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 - 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 - He offered up Himself. 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.
* 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.

Now Faith Is (2)

Faith is the eyeball of the soul whereby we see Christ Jesus.  Looking to Jesus is a very simple childlike act of faith in His precious blood.  Faith is the mouth of the soul whereby we spiritually feed upon the person of Christ.  Christ Jesus is first spiritually digested and assimilated, and then our soul lives upon Him.  A spiritually dead man cannot eat, for he has no appetite for Christ.  The living God of Calvary is full of love, holy and pure, good and kind, true and faithful.  The object of true faith is the work which the Lord Jesus Christ accomplish upon the Cross for sinners.  Faith is the golden wedding ring and is the token of the marriage bond between the soul and Christ.  Faith is the soil in which the fruits of the Spirit grow.

Whatsoever is not of faith is sin, that is, whatsoever you cannot do with the confidence you are doing right, that is Sin.  Contend with your besetting sins, through the Holy Spirit fight against them, have done with your old ways.  After the new birth, a Christian enters into conflict with his lusts and besetting sins.  Take your sins to the Cross, only the Blood of God Incarnate can cleanse you from your sins, from your sins' guilt and power.  Go directly to Jesus with your sins, for no one else can help you with your sin problem; you are powerless against sin without Jesus.

As you do conflict with your inward evil, let the Holy Spirit be your strength.  The best works are done sincerely out of love and gratitude to Jesus and in dependence upon the Holy Spirit.  Stick to the Gospel - the Gospel is the man Christ Jesus.  Tell out the gospel of good news, the person of Christ, Christ virgin born, crucified, risen, ascended, glorified, interceding, coming again.  My Salvation's justness and security depends not on my attainments; all of my Salvation comes from Christ Jesus Himself.  My faith is resting sweetly upon the crucified and risen Redeemer.

The energy and joy of your spiritual life depends mainly upon your faith in Jesus' Blood.  My faith is simply hanging upon Jesus.  Depend upon the Holy Spirit for divine guidance.  The most real thing about us is our sinfulness and our childlike dependence upon Jesus.  True and genuine faith is fixed on the Rock of Ages, built firmly on His substitutionary, atoning sacrifice on Calvary's Cross.  No man is living as close to God as he should.  Live as good a life as you can, but do not make that your trust - Make Christ's life, death, and resurrection your soul's only trust.  Helping the poor, bringing up your family well, working hard, paying your bills, abiding by the law, honest hard work are all well and good; but if you are not trusting in Christ alone, you are going about to establish your own righteousness, you have spent your energy in vain, and all your efforts will be a failure.

Faith is heart trust, reliance, dependence, recumbency, leaning all your weight on Christ the Lord.  Be wise, give up your own righteousness, and depend only on the Lamb of God.  Fainting into the arms of Christ, that is Faith.  Just give up doing, and give up depending upon anything that you are, or do, or ever hope to be, and depend completely upon the finished work, merits, and precious blood of Christ.  If you do this, your soul is saved; remember, anything of your own will spoil it all.  Your reliance is to be on nothing but that which is in Christ Jesus.

Look only to the Savior's wounds, pangs, griefs, blood, tears, and death - these were the punishments for your sins.  God's divine wrath spent itself on Christ while He was bearing our sins on the Cross.  Faith in Jesus' blood is counted to us for Righteousness.  Genuine faith comes to God resting upon what Christ has done, depending alone upon the Propitiation and Atonement of Christ.  Stay full of ardent love to Christ and the souls of men.  Love to God, consecration to His cause, seeking to save the lost souls of men.  New converts have fervor, simplicity, and childlike confidence in Jesus.  No good works, ceremonies, or attainments are demanded of you, only a childlike faith is the royal highway to Jesus.

The fear of God is a fear of offending so good a God, a godly fear of grieving the Holy Spirit with our sinful thoughts, harsh words, or selfish actions.  Keep close to Jesus in all that you do.  Rest in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, firmly fix all your reliance upon Him.  The coming to Jesus which saves the soul is a simple reliance upon His Precious Blood.  If you are sensible of your guilt, rely upon Christ's atoning blood.  The work of the Spirit - a sincere hatred of your sins, a true sense of sin's evil, a conviction that you cannot save yourself, and a simple reliance upon the work and blood of Jesus.  Simply trust Jesus' works, not yours.

Now Faith Is (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 Jesus 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 Substitute, Savior and Sin-Bearer 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 Himself for all your 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 Gift of God

Imagine that you’ve prepared a wonderful Christmas morning for your family. You’ve saved up all year, shopped, wrapped, decorated, and made all the preparations. In spite of all your efforts, your children come running downstairs eager to celebrate Christmas, but rather than sitting down to open their gifts, they begin feverishly doing things for you to earn their gifts. They start cleaning the garage, washing the cars, doing the dishes, vacuuming the house, ironing clothes, and whatever else they can find to do. Other than having a heart attack, you would probably be disappointed. You would stop them and ask, “Kids, what are you doing? It’s Christmas morning, this isn’t the time for good works; this is the time for receiving gifts!”

Suppose their response goes something like this, “Mom and Dad, we’ve realized that we don’t deserve your gifts to us, and so we’ve decided to earn them. We’ve decided to serve you and do things so that we can deserve your kindness.” What would you do? You would probably explain that this is totally unnecessary! You would tell your kids how much trouble you’ve gone to in saving, shopping, and purchasing their gifts. You don’t want their service (at least not yet) so much as you just want to enjoy Christmas morning and present them with their gifts – your free expression of love to them.

This is the ‘Gospel Message’ of God to the sinful human race. God became a Jewish man – His name was Jesus Christ. He lived a sinless life, suffered, bled, and died to suffer the wrath of God that your sin deserved. He rose again the third day and is alive right now and is willing to save you by His grace alone, without any of your works added. As long as you are busying and worrying yourself with doing, you’re missing what God has already *Done* for you through His Precious Son – the Lord Jesus Christ.  The gift of God is free Eternal Life through the sinless life, bloody death, and triumphant resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, God in human flesh.

The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) The gift of eternal life has been worked out through Christ’s sinless life, and purchased by Christ’s shed blood on the Cross. There’s no need for you to DO anything more, but to just trust Christ Himself (His doings and sufferings) to save you from your sins. You must only receive Christ’s Free Gift of Salvation. This gift of salvation is free to you, but it cost God His only begotten Son. All the work and preparations have been made for you. Christ paid it ALL, there’s nothing for you to pay for, nothing at all. Stop trying and just TRUST HIM with your soul. God says, “Come now, let us reason together, saith the LORD.” His invitation to you is not to DO for Him, but rather simply come to Him as a helpless, hopeless, and guilty sinner. Flat out acknowledge your sinfulness. Christ died for the ungodly, not for good, self-righteous people. Christ Crucified is the sinner’s only hope. This is the sole remedy for your disease of sin—TRUST Jesus alone! Christ only receives lost and needy sinners.

There Christ hangs bleeding on yonder Cross for you. Jesus bled for your sins. Look to the Cross, look there, only there! Bring as many sins as you can with you to the Cross – the more the better. No measure of sin in your past can deprive from the gift of salvation. Jesus delights in saving the sinful. Just Trust Him! Forsake all other carnal and religious trusts, and look only to the Lamb of God and His bleeding wounds. Jesus is the Substitute for guilty sinners: He suffered in your place. Look your doubts and sins away at the foot of the Cross. Right now, stop working and worrying, and simply Trust and Live. Salvation is not received by you giving anything to Christ, but salvation comes to your soul by Christ giving you EVERYTHING. Abandon your own goodness.

Jesus will never be a partial Savior. Take Christ (the Gift of God) to be the sole Savior of your soul! You must believe completely on the Lord Jesus Christ to enter Heaven. Only Christ’s Perfect Righteousness and Precious Blood can save you from sin, death, and Hell. “Believe on” means an unreserved transfer of trust from oneself to the Lord Jesus Christ. The faith that saves is not believing certain Truths of Christ, nor believing that Jesus is a Savior – but it is resting on Him, depending on Him, lying with all your soul’s weight on Christ as the sole foundation of your eternal hope. Believe that Christ can and will save you!

