I Like The Sound of That

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. *I Timothy 1:15*

Ye must be born again. *John 3:7*

But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.  *Romans 4:5*

Christ died for the ungodly.  *Romans 5:6*

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. *Revelation 22:17*

We love Him, because He first loved us. *I John 4:19*

He is not here: for He is risen, as He said.  *Matthew 28:6*

Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth:  Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously:  Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree. *I Peter 2:22-24*

Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. *I Corinthians 15:3-4*

For this He did once, when He offered up Himself. *Hebrews 7:27*

Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. *John 1:29*

Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own Blood. *Revelation 1:5*

If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous:  and He is the Propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. *I John 2:1-2*

Whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation through Faith in His Blood, to declare His Righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God. *Romans 3:25*

Jesus saith unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. *John 14:6*

When Jesus heard it, He saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the Physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. *Mark 2:17*

For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. *I Thessalonians 4:16-17*

For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave Himself a Ransom for all, to be testified in due time. *I Timothy 2:5-6*

Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:  And by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. *Acts 13:38-39*

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. *Acts 4:12*

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. *John 3:16*

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. *Titus 3:5*

Herein is Love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the Propitiation for our sins. *I John 4:10*

But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the Blood of Christ. *Ephesians 2:13*

Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. *I Peter 3:18*

In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. *Colossians 1:14*

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 3:9*

And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? *Luke 7:42*

For God hath made Jesus to be Sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the Righteousness of God in Christ. *II Corinthians 5:21*

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me. *Galatians 2:20*

All that the Father giveth me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out. *John 6:37*

And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. *Romans 11:6*

Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. *Matthew 11:28*

But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for Righteousness. *Romans 4:5*

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.  Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. *Isaiah 55:1-2*

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. *I Peter 1:18-19*

And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. *I John 5:11-12*

For by Grace are ye saved through Faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the Gift of God:  not of works, lest any man should boast. *Ephesians 2:8-9*

For the preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. *I Corinthians 1:18*

For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich. *II Corinthians 8:9*

The Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. *I John 1:7*

But God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. *Galatians 6:14*

When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It Is Finished: and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost. *John 19:30*

He is not here: for He is risen, as He said. *Matthew 28:6*

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? *Hebrews 9:14*

And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. *Philippians 2:8*

And, having made peace through the Blood of His Cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself. *Colossians 1:20*

Much more then, being now justified by His Blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. *Romans 5:9*

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. *Acts 16:31*

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.  The words can't be found to tell you what Jesus has done for this soul of mine. 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*

What do you underscore?

We tend to speak one way and live another.  The hardest thing to do is to coordinate what we say with what we do.  We praise God, and then curse and slander men.  The hardest job in this world is to be a consistent, practical, reasonable, sensible Christian.  It's much easier to talk than to do.  It's easy to talk pious and not be pious.  When a man starts talking really pious, that is a cover-up process.  Religious arrogancy stinks in the nostrils of God.  Do you practice self-control, self-restraint - resisting and denying your sinful thoughts, words, and impulses?  The Holy Bible plus the Holy Spirit equals steady moral character.

The real test of your spiritual life is what you underscore.  One of the surest signs that you're a Pharisee is when you underscore a nonessential and fail to underscore an essential.  A Pharisee (religious narcissist) will underscore his denomination or his dress code all the time.  The Pharisee is a rigid religionist with a grandiose notion of self-worth; he lays religious burdens on men's shoulders which are grievous to be borne. The Pharisee does works to be seen of men for they seek men's approval and applause.  The Pharisee is a very cold technical conviction-ite.  He will backbite and slander those that don't follow his nonessential convictions.  A conviction-ite is an arrogant religionist who tries to play god in other people's lives by manipulating them with superstition, fear, guilt and his do's and don'ts.  The religionist has a proud heart and a high look and he thinks he's superior to others spiritually.

Human nature tends to talk and not do.  A man that expects to get to heaven by any of his self-righteousness is a lost hypocrite.  Do you talk better publicly than you live privately?  The Pharisees were whited sepulchers full of dead men's bones.  They looked good, they talked pious, but they were rotten and corrupt inside.  Don't put on, don't strut, don't talk better publicly than you live privately.  Life is not divided from the secular and sacred; live the same way Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, as you did on Sunday.  A crooked man kowtows to those over him, and is unkind to those that are subject to him.

Are you as good as you claim to be?  Be not deceived, God is not mocked:  God knows all about you; you can't fool Him at all.  Do you talk better than you live?  Sin is an evil thing that will damn your soul to hell.  America has forsaken God and the Bible and is now morally bankrupt. The religions of today speak of a Jesus that is not in the Bible, a Jesus that is trimmed down to suit this sinful age. Repent, Come clean with God, get right with Him, and by the grace of God live clean for Jesus' sake.

The Old *CHRIST*mas Story

The Holy Bible is a book entirely about The Lord Jesus Christ - in the Old Testament He is predicted from Genesis 3 to Malachi 4,  in the Gospels He is revealed, in the Acts He is preached, in the Epistles He is explained, and in the book of Revelation He is expected.  The Gospel is simply this - God Incarnate, Christ Jesus, offered Himself up as an Atoning Bloody Sacrifice for human sin, so that sinners could be saved from divine justice freely by the grace of God. 

Christ Jesus created, owned and ruled the entire universe, but He was born in a cattle-shed in Bethlehem-Judah 2,000 years ago.  The Bread of Life was born in the House of Bread. In the stable that night, it was cold, dark, and damp, they were surrounded by the stench of animals and manure. The inn was overcrowded that night; there was no room for Jesus. The hearts of men are overcrowded today; there is still no room for Jesus. Jesus’ first crib was a borrowed feed trough. The animals there in the stable that night loaned their home to their Creator. Jesus stooped very low to die for despicable sinners like us. Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich. He humbled Himself and put on the rags of humanity. He lived a life of abject poverty, submission, subjection, perfect obedience, and selfless love. He was born to be the final sacrificial Lamb for the sins of the whole world.

Christ Jesus, the King of Heaven, left glory and His royal throne on purpose. He was born to die so that sinners could be saved from God’s wrath and have eternal life. He came from Heaven to earth, so we could go from earth to Heaven. He was born of a Jewish peasant, a virgin named Mary; He was born so low and destitute. He went from riches to rags, so we could go from rags to riches. He borrowed everything He had through life. The holy child Jesus was nursed by Mary, and baby Jesus learned to walk and talk just like we did. God Himself became a poor man. The Infinite became an infant, The Holy One of Israel became a human, the Most High God became a man, and the Creator became a creature. Immanuel, God with us, came to this sin-cursed earth to die so we could be with God in Heaven. Jesus carried the rugged Cross from Pilate’s judgment hall through the streets of Jerusalem as the cruel mob hooted at Him. He was brutally nailed to the Cross; the soldiers nailed Him there in your place, so you could be saved by God’s redeeming grace.

