Wednesday, January 29, 2014
GOSPEL NUGGET #315
Sin Is No Cheap Thrill
Nu 32:23 "...be sure your sin will find you out."
You can pursue a life of sin and seemingly get ahead and away from it, but be sure of this, it will pursue you and track you down and overtake you when you least expect it.
Sin is a relentless and merciless creditor that will follow you wherever you go and ruthlessly demands that you pay your debts. The ghosts of your sins in the past will eventually catch up with you to haunt you, distress you and even destroy you.
A sinful act hardens into a sinful habit, a sinful habit solidifies into a sinful character. And a sinful character will eventually make a mess of himself with others.
Let a man or a woman alone in his lust and greed and eventually he or she will be involved in a situation where he or she in effect punishes himself or herself with guilt, shame, suffering, sorrow and pain. All these because of his or her own fault.
God oftentimes uses one sin as an instrument in exposing another. A man indulging in some private sin sets himself up for a public one. Just give him time and he will expose himself.
Slowly, subtly but surely, your sin will come back to you and announce to the world that he belongs to you.
God will make you realize that sin always has an inescapable consequence, temporal and eternal. You will always reap a harvest to the sin that you sowed, sooner or later. Be sure your sin will find you out.
But there is a way to deal with the eternal consequence of your sin. I say eternal because God never promised everyone to remove the temporal consequence of our sins. "If the righteous is repaid on earth, how much more the wicked and the sinner!" Prov. 11:31
To remove or not to remove the temporal consequence of our sins is His discretion. The way to deal with the eternal consequence of our sin (punishment in the lake of fire) is to have our sin removed, dismissed and taken away!
If that is the case, then the eternal consequence of our sin will never find us out! "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" John 1:29
Come to Christ in repentance and faith and have your sins taken away before it finds you out. And the eternal consequence of your sins will never find you out because it found Him with your sins on the cross!
Sunday, January 26, 2014
GOSPEL NUGGET#314
Are You A Careless Fool?
A man sold everything he possessed down to the last item. Then with the money, he bought a very costly pearl. The pearl represented everything that he possessed in life.
Hopping into a small and narrow row boat, he made his way to an island. Inside the boat, to while away the time, to somehow amuse himself, he played with the pearl.
He would toss the pearl high up in the air and catch it and toss it again and catch it again. On and on, he did this with the surrounding ocean opening its mouth wide ready to gobble up the pearl the moment it would slip away from his hand.
You say: "That man is a careless fool! I would never do such a thing!"
Really? Well, you are worse, if you are one who has never repented and trusted Christ alone for salvation.
That pearl represents your soul. And you are going through this life just being careless with it. Without entrusting it to the Savior, you are exposing it to constant danger. Anytime, it could sink into a place of torment.
Be a careless fool no more. Come to Christ in repentance and faith, trusting in Him and what He did on the cross alone for salvation.
A man sold everything he possessed down to the last item. Then with the money, he bought a very costly pearl. The pearl represented everything that he possessed in life.
Hopping into a small and narrow row boat, he made his way to an island. Inside the boat, to while away the time, to somehow amuse himself, he played with the pearl.
He would toss the pearl high up in the air and catch it and toss it again and catch it again. On and on, he did this with the surrounding ocean opening its mouth wide ready to gobble up the pearl the moment it would slip away from his hand.
You say: "That man is a careless fool! I would never do such a thing!"
Really? Well, you are worse, if you are one who has never repented and trusted Christ alone for salvation.
That pearl represents your soul. And you are going through this life just being careless with it. Without entrusting it to the Savior, you are exposing it to constant danger. Anytime, it could sink into a place of torment.
Be a careless fool no more. Come to Christ in repentance and faith, trusting in Him and what He did on the cross alone for salvation.
Monday, January 20, 2014
GOSPEL NUGGET#313
The Mechanics Of Salvation
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, that no one might boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
* The Cause Of Salvation: "Grace"
* The Availability Of Salvation: "SaveD" Notice the past tense. You can be saveD now.
* The Method Or Means Of Salvation: "Through faith"
* The Source Of Salvation: a) "Not of yourselves" b) "It is..of God"
* The Nature Of Salvation: "It is the gift of God"
* The Principle Of Salvation: "Not of works"
* The Purpose Of Salvation: "That no one might boast"
* The Dynamic Of Salvation: It is God's "workmanship"
* The Project Of Salvation: "Created"
* The Sphere Of Salvation: "In Christ Jesus"
* The Result Of Salvation: "Unto good works"
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, that no one might boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
* The Cause Of Salvation: "Grace"
* The Availability Of Salvation: "SaveD" Notice the past tense. You can be saveD now.