Leave the whole matter of your salvation with Christ alone in absolute confidence. Christ Jesus is the only Propitiation for your sin: He is only One that can appease the wrath of God that abides on you because of your sin against God. Christ gave Himself for you. God be merciful to me a sinner, and save me now by Christ’s Precious Blood alone!

A Special Gift

It's just about Christmas time again, and people the world over will gather around Christmas trees and open up presents. You may receive a present from someone that you don't particularly enjoy being around, but you'll pick up the present, and open it anyway. You won't set the gift aside. You'll open the gift and receive it from someone you haven't even spoken to all year. You may take a gift from someone at work that you can't stand just out of common courtesy. But when the God of Heaven offers you His dear Son as the Gift of Eternal LIfe, then you say, "Take it back, I don't want it, because it's from Jesus Christ. If it's from God, I don't want it."

You'll take a gift from a family member or co-worker you can't stand or have nothing to do with, but you'll reject the Gift of God - Jesus Christ Himself. You have grossly insulted the Most High God. You say to Him, "I don't want eternal life or the forgiveness of sins, if I have to take it from your Son that bled to death for me, I'm not all that bad a person anyway." Human nature always boasts and trusts in itself. The way to Heaven is not you not being all that bad. You're completely bad every day. You must freely accept the Greatest Gift (Forgiveness of Sins) from the Greatest Giver (God manifest in the flesh-Jesus Christ).

Born among cattle in poverty sore, living in meekness by Galilee's shore, dying in shame as the wicked ones swore - Jesus, Wonderful Lord.  As Jesus fasted alone in the wilderness, He was weary, hungry and tempted for you.  He was the Friend of the friendless, the Helper of the weak, the Light of the world, but in gross darkness He died on Calvary bearing your sins in His own body.  Your sins nailed Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, to Calvary's Cross; He suffered untold torment that day for your soul.  He was led up Calvary's hill by the Roman soldiers like a sheep to the slaughter; He suffered unspeakable anguish and pain as He bore your sins and their punishment.  He was despised and rejected, and treated like a criminal for your sake.  He was wounded for your transgressions; He was bruised for your iniquities. He gave Himself to redeem you from the love of sin.  Bleeding Love paid the Ransom for your guilty soul.  Why did they nail Jesus, the innocent Lamb of God, to Calvary's tree?  Why? tell me, why was He there?  All my iniquities on Jesus were laid; He nailed them all to the tree - Jesus, the debt of my sins fully paid-- He paid the Ransom for me.

A gift can never be earned or paid for, nothing is freer than a gift. Some people put their faith in what they do, and some put their faith in what they don't do, and some put their faith in what they learned out of a college textbook, but mark it down, every man puts faith in something or someone. You will never be good or religious enough to satisfy God, only Christ's Atonement can satisfy God's holiness and justice. Human nature is self-righteous and for some reason thinks its good in itself, and that Jesus doesn't need to save it. Doctors only look for sick people, and Jesus only looks for sin-sick souls in need of His Precious Blood - the only Remedy for human sin. Christ Jesus came into the world to save *sinners*. Exercise personal faith in Jesus' blood now.

Now understand - You can't undo your past, you can't right all your wrongs, you can't pay the penalty due to your sins. The sins of a lifetime can't be put away by human effort. You can't un-ring a bell, and you can't undo your sins. Sin is kind of like toothpaste coming out of a tube, once it's out, you can't get it back in. Once you've sinned, only God can come and clean up the awful mess you have made. Only Christ Himself can take your sins away (John 1:27). Human merit can't ever help take away sins against a holy God. Natural human goodness will never meet God's holy requirements.

You have taken things that haven't belonged to you, you have spoken words this week that were not true, you have put things ahead of God every day of your life, you have dishonored your parents many times, you have coveted after forbidden things, you have looked on women and committed adultery in your heart and thoughts (Matthew 5:28). Even a lascivious glance or a lustful leering of the eye is a sin, a covetous desire is theft, a wrongful anger is murder, all these are infringements of God's divine commands.

The divine Law of God is spiritual, it also deals with your thoughts, desires, imaginations, and secret wishes, as well as your words and deeds. You have spoken evil of others, destroyed their reputation, gossiped and slandered others behind their back. You have defrauded others by trickery in trade, loafing on the job, or being dishonest in your business dealings. No man stands guiltless before the Law of God. You have failed to give God glory in your life (Romans 3:23). You're a very bad person, the Bible calls you a Sinner over and over and over.

What you do best, is Sin. You're a sinner just like everyone else. You're much worse than you could ever understand. But human nature says, "Trust yourself, believe in yourself, you can do it. You're not all that bad. There's nothing you can't be if you just set your mind to it. You can be anything you want to be." But that is all delusion - You can't trust yourself. Why won't you just simply trust Someone who loved you to death? Before you're saved, the more you do to help saved yourself, the more you sin. This is a matter of eternal life and eternal death. Faith is the simple act of forsaking yourself, and implicitly trusting Christ's Person and Precious Blood. Trust the only Giver of eternal life and the only Forgiver of human sin.

A Walk With The Wise Men

A Walk With The Wise Men (Matthew 2:1-11)

The Bible says in Proverbs 13:20, “He that walketh with 'wise men' shall be wise.” Take just a few minutes with me and talk a walk with the ‘wise men’ through Matthew Chapter Two and see if you can gain some true wisdom from them. You won’t be sorry if you follow the wise men, because they end up at the doorstep of WISDOM Incarnate – the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the King that will live forever and ever. In these 11 verses, God calls these men WISE. More than likely they were from Babylon. They were highly educated, stargazers, skilled in science, medicine, math, and philosophy. They were very influential, important, and intelligent. We are not sure exactly how many of them there were. But in Proverbs 4:7, the Bible says, “Wisdom is the principal thing.” We would be wise to follow the wise men’s example. True Wisdom can be learned from the wise men.

If they were the Wise women – they would have probably asked for directions as soon as they left the East, then they would have arrived on time, probably helped deliver the baby Jesus, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, and made Jesus a cute set of clothes to wear. But these were the wise men, so things were different.

Five lessons about wisdom are found in these verses. 
*** LESSON #1 
** They Sought after Christ: 

First, notice their:

** Diligence (Where is He?) They had seen the star, they had set out to find the king, they asked over and over where they could find the King. They traveled over 800 miles, through difficult deserts and over treacherous mountains, amidst bandits and thieves, through the heat, cold, and rain. They were highly intelligent, greatly important, and incredibly wealthy, they could have just stayed in Babylon and waited for the news to come, but no, they wanted to find Him for themselves, they went out and searched for Christ with all their heart. See Jer 29:13; I Chron 16:11; Psa 119:10; Hosea 10:12 (It is time to seek the Lord)

The wise men were consumed, focused, diligent in their quest, they wanted to find Him, they were wise in God’s sight, because they sought His Son. They sought to know God. See Numbers 24:17; Isa 60:3; II Pet 1:19; Rev 2:28; 22:16. The Star of Jacob led them to the bright and morning star.

The angel of the Lord came to the Shepherds in Luke 1. Jesus came to where they were and led them to Himself. He will reveal Himself and make Himself known to you. Jesus will seek you and manifest himself to you, right where you are if you only LET HIM.

If you’re an Architect – He’s the firm foundation.
Baker – Bread of life
Doctor – great Physician
Carpenter – chief cornerstone
Geologist – Rock of Ages
Teacher – master teacher
Florist – rose of Sharon, lily of the valleys
Sailor – Anchor
Soldier – Shield, fortress

The wise men’s question was “Where is He?” Not, could it be? They had Bible faith, and true faith results in action, obedience, and worship.

