The Truth of the Matter Is

The Truth of the Matter is... This is a common expression used to capture your hearer's attention when you are trying to make known the heart of an important issue. Well, The Truth of the Matter Is... people living in this 'temporary world' are looking for satisfaction and longing for true peace for their minds and souls. God hid this true peace at a dark, shameful, bloody place called Calvary where God Himself as a Man died for man's sin. Please read this message, and it may help you to understand the truth of the Gospel.

Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. This one verse sums up the entire Bible, the need of man, and the provision of God. It is all you need to know about God's plan of redemption for sinners. This one sentence contains enough to save every believing soul and to enough to damn every unbelieving soul on earth. This sentence contains three great truths: Sin brings Death, Salvation is only through Christ, and Salvation is the free gift of God to whosoever will come to Jesus by faith in His blood.

** Sin brings death to the soul of man. ** The wages of sin is still death here in the 21st century. It brings physical death, mental death, moral death, spiritual death, and if you die in your sins - the second death. Sin bring death to character, to personality, to ambition, to reputation, to love, to influence, to homes, to businesses, to schools, to churches, to villages, to cities, to states, to nations, to the whole world.

It is universal death. For the Jew, Gentile, the man, the woman, the child, "the soul that sinneth, it shall die." There is no escape from death. There is no denying it, no defying it, no hiding from it. Death's germs are everywhere. The germs are in our bodies, in the air we breathe, in the water we drink, and the food we eat. The whole universe is under the curse of sin, the condemnation, the consequences of sin, which is death. The rich man's riches cannot overcome it. All the schemes, programs, organizations, and proposals of man can never mitigate this fearful fact.

It is inescapable death. Death is wherever men gather. Civilization or crudeness, education or technology, ignorance or science, brilliancy or barbarism can never stem or stop death. There are funerals held in the heart of the jungles of Africa to the upper east side of Manhattan, NY. There is no escape, there is no exemption. Death cannot be bought off, reasoned off, or pushed off. The inevitability of death must be pressed upon the minds of sinners, so they will flee to Christ for safety.

Sin is eternal death, the second death, the bottomless pit of burning, the everlasting lake of fire. This is the true and final consequence of sin. There is an eternal, burning, tormenting hell awaiting sinners that reject Christ and die in their sins. It is a place of banishment from the presence of God, a place of ceaseless, hopeless, helpless remorse waiting for all those who die with their sins unconfessed and unforgiven. This is the decree of God, the dictum of Eternity, and the declaration of the ages.

But there is a way of escape from the curse, from the condemnation, from the doom, from the damnation of sin. It is the Bible way, the Gospel way, the way of the Cross, the way of the Blood, the way of Calvary. It cost God all that He was and all that He had, but He offers it 'freely' to the children of men.

** Salvation is only through faith in Jesus Christ ** In Christ there is absolute, total, eternal, effective Salvation for every soul to the uttermost part of the earth. The Bible gives three foundations, three certainties concerning the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. They are all based on the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

** First, Jesus came to save from the damnation due to sin. Jesus Himself, said, "For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." God said about Him, "Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." That was His mission and ministry. For that, Christ left His home and throne in Heaven. For that, He took upon Himself the likeness of men. For that, He humbled Himself in the carpenter's shop of Nazareth. For that mission, He humbled Himself to the fare of the poor, denying Himself even the bare comforts of a home and an affectionate family. For that, He preached the word of God, healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, and raised the dead. For that, He prayed through the lonely nights with the weight of the world's woes upon Him. For that, He wept over Jerusalem. For that, He sweated blood in the dark Garden of Gethsemane. For that, He died on the Cross. Yes, there is salvation for every one of you because Jesus Christ came to save.

** He died to save from the love of sin. Christ bled out His life on Calvary's Cross for the ungodly, His enemies. In His own body, on Calvary's bitter tree, He bore the sins of every soul among us. "He was made to be Sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us, for it written, Cursed is every one which hangeth on a tree." "For as much as ye know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold; ... but with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot." "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own; but the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." These Bible verses make it plain that Christ, the Son of God, died for our sins, died to save us. The blood of Jesus that was poured out on Calvary's cross ties the hands of God in two ways: God cannot save any sinner outside of Christ's atoning blood; and He must save every sinner who comes to Christ claiming the Blood Atonement.