There on the dark hill called Calvary, Jesus willingly bled and died for dying sinners. No greater love for mortal man has ever been known. The heart of the Atonement is that the pure, spotless, sinless Savior bore our sins (John 1:29) and became Sin for us (II Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13). He suffered the wrath of God that was poured out on human sin when He was nailed to the Cross for hours and hours and then at the last, He cried, “It is finished.” Christ on the Cross was the bleeding God dying in the place of sinful man. Jesus satisfied the justice of God and paid your sin-debt in full. Then they took down His broken body from the tree and carried Him away and placed Him in a lonely, stone-cold tomb. The Jewish and Roman authorities thought they done away with Jesus once and for all. But three days later, on the most glorious Sunday morning ever, the stone was rolled away and the Lord Jesus Christ arose victoriously over death and hell. Then forty days later, Jesus ascended into Heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

The Word was God and He was made flesh; the eternal God condescended to earth. (John 1:14) Christ was more than just a baby in a manger that people think about at Christmas and Easter, He was fully God and fully man. Christ is both God and man, and He is the only One able to reconcile your soul to God. Christ represents us as a man and redeems us as God. (See Matthew 1:18,23; Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:31-35; I Timothy 3:16). Christ’s sinless obedience to the law of God and His atoning blood sacrifice as a man was required to redeem sinful, fallen man. Jesus Christ was born sinless and lived a sinless life, and then He suffered the death penalty for the whole world through His bloody death, and then He came back to life and gloriously resurrected. Jesus bore the wrath of God for your human sin. Your sins are infinite because they were committed against an infinite God and it would take an infinite amount of time to pay the penalty, so God became a man to bear the weight of your sin against an infinite God. Only God could pay this infinite penalty - Christ was fully God and fully man.

Christ Jesus came to earth to bear the sins of the whole world, it pleased the Father to bruise Christ, God laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all, you sins were placed upon Him, Christ bore in His human body on the Cross your weight of sin. He was wounded for your transgressions; He was bruised for your iniquities. Eternal Death was the wages due for your sin, and He paid the death penalty that your sins deserved, He bled and died for you personally. Because Christ is God, He was able to pay the penalty for all your guilt, and then He rose from the dead, and now He offers to you to full and free forgiveness of sins and eternal life freely. Jesus offers salvation freely only to ungodly sinners, to all hopeless wretches that stop trusting themselves and what they are doing, and trust completely in His penalty-paying sinless, blood sacrifice to save their soul.

Christ came to bleed for your sins and die the death you deserved for sinning against a holy God. The Lawgiver came to die for the lawbreakers. For God so loved the world of sinful men that He gave His only Son on Calvary’s Cross. He came to bring God’s bleeding love and the new birth to fallen man. Jesus was born to die on Calvary’s Cross for us vile and rebellious sinners, He was born to set sinners free, Jesus was God Himself in human form with God’s blood flowing through His veins. The death of Christ the Lord was for your immortal soul. It took God’s divine love to save helpless and ungodly sinners like us.

Now, Jesus will save all sinners to the uttermost that come unto God through Him. We deserve to be damned; we have willfully and wickedly offended and sinned against God. We cannot help save ourselves. We can only ruin and imprison our souls, but we could never rescue and redeem our souls. Your sins cannot escape unpunished, so let Christ answer for your sins. Christ Jesus is living right now and is seeking you. Most sinners today either hate Christ or ignore Him, but few trust Him. The very wisest thing you can do is seek mercy from Jesus Christ in prayer. “Great God, save me, I'm a self-ruined sinner! Save me, forgive me, have mercy upon me! I renounce all my merits for I have none; I deserve to be lost and damned; but Lord, please save me now, for Christ’s sake.”

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.

Where is He?

The incarnation of the invisible Creator is one of the greatest miracles in human history, but you rarely hear it mentioned in Christian circles today.  Celebrate in your heart that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; the Creator God became a Jewish baby in Bethlehem-Judah named Jesus of Nazareth, so that He could make a sinless Blood Atonement for human sin.

The birth of Immanuel, God with us, was revealed to lowly Jewish shepherds and to the Gentile wise men that came from the east.  The shepherds were poor and unlearned men, but they believed the angels' message long, long ago.  The shepherd hearkened and hastened to Bethlehem to see the newborn King of Israel.  The Pharisees, the scribes, the chief priests (the religious crowd) were not aware that the prophecy of Jesus' birth was actually being fulfilled that night.  The wise men were looking for Jesus; they believed that the Christ of God had been born, and that He was born a King.  The unwise Pharisees did not.  The people who sincerely desire to know Jesus have always been a small crowd.  As then, sinful mankind is still careless and thoughtless when it comes to the Lord Jesus Christ.  Is it nothing to you that Jesus was virgin born, lived a sinless life, suffered and bled to death as the Atonement for human sin (especially yours), and then rose from the dead the third day?  Jesus is still despised and rejected of men.

The Lord Jesus Christ came from Heaven to save you from the love and practice of your sins.  He came to redeem you from Satan and sin's power after you had gone astray.  Your soul will soon pass into another world called Eternity, and it will surely be lost forever except the Holy Spirit give to you His divine light.  The wise men saw His star.  Just like the star that shined in the sky that night, you need heavenly light, or you will never find Christ Jesus for yourself.  The Gospel star shines brightly today and points needy souls to Jesus today.  The wise men saw His star and followed it until they actually met Christ personally. They went to Jerusalem, and then Bethlehem, and then to Jesus' house, and then fell down at the feet of Jesus Himself.  Lay hold on Jesus and eternal life for yourself by personal and actual faith in His Blood.  They didn't worship the star, they wanted to find the One who created all the stars.  Nothing else or no one else but Jesus Himself, the King of the Jews, could satisfy the wise men.  No star or heavenly sign can my soul's desire fill, for Jesus, my Lord, my King divine, my soul is thirsting still.

