GOSPEL NUGGET #583

Joh 12:32 "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."

A young man approached an evangelist and said: "If it is true that Christ would really draw men all to Himself then why is it that there are men and women today who are not effectively drawn to Him? Why are there people, thousands of them, who are not drawn to Christ?"

"Do you believe in gravity?" the preacher asked.

"Well, of course, I do!" replied the young man.

"What is gravity?" the preacher probed.

"Well, according to some people, gravity is an invisible force which draws all matter to the center of the earth," said the young man.

The evangelist then looked up and pointed to the chandelier lights of the church building they were in and said: "If what you say is true then why is it that those lights up there do not fall to the ground?"

"It's simple sir, they are fastened to the ceiling by a rod," the young man answered.

And so, you see, the Lord Jesus Christ draws all men to Himself but God, in His sovereignty, allowed man to resist Him, and thus, they can resist Him if they will.

My friend, the Lord Jesus Christ is drawing you to Himself right now, without His drawing, you can never come to Him. His drawing in the spiritual realm is as real as gravity in the physical realm. Would you be drawn to Him now and come to Him in repentance and faith; trusting in what He did for you on the cross for your salvation? Or would you hold on to your sin?

GOSPEL NUGGET #582

Pr 22:3 A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, But the simple pass on and are punished.

Let's apply this proverb to salvation:

You know that you are guilty of sins far too many to number. You know that judgment awaits you. Your own conscience testifies to this. Will you be prudent enough to prepare for it and seek to secure yourself from it? Or will you be a simpleton, be careless and thoughtless about it all, just pass on in life like there is no judgment for you?

My friend, don't be a fool. Be repentant and be prudent enough to hide from the coming wrath and judgment. Come to Christ. Take refuge in what He did for you at the cross. Trust in Him alone for salvation. Hide in Him. 

GOSPEL NUGGET #581

"Fools mock at sin... " Proverbs 14:9

Fools are people who do not take sin seriously. They are not grieved by it nor are they concerned about the sin in their lives. Sin is a light matter to them.

The word "sin" could also mean sin-offering that it could be rendered "fools mock at sin-offering." Those who make light of sin are people, who, as a necessary result, also make light of the sacrifice for sin. Those who make a lightweight of sin makes a lightweight of the Savior.

But fools can only make a mockery of sin for so long. At the lake of fire, they will all realize that sin is fatally serious and what the Savior did on the cross, infinitely precious.

Repent my friend. Take sin seriously and the Savior earnestly. Come to Him in faith and be saved! 

GOSPEL NUGGET #580

Mt 21:31 ... Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.

The Lord Jesus was addressing the religious people in Israel here in this verse, namely the chief priests and the elders of Israel. This is a shocking statement that He made. Scandalous! The blood pressure of the religious men who heard this must have shot up. 

The tax collectors were considered traitors to the nation of Israel and they were generally corrupt. The harlots were considered the low lives in Israel.

But the one thing that was going for them was that they did not have a false conscience to make them believe that they were okay with God. Moreover, they did not have any false piety to make them trust in themselves that they were righteous. They were obvious sinners to others and most importantly to themselves that they felt a desperate need to repent and come to the Savior. And so, coming to the Savior, in repentance and faith, they enter the kingdom of God.

The highly religious men in this instance, however, were the opposite. They did not find anything wrong with themselves, they became satisfied with themselves and they saw no need for the Savior.
And so, they did not repent when they should have repented and they did not come to the Savior in faith when they should have for their salvation. Hence, they failed to enter the kingdom of God.

Don't let this happen to you, my friend. Realize that you are a sinner. Realize that you cannot save yourself. Realize that you need to come to the Lord Jesus in repentance and faith for salvation.

GOSPEL NUGGET # 579

Ro 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 

Paul being an experienced preacher that he was knew the objections to his doctrine of salvation by grace. In his journeys, he heard all kinds of opposition to the gospel that he preached. Here he is voicing out a common objection to his message of salvation by grace.
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Now, every conclusion has a premise. Paul in chapter 5 verse 20 taught that where sin abounded grace super abounded. Based on that teaching of Paul, his hearers might conclude and say: “If that is the case Paul, if grace super abounds where sin abounds, does that mean then that we are to continue in sin that grace may abound?”

