Salvation Of The Soul How Standing Before Christ Can Be Our Most Glorious Moment
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Salvation Of The Soul How Standing Before Christ Can Be Our Most Glorious Moment
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Author : James T. Harman
language : en
Publisher: Prophecy Countdown Publications
Release Date : 2019-12-02
Salvation Of The Soul How Standing Before Christ Can Be Our Most Glorious Moment written by James T. Harman and has been published by Prophecy Countdown Publications this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2019-12-02 with Religion categories.
The topic of the Judgment Seat of Christ is often neglected by today's church. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad" (2 Corinthians 5:10). The salvation of the soul is probably one of the most misunderstood concepts in the Church today. Most people think that the salvation of the spirit and the salvation of the soul are the same thing even though the Scriptures tell us something different. The salvation of a person's spirit is very simple. Acts 16:30-31 tells us: "30)'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' 31)...So they said, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.'" The salvation of the spirit is based on the finished work of our Saviour Jesus Christ at Calvary - the spirit is saved simply by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. While the spirit is saved by faith in Christ, the soul is being saved based upon the faithfulness of the believer. The salvation of the soul is dependent on the life that we live after our spirit is saved. If we allow the Holy Spirit to control our life we can realize the salvation of our soul, which will ultimately be determined at the Judgment Seat of Christ. When Jesus returns, He will review all of our lives to determine whether we have been faithful and obedient doers of His Word. Learn about: Difference between the salvation of spirit and soul, What Jesus meant by "take up your cross." How the Word of God can save our souls, When the salvation of our soul takes place, How to prepare for the Judgment Seat of Christ The purpose of this book is to help believers examine their lives and assist them in becoming faithful overcomers who will be qualified to rule and reign with Christ in the coming Kingdom. After we have experienced the salvation of our spirit, it is imperative that we allow the Word of God to sanctify us completely in order to realize the salvation of our soul. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1Th 5:23) This book will prepare you so that you will be able to hear Christ say: "Well done, good and faithful servant...Enter into the joy of your lord" (Matthew 25:21).
Salvation Clear And Plain
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Author :
language : en
Publisher:
Release Date : 2017-01-31
Salvation Clear And Plain written by and has been published by this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2017-01-31 with categories.
This booklet gives a straightforward explanation of how a person can be saved through faith in Jesus Christ. A useful tool for witnessing to those who wish to know how to get to heaven.
Salvation Clear And Plain
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Author :
language : en
Publisher:
Release Date : 2004-09-01
Salvation Clear And Plain written by and has been published by this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2004-09-01 with categories.
What is salvation? What Does Salvation Include? First, there's full, complete, and eternal pardon for every sin. That's wonderful, but that's only part of it. God also freely gives everlasting life, mansions in the skies, adoption into His family, communion with Himself, rewards for service, and in fact "all things" to those whom He saves. That is such good news, because everyone desperately needs to be saved. All have sinned and deserve punishment. There is not one single person in the whole world free from sin. This includes you too. But there is salvation! And there is salvation for you! That's what you'll find explained in this booklet. While the way of salvation should be clear and plain, unfortunately there is confusion in the minds of millions as to how to be saved. Multitudes are trying to be saved in their own way while ignoring God's perfect way. To miss God's way is to perish eternally. How marvelous that the God of the Ages should have a way for us! He has looked after all the details. There is nothing left out. His way is complete, foolproof--perfect. It's so important that you know God's way. The following pages use sharp contrasts to explain God's way of saving sinners. Read them with an open mind and an open heart. Not Your Work for God, but God's Work for You! The truth simply is this: It just isn't possible for you to be saved by what you do for God. If you are of good moral character, that will not help. You may be educated, gifted, wealthy, successful, respectable, honored, but God accepts nothing in return for the gift of salvation. Good deeds can't purchase pardon either. Not giving money to worthy causes, not volunteering for charities. You may do the very best you can, but the works of men's hands can never merit salvation. "He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy" (Titus 3:5). "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment" (Isaiah 64:6). What then? How can one be saved? Listen carefully: The essence of salvation is that it's God's work for you. It's all provided for. The entire price has been paid. It's offered on one simple condition: that you take it as a free gift from God. We couldn't earn it or merit it in a million eternities. Therefore, God freely gives it to us. "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Ephesians 2:8, 9). "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). Not a New Leaf, but a New Life! There are some who have promised God they will do better. Under stress of trouble or sorrow many have sincerely determined to forsake their sins and turn over a new leaf. But this is not the door to salvation. Even if the new leaf were kept unspotted--what about the other soiled days and years? God's salvation is deeper than mere reformation. It's an absolutely new nature. It's a complete reckoning with all the past and an ironclad guarantee for the future. It's not washing of the hands--it's the gift of a new heart. