The Pure Gospel 2

The very center of Biblical Christianity is the Cross of Christ.  God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Christ Crucified must be kept to the front for us sinners are so forgetful.  This is why we must continually set Christ's Atoning Sacrifice before the minds of men by communicating the Gospel to them.  The salvation of a sinner lies wholly in Christ Jesus Himself.  Christ's Humanity, Christ's Deity, Christ's Blood Atonement, Christ's Resurrection from the dead, Christ's imminent Return.  There is in Christ all that a sinner really needs.

Only the Lord Jesus Christ Himself can meet all the spiritual needs of sinful mankind.  He satiates the weary soul with His goodness, and replenishes every sorrowful soul.  Christ will never save any man until he receives Jesus by an act of faith in His Precious Blood.  How can a thrice-holy God  be just and yet freely pardon a sinner like me?  Answer:  God manifest in the flesh bleeding and dying on the Cross instead of me.  Sinners need the Gospel before anything else.  My sins were punished on Christ, and as I see the agony and grief that Jesus endured there on Calvary on account of my sins, I can see the awful evil of my sins.

A baby doesn't have to be taught to drink or eat.  All you have to do is put food to a baby's mouth, and he begins to eat it, because of his appetite.  Even a blind, or deaf, or illiterate man can eat.  Likewise, all you have to do with Jesus is receive Him inwardly by faith.  You can never take Christ away from the soul that has fed upon Him by faith.  The only real food for the needy soul is Jesus Himself.  Receive Christ spiritually into your heart.  The only way we can get spiritually stronger is to feed spiritually upon this truth - God manifest in the flesh died to atone for our sins on Calvary's tree.  Let your heart, soul and mind feed upon Christ Himself spiritually, and upon what He has done for you on the Cross.  Meditate much on the Mediator.  There is the Savior, I take Him, that is all.  Christ crucified for me; Christ received by me.

Are you a true believer in Jesus?  Has He forgiven all your sins freely through His atoning blood?  It is a very simple thing to trust to Jesus.  If you are willing to have Jesus, you can have Him right now on the spot.  Your first business must be with Christ Himself, so go directly to the Cross and put your trust in Him.  Believe on the Lamb of God to the saving of your soul.  The act of trusting in Christ with all your heart makes Christ your own.  Jesus' bloody death puts to death our sins and self-righteousness.  Here is the main business - Look to the Lamb of God till your heart breaks over sinning against Him, and then begin to hate and forsake those sins for Jesus' sake.  The bloody death of the Son of God is the great sin-killer.  Stop seeking self-salvation; for your Salvation lies in Another Person, and Salvation can only be found in and received from the bleeding Lamb of Calvary.  Look wholly out of yourself, and entirely to the sinless Blood Sacrifice which was offered up by Jesus Himself on Calvary.

Believe and receive this wondrous scriptural fact - God Himself was here on Earth among men in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, and He laid down His life as a Sacrifice to make Atonement for your sins.  The wounds of Christ can quieten an accusing conscience; the bleeding God can satisfy a condemning Law; the Precious Blood can make unbelief vanish away; come now to the Cross and expose your old sins to the Crucified Creator, and they will be driven away as well.  The most vital of all truths is God Incarnate's Precious Atoning Blood.  Without shedding of blood is no remission, and the shed Blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin.  Salvation is a personal matter - if Christ ever saves you, you must personally seek and trust Him for yourself.  Is your faith genuinely rooted in the Atoning Blood of God manifest in the flesh?  Sinner friend, be wise, simply believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, trust to Him implicitly.