Jesus loved me and gave Himself for me; He is all my Salvation and all my Desire.  The wise men came to Jesus (a young child), they worshipped Him, and they gave to Him gifts out of their treasures.  *Matthew 2:8-11* They saw Jesus with their own eyes. They were looking at the Incarnate God who made the heaven and the earth.  They didn't worship Mary at all.  Look to Jesus now, think of Jesus with fixed and continuous thought; keep Him before your mind's eye; consider and admire His birth, life, and bloody death; for your Salvation the Word was made flesh; His conception was of the Holy Ghost; He is God and man in one person; JEHOVAH became a Jewish baby for your sake; He is the spotless Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world; He is the sinless Substitute for sinners; He is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him; He will save any contrite sinner who relies completely on Him; God became a Jewish man in the person of Jesus of Nazareth; He who made the heaven and the earth was born of a Jewish virgin; He who was sinless became Sin for me that I might be made the Righteousness of God in Him.

When you obtain the knowledge of your ignorance of Christ Jesus, you are getting every so close to the doorstep of Mercy.  If you ever actually realize you are blind spiritually, then you may be made to see.  If you want to find the Savior and have all your sins forgiven and be reconciled to God through the Blood of Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh; then you are starting to get closer to the door of Mercy which is always unlocked.  You will never know Christ Jesus in truth until the Holy Spirit teaches Him to you.  Salvation and the New Birth must be given to you from above.  You need to be taught, guided and regenerated by the Holy Spirit.  Diligently and eagerly enquire for help from the Holy Spirit, ask Him to illuminate, lead and quicken your dark, lost soul. Ask for more and more heavenly light as you seek out Jesus in God's words.  Your own fallen intellect and unaided human reason can never help you find the Savior.  Stop trifling with religion, and now with intense earnestness trust to the Precious Blood of Christ. After you know Jesus in truth, worship Him by giving Him yourself, your body and life, your tongue and hands, your heart and mind, your talents and substance.  The love of Christ should constrain us to do so.  When a man begins to love Christ, he will soon be finding some way and means to prove his love and gratitude for the Savior by some good work.

Where is He?  The only reason you have not found Christ Jesus is because you have never sincerely and importunately sought Him. Jesus is the heavenly Physician who can heal your soul of all it spiritual diseases. The Forgiveness of Sins is something that nothing in this world can buy; only Jesus' Blood could purchase the forgiveness of your sins; that is called Redemption.  The day you are born again into the kingdom of God is a day you'll remember all through your life. With simplicity and sincerity, simply ask for the free forgiveness of sins through His Precious Blood, and ye shall receive it; Seek Jesus, and ye shall find Him; Knock on His door, and it shall be opened unto you.  On bended knees before an open Bible, say, "Holy Spirit, I need Your help, teach Thou me, show me my sins, help Thou mine unbelief, help me to understand, awaken my conscience, quicken my spirit, reveal to me the Savior found in the Scriptures, give me faith to believe on Him, I must have Jesus as my own Sin-Bearer, I mean to have Him, my soul is very hungry and needy, I will not be satisfied until Jesus saves my soul, I need Life, I can't stand my sins any longer, I long to be saved by Jesus now."  

Be a wise man here in 2015, 

and be looking earnestly for His Second Coming.

The Peace of Mind

When you get right down to it, every man and woman on this Earth is looking for peace of mind.  Here are a few words and thoughts from God's words to help you find peace of mind in this chaotic world today.  Peace is what you need inside.  Tune out the worldly clatter, and turn down the religious chatter; and let your mind and soul focus in on this one thing - Peace with God and the Peace of Mind that comes only by the Free Forgiveness of Sins through faith in the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Your must urgent need is peace with God through the Blood of the Cross. Be wise now, forget about all the religious nonsense and ensure that your sins are forgiven before your soul exits out of this world into Eternity.  The mind of Christ leads to peace of mind, mark it down, get it straight, nothing else works.

The Prince of Peace + peace and quiet =
The Peace of Mind

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. The Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:  The Lord Jesus Christ lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.  Acquaint now thyself with the Lord Jesus Christ, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.  I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord Jesus, only makest me dwell in safety.  The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.  Fear God, depart from evil, do good; seek peace, and pursue it.  Great peace have they which love God's law: and nothing shall offend them.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.  Be peaceable and faithful.  Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee. And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.  The Lord Jesus Christ is my only Peace with God and Peace of Mind.

There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.  But Jesus was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.  Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. And Jesus arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.  To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.  Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)  Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Destruction and misery are in their ways:  And the way of peace have they not known:  there is no fear of God before their eyes.  Therefore being justified by faith in Jesus' Blood, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.  How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.  Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.  Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.  For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace.  Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.  And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  Be at peace among yourselves.

And Jesus, having made peace through the Blood of His Cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself.  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Now the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always by all means. Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.  Eschew evil, do good; seek peace from God, and ensue it.  Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

The Three R's

You've probably heard of the Three R's of Education - Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic.  Many Americans spend their whole life and most of their money trying to learn about the Three R's of Education, but many of them miss the most Important Three R's:  The Three Great R's of Salvation - Ruin, Regeneration, and Redemption. Education without Salvation leads to Damnation.  These Three R's of Scriptural Salvation contain the epitome of the Gospel. There are three third chapters in Scripture which deal with the Three R's. The third chapter of Genesis reveals the reality of Ruin; the third chapter of John sets forth the truth of Regeneration; and the third chapter of Romans teaches Redemption. You need to carefully read and prayerful plead for divine illumination from the Spirit of God when reading all three of these chapters:  Genesis 3 (Ruin), John 3 (Regeneration), and Romans 3 (Redemption).  Until you truly understand these three chapters, the rest of the Bible will do you no good. 

The first great R is *Ruin* - Every man is absolutely bad, he chooses evil rather than good. He is a ruined and undone sinner, wholly ruined, hopelessly, helplessly, eternally ruined because of his sins against his Maker!  We were all ruined by the fall; we were all lost when Adam sinned. We are all ruined throughly by our own transgressions, we are all ruined by our own evil hearts, and our own wicked wills; and we all shall be ruined unless divine Grace saves us. The Holy Spirit must move in your life or you will remain in your lost, sinful state. Men will not seek free Salvation from Christ until they sense and feel their ruined condition within - this is the miracle working of the Holy Ghost in a lost sinner's heart and mind.  By your own striving and doing, you cannot make yourself fit for the kingdom of God.  