Now notice in Verse 3 – Herod was troubled, he was a wicked and vicious man. He was greedy, suspicious, and malicious (the three roots of selfishness).

Herod wanted no competition for his throne therefore he killed his wife, he killed his nephew, he killed each of his sons, his mother-in-law, and his mistress because of his suspicions.

Now, Herod hears that there is born a king of the Jews, but that was his title. He is troubled that his kingdom may crumble, and he calls in the chief priests and scribes, the current day Bible scholars. They had the facts and information, but it never got from their head to their heart. They quoted Micah 5:2 to Herod and the wise men.

Here in 2014, some of the men that are most knowledgeable in the things the Bible, take Christ as just a mere subject, He is just information that they know intellectually, and they don’t realize the whole purpose of the Bible is so you can know a PERSON, so you can know JESUS, so you can have a RELATIONSHIP with someone you love, and who loves you, JESUS wants to save you and change your inward nature.

Bethlehem was only five miles south of Jerusalem, but the chief priests and scribes didn’t take the time to go down to Bethlehem to see if it was true. They didn’t want the CHRIST to show up. They were content with their religion – they loved with their position, influence, and money. The king of the Jews would upset their ‘little kingdom of religion’. These religious Jews hear that the Messiah has come from a group of Gentile wise men. The chief priests and scribes knew all the facts in their head, but they had no desire for the Messiah in their heart.

In this day and time we live in, people have heard the glorious gospel of Christ and the message of His Second Coming over and over, they have the all facts in their head, but they are religiously hard and complacent, the glorious gospel of Christ is ho-hum, no big deal. The message that God left heaven and became a Jewish man and lived and suffered in their place is old news This heavenly message puts them to sleep today. And if you mention that Jesus may return at any time, they think you’re ready for a straight jacket and a padded room.

But notice closely, the wise men’s guide to Christ in Verses 5 and 6 (Micah 5:2) – they found Christ through the scripture, they were hungry for Him, and you will only find Christ in God’s word when you get sincerely hungry for HIM.

Now notice, the wise men set out again for Bethlehem (Matthew 2:9), they rejoiced with EXCEEDING great joy (Matthew 2:10), they were getting close to seeing Jesus, they longed for Him, they loved Him and they had never saw Him. The STAR shows up again and guides them all the way to Bethlehem to the little house where Jesus lived. Now understand, sincere hearts get light from God, and good hearts follow the light they are given, and honest hearts will come face to face with Jesus Christ.

I wonder what the wise men expected to find there in Bethlehem. They had already gone to Jerusalem, they had gone to Herod’s palace, what were they expecting to find in Bethlehem when they arrived to see the King of the Jews. When they arrived, all they found was a small house (Matt 2:11). But Jesus’ capital was just an small village, His army and worshippers were nowhere to be found. But this child was the Prince of Peace, He was the Kings of Kings and the Lord of Lords. They wanted to know Christ with all their heart.

*** LESSON #2, the wise men were wise because:
** They Submitted to Christ 

Look carefully in Verse 11 – “and fell down”

The wise men submitted to Christ willingly, they didn’t follow the crowd, they saw Christ and immediately fell down, they didn’t just bow their heads, or bend the knee, they didn’t just bow down, THEY FELL DOWN on the floor with all their high-dollar garb on. They were in the dust at the feet of the King of Kings, THEY FELL DOWN. No one asked them to fall down, their heart’s adoration immediately caused them to fall. This wasn’t just some ‘religious’ exercise; they fell down on their faces at the feet of the young child. Mary and Joseph must have been dumbfounded at this sight. The wise men didn’t fall down at the feet of Herod, but when got into the presence of Jesus Christ, they fell down in holy fear and reverence.

The Christian life is all about submission: to receive Christ you must forsake all other trusts and trust absolutely and submit to Christ Jesus, that is, His precious blood and perfect righteousness, as the ONLY way to Heaven. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The Christian life begins with submission in salvation.

But the second great decision of the Christian life is submission as well – total surrender. When you say, “God, it's not about me, I SUBMIT. Paul said, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” The Christian is all about submission – God changes the course of your life, your ambitions and goals. True revival is casting out the spirit of worldliness, and self-centeredness, and letting Christ and His love triumph in your heart. The wise men, “Jesus, you are our King, we are under you, and we put ourselves in submission to your will and your way. Jesus will exalt us when we submit ourselves to Him.

Next, notice that they just didn’t FALL DOWN, but they also WORSHIPPED HIM.

** LESSON #3 – 
** They Worshipped Christ

Jesus was probably about two years old when the wise men arrived. Notice closely, they did not bow down to Mary, they didn’t worship Mary as a co-redeemer, they didn’t pray to Mary, notice again what the Bible says, “and worshipped HIM.” The Bible says in Acts 4:12, “Neither Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
They fell down on their face and worshipped HIM. Now picture this, the wise men more than likely had their very best robes on to see the King, they had their best shoes on, their crowns, their jewelry, and there in that humble cottage they fall down and worship the Christ child.

These wise men were men of influence, men of prestige, men of incredible means, and they get down on their faces and worship Him. Why did they do that? Because Christ was more important to them than their things, they set aside their prestige, their positions, their accomplishments, and they worshipped CHRIST. That is what worship is all about. When you come to worship Jesus Christ, it is not about the facilities and the surroundings. The wise men could have said, “What is this! We don’t like these surroundings. Who would live in this kind of neighborhood? We don’t like these facilities and we don’t like this environment.” But you see, the WISE men were not focused on the temporal; they were looking on the ETERNAL – the CHRIST child. And when you come to worship Christ, it is not about you and your comforts – IT’S ALL ABOUT HIM! You must lay opinions, prejudices, and agendas down at HIS FEET. They honored Christ for who HE IS - GOD INCARNATE.

** These men were wise because they:  Look on in Verse 11 – “they presented unto HIM gifts.”

*** LESSON #4 – 
** They Sacrificed for Christ

Now notice, before they gave Jesus gifts, they had already given Him THEMSELVES in worship. Your greatest gift to God is your whole life – a living sacrifice. Before God wants to give Him gifts externally, He wants you to give your self to Him. They presented Him their best without reservation. They said, “You are so worthy, you deserve our very best!” They were excited about presenting Christ with gifts. (See Proverbs 3:9) No one begged to do it, this wasn’t proper thing to do, they realized who Jesus was, and they wanted to give Him their BEST. Their treasure was now HIS TREASURE. True worship is when you give what you ‘treasure’ in this life to Jesus Christ. We must give our gifts to the GIVER of all gifts.

Now consider the wise men’s gifts:

* GOLD – this was the gift for kings, it was the most precious and expensive metal.  They were saying with this gift – “You are the King of Kings, you are King in our hearts and lives, we are your servants.”

The second gift was:
* FRANKINCENSE – this was a gift for a priest. It was a perfume from a tree. It was the most expensive of perfumes. It was what the priests used in the tabernacle as they offered up prayers, the sweet odors to the LORD. Frankincense teaches us that Jesus is our great high priest. He makes intercession for us before God the Father daily, and He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Jesus lived here in this flesh and in this world of woe just like us. (See Romans 8:34; Hebrew 3:1; 4:15; 7:25; 9:24; I John 2:1) Jesus who understands us is now our High Priest that represents us continually in the presence of the Father.

Now, notice the third gift:
* MYRRH – This was the gift for the suffering or dying. It was an antiseptic that was used for embalming purposes. It was the most expensive of herbs. Now doesn’t this seem strange as a gift to a baby. It would be like if you had a baby shower for someone, and you brought a casket, a funeral wreath, and some embalming fluid as a gift. They brought myrrh to Jesus – embalming fluid. But Jesus was born to die – the whole purpose that Jesus came into the world was to die for sinners, to seek and save the lost, and rescue them from destruction. You are here to die for us, thank you LORD JESUS.

There is no better sacrifice we can make, than when we sacrifice what is precious to us for Christ.

