hell Fire. None of your feelings or efforts can help save your soul in any measure whatsoever. It is either salvation by Christ or salvation by self. Faith is the way to Jesus, baptism is not. Faith is the root, prayer comes next. Faith is looking away from self to Calvary's Lamb. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Real Faith is simple trust, confidence, and reliance upon Christ Jesus the Mediator. Faith is the oil that greases the gears of our soul. Faith is the hand which holds the Savior, and won't let Him go. Faith is the foot that takes our soul to the Cross. Faith is the act of man, but the work of God. Ask the Holy Spirit to control you more and more. Faith is the Gift of God and the work of the Holy Spirit - you will find faith in Christ's veins - God only gives faith to sinners in need of a Savior. Faith is receiving the truth of Christ. The all-important thing is faith in the blood of Jesus Christ. Faith is trusting alone in Christ's Blood. Let Jesus command you in all things - Be His friend. For ye are all the children of God by FAITH in Christ Jesus. Trust in the Lord and do good. Faith is believing on Christ, not on yourself. Lord, increase our faith. Faith is the hand that holds the empty vessel under the fountain of living water.

Faith is the simplest thing in the world, but it is the hardest thing for a self-righteous man to grasp. The one object of all our hope, belief, and confidence is Christ Jesus Himself. Faith is cheerfully trusting in the word of Christ. Faith can have nothing and still be content. Faith is the life-look, not works, feelings, or ceremonies. Faith is the hand which receives what God offers to us. Faith is main thing you need - Faith is the vital matter - ask the Holy Ghost for more faith. Faith is the soul's mouth that feeds on the bread of life - and the hunger of the heart is removed. Faith in Christ is the root, and love for Christ is the golden apple of salvation. Trust HIM - Believe on Christ and live forever. Faith is free - ask God for it. Whosoever will, let him come and take the water of life freely.

God in human flesh (Jesus Christ) bled and died and rose again to pay the full ransom price of your awful sin debt. Faith is realizing you're a sinner in danger, and that God really exists, and then trusting in His mercy through Jesus Christ's Precious Blood. Faith is knowledge, belief, and trust in Christ alone. Without faith, we cannot grasp eternal things. Jesus came to seek and save sinners, trust Jesus to save you now this moment. Faith is hiding in God and staying upon God. Saving faith is trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, trusting Him truly, wholly, trusting only Him now. Faith is coming to Jesus for everything. Lay hold of Christ Himself at once. Faith is the reception of Christ into your soul. Faith is the bucket that draws water out of Christ - the Well of Salvation. The Righteousness which is of God is by faith. Faith is the backbone of the Christian's power to do good. Faith is the giving up of self-righteousness and human merit and resting your soul completely on the finished work of the Lamb of God. You want to go to Heaven, trust Christ's blood; you want to go to Hell, trust something else. Faith is well-pleasing to the Most High God. Faith is the hand that grips the Cross with a death-grip. Faith is when we trust and obey God under the worst possible conditions.

Faith is the desire to make God smile in your worst conditions and in your best conditions. Faith is the simple act of trusting in Christ's blood and merits. The Holy Spirit works faith in us, but we must personally believe in Christ. Faith is trusting in the blood of Jesus, and humbly relying upon the Savior's finished work. Unbelief is the sinner's death-warrant and doom. Now the just shall live by faith. "Thus saith the Lord" and "It is written" is the warrant of faith. Faith is leaning the whole weight of your soul's eternal safety on Christ's finished work. God Himself said it and faith believes it. Faith is the Gift of God, but the Holy Ghost has never believed for anyone - the sinner must do his own believing on Christ. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Have faith in God. We have no one else to lean upon but God. Faith stakes everything on the Scriptures. For we walk by faith, not by sight. Faith is resting on nothing but God. Faith is to trust in Jesus now. Constantly trusting in Jesus Himself is real faith. If you feel yourself to be lost, and know yourself to be a ruined sinner, you may come to Christ, just as you are - guilty, ungodly, poor, hell-bound - Christ will take you, if you take Him.

