GOSPEL NUGGET #419

Ge 46:33 "So it shall be, when Pharaoh calls you and says, 'What is your occupation?'

34 "that you shall say, 'Your servants' occupation has been with livestock from our youth even till now, both we and also our fathers,' that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians."

Ge 47:5 Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, "Your father and your brothers have come to you.

6 "The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen.

Even though Joseph’s family were totally unacceptable to Pharaoh because of who they were---they were despicable shepherds hated by the Egyptians, Pharaoh still accepted them and brought them to enjoy his abundant favor because of Joseph.

In the same way, even though we are unacceptable to God, despicable sinners that we are, God accepts sinners through the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Lord Jesus, we find acceptance with God and enjoy God’s boundless blessings.

If you are seeking acceptance with God, come to the only way through whom you can only be accepted---come to Christ.

God does not accept sinners because they do good works, because they do religious activities, because they did sacrifices and penances. No, He accepts sinners through Christ’s merit and work on the cross.

Come to Him now in faith, trusting Him and what He did on the cross for sinners like you.

GOSPEL NUGGET #418

“It is not against good works that we contend but simply faith in them.”
---Martin Luther

Often we are misrepresented as saying that Christians are no longer to do good works. Nothing could be further from the truth. No, on the contrary, we encourage good works. We exhort every single Christian to abound in good works.

What we are saying is exactly what Martin Luther said above: "It is not against good works that we contend but simply faith in them." Good works do not save. It's the Savior who saves. Good works have their proper place in the Christian life. But they are out of place if we make them our savior; if we put our trust in them to save us.

The Bible does not say: "For God so loved that world that whoever does good works and puts their trust in them shall not perish but have eternal life."

Yes, do good works but put your trusts in the Savior and what He did on the cross for your salvation.  

GOSPEL NUGGET #417

What God Wants From You As A Sinner

God wants you to take Him seriously. So seriously that you hate sin in your life. That in you there would be this desire to be perfectly righteous in His sight beginning in the inward parts, in your heart. Not just external righteousness but internal righteousness. He wants you to hunger and thirst for righteousness.

And that in the process of desiring it you realize that you are powerless and helpless in yourself to attain it by your own efforts. You attempted over and over again to be perfectly righteous in His
sight but failed time and time again.

He wants you to realize that you are spiritually bankrupt. He wants you to be humbled. He wants you to mourn over your condition. He wants you to stop asserting yourself that you are worthy of salvation.

To sum it all up, He wants you to repent. To change your attitude towards God, change your attitude towards sin and change your attitude towards self.

And then, He wants you to look away from your helpless and powerless self to the Savior He provided and view Him and what He did on the cross as your only hope of acceptance with God and salvation, realizing that salvation is given as an undeserved favor and a free gift of God to those who are not worthy of it.

Mt 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart...
Mt 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness...
Mt 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit...
Mt 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn...
Mt 5:5 Blessed are the meek...

Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

GOSPEL NUGGET #416

Ge 45:17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Say to your brothers, 'Do this: Load your animals and depart; go to the land of Canaan.

18 'Bring your father and your households and come to me; I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.

20 'Also do not be concerned about your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.'"

23 And he sent to his father these things: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and food for his father for the journey.

Jacob was blessed by Pharaoh for Joseph’s sake. Jacob did not do anything to deserve the royal benefits and goods given to him, but still it was given to him because of Joseph.

In the same way, God is offering to us the spiritual blessing of salvation not because we deserve it but because of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Just as Jacob was blessed for Joseph's sake, so a sinner is blessed by God for Christ's sake---what He did on the cross. But, like all offers, it must be received and accepted on our part.

God is offering to us now the blessings of salvation, redemption and forgiveness of sins through the Lord Jesus Christ. And we can receive it the moment we put our trust in the Savior and what He did on the cross.

GOSPEL NUGGET #415

Lu 7:7 ...say the word, and my servant will be healed.

Lu 7:9 When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turned and said to the multitude who followed him, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith, no, not in Israel."

The centurion in this story is a great man of faith. His dear servant was dying and he was helpless to do something about it. But he knew the Lord Jesus Christ and all he needed from Him is His word about the situation.

To him, all the Lord had to do was utter the words and his faith will latch on it (Faith is taking God at His Word). He knew that the Lord's Word is the surest thing in the universe. Behind the Word of God is the God of the Word who is all-powerful and one who cannot lie. When He utters something, you can be sure that it is as good as done. You just wait and see.

The result? His servant was healed.

In the same way, we are all spiritually sick and ready to perish forever. But God has a word for us: "Jesus Christ died for your sins and rose from the dead."

If we just take Him at His word, trust in this good news of a message, we will enter into the good of this message and salvation will be effected in our lives.

GOSPEL NUGGET #414

A man may go to hell

with his religion
with his good works
with his morality
with his zeal
with his sincerity
with his church membership
with his prayers
with his sacrifices
with his ten thousand other things
but he can never go to hell with Christ
Christ is the sinner's only escape from hell and only deliverance from condemnation.

GOSPEL NUGGET #413

Ge 22:14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, "In the Mount of The LORD it shall be provided."

The expression "The Lord Will Provide" in this verse specifically refers to the blessed and comforting fact that God Himself will provide a sacrifice and atonement for the sins of sinners.

Moving up a verse before this, we read: "Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son."

The ram that the Lord provided as an offering was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

Many people attempt to provide from their own resource to atone for their sins. They do religious works, charitable endeavors and philanthropic activities to somehow atone for their sins. They are ignorant of the fact that none of their own provisions can deal with the sin issue in their lives.

They ought to know what God has provided for the salvation of their souls in Mount Calvary. There the Lord Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead.

It is not what we provide and give to God that saves us. No, rather, it is God's provision in the cross of Calvary, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, that saves a sinner.

Have you accepted by faith the Savior that God has provided for sinners like you and me?