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17). "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever" (John 4:13, 14). Be assured that God is not interested in patching up your old life. What He wants to do is to give you a completely new nature, part of His own nature. For this new nature is destined to live forever in eternity's heavenly glory. It's completely new, fresh from the hand of our Creator God. "For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation" (Galatians 6:15). "You must be born again" (John 3:7). How can one be saved? Not Going to Church, but Being a Christian! This is so important. It is true that the Church is God's divinely appointed institution in today's world. But salvation is not by the Church. You may attend the services regularly, sing the hymns, listen to the sermons, drop your gifts in the collection basket, join in observance of the Lord's Table, even join the Church--but these things will never save your soul. Don't misunderstand. These things are right and good for all Christians to do, but we're talking about how to become a Christian. Don't mistake church privileges and duties for the door to eternal life. Many people have been saved in church, but not by the Church. Christ alone can save. "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household" (Acts 16:31). It is true that the main duty of the Church is to proclaim Christ and His gospel. But it is Christ and Christ alone who saves. One must have a personal, individual, actual transaction with the risen Son of God. The Church is the body of Christ. But in the matter of salvation, we're saved by the Head. "Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior" (Ephesians 5:23). "He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him" (Hebrews 7:25). Not Keeping the Law, but Love Keeping You! Are you trying to be saved by keeping the law? Do you expect to enter Heaven by the observance of the Ten Commandments? Would you be amazed if you heard that no one in all the world has ever been saved that way? While the law is just, holy, and good, it is not a means of salvation. Its purpose is to show you your inability to be righteous before God. It is a means of condemnation. "For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20). "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes" (Romans 10:4). "No one is justified before God by the law, for 'The righteous shall live by faith'" (Galatians 3:11). Not in ceremonies and washings, not in keeping the Sabbath, not in refusing to eat certain foods, not in pilgrimages to holy places, not in burning candles, not in paying a tithe of one's income. Salvation is not in these acts. The law condemns (that's its purpose), but Christ saves those whom the law condemns. The law is a mirror to show man's need, but the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin. Salvation is not to be found in "keeping." The Christian is "kept" by God. "The law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith" (Galatians 3:24). "You are not under law but under grace" (Romans 6:14). Not by Water, but by Blood! Baptism in water is one of the two great sacraments of the Christian Church. It is a divinely given ordinance to mark the Christian's inseparable union with Christ in death and resurrection. Never, however, is it a means of salvation. There is no soul-cleansing in water. Sin can only be cleansed by blood. "Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins" (Hebrews 9:22). "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses" (Ephesians 1:7). "You were ransomed... not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18- 19). Every Christian ought to be baptized, but not until he or she has been genuinely saved. Baptism is a testimony to the believer's own heart, to the church, and to the world that his or her faith and trust are in the finished work of Christ on the cross. It is a symbol of that change which has already taken place in the Christian's life. "So those who received his word were baptized" (Acts 2:41). "And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized" (Acts 18:8). Not Feeling, but Fact! Some have complained they don't "feel" saved. But salvation must first be a fact before it is a feeling. Never does God work from feeling to faith--always the opposite. Our redemption rests upon the absolute certainty of God's Word, not on our own experience. We are saved on the simple basis of taking God at His word. God offers to sinners all the benefits of incomparable salvation on the one condition that we believe Him. At the moment we reach out by faith and trust in God, all the things which God has promised become eternally true. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12). Feeling will come in time. As you grow in your faith you will begin to "feel" saved. Christ will become more real, and prayer and Bible reading more blessed. But entering the Christian life is different. This step is taken not on the quicksands of uncertain feeling, but on the surety of the Rock of Ages, Christ Jesus. "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me'" (John 14:6). "'What must I do to be saved?' And they said, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household'" (Acts 16:30-31). Not Trying, but Trusting! Suppose you try to do the best you can. Is that enough? Suppose you strive to make your life upright and exemplary. Suppose you endeavor to perform noble deeds. Let's say your motives are high and unselfish. Will you be surprised to hear that God simply does not save on the basis of man's trying? God's standard of life is absolute perfection. He will never receive anything short of that. No one will ever be in Heaven except those who fully qualify here. And the truth is that only one Person in all the world ever lived an absolutely sinless life--Christ. All else have terribly failed. If salvation were by trying, no one would ever be saved! "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). "He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy" (Titus 3:5). "For by grace you have been saved through faith...not a result of works" (Ephesians 2:8-9). The heart of salvation is substitution. Christ took our place. He lived perfectly, never sinned, and when He died, He died for us. He became our substitute. He takes our sins; we take his righteousness. Thus we can stand before God clothed in robes of perfect righteousness by simply trusting in the finished work of Christ. That's the good news of the gospel. "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness" (1 Peter 2:24). Not by Our Methods, but God's Miracle! Methods employed in gospel meetings are intended to be an aid to the sinner's acceptance of Christ. But the methods in themselves are not a basis for salvation. Raising one's hand for prayer, going forward to the altar, signing a card, or shaking the hand of the evangelist may help in the all-important decision, but there is no salvation until the sinner meets the Savior. Saving your guilty soul is God's greatest miracle. For in doing so, He righteously removes your sin and in all justice pardons your guilt. No one in all of time or eternity can ever question the validity of your redemption. But the key to the entire matter is the