Tuesday, January 7, 2014
GOSPEL NUGGET #297
Lessons That Adam And Eve Learned
#1 They learned that one single sin is big enough to banish and separate them away from God. They ate the forbidden fruit and they were out. God is that holy. "Strike one! You're out!"
And yet many today think that they can go to heaven and be with God forever if somehow they are able to manage to keep their sins at a minimum level. They think that if their good deeds outweigh their bad ones, they can be admitted into heaven.
#2 They learned that the violation of a seemingly minor command is enough to banish them away from God's presence.
And yet many people think that if they are able to avoid the big sins with only the minor sins blotting their record, they are okay and fine with God. They can go to Him when they die.
For them, only the commission of big spiritual crimes, make them a spiritual criminal before God. It seems that, for them, God has a lower standard than that of the laws of our land. Here on earth, one crime (big or small) is enough to make you a criminal worthy to be punished.
#3 They learned that their efforts was not sufficient to cover and hide the consequences of their sin.
When they fell into sin, they realized that they were naked. And so, guilt, fear and shame, made them sew fig leaves for a covering and they hid themselves from God's presence. But God was still able to detect and see their guilt. Their efforts to cover and hide their guilt and sin were to no avail.
It is still the same with many people today. Out of guilt, fear and shame, they cover themselves and their sins with good works, philanthropy, religiosity etc.
#4 They learned that the only sufficient covering to cover and hide the consequences of sin was the covering which God Himself provided for them.
God replaced their fig leaves of their own making. "...the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them." Gen 3:21 Blood had to be shed in order to procure "garments of skins" for them. The life of an animal (I believe it was a lamb) had to be sacrificed.
That sacrificed lamb was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ dying on the cross for our sins. We are guilty before God. We have sinned against Him one sin too many. We can never do anything to cover and take away our sins.
Our only hope is the Lamb of God (the Lord Jesus Christ) who takes away the sin of the world.
GOSPEL NUGGET #296
Lessons That Adam And Eve Learned
#1 They learned that one single sin is big enough to banish and separate them away from God. They ate the forbidden fruit and they were out. God is that holy. "Strike one! You're out!"
And yet many today think that they can go to heaven and be with God forever if somehow they are able to manage to keep their sins at a minimum level. They think that if their good deeds outweigh their bad ones, they can be admitted into heaven.
#2 They learned that the violation of a seemingly minor command is enough to banish them away from God's presence.
And yet many people think that if they are able to avoid the big sins with only the minor sins blotting their record, they are okay and fine with God. They can go to Him when they die.
To them, only the commission of big spiritual crimes, make them a spiritual criminal before God. It seems that, to them, God has a lower standard than that of the laws of our land. Here on earth, one crime (big or small) is enough to make you a criminal worthy to be punished.
#3 They learned that their efforts was not sufficient to cover and hide the consequences of their sin.
When they fell into sin, they realized that they were naked. And so, guilt, fear and shame, made them sew fig leaves for a covering and they hid themselves from God's presence. But God was still able to detect and see their guilt. Their efforts to cover and hide their guilt and sin were to no avail.
It is still the same with many people today. Out of guilt, fear and shame, they cover themselves and their sins with good works, philanthrophy, religiosity etc.
#4 They learned that the only sufficient covering to cover and hide the consequences of sin was the covering which God Himself provided for them.
God replaced their fig leaves of their own making. "...the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them." Gen 3:21 Blood had to be shed in order to procure "garments of skins" for them. The life of an animal (I believe it was a lamb) had to be sacrificed.
That sacrificed lamb was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ dying on the cross for our sins. We are guilty before God. We have sinned against Him one sin too many. We can never do anything to cover and take away our sins.
Our only hope is the Lamb of God (the Lord Jesus Christ) who takes away the sin of the world.
#1 They learned that one single sin is big enough to banish and separate them away from God. They ate the forbidden fruit and they were out. God is that holy. "Strike one! You're out!"
And yet many today think that they can go to heaven and be with God forever if somehow they are able to manage to keep their sins at a minimum level. They think that if their good deeds outweigh their bad ones, they can be admitted into heaven.
#2 They learned that the violation of a seemingly minor command is enough to banish them away from God's presence.
And yet many people think that if they are able to avoid the big sins with only the minor sins blotting their record, they are okay and fine with God. They can go to Him when they die.