Leave off your doing - leave your doubting, despair, and darkness - Come to Jesus at once. Faith lives upon God's naked promise. Simply and completely trust in Jesus Christ, and you are saved at once, you are freely and fully forgiven forever. True faith is fixed on Jesus Christ. Helpless Dependence on Christ is Bible faith. Faith is believing Christ died for my sins. Simple reliance on Jesus Himself is what pleases God. Jesus is my Beloved Savior, in Whom I am well pleased. Lord, please increase my faith in You. Faith is Samson's hair, cut faith off and you can do nothing. Remember - Keep trusting in GOD, don't forget Him. Saving faith is in a living Person, faith in the living, loving Savior, who loved you, and gave Himself for you. Give not sleep to your eyes until you know that Christ loves you, and that you are His. Only a personal faith in Christ Jesus will save your soul.

What is Faith Anyway? (1)

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith is the root and saving grace we need from God. Genuine faith focuses on the finished work of Jesus Christ, not on human merit at all. Faith is the accepting of what God gives freely. Faith is believing what Gods says. Faith is the trusting to what Jesus has done. Faith is believing the promise of God, taking God at His word, and acting upon His words by believing and obeying Him. Faith is the gift of God, it cannot be earned by your works. Faith is the hand that takes everything from God. Faith thanks God for everything. The act of simple faith, looking out of self, and looking alone to Christ and His finished work for all your salvation, is the genesis of eternal life. Your faith must be fixed wholly on what Jesus did for you, not on what you can do. Place all your confidence in the Crucified God that pardons sin through His precious blood. Never depend on your own graces and self-attainment. Faith is the hand that grasps eternal things.

The natural man must have a righteousness of one kind or another, and if he doesn't take God's Righteousness (Jesus Christ Himself), the natural lost man seeks to have one of his own making. As a spider spins her web out of our her own body, so sinful self-righteous men try to manufacture an acceptable righteousness out of that which is within them, but this they can never do. The ONLY righteousness which will stand the test of the White Throne Judgment is the Righteousness which God freely gives to believers in His Son Jesus Christ. You must be willing to reject and renounce your own self-righteousness and submit completely to the Righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Christ makes every sinner who trusts in Him completely Righteous. The simple act of faith in Christ Jesus accomplishes what all your good works can never accomplish. Man's religion says, "Do and live." But the message of the Cross is "Live, and then do." Man's religion says, "Work to obtain eternal life." The Gospel says, "You have life freely given to you in Christ Jesus, and then you work because you live in Him, and want to glorify Him." God's divine plan of salvation is simple - Trust only in the all-sufficient living Savior.

According to your faith be it unto you. Your sins, which are many, are forgiven freely by faith in Jesus' precious blood shed for you. Bible Faith denies self and relies only on Christ. The object of real faith is the naked promise of God. Place your faith solely in the infinite merit of Christ's Atonement for sinners. Faith is the only passport into the Better Country. Being christened, confirmed, or baptized can never 'help' take away your sins. You can work your fingers to the bone, and you will never work out a righteousness that shall cover your naked soul before Almighty God. Your only hope is to come directly to Christ and trust your immortal soul to what He has already done, depending wholly upon His agonies, sufferings, bleeding, death, and resurrection. Christ is your only escape from the wrath of God, not your works. Faith in God's Blood is the only remedy for your sinfulness. Jesus Christ was God manifest in the flesh, He gave His life willfully and sacrificially to save you from the Hell you rightfully deserve. Don't keep putting off coming to Christ and receiving the free gift of eternal salvation. Jesus gave His sinless life in your place to purchase a free pardon for your soul. You can change your eternal destiny right now by trusting only in Jesus Christ did for you.