sacrifice of Christ. To trust anything but Him is to entirely miss the mark. "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life" (John 3:36). "Whoever comes to me I will never cast out" (John 6:37). "You search the Scriptures because you think in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life" (John 5:39, 40). There is nothing wrong with methods if they point to Christ. The danger lies when it is not clearly explained that not only must you raise your hand, but you must open your heart. Not only must you come forward to the altar, but you must come to Christ. Shaking the hand of the evangelist must indicate that you forever place your hand, heart, and life in the pierced hands of the Savior. For it is when the guilty sinner meets the Savior of sinners that God's mighty miracle takes place. Not Head Knowledge, but Heart Belief! Some have argued that they have always accepted Christ. But you don't believe in Christ like you believe in Julius Caesar or George Washington. Christ must become to you more than a mere figure of history. When you receive Him it must be with more than intellectual assent. To be saved, Christ must be the greatest, nearest, and dearest Person in your life. It is true that Jesus Christ is the greatest Man in history. But He is more than that--He is the God-Man. It is also a fact that He lived a life of wonderful example. But that isn't enough either. His life was absolutely, sinlessly perfect. You may accept the truth that He died innocently and sacrificially, but until you see that He died for you, personally, you cannot know salvation. "And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). "He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Hebrews 1:3). Please understand that salvation is never yours on the basis of your acknowledgment of the Jesus of history. To be saved, one must personally receive the Christ of Calvary. You must place your entire trust and faith in Him. Not Your Anything, but God's Everything! Sincerity does not constitute salvation. The man who is sincere yet wrong is just as lost as the hypocrite. God demands that you be both sincere and right to be saved. To depend upon sincerity is to die in your sins. Nor is repentance synonymous with salvation. Repentance is sorrow for sin and often leads to salvation. But it is never enough to be sorry for sin. Tears will never cleanse a guilty heart. Only Christ's blood can do this. Being under conviction is not salvation. Conviction of heart is often God-sent and may lead one to the realization of his or her desperate need. In this way conviction may become an arrow pointing to Christ, but salvation takes place when the convicted one rests his all in an all-sufficient Christ. Nor is confession of sin salvation. Confession is a healthful exercise and can lead to the blessed experience of having your transgressions pardoned. But confession of sin must lead to a definite, actual, personal trust in the crucified and risen Christ before salvation occurs. Denial of sin will not change the fact, nor a routine affirmation of the goodness of God. It is true that God is love, but God is also righteous, just, pure, and holy. And God hates sin with a holy hatred. No sinner can ever stand in His presence. Thus the necessity of the acceptance of the sinner's substitute, Christ. By Him sin is forever banished, and the sinner is forever saved. Salvation is Christ, receiving Him in your heart. With Him you're saved. Without Him you're lost. What does salvation mean for me? Salvation--Clear and Plain What then is our part in salvation? If being saved is God's miracle, if Christ has fully paid the price, what does the sinner need to do in order to receive the incomparable benefits of salvation? Here is God's truth. The whole matter of our responsibility has been gathered into one all-inclusive term--we are told to "believe." We are to believe God. Believe what He has said about us, that we're hopelessly lost in trespasses and sins. Believe what He has said about His own dear Son, that He is abundantly able to save to the uttermost. We are to believe so completely that we gladly rest our life and our eternal destiny on the Word of God. Believe means to receive. Salvation is so great and costly it could never be earned. So God freely offers it to guilty sinners as a gift. We believe, when by faith, we reach out and take it. Believe means to trust. Trust our past, present, and future to Christ. Surely He is worthy of our trust. Everything that comes into our lives is to be entrusted to Him. Believe means to accept. To open the door of your entire being and invite the Lord Jesus to enter. To take Him for a blessed and wonderful Companion all the days. Believe means to turn. To turn from following your own will and way to following God's will and way. To turn from seeking your own advancement to advancing the cause of Christ. Believe means to rely. To depend upon the Lord Jesus for every need. To find Him abundantly able to meet every problem. To have Him as your very own. Salvation--for YOU! Are you ready to believe? Are you willing for God to accomplish in your heart the miracle of the new birth? Will you here and now trust the peerless Christ? Will you open the door of your heart and receive Him--forever? God is ready to receive you. And here is the basis of your approach to Him: You are a lost sinner, worthy of death and under the condemnation of a righteous God. But Christ has died, not only for the sins of the world, but for your sins. And God freely offers to forgive all your sins and gladly bring you into His family if you will receive His dear Son. "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12). Now why don't you go to a place where you can be alone, get on your knees before God, and pray this simple prayer: Dear God, I come to You as a lost sinner, for Your Word says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But I thank You that Christ died for me, and that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. I come to You believing in Jesus Christ as my own personal Savior and receiving Him into my heart. According to Your Word, cleanse me from all my sins and make me Your child. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
The Salvation Of The Soul
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Author : Watchman Nee
language : en
Publisher: Christian Fellowship Publishers
Release Date : 1978-11-13
The Salvation Of The Soul written by Watchman Nee and has been published by Christian Fellowship Publishers this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 1978-11-13 with Religion categories.
Watchman Nee's treatment of the salvation of the soul is a companion volume to another work, The Latent Power of the Soul. In it he deals with God's positive way with our soul, taming the inordinate power hidden deep within it.
