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His Power
Has Never Changed
Down through the annuls of time
this question has been asked over and over again: "Why
will ye die?" We see the Son of Man standing with arms
outstretched, beckoning to lost humanity everywhere
saying, "Come unto me and be saved!" The well-worn
scripture found in II Peter 3:9 tells us: The Lord is
not slack concerning his promise, as some men count
slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing
that any should perish but that all should come to
repentance. The Word of God lets us know that His
Will and desire for each of us is that we be saved from
sin's destruction and the awful torment that awaits the
lost.
God's power has NEVER changed! It is STILL
able to save the vilest sinner, STILL able to break
every chain that would bind the souls of mankind! We may
have gone to the depths of sin, but God IS ABLE to lift
us out if we so desire. Dear Reader, there is hope for
anyone who is lost! The Word of God tells us, "Whosoever
will." Whosoever. We are set free to serve and worship
God with a pure heart if we will but humble ourselves
before Him, repent of our sin and believe on His
promises.
There Is No Lack With
God
Hear the encouraging words of
Jesus as He says, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the
poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to
preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of
sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are
bruised." (Luke 4:18) If we will turn to the Savior
now, He will not reject us! All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I
will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent
me. John 6:37,38. What a precious promise given to
men and women who are lost in sin and cannot help
themselves!
Every scripture in the Bible that
pertains to salvation is in your favor and lets you see
that God IS Able! There is NO LACK with God, nor is
there any weakness on His part. He IS Able to perform
ALL that He promises to do! For ALL the promises of
God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of
God by us. II Corinthians 1:20. "Yea and Amen" means
Yes and So Be It! Already done! Yet in order for us to
receive that promise we have to be a child of God--known
of Him by salvation through His Son Jesus Christ. If
there is ANY failure, it is ALWAYS on man's part, NOT
God's! If we will but accept the pardon, a way has
ALREADY been made for our deliverance. We do not have to
die lost or live another day in
sin!
Seek Ye The Lord While He May Be
Found
Although the long-suffering of God
waits patiently while men and women are making their
decision to serve Him (or not), be assured: there is
DANGER in procrastination! People in sin do not realize
just how insecure a position they are standing in while
they linger on away from God. They keep thinking,
"Someday, I will get right with God," but they
keep putting it off and keep putting if off--sadly, many
times until it is too late.
Please be aware of
something VERY VITAL to your soul's well-being: the
WORLD says, "It's never too late!" That's a lie,
when it comes to our eternal soul! There comes a time
when that which we did or did not do is "set in stone"
for all time, and that moment is when we die. Any
decisions we made for (or sadly, against) Christ, cannot
thereafter be changed. Every day that we remain under
sin's dominion, the hand of eternal death abides upon
us! It is MOST serious to spurn the love and mercies of
God until it goes to the point of no return. Yes,
despite what all the false doctrines or "easy gospels"
teach these days, there IS a Point of No Return with
God: when this physical body dies, that which we did or
did not do cannot then be changed. After literal
(physical) death comes upon an individual, there is no
hope or chance of his (or her) making peace with God.
His (or her) doom is sealed for all eternity if a
decision was not made BEFORE physical death for Christ!
For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted,
and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee:
behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day
of salvation. II Corinthians 6:2. Wherefore (as
the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the
day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers
tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said,
They do alway err in their heart; and they have not
known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not
enter into my rest.) Take heed, brethren, lest there be
in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing
from the living God. Hebrews 3:7-12.
The
prophet Isaiah cried out, saying, Seek ye the Lord
while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is
near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the
unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto
the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our
God, for he will abundantly pardon. Isaiah 55:6,7.
The time to seek God for mercy and pardon is when He is
speaking to your heart! One MUST clearly understand that
he (or she) does NOT "become a Christian" or leave
behind their life of sin just when he (or she) feels
like it. The experience of salvation and godliness is
only gained by obeying the Word of God: No man can
come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw
him: and I will raise him up at the last day. John
6:44. This scripture PLAINLY tells us that it takes the
Spirit of God (which is the Holy Ghost) to draw men and
women unto Christ and
salvation!
