There Is Still Hope

There is still Hope today, for God hath raised *Him* from the dead. *Romans 10:9* By the way, the *Him* in that verse of Scripture is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, not Muhammed the false prophet who was a vicious killer, just like his followers today. Muhammed is still dead in the dirt today, and he will always will be, but Christ Jesus is alive this morning and making intercession at the right hand of God. Most people don't know this, but the Qur'an teaches that Jesus never died on a Cross or rose from the dead, but He did. That's makes the Qur'an a lie, but obama (a politician) or osteen (a religionist) won't ever tell you that.

Now remember what Jesus Christ the Lord said, "I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." *Revelation 1:18* Christians celebrate Christ's resurrection all the time, not just on Sunday or on Easter. 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. Jesus suffered and bled to death on Calvary's Cross especially for you. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant Mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively Hope by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. When Christ, who is our Life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with *Him* in glory.

Christ first, self last, that is all.

The Spirit of God Moved

The Spirit of God moved (Genesis 1:2).  You don't have to read the Bible very long to understand the key to you being saved.  If the Holy Spirit doesn't move and cause you to understand your danger, lostness, and sinfulness while you remain in your natural state, there is absolutely no hope for your lost soul.  If the Holy Spirit doesn't move in your sinful thoughts and unregenerate mind, you will remain dead in your sins without hope and without God. 

The work of the Holy Spirit is the first work of grace in a sinner's soul. You must come to your senses about the pure evil of your sinning against God continually day after day.  The effectual work of the Spirit must come to your soul or nothing will ever be eternally done within you. There will be nothing savingly done for you unless the Spirit of God begins to move and work upon your soul. Without the Holy Ghost's influence and quickening, your soul will remain void, with no life of God within it, no faith in Christ, and no true hope for the future. Your soul is emptiness itself without Christ Jesus. This is a very humbling and humiliating truth for human nature to swallow.  

The Spirit of God is like the wind in the sails of a ship: if the wind doesn't blow, the ship doesn't get anywhere; likewise, the Holy Spirit must blow through your heart and mind, or you will never be moved to sincerely trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. *John 3:8*

The very best that mere human morality can ever produce is vanity and nothingness. You must come to the end of yourself. You cannot control your life or your eternal destiny. All human effort which men make by nature, they are only religious confusion. Vices and carnal habits may be discarded, but they will only be replaced by something worse - carnal pride and self-will. Certain sins may be forsaken for a while, only to come back to haunt you. The dog is returned to his own vomit again, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. You can make great effort and do your very best, but that which is born of the flesh is still just sinful flesh. When the flesh does its dead-level best, it is still only flesh. Except a man be born again by the Spirit of God, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

There is no light in the lost soul of man. There is nothing there whatsoever to help the Spirit of God. You cannot prepare the way for the Spirit to come, He doesn't need your assistance at all. In the unregenerate man, there is nothing whatsoever that can help God. Human nature proudly wants to help God out. Stop refusing to become the servant of the eternal Spirit of truth. You are not half dead, but you are wholly "dead in trespasses and sins." And in the dead sinner there is nothing that can help his spiritual resurrection. 

Every soul is dead till the Spirit of God comes to him. You only have death, rottenness, filth, stench, and corruption to offer the Lord. Human nature is like a disease-infested leper house, a corrupt grave, a little hell till Jesus passes by. Only the Holy Spirit can begin a work of grace in you. Jesus dwelt *with* sinners, but the Holy Ghost dwells *in* sinners. This is a miracle of mercy that God's Spirit would inhabit such vile souls as ours.