* The Method Or Means Of Salvation: "Through faith"
* The Source Of Salvation: a) "Not of yourselves" b) "It is..of God"
* The Nature Of Salvation: "It is the gift of God"
* The Principle Of Salvation: "Not of works"
* The Purpose Of Salvation: "That no one might boast"
* The Dynamic Of Salvation: It is God's "workmanship"
* The Project Of Salvation: "Created"
* The Sphere Of Salvation: "In Christ Jesus"
* The Result Of Salvation: "Unto good works"
Sunday, January 19, 2014
GOSPEL NUGGET #312
"When You See A Turtle On A Fence Post, You Know He Didn't Get There By Himself"
This is a famous statement in the US. It was originally a joke aimed at incompetent politicians. An old man was talking to a young man:
"When you're driving down a country road and you see a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a post turtle. You know he didn't get up there by himself. He doesn't belong there; he can't get anything done while he's up there; and you just want to help the poor, dumb thing down."
This is sadly true of many politicians who are in office.
When you come to think of it, the statement is true to all of us, spiritually speaking. When you see a sinner up there in heaven, you know that he did not get there by himself. Somebody saved him to be up there.
Like helpless turtles, we could not climb heaven by our own efforts. God's standard is perfection. No sin at all. Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden on the demerit of a single sin.
That's a very tall order for us. It's an impossible uphill climb for all of us. No human being (excepting the Lord Jesus) has ever climbed Mount Perfection and stood over its summit.
The Bible describes us sinners as "without strength" (Romans 5:6) to perfectly do God's will and save ourselves.
We all need the Deliverer, the Savior, who will pull us out from the abyss of condemnation to the celestial and exalted heights of salvation to ultimately enjoy God forever in heaven.
Anyone who clings in faith to the Savior and what He did on the cross will be delivered.
This is a famous statement in the US. It was originally a joke aimed at incompetent politicians. An old man was talking to a young man:
"When you're driving down a country road and you see a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a post turtle. You know he didn't get up there by himself. He doesn't belong there; he can't get anything done while he's up there; and you just want to help the poor, dumb thing down."
This is sadly true of many politicians who are in office.
When you come to think of it, the statement is true to all of us, spiritually speaking. When you see a sinner up there in heaven, you know that he did not get there by himself. Somebody saved him to be up there.
Like helpless turtles, we could not climb heaven by our own efforts. God's standard is perfection. No sin at all. Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden on the demerit of a single sin.
That's a very tall order for us. It's an impossible uphill climb for all of us. No human being (excepting the Lord Jesus) has ever climbed Mount Perfection and stood over its summit.
The Bible describes us sinners as "without strength" (Romans 5:6) to perfectly do God's will and save ourselves.
We all need the Deliverer, the Savior, who will pull us out from the abyss of condemnation to the celestial and exalted heights of salvation to ultimately enjoy God forever in heaven.
Anyone who clings in faith to the Savior and what He did on the cross will be delivered.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
GOSPEL NUGGET #311
Question: If Christ paid for all our sins then God would be unfair by exacting double payment if He sends anyone to hell to pay for his sins. Would this be the case?
Answer:
We must realize that what Christ did on the cross for our sins was provisional in nature. Being provisional, there is therefore the need to receive and avail ourselves of it through faith in Him and what He did on the cross, if we are to enter into the good of it.
Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ provided the payment for our sins when He died on the cross, with God giving His nod of approval of it when He raised Him from the dead.
But that provisional atonement/payment can only be applied actually to us and to our sins the very moment we receive it by faith in Him.
If we learn to distinguish between provision and application, then double payment is not an issue. Since the provision is never applied automatically to all but is only applied to those who trust in Him.
His death on the cross was sufficient for all the world, but it is applied only to those who put their trust in Him.
Joh 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes/trusts in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Answer:
We must realize that what Christ did on the cross for our sins was provisional in nature. Being provisional, there is therefore the need to receive and avail ourselves of it through faith in Him and what He did on the cross, if we are to enter into the good of it.
Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ provided the payment for our sins when He died on the cross, with God giving His nod of approval of it when He raised Him from the dead.
But that provisional atonement/payment can only be applied actually to us and to our sins the very moment we receive it by faith in Him.