The second great R is *Regeneration* - Every man is vile and filthy inwardly. He needs a radical transformation inwardly; he must be regenerated by the Spirit of God (John 3:7).  By the Spirit of God alone can a sinner be wholly made a new creature in Christ!  If you are to be pardoned, you must be regenerated; for no man can partake of Christ's Redemption (Colossians 1:14) unless he is regenerated by the power of the Precious Blood and the Holy Ghost. Let a man be as good as he pleases; let him try to serve God as he imagines, as much as he likes, but unless he is regenerated, and has a new heart given him, a new birth from the Holy Ghost, he will remain in the first R, that is Ruin. The Holy Ghost creates us anew with a desire for purity and holiness.  Ye must be born again internally by the power of the Holy Ghost, born anew inwardly from above.

The third great R is *Redemption* - Every man must be redeemed (delivered, ransomed, rescued, freed from slavery and damnation of sin), redeemed by Precious Blood from all his sins, not by works of righteousness, not by deeds of the law, not by human goodness or merit, but by the Precious Blood and merits of Christ Jesus Himself!  Redeemed means to be rescued, ransomed, set free from the penalty of sin and and the desire to sin.  We are ransomed by the blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish and without spot; we are rescued by His power; we are ransomed by His merits; we are redeemed by Christ's strength. Jesus bore my sins in His own body on the tree, He took my place, so I can be freely forgiven.  Fix your faith solely in the atoning blood of God manifest in the flesh. *I Peter 1:19; I Timothy 3:16*  The only Remedy for Ruin is Regeneration from the Holy Ghost, and Redemption from Christ's atoning blood that was shed for sinners on Calvary's Cross. Go to God in secret now, and plead for His mercy through the Blood of Jesus Christ.

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain!

Immanuel - God with us

* The Lord Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the Almighty, the first and the last, and the LORD OF LORDS (Rev 1:8; I Timothy 6:15; Rev 19:16; 21:6; Psalm 136:3; Isaiah 46:9-10).
* Jesus was from everlasting (living since everlasting); Jesus is eternal. Micah 5:2
* Jesus was honored same as the Father.  John 5:23
* Jesus is be prayed to – Acts 7:55-60; I Cor 1:2; Psa 116:41; John 14:14
* Isaiah called Jesus, The mighty God, the everlasting Father.  Isaiah 9:6
* Jesus never corrected Himself; there was guile found in His mouth, and He did no sin. I Peter 2:22
* Jesus is God Almighty manifest in the flesh (I Timothy 3:16). Jesus knew the thoughts of man.  He controlled the weather.  He controlled the animals.  (fish)  John 21:6; Matt 17:27; Luke 5:4-8
* God the Father and Christ Jesus are one. John 10:30
* Paul followed both God and Jesus, they are one – I Cor 11:1, Eph 5:1
* John 5:17-18  God was Father, making himself equal with God.
* When Jesus said, “I am the Son of God.” They understood him to say that He was God Almighty.

Religious folks believe Jesus was just a good man and a moral example we should follow, but they don’t believe Christ Jesus was God in the flesh living, bleeding, dying, and raised from the dead for guilty sinners.  A good man doesn’t profess to be God.  If you said your pastor was a good man, but he went around town saying he was God, he wouldn’t be a good man.  But Jesus Christ is a good man.  He would be a liar and deluded if He wasn't really the Creator God.  He’s not just a wonderful person and a great teacher.  Jesus was either the Lord, a liar, or a lunatic.  According to the holy scriptures, Christ Jesus is the Almighty, the Great I AM.  *John 8:58; Mark 14:61-62; Revelation 1:8*

*  I told you I was the Christ, and ye believed me not. John 10:24-25
*  I am the Father made visible, so you could see Him.  John 14:7
* Jesus cleansed the leper, walked on water, controlled the weather, and the fish.
* Jesus forgave sins in  Mark 2:7; Matt 9:1-7; Luke 5:20; 7:48.

Other proof texts for the Deity of Christ:
* Rev 19:16 (LORD OF LORDS); Rev 5:12 (Jesus worshipped in Heaven)
* The Angel of God, the LORD Exo 14:19; 13:21; Acts 27:23
* Rev 1:8; Rev 4:8; I John 5:20; I John 5:7; II Pet 3:18, 1:11; Isa 43:11; Tit 1:3-4
* Jude 25; I John 4:14
* Christ given the preeminence in all things (Col 1:18).
* John 4:42; Phil 3:20
* Titus 2:10,13; I Tim 4:10; I Cor 11:19
* I John 2:22-23; Col 2:9
* God is in you (I Cor 14:25); Christ is in you (Col 1:7; Gal 2:20)  God and Jesus are the same.
* I Cor 8:6; Acts 14:15; John 1:3; Col 1:16-18 (The living God created all things, Jesus is the living God)
* Eph 4:32; Col 3:13  God forgave, Christ forgave (God and Jesus are the same)
* John 5:18; 10:33
* John 5:23; John 10:24
* Mark 14:61-62  Jesus declared to the be Christ; the great I AM.
* John 14:9  He that hath seen, hath seen the Father
* Hos 13:4 (God is the Savior, Christ is the Savior) I Tim 1:1; Phil 3:20
* John 4:25-26; 1:41
* Mark 11:2 - Jesus saw the colt tied and He knew the responses of the men before they happened.  (Jesus is omnipresent and omniscient) John 3:13; Mark 14:14-16
* John 10:24-25 - Jesus said He was the Christ to the Jews over and over.
* I Cor 2:8; Mark 2:7
* I Cor 11:1  Eph 5:1
* II Pet 2:1-2; 3:16-18

Is Jesus Christ God Almighty (Gen 17:1; Rev 1:8)?
* Isaiah said so, Isaiah 7:14; 9:6
* Paul said so, Rom 9:5; Titus 2:13; Heb 1:8; Col 2:9
* John said so, John 1:1; I John 5:20
* Peter said so, II Peter 1:1
* Jude 1:4;  Isaiah 45:21
* John 14:9-10  John 10:30-33  I John 5:7
* Zechariah 12:10; John 19:37
* Mark 2:7; Luke 5:21
* Titus 3:4-6;  Luke 8:39
* II Peter 3:18;  Isaiah 42:8
* Deut 32:4;  I Cor 10:4
* Col 3:23-24   Act 27:23
* John 1:1,3,14
* John 8:58; Exo 3:14 (Jesus was the great "I AM")
* Romans 8:9  Spirit of God, Spirit of Christ
* John 2:19; Rom 8:11; Gal 1:1
* Acts 13:30
* Phil 2:6 (equal with God)
* Col 1:16-17
* John 14:7; 10:33
* II Peter 3:18 Jesus is the Saviour; Isaiah 42:8 God is the Saviour
* I John 1:2; 5:20
* Matthew 1:23 (God with us)
* John 10:28
* Heb 1:8
* Mt 18:20; 28:20  Omnipresent
* Jesus is the great I AM:  John 6:35;41,48,51; 10:7,9; 10:11,14; 14:6; 8:12; 9:5; 12:46; Luke 2:32; John 15:1,5; 11:25; Rev 1:17; 2:8; 22:13
* Jesus cleanses us from sin: I John 1:7-9; Rev 1:5; Rom 5:9  

* In Acts 9, Paul said, ‘Lord who are you?’, I am Jesus, Paul trembled when he found out Jesus was God.