There is nothing at all in the heart by nature that can please the Holy Spirit, but everything is there that would grieve Him. Only the Spirit of Christ can work repentance for sin in you. Human nature is full of unbelief. The heart is fond of sin, and is inclined to run away from God and do everything that is contrary to Him. Human nature is full of chaos and darkness. In mercy the Spirit of God comes and deals with sinful men. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and you hear the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

The work of the Spirit brings eternal life freely and delivers the soul from old habits, old ways, from hell fire, and lifts the soul all the way up to heaven. The work of the Spirit is equally needful and necessary for you whether you sit in a prison cell or on a church pew. Wretched and respectable people must all be born again. The all-important matter is the New Birth - the life of God must be put within you by the Spirit of God Himself. You are completely dead in sin, and only the Holy Ghost with His saving power can quicken and resurrect your soul from its dead state. 

You are a gross sinner bent on your own destruction till the Spirit of God moves in your soul. Great sinners need the great Savior and His great salvation. The man who is greatly in debt will the love the Friend that forgives all his debts freely. Christ Jesus is the Physician, you are the patient, He is certainly able to heal your sick soul, if you will simply yield to Him. Your soul is empty of everything but sin. Sin brings you into a very sad and miserable condition. Look away to the Cross now, trust in Jesus' precious blood alone to save your ungodly soul.

By nature, you are sunk in sin and superstition, you do not wish to be saved from sin, you have no care at all about the Cross and the Gospel. The only power that can save you from sin lies outside yourself. You will never be accepted by God through anything that you are in yourself. You can only be accepted by God in Christ Jesus. You can only become a living child of the living God through simple faith in Jesus' precious blood (Romans 3:23-25). There is in you nothing whatsoever that can recommend you to God. Christ and He alone must save you if you are ever to be saved. Cease from your own works, leave off the whole idea of self-salvation, and fall down at the foot of the Cross, and cry out to Christ for mercy. 

Salvation is of the Lord alone. You can only safely enter Eternity through the Cross. Everything that is of human nature's doing will have to be forsaken, your soul must be clothed in the spotless robe of Christ's Righteousness. You cannot continue to build on the sandy foundation of your human merit, all that you build will surely not stand. You are utterly unable to do anything to help save your soul from sin. Jesus did everything for you long, long ago. You can only build upon what Jesus Christ has already done, He is the true Foundation and Rock of Salvation. The Spirit of God moved (Genesis 1:2).

Plain and Simple

This is the plain and simple truth about the living Savior that makes the believing sinner's heart free and pure.  JESUS, the Son of God, God manifest in the flesh, bled and died to save us from every stain of sin; to save us from our propensity to sin, from our love of sin, from the power of our vile habits, and the snares of Satan.  Faith in His Blood is vital to your forgiveness of sins God in the flesh has come to save us from death eternal, to save us from the wrath to come. God has sent us a perfect Savior. We could never save ourselves, but One has come who can. Oh how I need a great Savior, for I am a great sinner. A little Savior would not have answered my sin problem, for my great sin needed a great Atonement, and my hard heart needed great Grace to soften it.

Now the Man who came down from heaven to earth to save us was God Himself — Jesus of Nazareth — He was nothing less than God — counting it not robbery to be equal with God. He is great in his nature, for as God He is infinite — Omnipotent. He is great also in what He has done. Look to Jesus on the Cross; it is the Son of God pouring out His life for sinners that they may live through His death. There must be great merit in such a sinless blood sacrifice. He who gave Himself there upon the cross, being very God of very God, and certainly man — there can be no limit set to the value of the Atonement which He made for sinners. It is a great Savior that God gives to sinners. And now that Jesus has risen from the dead and lives to save any sinner to the uttermost that will come to Him.

All your confidence must be placed in the Crucified Savior. Christ Crucified is the foundation of all our everlasting hopes, for Christ could not have risen from the dead if He had not first died. Turn your confidence to Christ Jesus suffering in the sinner’s stead. “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth,” is a call from Christ upon the Cross. Remember that all your hope must hang upon JESUS who hung upon the cross, and died there for you. God must punish sin, He cannot let sin go unpunished without compromising the purity of His Justice. Therefore, the Law of God must be honored, His justice must be vindicated, His righteousness must be upheld, your crimes must be expiated (atoned for) by suffering and death. Who, then, shall endure the penance or make the reparation? Shall the dread sentence of eternal wrath fall upon all mankind? No; Jesus steps in between God and the sinner, Christ took upon Himself the wrath of God, and His shoulders ran with divine blood.