Faith is the simplest thing - Merely to depend upon the Blood and Righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is to be nothing, and to let Jesus be everything - to be still, and to let Jesus work for me. We must cast away all our own righteousnesses and every human confidence and carnal dependence, and rest entirely upon the Person, the Righteousness, the Name, the Blood, the Resurrection, the Intercession, and the infinite merits of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Your feelings are as fickle as the wind and weather. Have faith in God's promises and blood. Faith is the opposite of doubt. Jesus is God and man; He came down to earth on purpose to save ungodly sinners - Jesus is willing to save you. Jesus lived on earth a life of labor, grief, and sorrow; He died on the Cross to make Atonement for your sins. The source of faith is sincerely meditating, studying thoughtfully, looking with continued attention, considering thoroughly, beholding heartily the suffering, agonizing, bleeding, and risen God - Jesus Christ Himself. Trust what Jesus is, what He has done, and what He is doing for sinners now. Take Jesus to be your own Savior now.

The just lives by faith in his study, closet, home, market, shop, work-bench, church. The just cannot live by doings, feelings, or past experiences. Faith is the heart's obedience to Jesus. Faith lays hold on the Scriptures and the Person of Christ. Faith brings down life from Christ who is our life. Faith is the connecting link between our souls and the living Christ. Trust God in the dark. Faith is trusting in Christ alone to save my soul from the Hell I deserve. Faith in Jesus' blood is the surest of sin-killers. Faith is the telescope through which we see Christ clearly. Faith is learning the doctrines of Christ, believing whatsoever the Bible teaches about Christ, leaning and relying upon Christ for salvation, following in His footsteps, obeying His commandments, drinking in His Spirit, and serving His cause. Faith is the free ticket we use to get our souls out of pawn. The Holy Scriptures is the birthplace of saving faith. Faith is the empty hand of the soul that lays hold at once upon the finished work of Christ. Faith is the opposite of sight. Faith is the gauze that holds the ointment of Christ's blood atonement to the sores of our sins.

Childlike faith is the royal road to Christ, no works are demanded from you at all. Faith is when we look to Jesus dying and bleeding as our Substitute. Rest your soul humbly, simply, and confidently upon the promise of God. If any of your confidence lies in what you have done or will do, you are making a fatal mistake, and your soul is in imminent peril. The crutches of your self-righteousness and religious effort will soon give way, and you will be damned eternally. Cast your poor soul upon the power, merits, grace, and promise of Christ. Christ's promise to save sinners still stands good. Believe only in Jesus Christ Himself. Faith takes Christ to be his All-in-All, and takes the Cross to be the only thing to which he hides. Believe the promise of God, because it is His promise. Trust the Savior, because He is God and mighty to save. Your evil nature is all sinfulness and rottenness through and through. Ye must be born again. Hang all your soul's hope on the Cross of Christ, depend on Jesus wholly. Faith says, "Christ is all my salvation, I depend alone on Him. I throw all my good works and bad works overboard, and rely upon Christ Jesus alone." Faith is the root and foundation of all true fear of God. Learn to do well - trust only in Christ's blood and merits. Faith is the cup, Christ is the fountain of life. Faith is the hand that touches the hem of the Savior's garment. Faith is the grasping, appropriating, and receiving of the Lord Jesus Christ into one's soul. Faith is the only channel by which we can draw grace and life from Jesus. Faith saves, but it only boasts in the Savior, never in self-effort.

Faith is the only way to receive anything from God. Faith is the only way to obtain God's blessing. Faith is the empty hand knocking at the gate of mercy. Faith is trust and belief in Christ's sin-atoning Sacrifice. Faith believes Christ will do what He has promised. Faith is the only way to come to Jesus, faith gives speedy relief to the weary soul, and honors the Lord. Blood-soaked faith saves the soul. God's blessing is what we need most. Faith is the eye of the soul with which the sin-bitten sinner looks to Serpent of Calvary. Have done with trusting your works, and depending upon your merits. Take Christ's works, His merits, rest alone upon Him. Faith is the mainspring of the soul. Jesus is the real sinner's only hope. If you are under sin's duress, put your faith in Christ's bloody death. Trust in the Lord, and lean not unto thine own understanding. Faith is pleasing God, thinking about God, and caring about what God thinks. Faith is trusting in Christ, and not in yourself at all. Faith is the heaving of the spiritual lung and the beating of the spiritual heart.