* Jesus said we are to worship God only (Luke 4:8), they worshipped Jesus and He received their worship and didn't rebuke them.  See Matt 2:11; 8:2; 9:18; 14:33; 15:25; 28:9; Mark 5:6; 15:19; Luke 24:52; John 9:38; Rev 5:14  Peter wouldn’t let Cornelius worship Him (Acts 10:25-26).  The angel in Revelation wouldn’t receive worship. (Rev 19:10); but Jesus received worship all through the Gospels.

God's Plan of Mercy

Here is God's plan of Mercy -- By our sin, by our unrighteousness and rebellion, by the violation of God’s law and rejection of Christ, we have broken our peace with God. We are lost, for God must punish sin. It is not possible that the Righteous King of the universe can allow human sin to go unpunished. It is inevitable in the universe that where there is evil, there must be suffering. If not in this life, yet in another life, which will shortly succeed the life which now is. Every one of your transgressions must receive its meet recompense of reward.

The main question is - How can a sinner be freely forgiven? How can God remain Just and still blot out all our iniquities forever? This is not a puzzling problem left for us to work out. God’s plan of Mercy is made clear by the revelation of Scripture. God, in His infallible word, has told us the means by which guilty sinners can be made righteous before Him; and, instead of being driven from His presence on the Day of Judgment, we may be accepted and dwell at His right hand forever. God tells us that the first sin that ruined us was not ours, but Adam’s, and by the transgression of one man we all fell, so it became possible for God, in consistency with justice, to ordain that Another Man should come in whom we may be justified and restored. That other Man has come - He is “the second Adam, the Lord from heaven.” But the task of lifting up sinners was much harder than that of the fall. A mere man could ruin us, but a mere man could not redeem and rescue us from sin.

Therefore, God Himself, the ever blessed Creator, clothed himself with human flesh and was born of a woman, and was laid in Bethlehem’s manger. Christ Jesus lived here on earth a life of humiliation and self-denial, and at the last upon the Cross of Calvary He took upon Himself all the sins of men in one vast load. Jesus took our sin and guilt upon Him and bore it all in His own body on the tree. On the Cross Jesus hung as the Substitute for us all, and there and then He put away by His suffering all our transgression and iniquity, and now “He that believeth in Jesus is not condemned. He that believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting life.”

Whenever you go to a foreign city for the first time and stay at a hotel, you may get lost and may not be able to find your way back to your resting place. Therefore, it is expedient for travelers to learn the main streets of every town which they visit. The best thing is to know the main avenue of the city, and you will soon be able to find your way back to safety and rest.

Now, the main street of the Gospel is Substitution Avenue. “God the Father made Jesus Christ to be Sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the Righteousness of God in Jesus Christ.” The main street of the Gospel runs straight through the Cross; follow it, and you will find Christ, the Lamb of God, bleeding and dying in your place. Substitution Avenue is the Main Street of the City of Grace - “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.” Christ stood in our place, He suffered that we might not suffer. Christ Jesus “died, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.” Whosoever believes in Jesus Christ's shed blood alone is saved from the damning power of sin and delivered from the wrath to come.

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - Take this fact and believe it, never doubt it, and you have the key of the Gospel. Whosoever trusts his soul with the Lord Jesus Christ, relying only on His atoning blood sacrifice on Calvary's tree which He voluntarily offered, and the bloody death which He endured to pay the penalty for your sins, is saved instantly from the love and power of sin.

You have God’s word on it; simply and humbly believe the Gospel and rejoice alone in Jesus. Just be nothing and make Jesus everything. “Whosoever believeth in Christ Jesus is not condemned,” for, “like as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so the Son of man has been lifted up, and now whosoever believeth in JESUS shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” Now understand - Repent of your own selfish, wicked way and your unrighteous thoughts, and put simple, childlike reliance upon the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God will have mercy upon your miserable soul, and He will abundantly pardon you. There's no time like the present - Sincere Faith in Christ alone freely gives immediate and complete salvation to the trusting soul.

The Heavenly Bargain

Christ Jesus had to give it all to save your soul from sin. Here is the bargain that went on between the God the Father and His dear Son for your lost and ruined soul:

God the Father: My Son, here is a company of poor miserable souls, that have utterly ruined themselves with sin, and they now lie open to My Divine Justice! My Justice demands satisfaction for their sins, or My Justice must satisfy itself in the eternal damnation of these sinners. What shall be done for these lost souls? And then Christ responds.

The Son of God: O My Father, such is My love to, and pity for these wretched sinners, that rather than they shall perish eternally, I will be responsible for them as their Substitute. Father, bring in all your bills, that I may see what they owe you; Father, bring them all in, that there may be no after-reckonings with them; at My hand shall you require it all. I will rather choose to suffer Your divine wrath than they should suffer it: upon Me, My Father be all their debt.

God the Father: But, My Son, if you undertake for them, you must reckon to pay the last penny, expect no mercy; if I spare these sinners, I will not spare You.

The Son of God: Content, Father, let it be so; charge all their sin debts upon Me, I am willing and able to pay their entire debt: and though it prove a kind of undoing to Me, and though it impoverish all My riches, and empty all My treasures, (for so indeed it did, II Cor 8:9 - "Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor") yet I am content to undertake it to save them from Your wrath.

This 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.”

