A few weeks ago, I was in a pretty mild,
yet widespread accident. 7 cars total were involved, two bumping in the
left lane, two bumping in the right lane, and three in the center lane.
I was merging into the center lane from the left lane, and I saw the truck
in front of me basically just stop instantly. I slammed on my brakes, but
it was too late...
I had to go to court as a result of this
accident since I rear-ended the truck in front of me, and I would be guilty
of the fault for hitting the truck in front of me. I was not looking forward
to this visit. Since justice is often corrupt, I expected them to maybe
even pin more blame on me than I really had.
So I went to court and stood in line to
be judged. I printed out a handout for the judge to look over, but the
guy at the door simply asked me for the Insurance letter (proof I had it),
and then simply said, "All Charges Dismissed."
POWERFUL WORDS, THOSE WERE! After I left
the courthouse, I thought about how that is just like what the Lord Jesus
Christ will do at His Judgment Seat to those who have accepted Him as Savior.
Although the basis of the words "All Charges
Dismissed" in the court on earth was simply the laziness of the courtroom
to take action, and even a bit of corruption, the basis in Heaven for similar
words will be Perfect Love and Mercy, given to those who have their name
in the Lamb’s Book of Life - those who have accepted Christ as Personal
Savior.
Some say that justice is blind, but the
justice of Jesus Christ is Infinitely Righteous. With Jesus as our Savior,
He is Faithful & Just to forgive us of all our sins and cleanse us
of all unrighteousness!
In this lesson tonight, we will study how
Jesus issues acquittal to our sins and how powerful this acquittal actually
is.
One quick example of the power of this
acquittal is where Jesus heals the man sick of the palsy (shorter term
for paralyzed, that is, his nervous system stopped functioning in some
parts), accounted in Matthew 9 and Mark 2.
Jesus was preaching to a great crowd in
Capernaum, and so many people were interested that they overcrowded the
house where Jesus was. Imagine this: Nobody could even enter through the
door!
A paralyzed man lying on a bed was brought
to Jesus, but he couldn’t get into the door, so they opened up the roof,
and four friends lowered him into the room.
First thing Jesus does is say "Son, thy
sins be forgiven thee" (Mark 2:5), and many of the scribes thought
that Jesus was being blasphemous.
Mark 2:8-11: "8 And immediately
when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves,
he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? 9 Whether
is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee;
or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? 10 But that ye may know
that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the
sick of the palsy,) 11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and
go thy way into thine house."
Think of this...people today can be used
of God to heal people through His Power, but Jesus alone can forgive sin.
I. What we did
We all have sinned. Romans 3:23
- "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"
If you have ever told a lie, taken something
(borrowed forever without them knowing = stealing), thought unwholesome
thoughts toward another person, or even put yourself in focus above God,
CONGRATULATIONS! You are human! We all are guilty of sinning.
Take for example this conversation:
Rhonda: "Have you ever sinned, Pete?"
Pete: "Nope"
Rhonda: "Hey, Pete...1 John 1:8
- ’If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is
not in us.’"
Pete: "DRAT! FOILED AGAIN!"
Yep, so everyone has sinned, even the most
mature Christians (I’m not talking about Pete!).
The penalty of this sinning is death. Romans
6:23 - "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
We all deserve eternal separation from
God, meaning hell, but God is patient with us, and is "not willing that
any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter
3:9)
This brings us to what God did to bridge
the gap between imperfect man and Perfect God...
II. What He Did
Imagine that you have only one son (if
you have one, more power to ya). What if you had to give up your only son
because everyone else did something awful? You would be DEVASTATED!
John 3:16-17: "16 For God so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not
his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through
him might be saved."
God gave up His Only Son, Jesus, because
we all were sinners. He paid the price, and all we have to do is accept
Him to receive eternal Life in Heaven.
The now-famous Praise Chorus "Lord, I Lift
Your Name on High" has a great chorus. Here’s a line-by-line overview:
"You came from Heaven to earth to show
the way"
Jesus came to earth, taught us how to
live our lives pleasing to God, and His Words remain recorded in the Bible.
"From the earth to the cross, my debt to
pay"
Jesus died for the payment of our sins
on the cross. We remember this day that He died by ’Good Friday’ (usually
in April - :) I was born on Good Friday!)
"From the cross to the grave, from the
grave to the Sky, Lord I lift your name on High"
Jesus was buried in a tomb bought by Joseph
of Arimathea, a rich man of the area. Three days after his death on the
cross, He rose again from the dead, walked the earth and proved He was
God, then went up to God the Father in Heaven to be at His Righteous Right
Hand. He will return sometime in the future (very soon, I believe, based
especially on events in the last 20 years or so).
This entire set of events is also recorded
in 1 Corinthians 15:3-6. Jesus gives an account of His resurrection
in Revelation 1:18...
Revelation 1:18 - "I am he that
liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have
the keys of hell and of death."
He conquered death and hell by His resurrection.
III. Our Loving God wants us to come
to Him
As stated in 2 Peter 3:9, God does
want us to come to Him. He is a loving God, not a brutal slave-master.
Romans 5:8 - "But God commendeth
his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us."
1 John 4:8b - "for God is love."
If you remember in John 3:16, it
starts out with the words "For God so loved the world."
He is a loving God. Notice that He sent
His only Son for us out of love.