** Jesus lives to save from the power of sin. Were the cross the end of the life of the Savior, were Joseph's tomb still sealed with the grip of death and the grave, our salvation would be a matter of deep doubt, of bitter misgivings. We could not be sure of the virgin birth of Jesus, of His sinless life, of His matchless teachings, of His mighty works, of His healing, saving, keeping power. The foundations of our faith are laid in the verity of the resurrection, ascension, and intercession of the Redeemer. The crucified Son of God did rise from the dead, He did go back to His Father in glory, that in and through the Holy Spirit He has been changing the destinies of souls, of nations, of the world. By faith in His shed blood we all can experience a personal, definite, dependable indwelling of the living Christ. He walks with us, talks with us, guides us, sustains us, empowers us, enlightens us, ennobles us, enables us, in short, saves us from the drag, the drain, the drought of the slavery of this world into the joy and fellowship with and service in God.

"Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them." "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Who gave himself a ransom for all." "Jesus saith, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." "Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both." Yes, there is salvation for you because Jesus lives to save.

** Salvation is the 'free gift' of God's love ** "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace."

** Salvation is free because it is priceless, beyond human value and computation. **  There is nothing man knows with which this salvation may be compared. Salvation is free because it is has paid for, paid in full with God's own blood. *Acts 20:28* It was paid for in the humbling of the Son of God, when He stripped Himself of His heavenly glory to come down upon the sin-cursed earth to live the life of a Galilean peasant Jew.  Jesus came in the backdoor of this world (a manger in Bethlehem), so sinners could walk through the front door of Heaven freely forgiven. Christ left His Father's throne above, so free, so infinite His grace; He emptied Himself of all but Love, and bled for Adam's helpless race. Salvation was paid for in the blood-sweat of Gethsemane. It was paid for in the scourging of the Roman injustice. It was paid for in the loneliness, in the shame, in the heartache, in the heartbreak, in the blood-letting, in the blood-shedding of Calvary's cross. God cannot, God has not, God will not, and God does not require any price from us poor sinners save the coin of repentance and faith.

** Salvation is free because it is offered freely to whomsoever will come and take it. ** The Bible is very definite on that point. In many places, in many ways, in precept and in parable, the Holy-Spirit-breathed Scriptures offer the blood of Christ, the bread and the water of life, very freely to all comers. For 2,000 years this free salvation has been offered to the children of men of every clime, country, condition, race, have found their way to the Fountain, even blood-stained Calvary, and have drunk deeply and freely of the flowing blood and water to their own pardon and eternal joy.

The Holy Spirit invites you to take Christ's free salvation now. Every saving promise of scripture, every urgent appeal, every wonderful, tenderly wooing word that He can invent urges upon you to come and be saved, to come fleeing from the wrath to come, to come to escape from the wages due to your sins, everlasting death.

You are standing at the cross-roads of life and death. On the one hand, the Lord Jesus is tugging at your heart, pulling at your soul, offering you His blood for the free pardon of your sins. On the other hand, Satan is striving with all his hellish power to keep you from receiving the Gospel invitation to come to Christ. The decision is all yours. It is either the wages of sin or the gift of God. It is either Christ or Satan, God or sin, salvation or damnation, life or death, Heaven or Hell.

Your personal decision will make the difference. The devil will not let you go without a struggle. You must turn and tear loose from his grip by an act of your own will. You must step over the line to the Savior's side. Will you come now? God Himself, for Christ's sake, will do all the rest, if you will come as a lost and needy sinner, accepting the 'free gift' of His love, even eternal life through Jesus Christ. God will save your soul, if you will just 'let' Him. Let Jesus Himself reach down from Heaven and with His own heart's blood wash away your sins, and He will make you a child of God today. *John1:12*

Do you know what is so difficult about salvation? The hardest thing about salvation is realizing that you NEED it. The most difficult thing about salvation is realizing you can't save or 'help save' yourself. "As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country." (Proverbs 25:25) The good news about salvation is that Someone else did everything for you out of love, and that you only have to receive Salvation Freely by faith, without your own works playing a part in it at all. "And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." (Revelation 22:17)

There is only one religion in this world that demands 'sinless perfection.' It is isn't Islam, it isn't Buddhism, it isn't Hinduism, it isn't Taoism, it isn't Catholicism, it isn't Atheism. No religion demands sinless perfection as the key to heaven except 'Biblical Christianity.' It's the only one. All the other religions have very low standards.