Before the throne of God 2,000 years ago, fiery Justice drew his sword, and went out after sinners, to find them, and to cast them into the pit. Justice’s sword thirsted for the blood of all that had sinned; Justice said, “They are sinners; I will have them, I will thrust this sword in their hearts, for they are sinners, and they must perish.” Then Christ Jesus came forward, and asked him, “Whom seekest thou?” “Sinners!” answered Justice. Then said Jesus, “if you seek the sinner, here am I.” “What!” said Justice, “are you the sinner?” “No, not the sinner, but I am the sinner’s Substitute; all the sinner’s guilt is imputed to me; all his unrighteousness is mine, and all my righteousness is his; I, the Savior, am the sinner’s Substitute; take me and let them go free.” And Justice accepted the substitution; took the Savior, crucified him, nailed him to the Cross of Calvary. In the Garden, Jesus cried, “If ye seek me, let these go their way.” Who are they that are to go their way? Why, the very one whose former way was one of iniquity, and whose end would have been destruction, if the curse had not been made to fall upon the head of Jesus!

Christ was an offering for sin, in the sense of a Substitute. God longed to save; but, if such a word may be allowed, Justice tied his hands. “I must be just,” said God; “that is a necessity of my nature. Stern as fate, and fast as immutability. is the truth that I must be just. But then my heart desires to forgive--to pass by Man’s transgressions and pardon them. How can it be done?” Wisdom stepped in, and said, “It shall be done thus:” and Love agreed with Wisdom. “Christ Jesus, the Son of God, shall stand in man’s place, and he shall be offered upon Mount Calvary instead of man.”

Remember that the one thing needful for eternal life is trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. I know you say you cannot be perfect. I know you cannot, for you a sinner. There is no such thing as a good sinner. You will say, “I have many sins; I have done much that is wrong.” It is true, most true, but he who believeth in the Lord Jesus Christ has his sins forgiven. You know the story-Christ came down from heaven and took the sins of the whole world upon his own shoulders. When God came forth to smite the sinner, Justice said, “Where is he?” and Christ came and stood in the sinner’s place, and God’s sword went through the Savior’s heart. Why? That it might never cut nor wound the heart of those for whom Jesus died. Did he die for you? He did, if you believe in him; your faith will be to you the evidence that Christ was substitute for you, and oh! if Christ suffered for you, you cannot suffer. If God punished Christ he will never punish you. Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God, was the Substitute for you. If God punished Christ, He will never punish you. If Jesus Christ paid your debts, you are acquitted forever. Rest only upon Christ’s sinless blood atonement, and you are a saved soul.

Be Ye Reconciled To God

We beseech you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God; that is, you must leave your love for sin, abandon your self-righteousness, and come to Christ Jesus by trusting in His Precious Blood.  And then, begin to love Christ instead of your sins.  Why do we beseech you?  For God the Father hath made Christ Jesus to be Sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the Righteousness of God in the Lord Jesus Christ.

God in Christ stepped down from His eternal throne when man must be punished for his sin, and said, "Father, I will bear the sinner's punishment, lay it all on Me." The Invisible God who made the universe condescended to become man in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus took upon Himself the form of man, and dwelt among men. He was born of a Jewish virgin in Bethlehem, wrapping in swaddling clothes, and cradled in a manger. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. He was pure, perfect, and holy in thought, word, and deed - 33 years of spotless innocence and perfect obedience, never sinning.

Jesus of Nazareth was God manifest in the flesh - He was God and man in one person. His enemies were many, His friends were few, and those few friends were fickle and faithless. All His earthly life He lived a life of suffering and shame; but He always went about doing good, full of love and holy active service both to God and man. He preached the Gospel, helping the needy, cheered the brokenhearted, ministered to the poor, healed the sick, teached the ignorant, comforted the distressed, fed the hungry, and raised the dead. And at the last upon the accursed tree, He bore all the guilt of mankind. Judas betrayed Christ.

Go now by faith to dark olive garden of Gethsemane, hear the Son of God groaning out His very soul, see Him sweating, pleading, see His bloody sweat falling down to the ground. He pleaded that night for guilty sinners. Then the band of soldiers came with Judas, and He was arrested in the very act of prayer. He was arraigned before the spiritual and secular courts with mock-trials (Caiaphas, Annas, the Sanhedrim, Herod, Pilate). Think much about His scourging and buffeting, the crown of thorns, the shame and spitting.

Follow Jesus to Pilate's hall, see Him cruelly scourged, spit upon, and crowned with thorns.  The Roman soldiers seat Him in a chair in scorn; they mock Him by putting a purple robe over His bleeding shoulders. Pilate declared Him to without fault and innocent but still out of the fear of man, he delivered Jesus to be crucified. Follow Him through the streets as He is jeered by the mob, go up to Calvary and see Him nailed there. Go now to the foot of the Cross - sit down and view, gaze, and behold Him, stripped from head to foot. Jesus gave Himself up to die for your sins, the Just for the unjust that He might bring you to God.

On Calvary, Jesus became Sin - God the Father forsakes Him in the thick darkness. All of his disciples forsake Him. See the nails, mark His wounds, count the drops of His blood, see His mangled Body in the scorching sun, He asked for water but they gave Him vinegar to drink. Hear the howling of cruel men, watch Him closely till you hear Him cry, "It is finished!" Then see the soldier's spear pierce His heart and the blood and water come forth. Jesus hung and bled and died there upon the cruel tree for the guilty. Christ died for the ungodly. He was buried, and three days later, He tore the chains of death away and rose victoriously from the dead. After the 40 days were finished, He ascended up into Heaven where He sat down at the right hand of God.

God was made flesh to live and die for sinners, so they could be freely saved by grace through faith in God's Blood. By Christ Jesus' blood, human sin is forgiven, cancelled, and eternally remitted. By Jesus' agonies and sufferings divine justice is completely satisfied. By Jesus' death the divine law is honored and glorified. Look only to the Blood of Christ. There is nothing for you to do; Jesus has done it all; there is nothing for human goodness to supply. Christ Jesus has done everything that God could ever demand. Rely wholly upon the Precious Blood of the Lamb of God. Your sins can only be pardoned and freely forgiven through simple faith in Christ's Blood.

Glory only in His sinless Sacrifice for sinners. Fix all your faith and trust in the merit of Jesus' Blood Atonement and His Finished Righteousness - look to the Cross alone for all your soul's needs. Your lost soul's only hope is in the mercy of God in Christ Himself. Flee to your guilty soul's only Shelter from the wrath to come, that is, the mercy of God in Christ's Blood, and you are safe forever. Trust your soul in the hands of Jesus who alone can save from death and hell. You are going to trust somebody - the great question is "Who are you going to trust?" Never ever trust yourself; Look only to Jesus to save you. There is only One Way out of hell (John 14:6); there is only One Mediator between God and sinners (I Timothy 2:5); and there is only One Name that redeems sinners (Acts 4:12).  Be ye reconciled to God today through faith in the Precious Blood of God manifest in the flesh.