Do you ask why was a perfect sinless man was crucified upon a criminal's cross. This is the answer: “Jesus was moved with compassion.” “He saved others; Himself he could not save.” Christ was so moved with compassion, that compassion, as it were, did eat Him up. Jesus suffered and died for sinful men, and after He had died and was in the grave for three days, He rose again from the dead. He has now gone into his glory; now He is living at the right hand of the Father.

By nature, and by practice too, we are all guilty, and we all deserve to be cast into hell — the best of us as well as the worst. So, let us all go to the Cross where the Savior carried the great load of our sin upon Himself, and bore the consequences we deserved, that He might set us free from sin forever. Let us look up to Him, and, by faith, view the flowing of His blood from those many wounds that He received for us. Look into that dear face of His — view the image of matchless misery and majesty combined; see His thorn-crowned brow, and all the marks of shame that cruel men put upon Him. Hear Him cry, “My God, my God, why hast you forsaken Me?” and, as we see Him die all alone, Believe in Him. Only Jesus can speak peace and pardon to your guilty spirit. “I the chief of sinners am, But Jesus died for me.” 

Away to the Cross; behold His thorny crown. Flee at once, poor guilty sinner, and by childlike faith cling to the great Atonement which was made by the Lord Jesus Christ upon the tree, and let that your fear of death be ended once for all. Go straight away to the Cross; go directly to Christ Himself for all your salvation. You can't get any credit for your own salvation, Jesus Christ must get all the glory for saving you, or you'll have to go to Hell where you belong. Jesus must do it all, on your best day and on your worst day, you are a crooked rotten wretch. Face it - you're nothing but a nothing - you are altogether unworthy of God's mercy.

How then shall the prisoner at the bar of God's judgment escape? Is there any possibility? At the Cross, God showed how He might be just, and yet be gracious to guilty sinner! The Almighty said, “Sinner, I must and will punish you on account of sin! But I love you; my heart longs to have mercy on you. My justice says ‘smite,’ but My love hold back my hand, and says, ‘spare, spare the sinner!’ Oh! sinner, my heart has devised the plan of salvation; my Son, the pure and perfect shall stand and die in your place, and be accounted guilty, and you, the guilty one, shall stand in my Son’s stead and be accounted Righteous!” 

 The transposition of Christ and the sinner is the way of salvation. Here's the Gospel plain and simple: Christ was spotless; sinners were vile. Christ said, “My Father, treat me as if I were a sinner; treat the sinner as if he were Me. Smite Me as sternly as you please, for I will bear your wrath, so your grace can be extended to the sinner, and your justice may be satisfied completely.” The trusting sinner now stands in Christ’s stead with the Saviour’s garments on, and he is accepted by God only because of what Christ did for him. Do you say that such an exchange as this is unjust? Will you say that God should not have made his Son a substitute for us, and have let us go? Remember - it was purely voluntary on the part of Christ. Christ was willing to stand in our stead; He had to drink the cup of our punishment, and He was quite willing to do it.

God made Jesus to our Substitute. The Bible says in II Corinthians 5:21, God “hath made Jesus to be sin for us;” Christ did stand in the room, place, and stead of every sinner, Christ stood in the sinner’s place, and any sinner that will trust to Christ alone can now stand in Christ’s place justified and innocent in God's sight. Your sins will taken off your soul and put on Christ’s head. Jesus was never was a sinner; he never knew sin. “Sinner, you can become like Christ; and Christ takes the place of the sinner!” The guilty sinner is treated as if he were Christ, and Christ is treated as if he were the sinner. That is what is meant by the Scripture II Corinthians 5:21; "God hath made Jesus to be Sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ.”