The Lord Jesus Christ was born at Bethlehem-Judah, and lived here on Earth as a poor Jewish peasant, and in due time He suffered, bled, died, and gave His life a Ransom for us all.  God came here to Earth in human flesh and bled and died for our sins; He died and bore the vengeance due to our guilt, and the punishment which our transgressions had incurred.  God Incarnate suffered in the sinner's place.  The very heart of the Gospel is the Atoning Blood of God manifest in the flesh. Christ's finished, perfect Atoning Sacrifice for sinners is the very essence and life of the Gospel.  Christ Jesus must be received by faith into our hearts. We must believe that His bloody death was really for us; we must personally appropriate that Atoning Sacrifice as our own; we are to trust in it; we are to live spiritually upon the Lamb of God.  As many as receive the Lord Jesus Christ, to them He gives the power to become the sons of God.  Only Jesus' blood has the power to take away and forgive human sin forever.

The Lamb of God loved me, and gave Himself for me.  Jesus suffered a violent and vicious death for the sins you commit from day to day.  Christ has once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God; who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree.  God the Father was well pleased with the sinless Sacrifice which His Son offered on Calvary.  It is finished!  Come to the Cross, trembling at God's words, forsaking your sins, believing on Jesus' blood, rejoicing in His Sacrifice, and being grateful for His Bleeding Love.  Come and trust Him all over again, come and give yourself over to Him once again.  All my trust for Salvation rests in Jesus' Precious Blood.  Look unto Jesus now - You must look to Him one day, either with repentance and faith here in time, or else with terror and despair out in Eternity.  Choose now which it shall be for you.  Will you take Jesus as your Savior, or as your Judge?  If you are presently a Christ neglecter or rejecter, you are presently God's enemy and abide under the wrath of God.

The natural unregenerate man habituates himself to foul and degenerate thoughts and behavior, and addicts himself to the devil's bait.  The dark place called Calvary gives us light, the bloody death of the Savior gives us life, His agony and wounds bring us peace within, and His torture gives our soul Rest.  Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.  The hearing of Faith is the Gospel way.

Think much of God Incarnate suffering on account of your sins.  He poured out His soul unto death for you; think about the anguish and bloody sweat of dark Gethsemane; the scourging of Gabbatha;  and how He gave His back to the smiters, and His cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; He hid not His face from shame and spitting.  Contemplate the cross and nails he bore; His grief of being forsaken; His anguish of thirst, the bitterness of scorn, the torments and throes of death; He endured all of this on account of your sins against God.  Great sinners need a Great Savior with a great pardon.  By a distinct act of personal faith, take Jesus to be yours.  Simply take Christ, and trust to His finished cross-work; and He will become one with you; you will become one with Him; your life will be hid with Him; and because He lives, you shall live also.

Simply take what Christ offers freely to unworthy sinners. You must come to Christ first as a sinner, just as you are.  Ponder the Redeemer.  Study the Savior.  Contemplate the Cross.  Think deeply on Lamb of God.  Meditate on His great Atoning Sacrifice by which your sins are put away forever.  Come unto Jesus, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and He will give you Rest.  Come to Jesus by trusting with all your heart in His Atoning Sacrifice for your sins.  Believe that Jesus died for your sins, according to the Scriptures; put your confidence in His bloody death and resurrection as making Reconciliation for you before God.  Personally avow, that is, declare inwardly and openly, your own personal faith in His Blood.  The great central truth of the Gospel is this - God's divine justice was vindicated by the bloody death of His dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and because of that, Free forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus' blood is now offered by the grace of God to every sinner on the face of the Earth.

Christ liveth in me, and the love of Christ constraineth me.  Belief in the Gospel should make us upright in our conduct toward others, and constrain us to fear and please God in all that we think, say and do.   The Holy Spirit must impart to you the inward and spiritual grace to help you live a life pleasing to God.  Religion will make you religious; Christ Himself will make you spiritual - helpful, gracious, humble, merciful, thoughtful, watchful, thankful.  How is your soul prospering?  We love Jesus, because He first loved us.  Now remember - Jesus was despised and rejected, and if you keep company with Him, you should expect to be despised and rejected as well.  The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.  What can I do now to show my gratitude to the one Person who loved me enough to die for my sins?