Let Not

Order my steps in Thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me (Psalm 119:133). Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart (Prov 3:3). Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long (Prov 23:17). Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth (Prov 24:17). Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few (Ecc 5:2). Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches (Jer 9:23). Let not thine hands be slack (Zeph 3:16). Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Christ Jesus (John 14:1). Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27). Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof (Romans 6:12). Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath (Eph 4:26).

The Main Point

This is the Main Point - You must be saved from loving the sins which now charm and control you. You must be delivered from finding pleasure in the ungodliness which now controls you, and you must be redeemed from the indulgence of evil passions which now reigns over your mind and soul and body.  Christ Jesus Himself is your only Hope of being saved from the damning power of your sins.

The fashion of this world passeth away (I Cor 7:31). The world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever (I John 2:17). The multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly. Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away. You are but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.

All men by nature are lovers of sinful pleasures, not lovers of God. They are all foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. The cares and pleasures of this life decoy the sinner away from eternal realities. Your personal sins provoke and vex God. Part with your sins at once, for if you continue to indulge in them, they will surely damn you. Don't remain the servant of Satan, stop practicing dishonesty, living in pride, and reveling in your secret sins. You cannot continue to sin with impunity, Divine Justice must be served to every Christ rejector. The reason any sinner winds up in the lake of fire is because he is simply unwilling to yield and believe on Jesus Christ. They refuse to be changed within by surrendering to the Scriptures, because they love sin. The Message of the Cross is not Salvation in sin, but Salvation from sin, not a license to sin, but a deliverance from the dominion and habits of sin. Your love of sin must be slain.

Mark it down - All Christ rejecting sinners hate God and love sin - that is their root problem. But the pleasures of sin are only for a season, and a very short one; sin is addictive and damning, and at the last it will bring every sinner to Eternal ruin and destruction. You must be willing to give up any and every sin of yours for Christ's sake. It is at the price of your soul that you reject Christ. But you will sooner be damned than have Christ as your Savior. Foolish sinners have a mad hatred for God when they show despite to Jesus and destroy their own soul. They had rather bear their sins and face eternal death than have Christ Jesus as their Savior.

You will soon destroy yourself if you go on in your sins. The Cross of Christ is the death-blow to human sin, that is why every a sinner hates the Cross with a passion. Be willing to be saved from sin God's way (John 14:6). Simply believe in Jesus to be saved from the dominion of your evil. There is perfect pardon to be had by the vilest sinner; immediate and irreversible pardon is freely given to the ungodly through God’s infinite mercy and free grace for Jesus' sake. God is ready to forgive the vilest sinner alive. The Lord Jesus Christ is both willing and able to redeem you. Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. Life doesn't mean anything without the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust only in the Atoning sacrifice of Christ, and renounce your sinful thoughts and habits. This is the main point - Trust and love Christ, and give up and hate your sins.

The Penniless Hand

If you will only provide the sinner, God will provide the Savior. Jesus gave Himself for your sins, not your merits. Your character is as bad as it can be. Plead God's mercy, not human merit. You are in awful need today, you need Righteousness, a new heart, a right spirit, and a total radical change within. You have failed to do right in so many ways. You need Everything, for you are nothing but sin and misery within. Faith is the penniless hand reaching out to the King of Heaven for Heavenly Alms.

Not the labors of my hands
Can fulfill Thy Law's demands:
All for sin could not atone;
Jesus must save, and Him alone:
Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy Cross I cling.
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, else I die.
Helpless, I look to Thee for grace;
Falling flat at the Cross on my face.

Now understand - King David spared Mephibosheth only for Jonathan's sake (II Samuel 9:7; 21:7; Ephesians 4:32). God Almighty will only spare your guilty soul for Jesus' sake.  Inward poverty drives us to the Cross for His divine charity. An inheritance never comes to you by works. A wise man is more afraid of his own righteousness than his unrighteousness. God will only bless you according to the Atonement of Christ Jesus. The best gift a man can ever receive is God's fear (See Jeremiah 32:40).

Faith is trusting wholly upon the person, blood, merits, and promises of the Son of God. You can rest assured on the finished work of Jesus Christ. By grace ye are saved. The best and safest thing for any sinner to do is to trust alone to the merits and sufferings of the Lamb of God. *John 1:27* Evolution is a dangerous and damning lie. To trample upon the bleeding love of God is a deadly thing. Never put your doings in the place of Christ's atoning blood.  Leave your sins, quit self, and trust in Christ's blood alone - this is the old path and good way. Trusting, depending, and leaning upon Jesus Himself - that is all. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Only troubled, broke sinners ever pay the Heavenly Banker a visit.

When your sins begin to bother and burden you, only then will you come to Jesus. Human goodness is a vile odor in the nostrils of God.  Your best doings are all tainted and stained with your sins - pride, self-preservation, vain glory. Give up all hope of being saved by your own merit or strength. Give up all ideas of appearing before God in your own righteousness. Repose your restless soul in Jesus Christ's atoning Blood. Prayer is the pleading of a poverty-stricken heart to a rich and merciful God. The reason you don't pray is that you don't feel that you need anything from God, so you don't ask Him, you are in need of nothing. A needy man cries out of his heart to God for what he needs.  Nothing I do counts for anything in knowing Christ. 

Sinners are invited to the Cross only because they are evil and hopeless. The Gospel Message is full of grace, because it is directed toward those whose only claim is their need. The morally sick need the Savior's healing. We must receive everything by faith, and nothing by human merit. Trust in the merit of Christ, be sure your soul is clothed with His Righteousness from head to toe. Our own righteousness is as unacceptable to God as our unrighteousness. All our attempts to merit acceptance with God only increases our unworthiness. You deserve no good thing, but you can use Christ's good name at the Bank of Heaven freely. What self-righteous men call merit is utterly despicable to God.

From "A to Z" in the Gospel Alphabet everything is of grace alone, of free favor, of pure mercy, and nothing of human merit. You are broken in spirit, crippled by sin, have no claim to mercy, and are an undeserving enemy of God. *Colossians 1:21* You have nothing to offer God, and are totally incapable of pleasing God while you are in your evil natural state.  There is not a speck of God within you until you receive the Lord Jesus Christ into your heart by Faith in His Precious Blood. God makes a covenant of love and faithfulness with His enemies at the Cross for Jesus' sake. A miserable mendicant's only plea is for mercy through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Beggars must not be choosers, therefore simply trust what Christ Jesus has done for you on Calvary's Cross.