At The Moment Of Salvation
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Author : Danny R Zickefoose
language : en
Publisher: WestBow Press
Release Date : 2018-11-15
At The Moment Of Salvation written by Danny R Zickefoose and has been published by WestBow Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2018-11-15 with Religion categories.
This book discusses fifteen blessings that God gives to each and every Christian at the very moment that we pray a sinner's prayer and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. This book is designed in short and easy-to-read chapters for those on the go. It is designed to bless and encourage the so-called average Christian.
Seeing And Savouring Jesus Christ
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Author : JOHN PIPER
language : en
Publisher: Inter-Varsity Press
Release Date : 2020-05-21
Seeing And Savouring Jesus Christ written by JOHN PIPER and has been published by Inter-Varsity Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2020-05-21 with Religion categories.
Who is Jesus Christ? You've never met Him in person, and you don't know anyone who has. But there is a way to know who he is. How? Jesus Christ - the divine Person revealed in the Bible - has a unique excellence and a spiritual beauty that speaks directly to our souls and says, "Yes, this is truth." It's like seeing the sun and knowing that it is light, or tasting honey and knowing that it is sweet. The depth and complexity of Jesus shatter our simple mental frameworks. He baffled proud scribes with his wisdom but was understood and loved by children. He calmed a raging storm with a word but would not get himself down from the cross. Look at the Jesus of the Bible. Keep your eyes open, and fill them with the portrait of Jesus in God's Word. Jesus said, "If anyone's will is to do God's will, He will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority." Ask God for the grace to do His will, and you will see the truth of His Son. John Piper has written this book in the hope that all will see Jesus for who he really is and will come to enjoy him above all else.
The Rock Of Our Salvation
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Author : William Swan Plumer
language : en
Publisher:
Release Date : 1867
The Rock Of Our Salvation written by William Swan Plumer and has been published by this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 1867 with categories.
Daniel S Prophecies Unsealed
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Author : James T. Harman
language : en
Publisher:
Release Date : 2018-09-15
Daniel S Prophecies Unsealed written by James T. Harman and has been published by this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2018-09-15 with Religion categories.
The Archangel Michael told Daniel that the prophecies would be sealed until the time of the end. Discover how the prophecies in the book of Daniel are being unsealed in the events taking place today. Daniel's visions were given for us today. The wise will diligently search the word of the Lord and ask for wisdom to understand God's plan.
The Reason Why
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Author : Robert A. Laidlaw
language : en
Publisher:
Release Date : 2004-11
The Reason Why written by Robert A. Laidlaw and has been published by this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2004-11 with categories.
Written by the Proprietor of a Business to the Members of His Staff Suppose that a man should send his young lady a diamond ring costing him five thousand dollars, and place it in a little velvet case which the jeweler threw in for nothing. Would he not think it strange if, on meeting her a few days later, she would say, "Oh, that was a lovely little velvet box you sent me. I am going to take every care of it. I promise to keep it wrapped up in a safe place so that no harm shall come to it." Such a thing is too ridiculous to be thought possible, yet is it not just as foolish for men and women to be spending all their time and thought on their bodies, which are but caskets containing the real self, the soul, that the Bible tells us will persist long after our bodies have crumbled to dust? In Revelation 6:9 we read, "I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne." Longfellow puts it thus: Tell me not in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream, For the soul is dead that slumbers, And things are not what they seem. Life is real, life is earnest, And the grave is not its goal, Dust thou art, to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul. Indeed it was not, for in Mark 8:36 our Lord Himself asks, "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?" So, in Christ's estimate, man's soul is some-thing incomparably more valuable than the whole world. My purpose is, therefore, to discuss with you some of the basic things that relate to your most valuable possession, your soul. For instance: Is there a God? Is the Bible true? Is man accountable? Is there divine forgiveness? And a number of other problems that seem to perplex many when they turn from the transient things of life to face its eternal truths. So let us consider our first problem-- How may we know there is a God? As far as I myself am concerned, my most convincing reason for believing there is a God is that I know Him personally. According to 1 Thessalonians 5:23 I, like you, am spirit, soul and body. My spirit makes it possible for me to be God-conscious as stated in Rom. 8:16: "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." That is, when we turn to God through accepting Christ as our Savior, we are born of the Holy Spirit into God's family, and naturally we come to know God intimately as Father. My soul makes me self-conscious, as seen in Psalm 13:2 where we read, "How long must I take counsel in my soul," or, how long shall I talk things over with myself. This strange capacity, sometimes called "the awareness of the ego," enables us to stand off from ourselves and talk to ourselves; and, by the way, we sometimes say some pretty straight things to ourselves that we would not take from anyone else. And lastly, my body through its five senses makes me world-conscious. If all my senses were taken away I would cease to be conscious of the material world about me to any degree, exactly as when I am under an anesthetic. So when a man says to me, "How do you know there is a God?" I say to him, "How do you know there is a you?" "Why," he says, "I don't need myself demonstrated mathematically or philosophically; I am a self-conscious being, and therefore I know that I am." "That, my