GOSPEL LIGHT #750

From Divine Hypermnesia To Divine Amnesia

Ho 7:2 They do not consider in their hearts That I remember all their wickedness; Now their own deeds have surrounded them; They are before My face.

Heb 10:17 then He adds, "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."


From "I remember" to "I will remember no more." From divine hypermnesia to divine amnesia. We don't want the first; we want the second. The first is hell; the second is heaven. The first is condemnation; the second is salvation.

What brought about the change? John 1:29, it says here: "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

It was the cross of Calvary that caused all the "amnesia." Of course, God does not actually suffer from memory loss. He is ever the all-knowing One. However, when He takes away the sins of a sinner who trusts in what the Lord Jesus did on the cross, God no longer holds those sins against them --- so much so that it would seem as if He has completely forgotten about them. He treats them as if the sins never existed. 

GOSPEL LIGHT #749

A Physical Demonstration Of Repentance 

Lu 19:6 So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.

As the Lord Jesus was passing through Jericho, a large crowd surrounded Him. Zacchaeus, a tax collector who was short in stature, wanted to see Jesus but couldn’t see over the crowd. So, he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to get a better view. When Jesus reached the spot, He looked up, saw Zacchaeus in the tree, and called him by name, telling him to hurry and come down because He needed to stay at his house that day.

Zacchaeus was a repentant man at this point, and this verse right here might be used as a physical demonstration of it. Repentance is the attitude of coming down and receiving the Lord joyfully. 

We step down from our imagined high moral ground, acknowledging ourselves as sinners in need of salvation. Then, with humility, we receive Jesus gladly through faith in Him.

GOSPEL LIGHT #748

Christ Sacrifice On The Cross Sufficient For All Time

HEB 10:12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time... 

Christ died for sins - past, present and future. How many of your sins were future when Christ died on the cross 2000 years ago? All of them were future right? 

This was the realization that changed my life. I was painfully aware of my sinnerhood. I knew that I was helpless and hopeless to save myself. Then this good news of a message reached me --- Christ's death on the cross was sufficient for all time. I said: "That's enough! That will do! I can rest on that truth. In the eyes of God, all my sins are already effectively dealt with."

My friend, I invite you to cease striving to save yourself. Instead, rely on the all-sufficient and all-efficacious sacrifice of the Lord Jesus on the cross.
 



 

GOSPEL LIGHT # 747

A King’s Determination: The Den and the Cross

Da 6:14 And the king, when he heard these words, was greatly displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him.

King Darius was distressed when he learned that Daniel was thrown into the lion's den because he had been tricked by his advisors into signing a decree that led to Daniel's punishment. The king was determined to save Daniel and worked tirelessly until sunset. 

Zero in on the expression here the king "set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him."

There was another King who set His heart to deliver sinners under condemnation --- the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ worked tirelessly to save sinners. He labored on the cross until the sun supernaturally "went down on Him" on the cross as it were. The noontime became a black and dark midnight. 

It is His sacrifice on the cross that shuts the mouths of condemnation and judgment that are roaring loud against us. Make good use of it by trusting in it now in your heart. 

GOSPEL LIGHT #746

Understanding Divine Acceptance Through the Prodigal Son

I am assuming that you know the story of the Prodigal Son. Let's apply the story to a sinner's acceptance and salvation. After all, the Lord Jesus told this story when the Pharisees and the scribes complained "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."

Now, this son asked his father for his share of the inheritance and then set off for a distant country. In the far country, he squandered all his wealth on reckless living and ended up in poverty and hardship. At this point, he came to his senses, and decided to return home, hoping his father would accept him as a hired servant.

He practiced his speech saying: "'I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants."'

This is how we usually think of the situation. We think that we must put up a good performance first, we must be a servant first, before God would accept us.

And so, the story goes that he got up and headed back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father saw him, was filled with compassion, ran to him, hugged him tightly, fell on his neck, and kissed him.

At this point, the son began his speech, saying "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son." But he could only get this far. His father interrupted him by saying to his servants "Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry." The father did not even hear the part of the son's bargain where he was about to offer himself to serve as a hired worker to be accepted.

Without any service and good works to show, he was accepted and embraced and welcomed with a feast. 

My friend, it's not about who we are and what we do for God. No, rather, it's about who He is to us and what He did on the cross in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ that determines our acceptance before Him. 

All we need to do is to show up in repentance. 

GOSPEL LIGHT #745

TEKEL 

"Tekel" is one of the words supernaturally written on the wall during Belshazzar’s feast, as described in Daniel 5. The writing was a divine message indicating judgment. It was a message to the proud monarch, Belshazzar, which means "You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting."

The word could very well be applied to us! On each of our walls is written the word "Tekel." We have been weighed and have been found wanting. 

The Bible says: 

Ro 3:23 ...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Ro 3:10 ..."There is none righteous, no, not one;

Ro 3:12 ...There is none who does good, no, not one."

Isa 64:6 ...all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags...

How we need the righteousness that comes from God. This is the only way whereby we will not be found wanting --- the righteousness of God deposited to our spiritual account through faith in Christ.

GOSPEL LIGHT #744

We All Need "The Fourth Man" To Be Saved 

Da 3:23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
 24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, "Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?" They answered and said to the king, "True, O king."
 25 "Look!" he answered, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego were thrown into a blazing furnace. They fell into the fire still bound. King Nebuchadnezzar was amazed. He quickly asked his counselors if they had not thrown three men into the fire. The counselors confirmed that it was true. Instead of three men, Nebuchadnezzar saw four men walking in the fire, unharmed, and noted that the fourth looked like a supernatural being. The New King James says here that "the fourth is like the Son of God."

Just as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego were spared in the fiery furnace by the divine presence, we too are facing a time of judgment to come. In the face of such a horrifying reality, we too need "the fourth man" to be saved.
 
"The fourth Man" was the pre-incarnate Christ Himself. The Bible says in Romans 8:1 "There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus."

This "fourth Man" came and died on the cross for our sins that if we put our trust in Him, we will be saved.