You cannot find acceptance with God by your own doings. A sinner is only blessed by God on account of the worthiness of His Son who died for the ungodly. Complete reliance upon the merits of Christ is the sure way. God hates the very notion of human merit, because it attempts to usurp His Son's merit. A dead thing only goes with the stream of sin, but a living thing will struggle against the downward current of sin. Come to the Cross penniless and bankrupt and receive the exceeding riches of Christ's grace. Jesus only forgives bankrupt sinners freely.

When you have nothing to pay, Christ will then frankly forgive all your sins. Come now in all your poverty, empty-handed as a destitute beggar, come and be made rich by Christ Jesus. We are rich at first in our own righteousness, but then the Spirit of God moves, the commandment comes, and the work of the Law reduces us to absolute beggars spiritually, making us poor in spirit. *Romans 7:9* *Matthew 5:3* Jesus has a quick eye for importunate beggars. Disown your own righteousness as eagerly as you disown your sins.

A penniless man will take Christ's money. The self-righteous carnal mind has no taste for the Gospel of the Grace of God. Self-righteousness kicks at the idea that human works cannot help save from the wrath of God. The most moral and excellent gentleman needs Jesus Christ just as much as the most depraved and debauched wretch. The self-righteous man cannot endure the fact that we all must be saved merely by free grace through simple faith in Jesus' atoning blood. Faith is simply the needy hand that takes from God. When the beggar takes alms from someone, he doesn't thank the hand that took the alms, but he thanks the Hand that gave to him. Even so the sinner doesn't praise his faith that receives from Christ, but the good God who gives eternal life through His Son. Now understand - Only the penniless hand gets filled at the Cross.

Be nothing, be nobody, only trust Him. Never trust yourself, simply believe in Jesus. Go now to Jesus for everything. Your best works are nothing but filthy rags in God's sight. Never mix anything with Christ's blood and merits. The best and safest thing to do is to trust altogether to the blood and merits of Jesus Christ at once. The penniless hand can have Everything for nothing. Lord Jesus, give me mercy, grant me free forgiveness, pardon all my transgressions against You. The short cut to the Cross is just to cry, "God be merciful to me a sinner, for Jesus' sake!"

The Contrite Ones

The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth Eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

Contrite means that you begin to feel your sin's guilt, burden and danger by the working of the Holy Spirit, and you begin to hate your sins and repent of them. Contrite means to mourn over your rebellion and sins against such a good and loving God as Jesus Christ, and then to desire to find mercy, and to want to please God because of His rich goodness displayed on Calvary's Cross. Contrite means to be broken over your sins, and brokenness over the price that was paid by Christ's Blood for your sins, so that you could live forever.  Jesus' blood gives the sinner a double cure - He cleanses the sinner within from the love of sin, and also saves Him from the wrath of God.  The Lord Jesus Christ gives the sinner a better life and a cleaner life down here on Earth in time. We must allow the divine nature of the Lord Jesus Christ to express itself in human personality (thoughts, words, and actions). Put off the old man and his deeds so Jesus can shine through your life. Christ in you, the hope of glory.

A sinner's eyes must be opened first by the Spirit of God; he must be made aware of his need of the Savior. Your sin has offended your Holy Creator. Your lying, immorality, ungodliness, lusts, cheating, cursing, thievery have broken God's holy law, and your rejection of His Dear Son has broken His heart. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. Religious exercise will not save you. Christ Jesus saves all sinners to the uttermost that come unto God by *HIM*. You must be turned from darkness to light - that is Repentance. There must be a supernatural turnaround in your life, there must a divine change. From the darkness of your sins to the Light of the world - Jesus Christ Himself.

You are dark as midnight inside without Jesus Christ in your soul. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Only Jesus Saves. There is a physical death and an eternal death. There is a physical birth and a spiritual birth. I have one birthday I don't remember, but I have a second birthday (John 3:7) that Jesus will never forget. You need to be saved from some-thing (Sin) to Someone (The Lord Jesus Christ). Your own personal sin must be paid for. Come *now* to Jesus' bleeding side and cry out to Him for 'mercy'. Salvation is a moral change within and a behavioral change without - that's why atheists despise it, because they are immoral and love their sins. The New Birth will surely change your life. You must be delivered from the power of Satan by the power of God which is in the Blood of Jesus Christ.  The fear of God is when you realize that sinning breaks God's heart, and you long to please Him in all you think, say, and do in private and in public.

The entire time you have been on this planet, God has wanted to save your soul from sin, and He still wants to saves you today. You must come willingly to God's Son and freely receive the forgiveness of all your sins. God will forget your sins forever the moment they come under the Blood of Jesus. You have offended God, and you must come to His Son for forgiveness. Jesus will forgive all your iniquities. He will save you from wrath and make you pure. The Cross of Jesus Christ provides God's forgiveness freely. The Cross proves God's hatred for sin, and His divine love for sinful mankind. Ye must be born again - it is of the highest priority. God must change your sinful nature by the power of His Son's blood.

Whoever a man chooses, that is who masters him. Someone is your master tonight. It is either you or Jesus Christ. Without Christ as your leader, you are evil and dangerous. Christ is holy and safe. Atheists insanely choose themselves or darwin and that is who masters them all of their life. Don't let your sins master you and drive you off into hell fire. If sin is at the wheel of your life, and insanely driving you right now, you are going to collide with Eternity soon - it is inevitable. Don't let darwin or your religion continue to distract you and cause you to lose your soul forever and ever.

A quickened sinner sees his sin and lays hold on Jesus Christ, Jesus then saves him freely by His grace, and then the saved sinner lets Jesus become his Master. Jesus said, "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Sin's iron yoke is hard and heavy, let Jesus take that heavy yoke off your weary neck.

You stay lost in your sins every day, only because you want to, because you love your sins more than Jesus Christ. You are afraid you might lose your friends or your position or your paycheck. Why do you want to go to Hell? Many people go to Hell, because they reject Jesus Christ, but most people go to Hell, because they neglect Jesus Christ. The consequences of rejecting and neglecting Jesus Christ are the same. You're going to face a holy God one day soon that you have offended with your sins, and your sins will be IN you and ON you. And the price of your of decision to put off Jesus Christ will be the Lake of Fire. Lost sinners face God with their Sins in them and on them. Saved sinners face God with their sins on Jesus Christ. Seek ye the Lord Jesus Christ while He may be found, call upon His name while He is near.