*** LESSON #5 – 
** They Showed Others Christ

All the people in the New Testament that met Jesus Christ ‘spiritually’ could not contain themselves, they had to make Him known to others. In Luke 2, the Shepherds came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning the child. They had to go tell everyone. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. John wrote in I John 1:3, “That which we have seen and heard DECLARE we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.” John wanted others to have the fellowship with God and Jesus Christ that he so freely enjoyed.

In Matthew 2:10 , the wise men rejoiced with exceeding great joy, they had double joy, they were jumping up and down, doing laps, high-fiving, running, shouting, when they saw the STAR. But when they met CHRIST, they could not contain themselves. When they met Christ, it changed their lives, it changed their heart, and it changed their speech, they could not help but tell someone about Him.

This fact is true throughout the gospels: Andrew could not contain himself after He met the Messiah, he went and found Peter brought Him to Jesus. (John 1:40-42) Shortly after Paul’s conversion, Paul preached Christ straightway in the synagogues, that He was the Son of God. (Acts 9:20) Jesus saved the maniac of Gadara from the devils that possessed him, and the Bible says, “He departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.” (Mark 5:20)

The Leper that was healed by Jesus went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter.” (Mark 1:45) The two blind men that were healed in Matthew 9, right after their eyes were opened, they departed, and spread abroad Jesus’ fame in all that country.” (Matthew 9:30) In Mark 1, Right after the man filled with the unclean spirit was healed the people that witnessed this happen immediately spread Jesus’ fame abroad throughout all the region. Shortly after the woman of Samaria met Jesus at the well, she left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? (John 4:28-29) No one that ever met the Savior, could keep their mouth shut about Him.

When people meet God with their hearts, they go “ANOTHER WAY.” (Matthew 2:12) The wise men didn’t obey what Herod said, they obeyed the warning from God, departed and went to spread the message of the Great King of the Jews to their own country.

The church today needs some wise men and wise ladies that will seek, submit, worship, sacrifice, and show others Christ. Will you be His helper other lives to bring? Will you leave the world’s side and seek the ones for whom He died? Those that would be good must keep good company. The company you keep will determine your character. If you walk with the ‘wise men’, and your daily life will practically show it.

What Happened in Bethlehem?

What happened in Bethlehem-Judah way back yonder 2,000 years ago?  The Holy Bible still says in I Timothy 3:16 that, "God was manifest in the flesh." But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be Ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.  God only became a human being with flesh and blood one time in human history; His name was Jesus of Nazareth, and Emmanuel, God with us.  God is holy and good; and every man is sinful and crooked.  All of us have sinned, and God must punish all sin, and our sins must be paid for by Someone.  Now, Jesus Christ was God and man in one Person. He is the Son of the Highest.  He came to Earth supernaturally and was virgin born as a Jewish baby in Bethlehem-Judah.  He slept on a woman's bosom, and grew up as other children do.  

Christ Jesus became a man in fullness of stature and wisdom, living here on planet Earth which He created in Genesis (See John 1:3).  He lived here for 33 years, always going about doing good.  Men found God here on earth in human form, and their thoughts and ways were full of enmity, malice, envy, and murder towards Him all the days of His life. They hated the Lamb of God without a cause.  But He lived a spotless and sinless life, and loved His enemies to the death.  On the Cross, He said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!"  God was made flesh, crucified for sinners, buried, risen from the dead according to the Scriptures, and now whosoever simply trusts in JESUS' Blood  shall not perish but have everlasting life.  

And then at the last, The great Mediator between God and man laid down His life, and died "the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God," dying in the place of guilty and sinful man, that He might bear man's punishment, that God might be just, and yet the Justifier of the sinner that believeth in Jesus' Precious Blood alone.  Jesus became Sin on the Cross, that you might be made the Righteousness of God through faith in His most Precious Blood.  Behold the Lamb of God which taketh the sin of the world!  The Creator died for sinners on Calvary's Cross, and He was buried for three days, but the grave could not contain Him.  Early in the morning on the third day, the Lord Jesus arose and left the dead, no more to die.    

And behold, now He is alive for evermore. Forty days later, Christ Jesus ascended up into heaven in the presence of His disciples, a cloud receiving Him out of their sight.  This same Man who died upon the tree is now enthroned in the highest heavens Lord of all, and every angel and saint delight to worship Him.  The Lord Jesus Christ, JEHOVAH Himself in human flesh, and was punished for my sins, without the gate in Jerusalem. My Sinless Substitute bled for me, to atone for all my sins. On Earth God in human form dwelt, He bore the burden of human sin and the fierce wrath of God that I deserved, He paid it all for my soul's sake.  He bled out His very life for godless rebels like me.   

Man loves sophisticated religion, it lets him keep wondering and wandering without making a decision about his sin or the Savior.  Man wants to get to Eternity in his own way, not God's way (John 14:6).  The natural man is walking around in a sinful trance, wandering around in spiritual darkness and speculation.  Man hopes for the best, and hunts for truth in all the wrong places.  God will let you have it your way if you don't watch it.  If you don't give Christ all the glory for salvation, you'll have to go to Hell where you really belong.  Leave me in the dark, I don't want my sinful deeds exposed.  Conversion is exposure to the gaze of a holy God.  

Moral darkness and hopeless wandering occurs when you reject the Gospel.  Accept and respect sexual deviancy - this is man's warped way.  If you reject God's moral standard, you will always choose moral darkness.  Man is utterly unable to connect the dots of truth without the help of the Holy Spirit.  Man cannot interpret and understand truth no matter how high his IQ may be.  The man who deliberately shuts his eyes against the light of truth, shall gradually lose the power of seeing the Truth (John 14:6).  Man wants and loves darkness, and one day if he dies in his sins, he will spend Eternity in outer darkness.  Darkness was all around Calvary when Jesus was dying.  Sin always brings darkness.  First an atheist will not see, and then he cannot see.  God sees your heart, and your heart in its sinful state can never make the journey to Heaven.  

Christ Jesus was the Best man who died for the worst men.   You know you're a sinner, you've got that much sense, hopefully.  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  Every atheist is highly interested in himself, because he worships himself, every atheist has a god, he looks at him in the mirror every morning; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.  You need to get ready for life, death, judgment, and Eternity.  Bible Salvation is a sinner coming to God as a SINNER, repenting of his sins, and by faith trusting the Blood of Jesus Christ to take away his sins.  

Bible Conversion is instantaneous, it happens the second you stop trusting yourself, and entirely trust Christ Jesus with your soul.  After conversion, there is a long process of sanctification, growing in grace, but when you get saved from the love of sin, you are saved in a moment.  Right this minute, come by faith as a sinner to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and receive HIM, the living God.  God manifest in the flesh shed His own Blood for your sins.  Believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead.  Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ SHALL be saved from the love and penalty of sin.  

Divine Justice said, “Where is the sinner? I must have him, for he is a sinner, and he must perish.” Then Christ Jesus comes forward, and asks Justice, “Whom do you seek?” “Sinners!” answered Justice. Then said Jesus, “He is not a sinner any more; he was once a sinner, but he is righteous now, he is clothed in My Righteousness.  If you seek the sinner, take Me instead.” “What!” said Justice, “are you the sinner?” “No, not the sinner, but I am the sinner’s Substitute; all the sinner’s guilt has been imputed to Me; all his unrighteousness is Mine, and all My Righteousness is now his; I, the Savior, am the sinner’s Substitute; take Me, and let the sinner go free.” Divine Justice accepts Christ's Substitution and Blood; Justice takes the Savior, crucifies Him, and nails Him to Calvary's Cross. The curse of Sin fell upon the head of Jesus, and the Blessing of God fell upon me for Jesus' sake.