friend," I reply, "is exactly how I know there is a God. Being spirit as well as soul, I am God-conscious as well as self-conscious; I know God is as surely as I know I am." But to me the problems of unbelief in God are greater than the problems of belief. To believe that dead matter unaided produced life, that living matter produced mind, that mind produced conscience, and that the chaos of chance produced the cosmos of order as we see it in nature, to me would call not for faith, but for credulity. The President of the New York Scientific Society, as recorded in the Readers' Digest, gave eight reasons why he believed there was a God. The first reason is as follows. Take ten identical coins and mark them one to ten, place them in your pocket, and take one out. There is one chance in ten that you will get number one. Now replace it, and the chances that number two will follow number one are not one in ten, but one in one hundred, and so on, mounting ten each time, so that the chances of number ten following number nine are one chance in 10,000,000,000 (ten billion). It seemed so unbelievable to me that I immediately took pencil and paper and very quickly discovered he was right. Try it yourself. That is why George Gallup, the American statistician, said: "I could prove God statistically. Take the human body alone--the chance that all the functions of the individual would just happen is a statistical monstrosity." Surely no thoughtful person would wish to base his eternal future on a "statistical monstrosity." Perhaps that is why the Bible says in Psalm 14:1, "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" But let us consider the problem from another viewpoint. We stand together on the wharf as a big ocean liner draws alongside, and I say to you, "A lot of people think that ship is the result of someone's carefully designed plans, but I know better. There was really no intelligence at work on it at all; the iron, by some mysterious process, gradually came out of the ground and fashioned itself into plates; slowly holes were formed in the edges of these plates, and rivets appeared, flattened themselves out on either side, and after a great time, by this same evolutionary process, the engines were in place, and one day some men on the seashore found her floating quietly in a sheltered cove." You would probably consider me a lunatic and move further into the crowd to escape my senseless chatter. You know that where there is a design there must be a designer. And, having seen other productions of the human mind just like the steamer in question, you would refuse to believe that it was not planned by human intelligence and built by human skill. Yet, there are men not considered fools who tell us that the solar system evolved from its nebulous state by chance, that in some mysterious way it came into being--that there was really no higher intelligence at work on it; they tell us they know no God but nature. On the other hand, there are many thoughtful men who believe that God is transcendent--that is, while He reveals Himself in nature, in that its laws and principles are expressions of His power and wisdom, He Himself is essentially more than the sum of them all. Atheists offer us the anomaly of design without a designer, of creation without a Creator, of effect without cause, and to escape from this dilemma ask: "If God be considered the 'first great cause, ' account for Him. Who made God?" Now, such a question contradicts itself, for it is evident no cause could make the first cause, or the first cause would become also the second cause, which is a mathematical absurdity. Every thoughtful person believes in a series of causes and effects in nature, each effect becoming the cause of some other effect. Now the acceptance of this as fact logically compels one to admit that there must be a beginning to any series--that is, there could never have been a first effect if there had not been a First Cause. This First Cause to me is Deity, and "I cannot tell where God came from" is not a satisfactory reason for denying that He exists, else I might as well deny the existence of the millionth effect which, for the sake of argument, might happen to be this world. You see, if I admit one cause as ever having existed, I am bound eventually by induction to arrive at the First Cause. Although men have discovered many of the laws that govern it, the greatest scientists cannot really define electricity. Then why do we believe it exists? Because we see the manifestation of its existence in our homes and our factories and our streets. Though I do not know where God came from, I must believe He exists, because I see the manifestations of Him everywhere around me. Professor Drummond says in The Ascent of Man: "Instead of abolishing a Creative Hand, evolution demands it. Instead of being opposed to Creation, all theories begin by assuming it." Lesis Fiske, LL.D., says, "As to some things, we may be in doubt: as to God there can be no uncertainty. He is the Infinite, the Absolute, the Unconditioned, the Eternal, the First Cause. He is not unknowable, yet He is the incomprehensible. We find Him, but we cannot grasp Him. The infinite depth of His being we cannot fathom, but reason declares Him to be the creating life of all dependent reality. And we reach the highest range of thought in conceiving and knowing Him. We do and must hang everything on the will of the infinitely intelligent Creator." Being convinced there is a God, we take the next step forward. I cannot conceive of an intelligent man making anything without a purpose--if he makes shoes, they are to wear or sell; if he bakes bread, it is for himself or someone else to eat. Behind every action there must be a motive. When I thought of this, it seemed to me quite reasonable that God should have a purpose in view when He brought in Creation. Of all the many books this world contains there is one only that claims to be a direct revelation from God, telling us of Himself and His purposes in us. Being a claim of such moment, it is surely worthy of thoughtful investigation; so with the advice of Francis Bacon neither to accept nor reject, but to weigh and consider, we approach this Book with its strange claims. But to be just to ourselves and the Bible, we should read it through. As a judge must not make his decision when the case is half heard, neither must we. But, like the judge, we should compare the evidence of the witnesses, and weigh and consider every word, seeking deeply for its hidden significance rather than accepting its surface meaning. Surely the importance of its claims justifies spending the