If we learn to distinguish between provision and application, then double payment is not an issue. Since the provision is never applied automatically to all but is only applied to those who trust in Him.
His death on the cross was sufficient for all the world, but it is applied only to those who put their trust in Him.
Joh 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes/trusts in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
1Ti 4:10 For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.
GOSPEL NUGGET # 310
Uncle Tom's Cabin
When US president Abraham Lincoln met Harriet Beecher Stowe at the start of the Civil War, Lincoln declared, "So this is the little lady who started this great war."
The American Civil War (1861-1867) had its origin in the issue of slavery of the black people in America.
Harriet Beecher Stowe was the one who wrote the best-selling book in the 1800's next to the Bible called Uncle Tom's Cabin. It gripped the minds of people in America and in England. It was very instrumental in catapulting the idea that slavery must be abolished. One little lady made a difference for millions of people.
The story is about a godly, black Christian slave called Tom. Here is the gospel in the story:
Tom was separated from his family when his master sold him to a slave trader. The slave trader in turn sold him to a rich man who had a little young girl who took a particular friendly affection for Tom.
Little did everyone know that the young girl was dying. After she died, Tom was released as a free man, to his surprise. The rich man told Tom that his daughter made her promise that he would let Tom go a free man when she dies. And so he did.
Isn't this exactly what the Lord Jesus did when He died for us? We were hopelessly enslaved to sin. But God the Father and God the Son made a covenant together. God the Father promised the Lord Jesus Christ that anyone who trust in Him and what He did on the cross will be freed from the slavery of sin.
Freed by the death of His Son.
When US president Abraham Lincoln met Harriet Beecher Stowe at the start of the Civil War, Lincoln declared, "So this is the little lady who started this great war."
The American Civil War (1861-1867) had its origin in the issue of slavery of the black people in America.
Harriet Beecher Stowe was the one who wrote the best-selling book in the 1800's next to the Bible called Uncle Tom's Cabin. It gripped the minds of people in America and in England. It was very instrumental in catapulting the idea that slavery must be abolished. One little lady made a difference for millions of people.
The story is about a godly, black Christian slave called Tom. Here is the gospel in the story:
Tom was separated from his family when his master sold him to a slave trader. The slave trader in turn sold him to a rich man who had a little young girl who took a particular friendly affection for Tom.
Little did everyone know that the young girl was dying. After she died, Tom was released as a free man, to his surprise. The rich man told Tom that his daughter made her promise that he would let Tom go a free man when she dies. And so he did.
Isn't this exactly what the Lord Jesus did when He died for us? We were hopelessly enslaved to sin. But God the Father and God the Son made a covenant together. God the Father promised the Lord Jesus Christ that anyone who trust in Him and what He did on the cross will be freed from the slavery of sin.
Freed by the death of His Son.
Monday, January 13, 2014
GOSPEL NUGGET #309
Saved By Faith Alone And Not By Works By An Ergonomic Chair
Sitting in front of my computer is an ergonomic chair. It has saved me from falling one too many times.
"Come, rely and entrust yourself wholly to me and I will save you from falling," it seems to say to me everyday.
Being totally confident, I always find myself giving my whole body totally to it, day after day after day. I would just sit on it and let go of my whole weight leaving the business of holding myself up completely to my chair.
I never worry. I never tried helping it carry me like lifting myself up somehow by straining my legs like we do when we sit on air. I never exert any effort at all believe you me! I just simply let the chair do all the saving, or carrying for me! And it has never failed me.
If the Lord Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross were a chair, would you be willing to entrust yourself to Him, leaving the whole business of saving yourself from an eternal fall to Him?
Ac 16:30 And he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
31 So they said, "Believe (trust and rely or shall we say SIT) on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved...
Sitting in front of my computer is an ergonomic chair. It has saved me from falling one too many times.
"Come, rely and entrust yourself wholly to me and I will save you from falling," it seems to say to me everyday.
Being totally confident, I always find myself giving my whole body totally to it, day after day after day. I would just sit on it and let go of my whole weight leaving the business of holding myself up completely to my chair.
I never worry. I never tried helping it carry me like lifting myself up somehow by straining my legs like we do when we sit on air. I never exert any effort at all believe you me! I just simply let the chair do all the saving, or carrying for me! And it has never failed me.
If the Lord Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross were a chair, would you be willing to entrust yourself to Him, leaving the whole business of saving yourself from an eternal fall to Him?
Ac 16:30 And he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
31 So they said, "Believe (trust and rely or shall we say SIT) on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved...
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