The Lord Jesus Christ was the Incarnate King of Heaven who loved me and gave Himself for me.  Hear the glad tidings, Jesus bore your hell and suffered for your sins so you could be ransomed and rescued by simply trusting in His Precious Blood.  And now, the most reasonable thing you can do is to trust yourself upon His bloody Atoning Sacrifice.  Trust only the wounded Savior, trust in His perfect Atonement - truly He was God manifest in the flesh, He was not a part of God, but Jesus Christ was God in perfection.  He loved you to death.  Christ Jesus, God manifest in the flesh, came into the world to save sinners.  This is why God became a Jewish man.

It's All About the Lamb!

Behold the Lamb of God, 

which taketh away the sin of the world!
The Blood of the Lamb!
The Lamb's Book of Life!
Follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth!  

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain!

Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats.  But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck.  And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the Lord: and Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel; and the Lord heard him.  He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not his mouth: He is brought as a Lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth.

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.  And looking upon Jesus as He walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the Precious Blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:  Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.  How much more shall the Blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?  But this man, after He had offered one Sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.  Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.  And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:  For the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?  The person who rejects or neglects the tender mercy of the Lamb of God will inevitably have to face and endure the wrath of Lamb for all Eternity.  And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame the accuser by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.  And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, thou King of saints.

These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready.  And He saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And He saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.  And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.  And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.  And He shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.   And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him.

Behold the Lamb of God, 

which taketh away the sin of the world!  

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain!

Changing Places With Christ

This marvelous truth of Christ changing places with poor sinners is God's message of mercy. A prisoner is tried, and condemned to death. He is a guilty man; he cannot be justified, because he is guilty. But now, suppose for a moment this happened — that some innocent second party was introduced, who could take all that man’s guilt upon himself, who could change places with that guilty man, and by some mysterious process, which is impossible with men, become that man; or take that man’s character upon himself. The innocent man puts the rebel in his place, and makes the rebel a righteous man.

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

You are standing in a black circle called Sin. Christ is standing in a white circle called Righteousness. Jesus wants to swap places with you, so that you will not have to suffer for your sins against God. You must simply step out of your Sin and into Christ’s Righteousness, and then He will step in your black circle and suffer for your sins. You go free, and He suffers. Do not die standing in the black circle of Sin. If you do, you will be condemned and suffer the wrath of God forever. An exchange must take place, your soul is in danger, swap places with Christ now. You must no longer stand in your sinful self, but in Another.

The law of God is against you, for you have sinned, and are now condemned to die an eternal death; but what if you could change places with Another, who kept the law of God perfectly, and in Whom you could stand lawfully and innocently in the sight of God? What if Christ stood in your place, and you stood in Christ’s place? Then God's law would not condemn you, but it would acquit you; and more than that, it would defend you against all your soul's adversaries. Behold the miracle of mercy! Christ Jesus, the innocent Son of God, died for guilty sinners, that they may be covered with His Righteousness, and accepted in His name. This is the root and marrow of the Gospel: You stand in Christ’s place, because He stood in yours. The Law of God cannot be against Christ, for He fulfilled it, and made it honorable. If you put your trust on Christ alone, the law of God can no longer be against you.

Christ and every sinner must change places before death. There must be a transference and exchange! Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Christ took upon Himself the responsibility for your sin; He stood and was condemned, He died in the sinner’s place; He was punished as if He had committed your sins, though in Him was no sin. The wrath of Almighty God that was due to your transgressions was poured out upon Him when He died on Calvary's Cross. The sword of God's justice that ought to be on the sinner was plunged into the Savior’s heart.

This is the divine plan of God to redeem sinners. The Just dies for the unjust; the offended Judge Himself suffers for the offense against His own law. This is God's matchless plan of salvation. The sinner is lost and hopeless, but God puts Another in his place who is able to bear his sin, and puts the sinner into the place of that Other, Christ Jesus Himself. The Grace of God puts the sinner into the Savior’s place, and God looks upon the Savior as if He had been the sinner, and then upon the sinner as if he had been the Perfect One. Christ and the sinner must change places.

The way that God saves a sinner is not, as some say, by passing over the penalty. No; the penalty has been all paid on Calvary's Cross. It is the putting of Another person in the rebel’s place. The rebel must die. God says he must. Christ says, “I will be Substitute for the rebel. The rebel shall take my place; I will take his.” In God’s infinite mercy, He consented to this arrangement. God said, “Son of My love, you must stand in the sinner’s place; you must suffer what the sinner ought to have suffered, you must be accounted guilty, just as the sinner was accounted guilty, and then I will look upon the sinner in another light. I am the worst of sinners, but Jesus died for me.  I will look at him as if he were the Righteousness of Christ my Son (II Cor 5:21); I will accept the sinner as if he were My only-begotten Son, full of grace and truth. I will give the offender a crown in heaven, and I will take him to My heart for ever and ever.” This is the way that sinners are saved by the grace of God. The Bible says in Romans 3, “Being justified freely by God's grace, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.”

Come to Christ and change places with Him now, confess and acknowledge that your own righteousness is but filthy rags, that there is nothing in you that can merit anything of God; and next, realize that the Lord God has put His dear Son into your place, God has laid on Him your sins, and smitten Jesus with the strokes of divine wrath that ought to have fallen upon your soul; Jesus willingly became your Substitute. You must believe this if you are to be saved. That being done, you must accept what Christ has endured as being done for you, and trust in His perfect Finished Work (Sinless Blood Atonement) with your whole heart.

You must, in fact, change places with Christ; — let Him stand in your place and be reckoned as the sinner, that you might stand in Him, and be looked upon by God as you are like his Son, perfectly righteous and without sin. Jesus clothes himself in your filthy rags, and He puts His royal robes on you. Faith takes the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ by trusting what Christ did and nothing else. God’s plan of salvation is a grand one, and there is no other that can save a lost sinner. This is the one way of life— that you acknowledge yourself to be nothing, and you take Christ to be your everything; — that you, come with only your sins, guilt, and misery, and by a simple act of faith, take Christ to be your Righteousness and your Strength; and this being done, you are accepted in the Beloved forever and ever.

One of two things must happen, either you must be saved without deserving to be saved — saved by the works of Another — or else you must keep the whole law, and inherit heaven of your own right and goodness, but that is humanly impossible, because you’re a sinner. So then, if you are willing to come to Christ, just as you are without any preparation, but just simply as a sinner, then Christ has made atonement for you; your guilt will be put away: God accepts you: you are immediately a pardoned man.

JESUS IS MY RIGHTEOUSNESS

Here is God's plan of immediate Pardon, full Remission, everlasting Forgiveness, the glorious Gospel of the Grace of God, Pardoning Mercy, Free Justification by Faith in Jesus' Precious Blood, and the imputed Righteousness of Christ. I had sinned against God; I did not keep His commandments; I was guilty; God's Holy Law condemned me; I had no good thing of my own; I was nothing but Sin, and I dreaded the eternal penalty that was coming upon me. Sin had completely wrecked my life.  I cannot enter Heaven unless I have a perfect Righteousness. A temporal human righteousness will never satisfy God; I must have Christ's everlasting divine Righteousness. My naked soul needs Christ's divine clothing. I am absolutely certain I shall never have an acceptable righteousness of my own, for I find that I sin every day, but Christ has a perfect Righteousness, and He offers it to me freely.

God Himself became a sinless man, so He could save sinful men. The Lawgiver was born under the Law, and He obeyed every jot and tittle of it.  Every man must have a perfect obedience and Righteousness, or God will never accept him. This kind of divine Righteousness could never be accomplished by a sinner.  Jesus in His earthly life was so righteous, that His life was the Righteousness of God itself. Christ Jesus was Righteousness Incarnate, but He became Sin for me, so that I could be made the Righteousness of God in Him. *II Corinthians 5:21*

Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the Righteousness which is of God by faith. *Philippians 3:8-9* Paul counted all of his own moral righteousness before and after conversion as dung, that is the Bible word for human feces. Dung is always left behind, flushed, or cast away.  No one ever keeps dung around them unless they want to die of infection.  And no wise man wants to keep his own righteousness about him, unless he wants to die in his sins.  Desperate dependence on Christ Jesus for His Precious Blood and Perfect Righteousness will result in Eternal Life being bestowed instantly and freely upon you.