necessary time on its study--66 books written by at least 40 different writers, some educated, some illiterate, some kings, some peasants, over a period of 1,600 years in places separated as far as Babylon in Asia and Rome in Europe. Expecting with such authorship to find a heterogeneous collection of contradictory statements, it strikes one as the more strange that such a Book should have a oneness about it that makes each contribution the complement of the others. Slowly the truth of 2 Peter 1:21 came home to me. There was no other reasonable explanation. "Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." This belief was confirmed as I read prophecy after prophecy in the Old Testament that found its fulfillment, even to the letter, hundreds of years after, as in Isaiah 53, which foretold the death of Christ with such minute accuracy more than 700 years before His crucifixion. Yes, the difficulties in the way of doubting the Book seemed to me greater than those in the way of believing it. I had to be honest with myself and admit that the hazard was all on the side of unbelief. I even went further and said, "I believe this Book to be the Word of the living God. I can account for it in no other way." But such an admission brought me face to face with a grave difficulty, for this Bible set a standard of righteousness that I had not attained, and judged all short of its standard to be sin. Remembering that God knows every secret thought you have ever entertained, just measure yourself alongside the standard: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment" (Matt. 22:37-38). Confronted with such a standard, can you claim to have lived up to it throughout your life, to have put God first in everything? Just read it again: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." If you can, there is no need for you to read the rest of these pages, for however vital the interest they hold for those of us who have fallen short of God's standard, they can be of no importance to you. But think hard--reconsider, for God says in Romans 3:23: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." And in verse 10: "None is righteous, no, not one." All have failed to reach God's standard. After addressing a meeting on one occasion, a young man asked me, "Do you think it fair of God to set the standard of holiness so high that we cannot reach it, and then judge us for falling short?" I replied, "God has not set an arbitrary standard of holiness. He has not really set a standard at all; He is the standard. He is holiness in the absolute--holiness personified--and to preserve His own character, He must maintain that absolute standard in all His dealings with man, irrespective of the tremendous problems it creates for both Him and us." My conscience and my common sense compelled me to admit I had fallen short, as far as I was concerned, of God's standard of absolute holiness and that therefore I was a sinner in His sight. Quick on my admission of having sinned came God's condemnation in Ezekiel 18:4: "The soul who sins shall die." Thus, as far as God's standard was concerned, I was lost, and as God's standard was the only one by which I was to be judged in Eternity, I was hopelessly lost. I began to see that it didn't matter at all what I thought, or what my friends told me; the judgment would be on what God had said. Moreover, because in His judgment we had all sinned, there was no use in looking to my fellows for help, for they were under the same condemnation as myself. Is Jesus the Son of God? But this same Bible told me of One, Jesus Christ, who claimed to be the Son of God. He, too, saw that men were lost, that they had forfeited their lives to sin; so He said to His Father, "Father, I have not forfeited My life; I am pure, sinless, spotless; My life is My own; let Me give My pure life in place of man's sinful life, that he may go free." And God said, "Go." Christ tells us in John 3:16 that "God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." If Jesus Christ is the Son of God, then we have indeed the assurance of salvation; but the difficulty faces us: Is Jesus Christ really the Son of God? He could be only one of three--the Son of God, a deceiver, or an honest man Himself under a hallucination. But when we find Him meeting some of the cleverest men of His day who were purposely sent to catch Him in His words, and so silencing them that they dared not ask Him any more questions (Matthew 22:46), and ourselves considering even from an intellectual standpoint the wisdom of His statements, we may dismiss the last of these suppositions absolutely. Was His wisdom so great that He was using it to deceive the people? Have you ever heard of a young man associating with swindlers and rogues and because of that association becoming ennobled, pure and honest? No! You admit you have not heard of such a case; but I know a young man who, by the reception of Christ into his life, has been lifted from the basest desires to the noblest manhood, and I simply can't believe that the reception of a deceiver into one's life could so transform it for good. The other day I heard a man say, "I owe it to Jesus Christ that I can walk down the street with my head held erect and my shoulders squared to the world. I owe it to Him that I can look a pure woman in the face and grip an honest man by the hand." I call to witness the opinion of the whole civilized world that Jesus Christ was at least a good man. If so, then an honest man, and if honest He must have been what He claimed to be, the Son of God, sent to lay down His sinless life in place of your sinful life and mine. Full-orbed humanity Crowned with Deity. Ecce Homo, Behold the man Ecce Deus, Behold thy God. Veiled in flesh the Godhead see Hail incarnate Deity. At His feet we humbly fall Crown Him, crown Him Lord of all. Convinced that the Scriptures are true, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, believing that He willingly came, and God so loved me that He has willingly sent Him to suffer the full penalty of my sins that I might go free, if I would retain my self-respect, I must accept Jesus Christ as my Savior, and crown Him Lord of my life. But I do not ask you to accept Him as yours. Possibly you admit the Bible is true, but ask, have I interpreted it correctly? Are not the views of others worthy of consideration? Surely they are. On telling my conclusion to a friend, he replied: "You are all right, but so am I, although I don't see things as you do. It seems to me that it doesn't matter so much what a man believes, so long as he is sincere in his belief." Let us test that. Not far