In our times, we have a similar objection whenever we faithfully preach the Gospel of grace. We tell them that salvation is not by works but by grace through faith. And people react, sometimes vehemently at us and say: “If that is true, then it is no longer necessary to live in holiness and righteousness. After all, salvation is not by good works but by grace through faith?”

Every time I hear that objection in my evangelism, I smile inwardly. Because I know that I preached the same message of salvation that Paul preached. Brethren, every single time we preach the message of grace, that salvation is not by works, but by grace through faith, we would invariably elicit a conclusion similar to this here in verse 1 from the unregenerate minds of unbelievers. Do not be surprised. The world does not understand the grace of God.

Teaching or a message that says: "A sinner can be saved by good works and good character" would never draw out such a reaction and objection. No, Paul received such an objection and protest because his message was: "A sinner is not saved by good works and good character; a sinner is saved by faith alone in Christ alone." . P.S. We are not talking about the results of salvation here. That is another topic. We are simply emphasizing the principle of salvation that it is not by works.

GOSPEL NUGGET 578

Mr 10:52 Then Jesus said to him (blind Bartimaeus), "Go your way; your faith has made you well." And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.

* Notice, the Lord did not say: “Your crying out to Me for mercy has made you well.”  (verses 47 and 48)
* The Lord did not say: “The prayer you uttered to Me has saved you or has made you well.” (verse 51)
* He did not say: “Your verbal acknowledgment of Me as the Son of David has made you whole.” (verses 47 and 48)
* He did not even say: “Your following after Me has saved you or has made you well.” (verse 52)

No. No. No. He never said these things. Why? Because you can cry your eyes out to Him for mercy, you can pray to Him till kingdom come, you can verbally acknowledge His being the Messiah till your tongue drops out of your mouth, you can do all these things, but if you have not trusted in Him for salvation, for deliverance, for your spiritual well-being, you will remain in the dark forever and ever. The Lord said: “Your faith IN ME has made you well.”

Also, there are many people who believe that they can be saved if they just follow the Lord. That’s impossible. It’s impossible to follow someone if you are in the dark. It’s impossible to follow someone if you are blind. Bart was blind and he did not do that. You need to be made well first before you can begin to see Him and then follow Him. You need to receive the blessing of salvation first before you can begin to follow Him as His disciple.

If you are someone here who is still unsaved, I urge you, I plead with you to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation. He died for your sins and rose again for you.

GOSPEL NUGGET #577

A man knocked on the door of a stately house and said to the owner who answered: "Hello, I am John and I am a pretty nice guy and I would love to live in your house."

"Excuse me? Do I know you?" the owner replied.

"Nope, but I am a pretty nice guy. You just ask around. Just yesterday I mowed my neighbor's lawn, I assisted an elderly cross a street and I helped someone with a car that was bogged down the side the road," said the man with pride in his eyes.

"You just can't live here just because you're nice!" the owner retorted.

"Why?! You let that boy live here! Has he mowed your neighbor's lawn? Has he assisted an elderly? Has he helped someone with his car?" the man protested loudly.

"Of course he lives here! He's my child!" the owner exclaimed.

"Oh, I see! And does that make him more special than me?!" the man roared.

"Okay, that's it! I am calling the police!" the owner angrily threatened.

This situation is very weird. A man insisting to be welcomed in someone else' stately house just because he is nice. But you know what? A lot of people think exactly like this when it comes to salvation. They think and believe that just because they have been doing good that God would let them in into His house. No, it doesn't work that way. You can only live in His house if you are His child. The question is: "Have you been born again by faith in Christ Jesus? Are you God's child through Christ?"

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,

Joh 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name

Ga 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Note: The story above is taken from Lifeline Productions. LifeLine Productions produces Biblical messages for radio using humor to hold the listener