But What About Your Soul?

Stop, take a few minutes, and start thinking about your soul! You would be wise to spend one whole day humbly and carefully searching the Scriptures, sincerely seeking the Lord Jesus Christ, and yielding to the Holy Spirit. You are living every day with your soul in jeopardy. This is the all-important business. Stop everything and see to the safety of your soul. You insure everything of earthly value you own, but your poor soul remains uninsured, give heed to the Gospel truth. Folks today are highly concerned about their diet, weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, teeth, and hair, but their concern for their poor soul comes in dead last. You have a tendency to sin, and that tendency is your misery and danger. Be kind to your poor soul, personally take it to Jesus Christ and let Him rescue you from sin and Satan. Don't remain a slave to sin and a dupe of religion or Darwinism.

Men today care much about everything but their immortal soul; they care about their complexion, weight loss, cell phone, automobile, and wardrobe; everything and anything but their soul. Be wise - See to your eternal well-being. It is uncertain that you will live another day - life is as frail as a spider's web. You could be in Hell before the sun comes up. It is the highest wisdom to fear God and face the real needs of your soul. Give your soul first place. Settle the business of your soul before you attend to anything else. When your money must be left behind, and your body is dead on a gurney, your soul shall still be living on in Eternity somewhere. Where will you be in 100 years? Think long and hard about that. Christ died for you so you could die and meet God safely. Think about the Savior living, dying, and raising from the dead for you. Remember Calvary and the Lamb of God who bled for your sins there. Remember that!

The only thing that keeps you breathing and thinking is the compassion and mercy of your good Creator. There is but a step between you and everlasting separation from the presence of the good and merciful God - Jesus Christ. Your only hope is to repent towards God, trust the Savior's works, and simply rest in the Savior's blood Atonement. Resolve to seek and trust Jesus now. Stake all your eternity on God's Blood that flowed from Christ's veins. Don't remain dead in your sins and lost in your blind ignorance. Turn from your silly ways, trust God to do something for your soul that you cannot do, flee to the Merciful Mediator, look unto HIM at once, trust your soul to Jesus, you cannot face God all alone, you're a sinner, you need a Shield from the wrath to come. Because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

Some Noble Attributes

* Remember and Retain God in your knowledge daily

* Humility, Deference, Forbearance, Integrity, Godly Sincerity, Honesty, Personal Private Purity, Truthfulness

* Thankfulness, Gratitude, Considerate of others, Merciful, Helpful

* Gentleness, Graciousness, Submissive, Sensible, Faithfulness

* Servant, Sympathetic, Kindly Mannered, Forgiving, Affable, Humble Thankfulness

* Diligence, Activity, Industrious, Thrifty, Generosity, Earnest care for others

* Prayerfulness, Watchfulness, Tenacity, Gracious Gratitude

* Acknowledgement of God the Father, Adoration of Jesus Christ, and Ascribing the glory to the Holy Ghost 

* Prayerful Dependence on the Holy Spirit (savour, unction, utterance); always ask the Holy Spirit to make all things you say and do alive.

* Live to the glory of God so that Christ Jesus Himself may have the preeminence in all things

* Hearty affection and gratitude towards the Savior for His Substitutionary Atoning Sacrifice for your personal sins satisfying the divine justice of God and securing your soul's eternal safety.

* Walking humbly with God, Acknowledging God's favor, Being thankful for all of God's blessings, Depending on God's grace, Behaving with purity, humility, and modesty among men.

Christ Jesus First, me last.

*Hath Life*

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him (John 3:36). Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life (John 5:24). Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on *ME* hath everlasting life (John 6:47). Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:54). And this is the promise that He hath promised us, even eternal life (I John 2:25). 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). And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life (I John 5:20).

You have had many mercies in this life, your Creator has been in them all. The air you breathe, the food you eat, the clothes that are on your back, the home you live and sleep in, your friends and family that help you, God's mercies have preserved you to this very day. This same good God you hate for some insane reason. Cursed is the man that hungers and thirsts after unrighteousness. Your very consciousness of your sins daily proves that you are guilty before God.