This ’love’ in all these cases comes from
the word ’agape’ (pronounced ag-ah’-pay). This type of love is Spiritual,
unconditional, and unfailing. The Lord loves us much more than we can love
anybody else.
Think of one thing on this earth that you
REALLY love. God can top that by a factor of infinity!
IV. Do we want to come to Him?
I will give two invitations in this section
and one in the last section to accept Christ if you choose to...
Salvation is a choice, and if you want
to accept Christ as your Personal Savior, Praise the Lord! That is even
a gift of God.
Ephesians 2:8-9 - "8 For by grace
are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift
of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast."
If you want to accept Christ right now,
and you can pray the following prayer sincerely, pray the prayer and know
that you are a child of God and are promised eternal life in Heaven for
accepting Him...
"Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for loving
me. I am sorry for the sins I have committed and ask You now to be my Personal
Savior. Thank You for dying on the cross and shedding Your blood for the
payment of my sins and rising again from the grave three days later. Thank
You, in Jesus’ Name, Amen."
(Just a side note, you don’t have to pray
EXACTLY those words. These prayers are a general guideline of what you
need to believe and confess to have a true understanding of the Faith in
Jesus Christ.)
Accepting Christ as Personal Savior is
the best decision you can make in this lifetime.
Revelation 3:20 - "Behold, I stand
at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I
will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."
Anyone who asks the Lord to be their Personal
Savior will receive Him.
John 1:12 - "But as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that
believe on his name:"
And
Romans 10:13 - "For whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
If you ever desire to become a born-again
Christian (born-again = spiritually, not physically (John 3)), the Holy
Spirit is drawing you to Christ, and you should be obedient and accept
Him as Savior.
According to Romans 10:9, if you
confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that
God raised Him from the dead, you will be Saved. That simple! It must be
sincere, however.
Again, if you want to accept Christ right
now as your Personal Savior, and you can pray the following prayer sincerely,
pray the prayer and know that you are a child of God and are promised eternal
life in Heaven for accepting Him...
"Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for loving
me with Your Awesome Love. I am a sinner and am sorry for the sins I have
committed and ask You now to be my Personal Savior. Thank You for sacrificing
yourself on the cross and shedding Your blood for the payment of my sins
and rising again from the grave three days later. Thank You, in Jesus’
Name, Amen."
V. What Will Happen to those who Accept
Him?
Revelation 3:21 - "To him that overcometh
will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and
am set down with my Father in his throne."
We will SIT WITH JESUS?!?!?!?! That is
AWESOME!!!!!!! I am going to be SO EXCITED when I get to meet Jesus! Yes,
I need to do more on this earth for Him, but when I meet Him, I certainly
won’t be disappointed!
If you have accepted Him, your name is
written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Anyone found in the Lamb’s Book of
Life will be with the Lord in Heaven for eternity - a place of perfection.
Revelation 20:15 - "And whosoever
was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
It’s either Heaven or hell. Again, a choice.
If you don’t want God in your life, He won’t force you to be with Him for
eternity. Eternity without God happens to be hell, which is a place of
eternal torment - with weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 8:12)
This world is full of garbage, and I’m
not just talking about landfills.... People treat others unfairly and unkindly,
stresses pile up, and so on and so on. In Heaven, none of these imperfections
will exist! ZIP, ZERO, ZILCH, NADA will be imperfect in Heaven!
If you want to accept Christ right now
as your Personal Savior and inherit eternal Life in Heaven through Him,
and you can pray the following prayer sincerely, pray the prayer and know
that you are a child of God and are promised eternal life in Heaven for
accepting Him...
"Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for Your Awesome
Love for me. I am a sinner and am sorry for the sins I have committed and
ask You now to be my Personal Savior. You are the only way to Heaven. Thank
You for sacrificing yourself on the cross and shedding Your blood for the
payment of my sins and rising again from the grave three days later. Thank
You, in Jesus’ Name, Amen."
Hebrews 11:6 - "But without faith
it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe
that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
If you have accepted Christ, LET US KNOW!!!
:) It’s WONDERFUL NEWS!!! We would like to help you get started in the
right direction in growing Spiritually and give you some resources to start
your Walk with Christ! If you want to e-mail me personally and discuss
this issue more or tell me about your decision of Faith, go right on ahead!
Psalm 103:12 - "As far as the east
is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us."
Therefore, Jesus Christ has paid our price,
taken our sins and cast them into the sea (Isn’t that AMAZING?! He casts
them into the sea - doesn’t keep them around! (Micah 7:19)), just
because we have accepted Him as Lord and Savior.
All charges dismissed! There is no need
for a gavel in Jesus’ court - All charges have been dismissed with those
who love Him and have Him in their heart! Praise the Lord for that AMAZING
reward!
Deuteronomy 31:6 - "Be strong and
of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God,
he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee."
Keep evangelizing and witnessing, and pray
for those who have not experienced Christ’s Love first-hand, because it
is Amazing!
James 5:20 - "Let him know, that
he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul
from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins."
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you all
as you go out into the world and share the Gospel with friends, family,
and others around you. Praise the Lord!
He will never leave you nor forsake you,
and He is SO AWESOME! He is Mighty and Just and Powerful and Holy, Holy,
Holy! We need to Praise His Holy Name!
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty,
who Was and Is and Is to Come! Glory be unto His Infinitely Powerful Name!