To them, only the commission of big spiritual crimes, make them a spiritual criminal before God. It seems that, to them, God has a lower standard than that of the laws of our land. Here on earth, one crime (big or small) is enough to make you a criminal worthy to be punished.
#3 They learned that their efforts was not sufficient to cover and hide the consequences of their sin.
When they fell into sin, they realized that they were naked. And so, guilt, fear and shame, made them sew fig leaves for a covering and they hid themselves from God's presence. But God was still able to detect and see their guilt. Their efforts to cover and hide their guilt and sin were to no avail.
It is still the same with many people today. Out of guilt, fear and shame, they cover themselves and their sins with good works, philanthrophy, religiosity etc.
#4 They learned that the only sufficient covering to cover and hide the consequences of sin was the covering which God Himself provided for them.
God replaced their fig leaves of their own making. "...the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them." Gen 3:21 Blood had to be shed in order to procure "garments of skins" for them. The life of an animal (I believe it was a lamb) had to be sacrificed.
That sacrificed lamb was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ dying on the cross for our sins. We are guilty before God. We have sinned against Him one sin too many. We can never do anything to cover and take away our sins.
Our only hope is the Lamb of God (the Lord Jesus Christ) who takes away the sin of the world.
GOSPEL NUGGET #295
The Difference Between A Righteous Man And A Good Man
A righteous man is a man who conforms to a standard. He is an exact man. He exactly fulfills the requirements. He is a man that draws out our respect and honor.
A good man is a righteous man but he is more. He is an exact man, yes, but he is also considerate and kind and benevolent. He is a man that elicits our affection.
A righteous man arrives exactly at the appointed hour of meeting, not a second too late and not a second too early. If you fail to arrive on time as agreed, he justly leaves with the blame squarely and fairly laid on you.
A good man arrives exactly at the appointed hour of meeting, not a second too late and not a second too early. If you fail to arrive on time as agreed, he is considerate, kind and benevolent enough to wait for you, even if you come 30 minutes late.
Rom 5:7 ...one will scarcely die for a RIGHTEOUES PERSON--though perhaps for a GOOD PERSON one would dare even to die--
Rom 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still SINNERS, Christ died for us.
It is rare to find one person dying for a good person, a man that we can be affectionate about. It is more rare to find one person dying for a righteous person, a man that we can honor and respect. But it is even more rare to find a man dying for a hideous, unlovable and a despecable person---a sinner, a spiritual criminal in the eyes of God.
But the Lord Jesus Christ made everybody's jaws drop to the floor when He did just that. He did not die for you when you were respectable and honorable enough. He did not die for you when you were lovable enough. No, He gave His life for you when you were a hateful and unlovable spiritual loser.
Your being a sinner is not a hindrance in coming to Him. It is only a hindrance if YOU let it be---if you don't come to Him. Don't forget that He only saves SINNERS.
Come to Him right now in repentance and faith, entrusting your soul's salvation to Him and what He did on the cross for you.
A righteous man is a man who conforms to a standard. He is an exact man. He exactly fulfills the requirements. He is a man that draws out our respect and honor.
A good man is a righteous man but he is more. He is an exact man, yes, but he is also considerate and kind and benevolent. He is a man that elicits our affection.
A righteous man arrives exactly at the appointed hour of meeting, not a second too late and not a second too early. If you fail to arrive on time as agreed, he justly leaves with the blame squarely and fairly laid on you.
A good man arrives exactly at the appointed hour of meeting, not a second too late and not a second too early. If you fail to arrive on time as agreed, he is considerate, kind and benevolent enough to wait for you, even if you come 30 minutes late.
Rom 5:7 ...one will scarcely die for a RIGHTEOUES PERSON--though perhaps for a GOOD PERSON one would dare even to die--
Rom 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still SINNERS, Christ died for us.
It is rare to find one person dying for a good person, a man that we can be affectionate about. It is more rare to find one person dying for a righteous person, a man that we can honor and respect. But it is even more rare to find a man dying for a hideous, unlovable and a despecable person---a sinner, a spiritual criminal in the eyes of God.
But the Lord Jesus Christ made everybody's jaws drop to the floor when He did just that. He did not die for you when you were respectable and honorable enough. He did not die for you when you were lovable enough. No, He gave His life for you when you were a hateful and unlovable spiritual loser.
Your being a sinner is not a hindrance in coming to Him. It is only a hindrance if YOU let it be---if you don't come to Him. Don't forget that He only saves SINNERS.