Forsake all trust in everything but Christ Jesus Himself. Self-love, pride, self-righteousness and vanity must all be cast away.  Drop all confidence in yourself immediately.  Place your faith wholeheartedly in Christ's finished work on Calvary, have great affection for Him, and cheerfully submit to Him. The offense of the Cross will cause you to lose your popularity, honor, reputation and credit among worldly men.  Spiritual and saving faith in Christ comes by fixing your trust in His atoning blood. Faith in Christ makes Christ precious to the believer, humbles the soul, provides satisfaction, and gives peace through life, death, and Eternity.  My righteousness is imperfect, filthy, and unprofitable; therefore, I have forsaken it.  All my Righteousness was performed by the Lord Jesus Christ, and I received it freely from Him by faith, without any of my own works.

I despair of ever being able to keep God's divine Law perfectly, for each day I sin in some way or another. I must be clothed, accepted by God, and inherit eternal life by Christ's Righteousness alone. Satisfaction has been offered to God's divine justice for my sins through Christ's sinless Blood. All throughout Christ's sinless life, bloody death, and resurrection here on earth, He was working out a perfect Righteousness for me.  Jesus loved sinners more than His own life.  He saved others; Himself He could not save. God Incarnate loved me to death on Calvary's Cross. I am now perfectly justified in the sight of God only through the Righteousness of Jesus Christ. *Numbers 23:21* I am now received by God as though the works of Christ were my works, and now Righteousness of Christ is my Righteousness. *Romans 4:8* When I received Christ into my heart, His Righteousness instantly made my soul safe forever. *John 1:12*

Christ's perfect obedience and Atoning Blood have taken away the consequences due to my sins. Jesus did bear the penalty of all my sins in His body on the tree. The eternal merit of His Precious Blood takes away my sins, and the infinite merit of His obedience is imputed to me for Righteousness.  God now looks upon me as though Christ's life had been my life.  The Best Robe of Heaven now covers my soul. Christ Jesus in mercy has covered me with His Righteousness, and now God regards me as having kept His Law perfectly, and rewards me for doing so, for Jesus' sake. *Ephesians 4:32*  Come to Jesus now through faith in His Atoning Blood:  At the Cross, there is room for you.

Christ Jesus the Mediator says this, "There sinner, take My garments of Salvation, put them on. You shall stand before God as if you were Me, and I shall stand before God as if I had been the sinner, I will suffer in your place, and you shall be rewarded for My perfect works which you did not do. You will get credit for that which I did for you. Father, consider Me to be the criminal; pass this sinner's death sentence on Me, and let Me die the death he deserves.  Reckon this guilty criminal to be Myself, for he has asked Me for my Righteousness.  I deserve to be rewarded for all that I have done, but reward this penitent criminal as if he had done My good works, and punish Me as if I had committed his sins.  O Father, this guilty sinner deserves to die, but let Me die in His place, and let him be clothed in My Righteousness."

THE LORD JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF IS MY RIGHTEOUSNESS.

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of Salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of Righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. *Isaiah 61:10*

Some Must Be's

And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.  But the scriptures must be fulfilled.  And Jesus said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?  The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.  And Jesus said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning Me.  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.  The Son of man must be lifted up.  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.  For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

Real Worship?

The heathen worship their gods in stadiums all over America every weekend.  A man or woman always "glories" in their god.  To glory means to rejoice in, to devote yourself, get excited about, or go all out for something. Your god is what you get excited about, what you devote your energy, time and money to.  Your god is what you don't mind throwing money at.  Now understand - There is no expense too big for a man's god.  The heathen worship their gods with all their heart, soul, strength and mind.  A man will easily give his worship to what or who he thinks is worthy of his devotion.  They brag about their gods all through the week and cheer earnestly on the weekend.  Their rallying points are stadiums and bars.

In the South, people REALLY worship at football stadiums more than they ever do at churches.  The stadiums are their Meccas; they worship fervently in them or toward them on their day of worship.  Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa is one of the Meccas in Alabama.  Church on Sunday morning is something folks in the South endure, but football games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday are something they enjoy and long for.  They will yell like a Comanche Indian for their football team on Saturday, and then they will sit like a wooden Indian on the pew on Sunday morning, and you don't hear a peep out of them.  You have to hand it to the heathen, they ardently, sacrificially, and diligently worship their gods.

But God forbid that I should GLORY, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We should glory in JESUS, and be determined to know Him, and make Him known, and none but Him. When it comes to Salvation, we should glory in JESUS as our Crucified Creator, and in His finished cross-work; not in the wood of the cross, but in the results of His crucifixion, that is; the finished, full Atonement for human sin; we should rejoice in the peace, pardon, righteousness, life, salvation, and eternal glory, which comes through Christ Jesus' bloody death on Calvary's Cross.  We should always be glorying in the Lord Jesus Christ as our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.  And where will ye leave your glory?  Answer:  Let the Lamb of God be magnified!

Thanksgiving Day Facts

Each Thanksgiving Americans eat approximately 45 million turkeys, spend the afternoon watching football, and blame their drowsiness on the tryptophan from the turkey instead of that third slice of pumpkin pie. Let's take a moment to give thanks for Thanksgiving; and to remember our troops in prayer who are overseas spending Thanksgiving separated from their family and friends.

In 1620, the ship "Mayflower" brought the Pilgrims from Plymouth, England to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It was a 4-masted ship. It was 25 feet wide, and 100 feet long, and weighed around 180 tons. It had three main decks: upper, lower, and cargo.  Steering was done from below deck in the Steering Room.

The passengers lived in the lower deck and rarely went topside.  The "Mayflower"' was built to transport cargo and supplies, not people.  But on September 6, 1620, 102 passengers and 26 crew members left Plymouth, England bound for America.  There were 51 men, 21 boys, 20 women, and 10 girls onboard.  The average age onboard was 32 years old.  The oldest passenger was 64 years old, and the youngest passenger was a baby boy who was born onboard the ship during its voyage; they named the little boy Oceanus.

The Pilgrims were originally headed for the Hudson River in New York, but they were blown off course by storms.  On November 11, the ship dropped anchor.   It took 66 days to complete their 2,750 mile journey to Cape Cod, MA.  Their average speed during the trip was less than 2 mph.  They spent their first winter onboard "Mayflower" while they built their homes. The Pilgrims later settled near Plymouth Harbor.

Only 53 passengers and half the crew survived the first winter. When the weather improved, they established Plymouth. On April 5, 1621, the Mayflower sailed back to England. The colony grew from less than 100 to over 3,000 people over the next 70 years. John Adams, FDR, and Clint Eastwood are all direct descendants of the Mayflower passengers.

To most Americans, the Pilgrims of Plymouth, MA, are the inspiration for today's Thanksgiving feast. After the winter of 1620 killed almost half of their people, the colonists formed a relationship with the neighboring Wappanog tribe who taught them about fishing, planting, and hunting. By autumn of 1621, the colonists had collected enough food to feed the community for the coming winter. The Wappanog tribe joined the colonists for a three-day feast in honor of their bounty. The feast probably did not include our traditional turkey, more than likely the colonists and Wappanogs dined on roast goose and venison, along with corn, squash, pumpkin, nuts, carrots, codfish, clams and lobster. The Indians killed five deer as gifts for the colonists, so venison was on menu as well.

The first Thanksgiving dinner took place in Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts, in October (not November) of 1621.  Fifty English colonists and 90 Wappanog Indian men attended the dinner.  Very few women, if any, were present.  The meeting lasted for three days. It was the harvest season in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and the Puritans threw a harvest festival to celebrate.  The men went ‘fowling,’ that is, hunting wild birds. A large group of Wappanogs brought five deer to the feast. They ate and shot guns.