from where I live a shopkeeper, one fine Sunday morning, said to his wife and family, "Let's take our little delivery van and go for a picnic." Traveling north, they came to a level crossing on a branch railway line and, sincerely believing there would be no train on a Sunday morning, he attempted to drive straight over--Crash, an engine struck him. He was killed on the spot, one son had an arm broken, and his little daughter was in a plaster cast for months. Did his sincere belief that all was clear save him? No, it did not. I know a nurse who, on night duty, sincerely believed she held the right medicine in her hand. But it wasn't, and in twenty minutes her patient was dead in spite of frantic efforts to save him. Of course we need sincerity, but we must sincerely believe truth, not error. In fact, having sincere belief in error can be the very means of luring us on to destruction. The Bible leaves no room for doubt. In John 14:6, Christ says: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Acts 4:12 says: "There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." If you can get to heaven any other way you will be a standing witness throughout all eternity to the ignorance of God's Son, or to the fact that He spoke falsely when He said there was no other way. I ask in the deepest earnestness, is it not folly to attempt coming to God by any other way than through Christ Himself, God's appointed way? The real reason we want some other way is because the way of the Cross is a humbling way and we are proud at heart, but let us remember the way of the Cross was a humbling way for Christ also, as we read in Philippians 2, verses 5 to 8: "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." "Why not turn over a new leaf," says Mr. Reformer, "and live an absolutely holy life, and you will be all right for eternity." That sounds reasonable, doesn't it? However, before we accept it, let's put it to a simple test. If a man could become absolutely holy, would he be better than he ought to be? No, of course he wouldn't. If a man were perfect he would be only what he ought to be. Then, in a strictly logical sense, he couldn't retrieve any of his past shortcomings. For instance, the manager of a business goes to his head clerk and finds that his firm owes $50,000 to manufacturers and other merchants. He says: "Write letters to all our creditors and tell them that we are not going to worry about the past, that we have turned over new leaves in our ledger and while we propose to forget the past, we promise to pay 100 cents on the dollar on all future business." The clerk would think his employer had gone mad and would refuse to put such a proposition to their creditors; yet thousands of otherwise sensible people are trying to get to heaven by just such a proposal, offering to meet their obligations toward God for the future, but they are not going to worry about the past at all. Yet in Ecclesiastes 3:15, we read: "God seeks what has been driven away." No, God's righteousness demands that no past account shall be considered settled till it has been paid to the uttermost and every claim of justice met. The murderer may cover his sin and live the life of a model citizen for ten years after his crime, but man's law, when he is discovered, condemns him, though he has murdered no one for ten long years--it judges him still a murderer. To hide past sin, either thoughts, words, or deeds, by what seems to be an absolutely perfect life, still leaves me a sinner in the sight of Him to whom the past and future are as open as the present. According to God's standards of holiness, we all have sinned--then let us bring that sin out into the open and have it dealt with righteously so that we need fear it no more forever. To meet that past myself would have meant to me eternal loss, but the Lord Jesus Christ gave up His life in place of mine that I might go free. My past sin is expiated, and God, against whom I had sinned, has given me His receipt, showing His satisfaction with the completed work of Christ on the Cross in that He raised Him from the dead. Christ once crucified is now my living Savior. He died to save me from the penalty of sin, and now He lives to deliver me from the power of sin. But why did Christ need to die? Could not He have saved us without that? You and I had broken God's law, and the penalty was death. How could Christ righteously deliver us without meeting our full penalty? Do you not see, if He paid anything less than the full price, there would still be judgment for us to meet? But it is evident that because He died, the law we had broken can judge us no more. The Bible says in Romans 8:1, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." On one occasion a Supreme Court case extended into the next day, and, as is the usual practice, so that no outside influence could be brought to bear on the jury members, they were kept in custody overnight. On entering the court the next morning, the judge, addressing the jury, said, "Ladies and gentlemen, the case is dismissed; the prisoner has been called to a higher bar." The culprit had died in his cell during the night, and there was no use going on with the case, as the law cannot judge a dead man. Again, if a man should murder one person he is put to death, but if he should murder six people he is still just put to death, because this is the utmost penalty of the law, and no matter what a man's sins may be, the law knows no greater penalty than to take his life. "Then," says Mr. Largehope, "if Christ died for all, we must all be saved." But God does not say so. He says there is salvation for all, but not that all are saved. For instance, it is a bitterly cold winter, and unemployment is rampant in one of our great cities with many in dire need. The municipal authorities are giving out free meals. You meet a poor fellow on the street, who says he is starving, and, naturally, you ask if he does not believe the notices that are up all over the city, that there is enough free food for everyone. "Yes," he replies, "I believe that is true in a general sort of way, but I am still hungry." And, you say, you are likely to remain hungry in spite of the provisions unless you partake personally of what is provided for all. Just so, although the death of Christ provides salvation for whoever will, only those are saved who personally accept Christ and believe that He died in their place. I must appreciate and appropriate Christ as my Savior, or His death will avail me nothing--just as a man could die of thirst alongside a spring of water if he refused to make its lifegiving stream his own by