Come to Him right now in repentance and faith, entrusting your soul's salvation to Him and what He did on the cross for you.
Friday, December 13, 2013
GOSPEL NUGGET #294
The miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ were pictures of spiritual realities and demonstrations and illustrations of what He can do spiritually.
Spiritually speaking, in the eyes of God, because of sin, we are all blind, deaf, mute, lame, maim and dead.
* But He who was able to make the blind see physically is able to make us see spiritually to appreciate the things of God.
* He who was able to unplug the ears of the deaf physically is able to unplug our ears spiritually and enable us to listen to hear the Word of God.
* He who was able to open the mouths of the mute physically is able to open our mouths to sing the praises of God.
* He who was able to give strength to the lame and the maim physically is able to give strength to us spiritually to enable us to serve God.
* He who was able to give life physically to the dead is able to give us life spiritually that we might live for God.
And just as those physically infirmed and handicapped people did not contribute anything to effect their physical deliverance (they simply came to Him and He did for them what they could never do for themselves) so it is with spiritual deliverance and salvation.
A sinner is to simply come to Him in repentance, recognizing his need and wholly entrust his salvation to Him. And to those who come to Him by faith, He will do for you, what you can never do for yourself---He will save you and give you eternal life.
Do you want the miracle of salvation in your life? Come to Christ.
Spiritually speaking, in the eyes of God, because of sin, we are all blind, deaf, mute, lame, maim and dead.
* But He who was able to make the blind see physically is able to make us see spiritually to appreciate the things of God.
* He who was able to unplug the ears of the deaf physically is able to unplug our ears spiritually and enable us to listen to hear the Word of God.
* He who was able to open the mouths of the mute physically is able to open our mouths to sing the praises of God.
* He who was able to give strength to the lame and the maim physically is able to give strength to us spiritually to enable us to serve God.
* He who was able to give life physically to the dead is able to give us life spiritually that we might live for God.
And just as those physically infirmed and handicapped people did not contribute anything to effect their physical deliverance (they simply came to Him and He did for them what they could never do for themselves) so it is with spiritual deliverance and salvation.
A sinner is to simply come to Him in repentance, recognizing his need and wholly entrust his salvation to Him. And to those who come to Him by faith, He will do for you, what you can never do for yourself---He will save you and give you eternal life.
Do you want the miracle of salvation in your life? Come to Christ.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
GOSPEL NUGGET#293
Paul Walker (Eternity Suddenly)
You wake up to the chirping of birds outside your window, with the glory of a wonderful sunshine kissing you on the cheek. It's a beautiful morning promising a beautiful day.
You take a refreshing shower, eat your breakfast, brush your teeth, dress and spruce yourself up, prim and proper, and drive your car to an appointment.
Today looks good. Tomorrow is waiting for you with a smile, after you inked a long term multimillion peso deal, yesterday. Your dreams are becoming real.
But suddenly, a screaming tire, a screeching halt, a shattered glass...a deafening silence and then a blinding darkness. It all happened so fast. You did not even know what happened. It's eternity all of a sudden. Without warning, you are on the other side.
My friend, this could be your story or my story or anybody for that matter like it was Paul Walker's. Nobody guaranteed that we would live up to our 70's or 80's. Nobody promised us a slow death.
The grave is filled with people like you who thought they would get old. They never thought that it would be lights out for them at their age. Like you, many of them thought that it could happen to other people but not to them. But it did. And it could happen to you.
Are you ready to meet God? Are your sins forgiven? Have you repented and trusted in Christ and what He did on the cross alone for salvation?
You wake up to the chirping of birds outside your window, with the glory of a wonderful sunshine kissing you on the cheek. It's a beautiful morning promising a beautiful day.
You take a refreshing shower, eat your breakfast, brush your teeth, dress and spruce yourself up, prim and proper, and drive your car to an appointment.
Today looks good. Tomorrow is waiting for you with a smile, after you inked a long term multimillion peso deal, yesterday. Your dreams are becoming real.
But suddenly, a screaming tire, a screeching halt, a shattered glass...a deafening silence and then a blinding darkness. It all happened so fast. You did not even know what happened. It's eternity all of a sudden. Without warning, you are on the other side.
My friend, this could be your story or my story or anybody for that matter like it was Paul Walker's. Nobody guaranteed that we would live up to our 70's or 80's. Nobody promised us a slow death.
