Persuaded and Directed

And Abraham said unto the rich man in hell, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. And Paul reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. And Paul went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. And when they had appointed Paul a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that Christ Jesus is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct. Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being His counsellor hath taught Him? Now God Himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you. And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!

Here is the tender persuasion and direction of the Gospel: You have absolutely nothing to do in the matter of your Salvation, but to humbly accept in faith the one sinless offering made once for all by God manifest in the flesh - Jesus Christ. Cast your deadly doings down at the foot of His Cross; cease from all your own works; cease from your own righteousness; cease from resting in your religious performances. Cease from all this, and in simple faith accept, receive, take hold of, the Divine finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. God wants no sacrifice from you; God asks for no other atonement but His Son's; God looks for nothing on your part to propitiate His wrath towards you, or present you with acceptable in His sight. The Lord God is only satisfied with the Divine finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, with His sinless obedience, and with His Precious shed blood. And now if you sense the burden of sin on your soul, and abjure and renounce all your own doings, and rest in the finished work of the Lamb of God — the one eternal redemption that Jesus has offered, God the Father will love and embrace you, and take you into an everlasting covenant. All is done! Christ Jesus has done it all, Christ has suffered all, and all He asks you is in faith to receive His glorious and sinless blood sacrifice; simply believe in *Him*, and be saved now.

Christ Jesus' sinless blood Atonement is finished and whosoever tries to add to that must surely expect eternal doom. You cannot make recompense for your sinful offenses. “It is Finished.” The recompense for all human sin has been made already at Calvary's Cross by the Lamb of God. You can never gain a righteousness in which God will accept such a wretch as you. “It is Finished." A perfect Righteousness has been wrought out already by God's Son and is now available to you as a Free Gift if you will take it without any payment of your own. You have no need to trouble yourself about adding to Christ's Righteousness. "It is Finished." Jesus came to save poor despairing wretches that deserve death and damnation. You cannot escape from sin, and you cannot be saved from its punishment in your own goodness. Dear Sinner, the way of salvation has already been finished once for all.  Simply trust to Christ's Finished Work and your soul is eternally safe.

Human nature hopes that God will accept it, if it does some things, forgetting that the way of acceptance with God is already finished. God does not accept men because of any anything they do or feel, but simply and only for what Christ did for them on Golgotha, and that is finished. Let not your heart be troubled - Jesus has done it all. Human nature thinks that you must be this, and attain to that, and then you may be assured that you are saved. But you can only be assured of Salvation - if you simply believe in what Christ Jesus has done for you long ago on Calvary's Cross. You are full of imperfections, but God does not regard your imperfections, but He covers them all with Christ’s righteousness and justifies the ungodly freely for Jesus' sake. You cannot be what you should be, yet God does not look at you, as what you are in yourself, but as what you are in Christ.