This 1621 harvest meal is now commonly thought of as the first Thanksgiving. The colonists did not repeat this festival every November.  George Washington advocated for Thanksgiving to be an official holiday on October 3, 1789, and the first National Thanksgiving holiday took place on Thursday, November 26, 1789.  Thanksgiving did not become an annual tradition nationwide until the 19th century.

Yet for later generations of colonists, New England days of Thanksgiving had little to do with the 1621 harvest festival. Theirs was a religious holiday descending from Puritan days of fasting, prayer, and giving thanks to God. Every autumn, the governor of each colony would declare days of Thanksgiving for bountiful harvests, victorious battles, or drought ending rains.

In 1777, the Continental Congress decreed that all thirteen of America's colonies celebrate a national day of thanksgiving that year in celebration of their victory over the British at Saratoga. By the mid-nineteenth century, many states celebrated the holiday; however, the date could vary by weeks or even months. The modern Thanksgiving holiday would not exist if it were not for a young lady name Sarah Josepha Hale.  She was a determined magazine editor who set about establishing the national Thanksgiving Day where all Americans could collectively give thanks to God.  She was inspired to do so after reading a diary of early Pilgrim life and wanted to recreate that first Thanksgiving feast.

Sarah Hale passionately believed that such a day would help unite a nation headed towards civil war. Hale began a one-woman letter writing campaign urging politicians to establish an annual day of thanksgiving. Beginning in 1827, Hale waged a nearly 30-year campaign to make Thanksgiving a national holiday.  She also published recipes for pumpkin pie, turkey, and stuffing. These are now main parts of today's Thanksgiving Day meals.

The holiday didn’t become official until Abraham Lincoln declared it so in 1863. He might have been inspired to do so by magazine editor Sarah Josephna Hale, who suggested that Thanksgiving become a holiday.  Sarah Hale's efforts were finally rewarded by Abraham Lincoln who saw the unifying potential of the holiday. In 1863, four months after the victory at Gettysburg, President Lincoln declared the last Thursday of November to be "Thanksgiving Day".  By the way, Sarah Hale was America's first female magazine editor, and she also authored of the famous poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb."

By the 20th century, Thanksgiving was a welcome day of leisure from a six-day work week. In the 1920's, the National Football League was formed. In an effort to boost attendance, the fledgling Detroit Lions devised the concept of a Thanksgiving Day game and the rest as they say is history.

Parades also became a Turkey Day tradition and department stores quickly saw their value as a kickoff to Christmas shopping season. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade began in 1924 and year after year millions of New Yorkers brave the cold to watch the festivities.  Thanksgiving Day is now the traditional start to the Christmas shopping season.  This month-long shopping spree is crucial to American businesses.  So crucial that in 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the Thanksgiving holiday up a week to increase the shopping season and boost the economy.  The people did not like this, so in 1941, Congress declared the official Thanksgiving holiday to be the fourth Thursday of November.

One of the strangest traditions of Thanksgiving began in 1989 when President George H.W. Bush granted the first official pardon to a turkey. So every November since then, the President has granted a pardon to one or two turkeys sending them into a safe retirement at Mount Vernon.

In case you were wondering, an average of 650 million pounds of turkey is eaten in the U.S. during Thanksgiving. Minnesota leads turkey production, followed by North Carolina, Arkansas, Missouri, Virginia, and Indiana.  The Detroit Lions have been playing football on Thanksgiving since 1934, and the Dallas Cowboys since 1966.  The total average caloric intake on Thanksgiving Day including snacking, main event, dessert and drinks — is about 4,500. For a 180-pound man to burn off the roughly 2,000 extra calories consumed, he would need to walk for five hours, so you better get moving on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Most of all, Thanksgiving is about God and family. With modern life moving faster than ever, Thanksgiving gives us a day to take a well-deserved break to reconnect with loved ones, and remember just how much we have to be thankful for.  Happy Thanksgiving!  God's so good!

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the 

Lord Jesus Christ, 

and to sing praises unto Thy name, O Most High.

God Feeds the Sparrows

The Bible says, Remember the poor, but not the deadbeats and layabouts. He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand.  God feeds the sparrows every day, but the sparrows are always "on the move" looking for their food. God doesn't just drop food in the sparrow's nest. The hungry sparrow has to take the initiative and be diligent to look for his food, and then the Creator faithfully guides and provides for the sparrow. The next time you see a sparrow, notice that he or she is always "on the move", because they want to feed themselves and their babies. Sparrows have more sense, diligence, determination and natural affection than a large number of Americans today.

Faith should never be used as an excuse for idleness.  If you just set back, cross your arms, think others owe you a living, and say, "The Lord will provide"; with that attitude, the Lord will probably provide you with bankruptcy, foreclosure, and repossessions.  Never think that the LORD is ever going to bless laziness and loafing.  God never promised in the Bible to provide for idle slackers or lazy, presumptuous loafers.  Sluggards, shirkers, and good-for-nothing do-nothings will inevitably be in trouble financially.  The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing.  Be not slothful in your daily business; Let not thy hands be slack. 

Jesus said, Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. *Luke 12:6-7*

Wounded for Me

Wounded for me, wounded for me,
There on the cross He was wounded for me;
Gone my transgressions, and now I am free,
All because Jesus was wounded for me.

The Lord Jesus Christ was despised and rejected of men; He was not honored among the men of this world.  Jesus was harmless, sinless, innocent, meek and lowly in heart. His apostles, disciples and audience were fishermen, beggars, publicans and harlots.  Jesus was despised because of His birth, parents, education and outward appearance.  Jesus was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.  His entire life was one long continual string of sorrows.  He faced the hardness and unbelief of men's hearts daily.  He was exceeding sorrowful in the garden of Gethsemane, and on the Cross of Calvary He endured the wrath and justice of God the Father, and endure the pains and agonies of a shameful and accursed bloody death for His enemies' sins.

Jesus bore my sins in His own body on the tree and made satisfaction for them to divine justice.  God the Father collected all of my sins into one bundle and laid them on the Son of God.  The just judgment of God fell upon the Lamb of God - Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.  Chris Jesus was wounded for my transgressions, not for any sins of His own, but for all my sins; for my rebellions against God, my transgressions of the divine law.  Our evil sin nature leads us to go the way of our own choosing and approving, into crooked paths which lead to destruction. We have turned away from God, sinned against Him, become alienated from the life of God, and His justice must now be satisfied, or we must pay for our sins.  Jesus made Atonement and Satisfaction for my sins with His own blood.

My sins were the causes of His sufferings and bloody death.  My sins were taken upon Jesus by Himself to answer for them to divine justice on my behalf.  He loved me and gave Himself for my sins.  The Blood of God manifest in the flesh has freed me from the punishment due to my sins against God.  Christ Jesus was bruised for my iniquities.  He was crushed under the weight of my sin, and the punishment due to it.

On Calvary's Cross, divine justice found my sins on Jesus; my sins were laid on Him by imputation; He voluntarily laid down His life for me; divine justice demanded full satisfaction from Him; the sin debt I owed to God was required of Him; the payment for all my sins was called for and Jesus paid the whole thing and cancelled my sin-debt with His own sinless blood.  The punishment of my sins was inflicted upon Jesus, and my peace and reconciliation with God was made by His atoning blood alone.  The vindictive justice and wrath of God took vengeance on my sins in the person of Jesus of Nazareth on Golgotha.  Jesus' suffering has appeased divine wrath, satisfied justice, and made peace with God for me.  For my transgressions was He stricken.

With Jesus' stripes my sin-sick soul has been healed.  He was beaten black and blue for my soul's sake. Sin is an inward spiritual disease which belongs to all men and women; a natural, hereditary, incurable disease which can only be cured by faith in the Precious Blood of Christ.  The healing of this disease is the forgiving of sins, and this healing is to be had in no other way, than through the wounds, stripes, blood and sacrifice of the dear Son of God.  Christ Jesus is the great Physician of the soul; He heals souls by taking our sins upon Himself, by becoming Sin, and being wounded and bruised for those sins, by enduring the blows from the angry hand of Almighty God, and suffering even death itself for those sins.