Your good works are useless without faith in Christ first. Jesus loved me, and gave Himself for me. Faith is confidence in God, not human ability. Faith is the soil where the fruit of the Spirit grows. Faith is the eye of the soul looking to Jesus always. Faith is the hidden strength which sustains the Christian under trials, difficulties, sufferings, and labors. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith is coming to Christ, simply believing in His blood atonement for ungodly self-condemned sinners. Have done once and for all with all your reliance upon your own feelings and doings, and simply trust in Jesus Christ and in what He did for your salvation. Real faith makes the believer hate, depart from, and avoid sin; the sincere saint cannot love the things that made His Savior bleed.

The Three Witnesses

At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.

God is righteous and just. There is no other way to Heaven apart from Jesus Christ (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). If someone can go to Heaven some other way, then that makes Jesus Christ a liar, and a liar is nobody's Savior. If Jesus Christ is not the only way to Heaven, then He is none of the ways. All men have some light from God. Two witnesses will condemn every man on earth - Creation and Conscience.

The first witness that will come to take the stand in God's Courtroom - His name is Creation. You may think you are innocent by reason of ignorance, because you've never heard the Gospel. But in the last day, Creation will testify against you and prove you are guilty. God has showed it unto you by His creation of the world, and you are without excuse. The Creation testifies to the fact of a Creator (See Psalm 19:1). If there's a creation, you must have a Creator. For example, when you see a finely tuned piano, it has been crafted and tuned with expertise; when you see a watch that runs with precision, it has been made with intelligent design; when you see a skyscraper that is put together in symmetry and balance, there has been an architect and builder behind it all; and when you go outside at night and look up into the starry sky that has been put together with order and system, there had to be a Creator that made the whole complex universe. The Creation is the witness that is seen by your eye; Creation is the outward objective witness that will condemn you.

Then, there is a second witness that will come to the stand - His name is Conscience. He will speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth concerning your entire life (private and public). The Conscience is the witness of your heart; it is the inward subjective witness that will condemn you before God. You have a built-in knowledge of God. The soul of every man is restless till it rests in Christ Jesus. All the times you have ever violated and quelled your conscience has been noted in God's record book. God made every man to know Him, love Him, and serve Him, and till a man seeks, trusts, and surrenders to his Maker (Jesus Christ), he is like a round peg in a square hole.

The third witness will be sitting behind the bar at the Judgment - the last witness will be your Judge - His name is Jesus Christ. *Acts 17:31* You have heard the witness of Christ through His Gospel in your ear. Now hearken diligently and hear the Gospel once again - You have sinned against God, and it is inevitable that your sin should be followed by punishment. “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” and a judge who never punishes wrong does not do right, but neglects his office. God is love, but as a necessary consequence, He is also sternly just. The omission of justice from God's character would be the omission of an essential ingredient of love. God, therefore, must punish your sin, and every transgression of yours must have its just recompense of reward. But God's only-begotten Son, in wondrous compassion to our sinful souls, came into this world, took upon Himself our nature, and He was the Godhead living in human flesh, and, being found in fashion as a man, He suffered, bled, and died in our place to pay the full penalty which was due to the law of God.