Hell bent, Christ rejecting, Gospel hating, Holy Ghost resisting sinners will inevitably end up in hell and lose their soul if they are not careful. Without Christ you are in extreme danger and currently exposed to the wrath of God. Your sins have greatly offended your Maker. Your wicked thoughts and habits control you. Every one of your sins must be punished. You definitely need a Substitute to take your sins' due punishment. Your sins will soon carry you down to Hell. But now, you are simply invited to come to Jesus Christ just as you are and find mercy with God through Christ's sinless blood Atonement. Only HIS BLOOD can save you from the wrath to come.

Hungry mouths and thirsty lips are always welcome at the feet of Jesus. Don't go on in your sins any longer. The greater damnation is reserved for impenitent men who hear the truth of the Gospel, willfully reject it, and remain lost and continue to love their sins. Look to the eternal needs of your soul. The more afraid of yourself you are the better. Your first object in this life should be your soul's salvation. Sin-distracted soul, you are asked to do nothing or be nothing. Cease from self, begin in Christ. Leave off trusting in your doing, come and trust in the man Christ Jesus (I Timothy 2:5-6) who did it all for your sinful soul. Depend on nothing but what Christ has done for your soul. Cast your soul's confidence on Christ's Blood and Merits, and you are now eternally and freely forgiven for Jesus' sake. Hang all your salvation on Christ's Finished Work.

Repent and be converted in the name of Jesus Christ. Cast the whole burden of your sins, doubts, fears, and anxieties wholly on HIM. To live in Christ, you must first die to yourself. Flee to Christ Himself for refuge. He will not reject you. Put your dark doubts away. Stop resting your soul on chances and darwinism. Christ is able to save any sinner, especially poor rebels; doubt Him not. Come on to Jesus; all sinners far and wide are welcome at the Cross today: have mercy on your poor lost soul, God help you to come to the Lamb of God for free forgiveness of sins and rest on the Rock of His eternal love and blood. You are teetering on the brink of the grave and Eternity. It must be mercy, great mercy, that must save your sinful soul. Trust only in the sinner's Substitute - yield yourself to Him, trust to His finished work alone, and life eternal is yours. Trust to Jesus for the free and eternal salvation only He can give. Fix all your confidence and reliance on HIM who was crucified and raised from the dead to save sinners. Plead only the merits of Jesus' precious blood. Your human effort will land you in hell. Never lose your simple trust in the Crucified Creator, only by the blood of the Lamb can you overcome the power of sin. Rely alone on Jesus Christ now.

The opportunity to be saved from sin is knocking at your door. You will *never* be CONTENT until you seek and find the living Savior. If you want to go to Heaven, trust Jesus Christ's shed blood; if you want to go to Hell, just trust something else, anything else, it doesn't matter, one road to Hell is just as good as another. Never depend on yourself or darwin. None of your works are required, no preparations, no self-righteousness, no doings of yours are needed. Your first business is to trust in Christ Himself. Cast aside all your doings, and depend simply, wholly, and entirely upon Christ's doings and dying and resurrection. Your merits are good for nothing, you can get no benefit by them. Your own works are useless, they reek in the nostrils of a holy God. Your sinfulness is your only claim to salvation. Acknowledge yourself to be a lost sinner, and Christ will save you. You must be saved simply and freely by divine Charity and heavenly Mercy. Simply accept free pardon of sin through His wounds and stripes. Give up your evil practices, abhor your own righteousness. You must simply depend on nothing but the Precious Blood of Christ. He that believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting life. Seek Christ, plead His Precious Blood.