Never Ever Trust Yourself

Never ever trust yourself.  Believe that Christ Jesus, God manifest in the flesh, has made a full blood atonement for your sins, rest your soul wholly on His blood with all your weight.  Place faith in the Blood of Jesus Christ; exhibit faith in Him from day to day.  Depending only upon my Crucified Creator.  Growing dependence upon the providence of God, having the confidence to trust Him through persecution and difficulties.  Relying merely upon the Blood and Righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.  To be nothing and let Jesus be Everything, to be still and let Him save my soul freely.  Cast away all of your own righteousness and every self-dependence.  Resting entirely upon the person, blood, and merits of my Lord Jesus Christ.

Are you building upon your works at all?  Are you placing your trust upon the words of man?  Depend alone upon the perfect obedience and precious blood of Christ. My Salvation depends entirely upon the mercy and kindness of my God.  A simple faith in the Blood brings the guilty soul nigh to Christ Himself.  Depend upon His strength, ask for more faith, receive the Spirit of God.  You can never think too well of Christ, or boast too highly of Him.  Put faith in Jesus' ability, not yours.  A sinner resting upon the Crucified Creator as his only Hope is truly blessed.  Keep your faith fixed upon the Atoning Sacrifice of Calvary.

Your dirty hands may drop a letter that is stained into the post office box, but the stains on the letter will not hinder the delivery of that letter, for if there is a stamp on the letter, and it will go to its destination.  Likewise, your dirty hands may drop a prayer before Christ's feet, but a dirty hand will not stop that prayer from being heard if there is this stamp upon the prayer - JEHOVAH JESUS' PRECIOUS BLOOD.  God knows His Son's seal and stamp and only that stamp gives worth to your prayers.  It is only the Blood of Jesus that will carry knee-mail to God's throne on high.  

Faith in Christ must stay simple, depending upon Jesus only, a real active living practical faith, a witnessing faith, a purifying faith, a faith which worketh by love for Jesus' sake.  I trust my soul solidly on Jesus.  Trust Jesus as your personal sin-bearer, taking away all your iniquities.  Look to Jesus bleeding as the Substitute for sinful man.  Put all your dependence upon what He did, upon who He is, upon what He does and will do.  Always remember - Never ever trust yourself. 

Have done once and for all with self-righteousness and yourself, and rest with childlike confidence upon the finished work and Righteousness of Christ Jesus the Lord.  Believing is to trust your soul with the Lamb of God.  Faith in the Blood is the way to come to Jesus.  Coming to Jesus means laying hold upon Jesus with the hand of faith, looking only to Him for eternal life, free pardon, immediate salvation, and for everything your soul needs.  Salvation is to be delivered from divine wrath and the power of your natural sinful passions.  Faith in the Blood is the connecting link between the lost soul and the living Christ.  Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ will save your from Hell; to be assured of your Salvation will give you a heaven on Earth.  Shall your will stand, or God's will?  Christ is the Way you must walk, the Truth you must believe, and the Life you must receive.  

Apart from Christ, we will wither spiritually like the branch that is severed from the vine.  Faith in Christ is the sap we draw from the True Vine which gives us His strength, life, and fruit.  Oh God, do your work, for You alone can do so effectively and effectually.  The great magnet of Gospel attraction  is Christ Jesus Himself.  Turn your heart's eyes to the Cross, see your Creator bleeding His life away to pay for your sins' penalty.  Faith is the oil which feeds the burning lamp.  Faith is needed by the Christian like a car needs gasoline; faith gives us the energy to get down the road for our God.  

Hell is sin on fire; if you will not let go of your sins, you will have to burn with them.  Just like a foolish man who is so worried about his temporal belongings that he kills himself by trying to save a few of his favorite trinkets, and winds up dying in a house that is on fire.  Escape from your sins before they burn you forever.

Is your soul resting and depending on the Lord Jesus Christ's Precious Blood with all your heart?  Christianity is being close to Christ, an intimate relationship with His person, a sole dependence upon His merit, studying closely His character, desiring to commune with the Holy Spirit, looking to Jesus with eyes of faith.  Cultivate a dependence upon Jesus' power and presence.  Wait upon Jesus for strength and joy.  Cultivate carefulness in regard to God's will for your life.

A simple childlike faith which rests entirely upon what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for sinners.  Confidence in the goodness of God, a believing trustfulness in the good, great God.  Put your own will in subjection to divine grace - the will and desire of God.  More faith in Christ is the grand cure for spiritual weakness and apathy.  Faith is the lily's root, and love is the lily's bloom and fragrance.  Secret faith is the root of public piety and purity.  Faith is the root, prayer is the stem, and love is the bloom.

Turn to Jesus and be joyful; if you will turn away from Jesus, you will be unhappy.  The Holy Spirit makes a Christian in such a way that you cannot sin and be happy.  Sin and sorrow go together.  If you will have sin, you must have sorrow (guilt, emptiness, misery, wretchedness).  Turn from sin to Jesus while you may.  In hell there will be turning from sin, where the die is cast, and the road is chosen.  Sin always leads to misery.  To love God is Heaven, to hate God and love sin (immorality, dishonesty) brings Hell.

Eternal life never depends upon what we do, we need fresh spiritual help from above hourly.  We need to spiritually download more faith from God to give us the strength we need to please God in this life.  Leave the broken cisterns of religion, and come to the Water of Life Himself for a drink.  Utter, absolute dependence upon the presence and blessing of God, and sincere, childlike faith in the risen Savior is key.  Confidently depend the Spirit of God to help you in times of difficulty.

Depend upon the watering of the Spirit of God, the soul needs to be watered continually by the grace of God.  The preaching of the Cross draws and saves the sinner.  Christ's soldiers wear His uniform and crest, His crest is the Cross, the shield of faith, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  Believing dependence upon Jesus, the living God, and earnest labors in the Gospel are sure to receive God's blessing.  Put down sin, and lift up Christ, and Joy will surely follow.  In all our efforts, always depend upon the Spirit's divine power and influence.

The way of Salvation is just this - resting alone upon Christ Jesus Himself, depending wholly upon His Blood.  Neglecting Christ is the great damning sin of lost mankind.  Have done with trusting and depending upon your own merits.  Take Christ's works and merits.  More confidence in the power of the Holy Spirit, more dependence in the consoling presence of Jesus Christ.  Free pardon for all of your sins, justification faith in His Atoning Sacrifice, irreversible eternal life through trust in His bloody death.  Acceptance with God depends solely upon simple faith in Jesus' Precious Blood.  I am presently depending upon the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ as my only Confidence. Trust in Jesus is the fruit of the fear of God.

Christ-less, self-righteous religion is the most deceptive thing that ever came out of hell.  For the record - I still believe in Christ Jesus and His bleeding love, no matter what this present evil world may say or think about Him.  Trust Christ with your soul's eternal interests.  Simply hang upon Jesus as a coat hangs upon a nail, having no other dependence.  Christianity is to be Christ's servant; to do His bidding; to be His friend; to find your best delight in fellowship with Him.  If you are guilty and defiled within, come now to the Cross by faith and freely receive Christ's Righteousness as your righteousness, and His Precious Blood for your cleansing.

Jesus is the Lord of my heart, the Guide of my actions, and the Delight of my soul.  The Spirit of God is my Life as a believer in Christ here on Earth -- Prize the Holy Spirit beyond all price; look to Him with bowed head and reverent awe; rely upon Him with childlike, loving confidence; obey His faintest promptings; neglect not His still, small voice and inward whispers; seek His instruction and correction in the words of God; be ready to do His bidding; seek to know His will; ask Him questions; let His will be your law, not your own judgment and thoughts.  The Holy Spirit and His fruit is the credentials of the Christian.  Never ever trust yourself.