partaking of it for himself. "That is all very true, " says Mr. Thoughtful, "but how could the Lord Jesus Christ's one life be considered the substitute for the lives of so many, so that God offers salvation to whomever repents and believes in Christ?" That seems a fair question--a problem in arithmetic that can be demonstrated on paper. Christ was God manifest in the flesh--Divinity in humanity--so that the life He gave was an infinite life, which can meet the needs of any number of finite lives. Get a sheet of paper and write down all the big figures you can think of--millions or more--add them up. Now you have a big number; then multiply it by 10--100--by a million if you like--cover sheets of paper, and after all you still have a finite number--a number that has bounds set about it--it has a beginning and an end, however far it may extend. No, by adding finite things together no man has ever been able to make that which is infinite. The infinite life of Christ given for sinners is more than sufficient to save all who accept Him as the One who died in their place. But how could Christ suffer for my sins when they were not committed until 2,000 years after He died? At first this seems a problem to a thoughtful person, but the more thoughtful you are, the more readily you will see the solution. God is omniscient (that is, He knows all things), and God is eternal. In Exodus 3:14, God calls himself "I AM" (present tense), and Christ says in John 8:58, "before Abraham was, I am" (present tense). In other words, to one who knows all things and is eternal, there is, as it were, neither past nor future, but one eternal present. Events yet to take place 200 years ahead must be as clear to Him as events which happened 2,000 years ago, and both must of necessity be just as clear to God as events happening now. But why didn't God make man incapable of disobeying His will and therefore incapable of sinning? Such a question is like asking, why doesn't God draw a crooked straight line or a round square, or make an object pitch black all over and pure white all over at one and the same time? Man is a creature with the power of intelligent choice, so that the question really is: Why didn't God make a creature with the power of intelligent choice and yet without the power of intelligent choice at once? If I had the power of hypnotism, it would be possible to put my children into a semi-somnambulistic hypnotic state, thus robbing them of the power of intelligent choice, and then say, "Sit on those chairs till I return" or "Kiss me goodnight," and unfeeling arms would go around my neck, and unresponsive lips would be pressed to my cheek. I would have prompt and perfect obedience to my every behest, but would I find satisfaction in it? None. I want children with free wills and therefore capable of disobeying me, but who, of their own volition, choose to carry out my instructions which are the outcome of my love for them and are given for their own good. Thus I cannot conceive of God, who put these desires in my heart and yours, being satisfied with anything less. God does not want marionettes who jump in a given direction according to the wire that is pulled, nor does He want automatons in the form of "people" who mechanically and absolutely obey His will as do the planets that whirl through space. God can find satisfaction in nothing less than the spontaneous love of our hearts and our free-will decisions to walk in paths that please and honor Him. Although, it is obvious that this same power of free action enables us to defy and dishonor Him if we so choose. Man is truly a magnificent creature, far above the brute creation around Him. There is no "missing link," but a great gulf fixed between the highest beast and man, for God has imbued man with the awesome power of being able to say an effective NO to God as well as an effective YES. In your own interests, may I graciously ask, which are you saying to God now as you read this booklet? But why should God care at all about man, who is as a grain of sand in comparison with the rest of the universe? A certain astronomer put an article in one of our important daily papers describing the wonders of the heavens as revealed by the 200-inch lens of the telescope at Palomar, Southern California, and after writing on the limitless distances and the millions of new galaxies discovered, he ended his article with the question, "Astronomically speaking, what is man?" Two days later in the correspondence column a reply appeared saying, "Astronomically speaking, man is the astronomer." It matters not how vast the universe is proved to be, the universe cannot comprehend man in any degree whatsoever, but man can comprehend it in some degree, so that the greatness of the universe does not minimize, but magnifies the greatness of man. But is faith logical? Yes, it is logical. It is a mistake to think that faith is opposed to reason. Faith and reason go hand in hand, but faith goes on when reason can get no further. Reason, to a great extent, is dependent on faith, for without knowledge it is impossible to reason, and knowledge is very largely a matter of faith in human testimony. For instance, I believe strychnine administered in a large enough dose will poison a human being, but I have never seen the experiment performed. Yet I have such faith in the written testimo
Let The Nations Be Glad
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Author : John Piper
language : en
Publisher: Baker Academic
Release Date : 2010-03-15
Let The Nations Be Glad written by John Piper and has been published by Baker Academic this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2010-03-15 with Religion categories.
This new edition of a bestselling textbook (over 185,000 copies sold) draws on key biblical texts to demonstrate that worship is the ultimate goal of the church and that proper worship fuels missionary outreach. John Piper offers a biblical defense of God's supremacy in all things, providing readers with a sound theological foundation for missions. He examines whether Jesus is the only way to salvation and issues a passionate plea for God-centeredness in the missionary enterprise, seeking to define the scope of the task and the means for reaching "all nations." The third edition has been revised and expanded throughout and includes new material on the prosperity gospel. The book is essential reading for those involved in or preparing for missions work. It also offers enlightenment for college and seminary students, pastors, youth workers, campus ministers, and all who want to connect their labors to God's global purposes.