All other religions have exceptionally inferior standards. "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish 'their own righteousness,' have not 'submitted' themselves unto the 'righteousness of God.' For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." (Romans 10:3-4) The word "BELIEVE" in the New Testament means to entirely trust in, absolutely rely on, to solely rest on, completely lean on, totally depend upon, or wholeheartedly count on). Be honest with your own soul: Have you ever truly 'believed' in the Blood of Christ to wash away your sins.

No other religion is set up like Biblical Christianity. Every other one is man's religions and tradition trying to tell you, "If you do this and this, and don't do this, and don't do that, and hold out to the end, you 'might' make it. Religion will always try to get you trust in it, or try to get you to trust in yourself, and never in Christ Jesus' Blood alone. *Romans 3:25* Faith in His Blood is the way to Heaven.

The Bible says, "If you do this and this and this, and don't do this and don't do that, you'll still go to hell like a bullet. All your do's and don'ts do not make any difference, you have sinned and you are dead in sins, and your so-called good works are called 'dead works' in the scriptures. They are called 'dead works' because a dead person is doing them to help save himself. You need 'life' from the Lord Jesus Christ first, and then He will give you the power to do 'living works' for His glory alone.

Religion will tell you, "If you just do this and do this, and don't do that, you might get to heaven. But the Bible says, "If do all you can, and stop all you can, and you'll still wind up in hell. Do you know what the Bible demands for you to get to Heaven? Perfect Sinlessness, that all. You say, "Well, I can't make it then." I gathered you'd think that. You're right. Do you know who made it for you? Only one, the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you see how simple that thing is? All that God demands from you is absolute sinless perfection, that's all He demands. And since 'you' can't do it, God will freely give Christ's Righteousness to you, if you will only humble yourself, acknowledge your sinful condition, acknowledge you cannot attain to the sinless perfection that God demands, and then simply receive Christ's Righteousness (absolute sinless perfection) as a free gift. Simply put, just trade your rags (dead works) for Christ's riches (perfect righteousness).

The Gospel of God says, "Since you can't do this and can't do that; and should have done this and didn't do it; if you've done this, and messed up and didn't do that; and rebelled and did this; and was lazy and didn't do that. Dear Sinner, If you truly realize that you are a sinner, and that you can't do the right thing at all to save your own soul, here's the Good News:  God sent Someone into the world 2,000 years ago (Christ Jesus, God manifest in the flesh), that did the whole thing for you, and attained the Sinless Perfection (Righteousness) your soul needs to face a holy God, and if you will only trust (totally depend) in Him and take Christ's Righteousness (absolute sinless perfection) as a free gift, I will save you by My grace. God says, You must receive Christ's Righteousness as a free gift, or else you will be die in your sins and be damned forever. Trust to His Blood with all your heart.  Jesus said, "He that believeth on the Son 'hath' everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the 'wrath of God' abideth on him." Salvation is that simple.

Salvation is as easy as taking a drink of water. You can be saved just as easy as bending over at a water fountain and taking a drink. Your thirst draws you to the fountain. You then bend over (humble yourself) and swallow (receive the water freely) and your thirst is quenched. It is the same with your soul. Your soul is thirsty because of your sin, and only the water of life (the Lord Jesus Christ Himself) can take away your sin and satisfy your soul's thirst. Isn't that easy? It's SO easy. Come to the water of life (the Lord Jesus Christ) and drink, yea, drink abundantly right now. Jesus said Himself, "I will 'give' unto him that is 'athirst' of the fountain of the water of life freely."