An Everlasting
Love
One can recognize the integrity of
the way the Holy Ghost works when we read, The Lord
hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved
thee with an everlasting love: therefore with
lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Jeremiah 31:3. The
Spirit of God draws at our heart through love by
convicting us of our sins and showing us what we need to
turn away from. God speaks through the avenues of our
mind and conscience to show us our lost
condition.
When sin is present in our lives,
there is fear and unrest in our hearts and minds! This
is why so many people are afraid to go to bed at nightl
We fear that we might not wake up the next morning.
Along with fear, there is the knowledge of guilt that is
ever present in the heart and mind. We are aware that
our lives are not clear before God, and we cannot have a
fellowship with Him in our present lost
condition.
Sin Separates The Created From The
Creator
That is what happened to Adam back
in the Garden of Eden! Both he and his wife partook of
that which God had commanded them to leave alone! Their
disobedience brought about sin and sin brought about
death and that spiritual death brought about a
separation between the created (man and woman) and their
Creator (God). Mankind was made to have fellowship with
God, but sin separates the created from their
Creator.
Another way we can recognize the call of
God is that of through the instructions found in the
Bible. There have been many instances when folks have
been saved while reading the Bible. Through that means,
God was able to convict their soul of its sin, and it
led them to a place of earnest prayer where they gave
their hearts unreservedly to the Master. It might have
been behind the barn or at their bedside, in a prison
cell or on the side of the road--but THAT place is where
they met the conditions and gained the
promise!
Good
News!
There are TWO
powerful ways of reaching souls: (1) through preaching
the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and (2) through Personal
Witnessing by Soul Winners for Christ. Paul wrote in I
Corinthians 1:21, ...It pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
When the true, unadulterated Word of God is preached, it
is like Good News from a far country. The same can be
said for personal witnessing to others about Jesus
Christ. It is our commission: Go ye into all the
world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark
16:15. "Preaching" is ALSO personal, one-to-one
witnessing, not just some person behind a pulpit with a
raised voice out over a congregation! We are NOT
compelled to go out to the great comfortable places in
this world, but to the highways and hedges:
And when one of them that sat
at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him,
Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of
God. Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great
supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at supper
time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all
things are now ready. And they all with one consent
began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have
bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see
it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I
have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them:
I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have
married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that
servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then
the master of the house being angry said to his
servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of
the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the
maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant
said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet
there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go
out into the highways and hedges, and COMPEL
(STRONGLY URGE) them to come in, that my house may
be filled. Luke
14:15-23.
To be drawn
to the Lord Jesus Christ through the Holy Ghost's
conviction of our sins is the ONLY way to be translated
out of the power of sin's darkness and into the light of
God's kingdom! Therefore, when the Gospel of Jesus
Christ is preached to (or when a worker for Christ
witnesses to) a lost soul about the life-changing power
of salvation through Jesus Christ, it is not just some
person speaking only to hear the sound of their own
voice: it is God speaking through that
person.
Precious Friend, it is all of our
advantage to seek God NOW while He may be found. While
we have time and opportunity to do so. None of us have
any guarantee of tomorrow--to put off the saving of our
soul is to dangerously jeopardize our
eternity!
Be assured, God loves mankind and is
very interested in our well-being. Why would we hesitate
any longer to put off acquiring His eternal insurance of
living and reigning with Him forever and ever even one
moment more? Repent ye therefore, and be converted,
that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of
refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.
Acts 3:19. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our
sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John
1:8,9. I call heaven and earth to record this day
against you, that I have set before you life and death,
blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both
thou and thy seed may live. Deuteronomy 30:19.
Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon
him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return
unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to
our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts
are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,
saith the Lord. Isaiah
55:6-8. | |