Christ Jesus took our sin debts upon Himself, and upon the cross, by death, He discharged them all: when we simply trust in what Christ did for us, all our sins are blotted out, and can never be mentioned against us any more forever. Jesus was an actual, literal, and efficient substitute for sinners. Believe in Him and live forever. According to His own saying, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” The Holy Bible tells us that the Son of man was lifted up and now “Whosoever believeth in Jesus should not perish, but have everlasting life.” And yet again, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Jesus' shed blood has made a full atonement for the sins of all who believe in Him, and they are therefore justified freely in the sight of God. True faith focuses completely on Jesus Christ, and not on human merit at all. Believing is, relying upon, or trusting in Christ's works, not human works. True belief is not a mere assent to a dogma or doctrine, or the acknowledgment of a fact of the past. It is simple trust - trust in that Christ who died upon the cross, that, through His merit, He can remove our guilt and punishment and love of sin. Trust also that Christ who rose from the dead and is gone into heaven, that, by the power of His eternal Spirit, He can now cleanse us from the dominion and habit of sin. That is the faith which saves - trust in the living Lord Jesus Christ, who is able to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. Turn from your love of sin and self-righteousness, and put all your trust in Jesus' blood and righteousness.

So, your eye has seen and refused to acknowledge the Creation, your heart has heard and violated your Conscience, and your ear has heard and rejected the Gospel and Jesus Christ - these are the three witnesses that will testify against you in the last day.

Atheists are not atheists because of intellectual problems, they are atheists because of moral problems. Professing themselves to be wise, they become fools. Every man has a God consciousness. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. An atheist is somebody that has an idea of God that makes him uncomfortable is his sinfulness. The atheist thinks that if he can get rid of the idea of God, he can get rid of his uncomfortable feeling of conviction down deep in his heart. An atheist is like the man who bought a new boomerang, and then killed himself trying to throw his old one away. Down in the heart of every atheist is his conscience (John 1:9). Every heathen has some light from the Creation and his Conscience, and he knows that a Creator God exists. Light refused increases darkness, and Light rejected becomes lightning. You can't put Truth on ice. You can't put truth in your pocket and say, "That's very interesting, I will spend that some day if I need it." The atheist's foolish heart becomes darkened, because he loves his sin.

The opposite of Truth is not error, the opposite of Truth is Sin. The error and unbelief is the baggage that comes with Sin. The reason any man refuses the truth of the Scriptures is because of the love for sin in his heart. They hold the truth in unrighteousness, that is, they resist, smother, and hold back the truth and would rather enjoy their sin and darkness for a season, and cast away their soul and the world to come. If an atheist chooses to believe in the God of the Bible, he will have to adjust his dirty, crooked lifestyle. If I admit there is a God and Sin and Hell, I will have to change my rotten private life. Since the atheist doesn't receive the love of the Truth, God sends him delusion, that he should believe a lie (evolution), that he might be damned, who believed not the Truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness (filthy sinful thoughts and deeds). If you love your sin, you end up gettting delusion, a lie, and eternal damnation from God. Truth or greed, the Gospel or lust, it's your choice. All people have some light, and Light rejected becomes lightning. Professing themselves to be wise, they become fools.

Spiritual light obeyed increases light. Creation and Conscience bring you to the realization of the fact of God. If a man is not first interested in the fact of God, he is definitely not interested in the Way to God (Jesus Christ). All men don't have enough light to save them, but they do have enough light to damn them. When you obey the light you do have, God will give you more light. The problem is not in the head, the real problem in down in the heart. If any man will do God's will, he shall know of the doctrine. A man must will to do the will of God.

An atheist is a person who says there is no God. An atheist doesn't even know 1% of all there is to know, so God could exist in the other 99.9% of the knowledge he doesn't have. The Latin word for agnostic means ignoramus. There's two kinds of Doubters: honest doubters and dishonest doubters. An honest doubter doesn't know, but he wants to know, and therefore he investigates. A dishonest doubter doesn't know, because he doesn't want to know, and he can't find God for the same reason a thief can't find a policeman - he's not looking for him. Atheists hate the Light, and they will not come to the Light, because their deeds are evil. The problem is not the intellect, the problem is in your will. God will speak to you, if you surrender your will to Him.

God is going to judge you by the light you've rejected. Romans 2:5,11 There is no respect of persons with God. God knows how much light you have. There are churches on every corner, and Bibles in almost every store you shop in today. What is God going to do with you at the Judgment? Men will be judged according to the light they have. Obey what you do know, and God will teach you what you don't know.

Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them (conscience); for God hath shewed it unto them (Creation). For when the Gentiles which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the Law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the Law written in their hearts, their Conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another; In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to the Gospel.

God, I don't know if you exist or not. I don't know if the Bible is your word or not. I don't know if Jesus Christ is your Son or not. I really don't know, but I want to know. And because I want to know, I will make an honest investigation. And because it's an honest investigation, I will follow the results of that investigation wherever they lead me, regardless of the cost. Begin to read the Gospel of John, and say, "God, I will obey you if you show me this is your word."

God Meant it Unto Good

Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good (Jer 24:5).

It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes (Psa 119:71).

But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive (Gen 50:20).

What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? (Job 2:10)

Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, Jesus made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it (Col 2:14-15). When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished: and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost (John 19:30).

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom God did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:28-29).

And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life (Gen 3:17).

But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear (Philippians 1:12-14).

And Jesus said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me (II Cor 12:9). If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified (I Peter 4:14).

Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby (Heb 12:11).

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end (Jer 29:11).

And when Manasseh was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, And prayed unto God: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord He was God (II Chron 33:12-13).

There hath not failed one word of all God's good promise. There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass. ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof. Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you. They that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. No good thing will God withhold from them that walk uprightly. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come. The goodness of God endureth continually. God is never anything but good.

Adrian Rogers Quotes (2)

The Lord Jesus Christ

* Jesus is not just an example to follow, He is the one and only Savior of sinners. You don't just learn lessons from the life of Christ, you must first receive eternal life from the blood of Christ.

Heaven

* We're not going to heaven by the "rocket of reason" or the "ladder of logic" but by the "railroad of redemption"---the old R & R---Redemption and Reconciliation.

* Eternity is only a breath away.

* There's only two places where there's no hope. One is hell because when you go to hell, you've lost hope. The other is in heaven because when you're in heaven, you don't need hope.

* Works don't lead us to heaven. They follow us to heaven.

* A rich man is poor when he has no treasure in heaven.

* You must be heaven born to be heaven bound.

Just For Fun

* It's a terrible thing for a man to think he has the gift of preaching when nobody has the gift of listening!

* On gossips: Don't let gossips use your ears for garbage cans.

* If you wrestle with a pig, you'll both get dirty; but the pig will love it!

* We don’t have to agree. You have the right to be wrong if you want to.

* Some people brighten up a room just by leaving it.

* I’ve never seen a bride that wasn’t beautiful. I have seen a few that just barely made it.

Atheism

The atheist is an orphan of the apes, and he ends up making a monkey out of himself.

Sin and Temptation

* Sin is a clinched fist in the face of God.

* One word describes men by nature - Sin.

* Nothing is a sin anymore in America.

* Victory or idolatry, Christ or things.

* No one has ever sinned themselves beyond the free grace and dying love of God.

* Anything you love more, fear more, serve more, or value more than God is your idol.

* As Christians we must be in collision with the devil not in collusion with him.

* Everything that is not nailed down is coming loose. And the devil is pulling nails as fast as he can.

* Bitterness is an acid that destroys its own container.

* Acting religious is sort of like a polished pig. You can scrub him clean, brush his teeth, and dress him in a blue ribbon; but as soon as you're not looking, he'll run right back into the mire. A scrubbing on the outside will never change his inner nature.

* You can't sweeten the well by painting the pump.

* If you were sinking in quicksand, the devil would pat you on the head.

* If Satan can't make you bad, he'll make you real busy.

Encouragement

* All of us fail. Use your failures as a guidepost to lead you on.

* Be humbly grateful, not grumbly hateful.

* God is the healer of broken dreams and the restorer of stolen years.

* The door to the room of opportunities swings on the hinges of opposition.

* Do your best and then sleep in peace. God is always awake.