The grave is filled with people like you who thought they would get old. They never thought that it would be lights out for them at their age. Like you, many of them thought that it could happen to other people but not to them. But it did. And it could happen to you.
Are you ready to meet God? Are your sins forgiven? Have you repented and trusted in Christ and what He did on the cross alone for salvation?
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
GOSPEL NUGGET #292
Black Cobra, Yellow Cobra And White Cobra
Let's suppose you saw three cobras on your lawn. One is black, another is yellow, and the other white. Which of the three cobras would you welcome in your home as your pet?
Would you take the sinister-looking black one? The moderate-looking yellow one? Or the magnificent-looking white one? I suppose a lot of you would say: "I would not have anything to do with cobras! They are poisonous snakes!"
You see, it is the same with us SINNERS. There are people who are very bad sinners, who are criminals of society.
There are also sinners who are not that really bad in the eyes of men. Yes, they get drunk sometimes, but they manage to stay away from those big sins.
And yes, there are sinners who seem very harmless in society. They are sweet, charming, huggable, polite and respectful. They could win The Most Outstanding Cobra, I mean, Sinner Of The Year award.
However, God would not have spiritual cobras in heaven. A black spiritual cobra, a yellow spiritual cobra, and a white spiritual cobra are all one and the same; they are cobras.
"You must be born again" (John 3:7) according to the Lord Jesus Christ. Being born again is becoming a new creation in Christ Jesus.
2Co 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
When you repent and trust in Christ alone and what He did on the cross, you will be a new creation in Him. No longer viewed by God as a spiritual cobra but a child of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Let's suppose you saw three cobras on your lawn. One is black, another is yellow, and the other white. Which of the three cobras would you welcome in your home as your pet?
Would you take the sinister-looking black one? The moderate-looking yellow one? Or the magnificent-looking white one? I suppose a lot of you would say: "I would not have anything to do with cobras! They are poisonous snakes!"
You see, it is the same with us SINNERS. There are people who are very bad sinners, who are criminals of society.
There are also sinners who are not that really bad in the eyes of men. Yes, they get drunk sometimes, but they manage to stay away from those big sins.
And yes, there are sinners who seem very harmless in society. They are sweet, charming, huggable, polite and respectful. They could win The Most Outstanding Cobra, I mean, Sinner Of The Year award.
However, God would not have spiritual cobras in heaven. A black spiritual cobra, a yellow spiritual cobra, and a white spiritual cobra are all one and the same; they are cobras.
"You must be born again" (John 3:7) according to the Lord Jesus Christ. Being born again is becoming a new creation in Christ Jesus.
2Co 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
When you repent and trust in Christ alone and what He did on the cross, you will be a new creation in Him. No longer viewed by God as a spiritual cobra but a child of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
GOSPEL NUGGET #291
Dining In A Five-Star Restaurant, The Bill, Judgment And Salvation
The judgment of God and the realization of the enormity of sin for many people is often like eating in a restaurant.
We don't see the bill at the beginning. The bill comes at the end. We indulge, we eat whatever we please and act like we don't have to pay for it. Then the end comes and the bill is presented and we gasp:
"What?! Did we really eat that much?!"
"How much was that bottle of wine...and we had FIVE of them?!"
"We had FOUR dishes of caviar?! Really?!
"TEN dishes of lobster frittata!"
"EIGHT dishes of Swallows’ Nest Soup! Good night! "
"How much was that bottle of wine...and we had FIVE of them?!"
"We had FOUR dishes of caviar?! Really?!
"TEN dishes of lobster frittata!"
"EIGHT dishes of Swallows’ Nest Soup! Good night! "
You may indulge in sin right now with seeming impunity, but realize that the bill will surely come at the end, when it is over and too late to change everything. Then you will realize that sin is not cheap. It is the most expensive thing in the world.
The problem is made worse when you fish for your wallet and realize that you have nothing in you to pay the bill and get out of the mess you made. Nothing at all. Zero.
And that's who and what we are in the eyes of God---a bankrupt sinner indulging in sin in God's world. That's bad news.
But here's the good news. You see that Man on the cross? Yes, that Man with nailed-pierced hands. Your sin costs Him His life. He made a provisional payment at the cross of Calvary for your bill.
Will you accept, by faith in Him and what He did on the cross, the payment He made for you at Calvary?
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