The Bible JESUS

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*

We know how the Lord Jesus Christ loved us, because He gave Himself for us and loved us with all the energy of His being.  He gave much, because He loved much.  He gave until He felt the pinch, He gave all He had, and then He gave much more, His own life for His enemies.  Christ Jesus felt poverty because He had to become a man.  The Infinite Creator humbled Himself and dwelt here on Earth in human flesh, so that I could be rescued from my sinfulness.  The very God who hung the stars in a million galaxies, that same God hung on Calvary's Cross for me.  The Lamb of God whom angels adored and before whom all of Heaven bowed in awe was born in a cattle shed where oxen fed.  He was robed with Righteousness and Light in glory, but He laid all that aside, and put on the rags of humanity.  The Prince of glory became a Jewish peasant, so that I could be redeemed from all my iniquities.  Emmanuel, God with us, stooped way down when He visited Bethlehem 2,000 years ago as an infant.  It was by His deep poverty that I have become eternally rich in Christ.  The Godhead and mankind became one in Christ Jesus; He was God Incarnate.

The Lord Jesus lived a life of poverty and obscurity for many years in Nazareth.  From morning until night for years, He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin.  Jesus spoke of His poverty when He said, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head.” He never had a bank account or any real estate.  Jesus suffered hunger, thirst, weariness, want, and misery - all types of poverty.  Jesus became absolutely poor in all points, even unto death, so that He could make me rich spiritually.

Jesus took the Father's just wrath against my sins - He drank the bitter cup of wrath, so I could drink the sweet cup of Salvation.  Judas betrayed Jesus, then they bound Him, and led Him away captive to the judgment halls of Annas, Caiaphas, Herod and Pilate.  He was insulted, mocked and abused.  He was the Helper of the helpless, but they were cruel and unkind to Him.  He was tender and compassionate to everyone He met, but they brutalized and murdered Him.  They falsely accused and slandered Him, and sought to take away His sinless life.  Pilate could never find any fault in Him, but he handed Jesus over to the mob.  God the Father laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all.  He was numbered with the transgressors.  His name was drug through the mud.  He endured the consequences due to my sins.

Wonderful grace of Jesus, Greater than all my sins; How shall my tongue describe Him, Where shall its praise begin?  The soldiers and priests ridiculed Him; they ridiculed His royalty by putting a reed scepter in His innocent hand, by putting an old purple coat over His dear shoulders, and by placing a crown of thorns His precious head. Jesus was completely innocent, but He became guilty for me.  They blindfolded Him and slapped Him around.  They spit in His face, and treated Him like a criminal.  He was put to shame for my soul's sake.  The Most High God was humiliated on account of me.  They took Him and scourged His back until He was covered with stripes and covered in blood. All the brutal beatings that I deserved have fallen upon Jesus, my Substitute; and now, not one drop of divine wrath can fall upon me, and my sinful record is forever cleared before God.  Because of Jesus' Precious Blood, not one speck, spot, or stain of sin remains on my soul today.

At the last, they led Jesus away to a place called Calvary where they crucified criminals.  They nailed Him to the Cross that day to die in my place.  He became Sin for me, He was made a Curse for me, so my sins could be taken away forever freely.  The soldiers stripped Him down naked and then gambled for His garments.  Jesus hung there naked, so I could be clothed in God's Righteousness.  God the Father forsook Jesus on the Cross when He became Sin, and now God will never forsake me.  Wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching to all the lost, by His grace I have been freely pardoned, and saved to the uttermost; my chains have been torn asunder, giving me Liberty, His mercy has reached even me.

The Lord of glory suffered there in agony on the Cross for hours and hours, and finally, He cried, "It is finished!", and then He gave up the ghost and bowed His head in death.  My sins and eternal death died in Him; and now I have found eternal life in His bloody death, and Heaven in His Cross.  He was condemned, but now I am Justified; He died, but now I live with no fear of death; He was emptied, but now I am filled with the Holy Spirit. Wonderful Grace of Jesus, Reaching the most defiled, by His transforming power, He has made me God's dear child, He has purchased peace and heaven, for all Eternity.  O what a Savior!