Relationships

* I asked my wife, "Will you love me when I'm old and gray?" She answered, "Sure I do." * Forgiveness is not an emotion. It's a choice.

* Home is the University of Life with parents as the professors, children as students, and life as the lab.

* If you marry a child of the devil (an unsaved person), you'll get the devil for a daddy-in-law.

* The more I learn about Jesus, the more I love my wife.

* Sometimes the marriage that starts out as an ideal, and then it becomes an ordeal, and then they are looking for a new deal.

The Word of God

* How can we know the God of the Bible, unless we first read and know the Bible of God?

* I read other books. The Bible reads me.

* To understand the part of the Bible you don't understand is to obey the part you do understand, and before long you'll begin to understand what you don't understand. Understand?

* If you have a Bible that's falling apart, you probably have a life that's not.

* The Bible is God’s love letter to his children. If you don’t understand the Bible, it’s because you’re reading someone else’s mail.

* Any time you see a ‘therefore’ in the Bible, STOP and see what it’s there for.

* If there's dust on your Bible, there's drought in your heart.

A Word to the Wise

* Character is what you are in the dark. You are what you are alone.

* God did not call us to sit, soak, and sour, BUT TO SERVE.

* You have all of God you want. If you don't have any more, it's because you're satisfied as you are.

* Lukewarm Christians are some of the best alibis of lost sinners.

* Don’t make a decision by majority vote. The majority is almost always wrong.

Victorious Living

* Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible, knows the unknowable, and receives the impossible.

* God doesn't want you to serve Him in your poor little weak way. He wants you to serve Him in His mighty, dynamic way.

* God is not interested so much in making you happy and healthy as He is in making you HOLY.

* It is only the life that is lived with the approval of Jesus and in the authority of Jesus that will bring glory to Jesus.

* We become like what we worship. True worship (humble penitent gratitude) will make us more like God.

* If I put things between me and Christ, it is idolatry. If I put Christ between me and things, it is victory!

* It is better to be hated for telling the truth than loved for telling a lie.

Growing in Grace

* A Christian is not a pessimist, nor a dewy-eyed optimist. He is a realist who must visualize and see the situation as it is.

* God blesses you to make you a blessing.

* In all spiritual things we should be natural. And in all natural things we should be spiritual.

* On our list of activities in life: There are some things we need to eliminate, some things we need to deligate, and the rest we need to dedicate.

* It's my business to do God's business, and it's His business to take care of my business.

Adrianisms

Adrian Rogers Quotes (1)

Discipleship

* God prefers the fruit of the Spirit over religious nuts.

* Sin is not just breaking God’s laws; Sin is breaking God's heart.

* He who angers you controls you.

* Happiness depends on what happens. Joy depends on the Lord.

* Is what I’m living for worth Christ dying for?

* We ought to be living as if Jesus died yesterday, rose this morning, and is coming back this afternoon.

* Don’t let your conscience be your guide, unless God guides your conscience.

* Whatever a man chooses, that will master him.

* There is enough time in every day to do gracefully everything God wants you to do.
* Leave the woodpile higher than you found it.

Faith

* Faith that can’t be tested can’t be trusted. Faith that fizzles before the finish was flawed from the first.

* Pray and doubt; you’ll do without. Pray and believe; you will receive.

* The Christian life is not all honey and no bees.

* False religion is characterized by force. True religion is characterized by faith.

* It's what you sow that multiplies, not what you keep in the barn.

* If you live for this world, you are in the junk business. It's all just premature junk.

Prayer

* Your spiritual life will never rise above your prayer life.

* When trials come, don't wring your hands -- bend your knees.

* A lot of kneeling will keep you in good standing.

* Courage is fear that has said its prayers.

* Don't give God instructions; just REPORT FOR DUTY!

* When someone does you wrong, tell Jesus on them.

Salvation

* You can believe in miracles, but trust in Jesus' finished work and blood.

* Life is short, plan ahead.

* Don't get the idea that Jesus died to save you from hell. He died to save you from the love of sin. And if He has never save you from loving sin, He has never saved you from hell.

* Eternal life is not something you get when you die; it's something you get when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

* I wouldn't trust the best fifteen minutes I ever lived to get me into heaven.

* Most people today are just interested in making the world a better place to go to hell from.

* Thank you for saving me, Jesus. I receive You by faith. I don't look for a sign. I don't ask for a feeling. I stand on Your Precious Promise, AND THAT SETTLES IT FOREVER.

* There are those who can preach the Gospel better than I can, but there is nobody who can preach a better Gospel than I can. The devil would just as soon send you to hell from the pew as he would the gutter.

* Eternity is only a breath away.

* Heaven is not a reward for good and respectable people; Heaven is a gift for guilty sinners.

* There was a time when you were not, but there will never be a time when you will cease to be.

* You are free to choose, but you're not free not to choose, and you're not free to choose the consequences of your choice.

Money

* When it comes to giving, some people stop at nothing.

* You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving.

* You'll see how rich you are when you add up everything you have that money can't buy and death can't take away.

* Give God the chance to provide before you buy.

* If we could take it with us, it would melt where some of us are going. (Billy Sunday)

* We spend the first half of our lives wasting our health to get wealth. The second half of our lives we spend our wealth to get back our health.

Consecration

* Being baptized with the Holy Spirit means He is now resident in your heart. Being filled with the Holy Spirit means He is now President there.

* Jesus died to claim me as Lord, and now He lives to control me as Lord.

* Most people want to serve God but only in an advisory capacity.

* The sin of immorality is not one we are instructed to fight. It is one we are told to flee. Run from that compromising situation. Saturate the place of temptation with your absence. It is not enough to confess sin without forsaking it.

* If I had a thousand lives to live, I'd give every one to Jesus Christ.

* Failure is succeeding at the wrong thing.

The Character of God

* God grades on the cross not the curve.

* God only wants for us what we would want for ourselves if we were smart enough to want it.

* God does not flunk any of His children. He just re-enrolls them.
* You can save a lot of time waiting on God.

* God should be our first thought, not our last resort.

* If you try to define the Trinity, you'll lose your mind; but if you deny the Trinity, you'll lose your soul.

The Church

* Growing churches love, and loving churches grow.

* Most religion in America is man-centered religion rather than God-centered. People are looking for religion to serve them.

* The Mission of the Church: make them, mark them, and mature them.

* This building is not the church. It's just a sheep shed.

* Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going into a garage will make you an automobile.

Truth

* Evolution is not science; it's science fiction.

* If you please God, it doesn't matter whom you displease. If you displease God, it doesn't matter whom you please.

* It's better to know the truth and to stand alone than it is to be wrong with a multitude.

* It's better to speak truth that hurts and then helps than falsehood that comforts and then kills.

* It's better to ultimately succeed with the truth than to temporarily succeed with a lie.

The Fruit of the Spirit

* Peace is not the substraction of problems. It is the addition of power to meet those problems.

* The joy of the Lord isn't there to remove the pain; the joy of the Lord is there to help me bear it.

* Joy is proof that what we have is real and that it satisfies.

* Justice is God giving us what we deserve. Mercy is God not giving us what we deserve. Grace is God giving us what we don't deserve.

* Meekness is strength under control. Mercy is sympathy with legs.

* A joyless Christian is an oxymoron.

* If you need encouragement, give it. If you need love, give it. Whatever you need, give it away.

* Just because something doesn't make sense to you doesn't mean it doesn't make sense.

* We live in a day where a hero is a sandwich, life is a magazine, power is a candy bar, joy is a detergent, sin is a perfume, a star is an actress who's been married three times, and the real thing is a soft drink.

* The straight edge of the Law shows us how crooked we really are on the inside.

* Has it ever occurred to you that nothing occurs to God?

* The will of God is not something you have to do, it is something you get to do.

Adrianisms