By Pastor Nick Bibile

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THE MODERN DAY GOSPEL

The word "gospel" is translated from the Greek "euaggelos," which means "good news." Basically almost every church-going Christian knows that the gospel means good news. However, due to the weak doctrine that comes from most of the pulpits, the true meaning of the gospel is lost today. We are living in days where the average Christian has a weak understanding of the gospel. Some may have a zeal for evangelism, witnessing, and making disciples. However, the true gospel is not presented and as a result the churches are packed with truly unconverted people who have a form of Christianity outside but are not truly regenerated. A weak gospel cannot save anybody and no wonder the churches are packed today with unconverted souls. Today the church is evaluated by the numbers of people, how large is the church building and by the wealth of the church. Jesus said, "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you." (John 15:19) Listen my friend, if you give a worldly gospel, the world would love to hear so it would make them feel religious. But if you preached the gospel that convicts the sinner, many will leave the church. Jesus said, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Mat. 7:13-14)

The most common way to approach the sinner is to tell them that "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for you, admit you are a sinner, repeat the sinners prayer and you will be saved" The evangelist or the pastor at the end of the sermon will tell the people to raise their hand, come forward and to say a prayer to accept Christ Jesus. My friend, where is the true conviction of sin? Is the sinner seriously convicted of his guilt, the terror and the consequence of sin? This is not how the apostles preached the gospel, nor the reformers or the puritans. They all preached repentance first to convict the sinner, then after salvation the believer realizes the love of God.

It was Charles Finney who brought human efforts and human manipulation to the church, and today our theology is shaped by the influence of Charles Finney (1792-1875). Finney was a Pelagian, and denied the original sin. Charles Finney was an evangelist and became very popular in America. His 'Systematic Theology' is still one of the most popular manuals on theology in the Pentecostal Churches today. Finney was very critical of Martin Luther and John Calvin with respect to their teaching on Justification by faith through the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. He was not holding to what the reformers preached and taught. His preaching led people into an emotional experience. Many Christians in the church are not aware of this as they do not study the history of the Church.

THE GOSPEL IN SCRIPTURE

1Co 15:1-2 ~ Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also you are saved... (Salvation is found only by the gospel)

Mk 1:1 ~ The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; (Without Jesus Christ there is no gospel)

Lu 4:18 ~ 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. (Christ's mission was to preach the gospel)

Ro 1:1 ~ Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God. (The priority in the church is not the programs or the building projects but preaching the gospel.)

1Co 1:17 ~ For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. (Only the gospel can save you, baptism is the result of the gospel)

Mk 1:15 ~ And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. (Without repentance there is no gospel)

Mk 8:35 ~ For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. (the Gospel is self-denial in obedience to Christ)

Ro 2:16 ~ In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. (There is judgment for the unbeliever)

Ro 1:16 ~ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (The gospel has the power to raise up the dead sinner alive)

1Co 9:18 ~ What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel. (Today many preachers are becoming rich in preaching the gospel as they abuse the gospel for their own wealth)

2Co 11:4 ~ For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. (There is a counterfeit gospel which looks like the original. Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons and many others fall into this category)

Gal 1:6 ~ I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: (The gospel is of grace and any form of works cannot be added to the grace of the gospel, as the gospel is of God and man has no contribution)

Gal 1:8 ~ But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. (Satan can transform into an angel of light and can come to preach another gospel)

1Th 2:8 ~ So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us. (The preacher's lifestyle should confirm the gospel)

Mt 24:14 ~ And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (The gospel is not to be kept but to be shared to all the nations.)

THE BAD NEWS

There is no good news without the bad news. The problem with the modern church today is that the gospel is presented to the sinner as a means to solve their immediate problems and to meet their practical needs. As a result there is no true repentance and holy living before the Lord. God is being presented as a very loving person who understands and loves the sinners, gives bear hugs to the sinners and winks at their sins. But my friend this is not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible is the almighty all-powerful God whom we need to worship in reverence. Today there is no fear of God and no respect for God. No wonder today's children do not have any respect for the parents as they do not have a concept of God.

GOD IS INFINITELY HOLY

Pr 9:10 ~ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

Hebrews 12:14. ~ Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Isa 6:3 ~ And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

The God of heaven is infinitely holy and when man confronts the presence of God he should tremble in his sins. In the above scripture we see that the attribute of God's holiness is elevated to the third degree as he is called holy three times. In the Hebrew culture when a word is repeated two times, like when Jesus said, "Truly, truly I say unto you...." it means absolutely truly. But when a word is repeated to the third degree it means it is elevated to the infinite degree. Isaiah was the prophet for the nation. He was the best man in the town. But when he saw the infinite holiness of God with all his glory, Isaiah did not say 'I am blessed as I have seen the Lord with all his holiness,' but he said, "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts." (Isaiah 6:5)

Isaiah, the man of God, in the presence of God's dazzling holiness saw how filthy he was and said, "I am undone." meaning 'I am ruined.' The man of God who proclaimed the word of God with his lips, now saw that his lips were unclean, and not only his but all the people around him were unclean also.

We are like Isaiah and we believe we are good, upright, just, wise and holy until we are confronted by holiness of God. Then we realize that we are unholy, unrighteous, full of pride, impure, prone to hypocrisy, utterly defiled, and we deserve judgment and punishment. In the Old Testament when the holy men of God saw the presence of God they trembled in fear. "Let not God speak to us, lest we die" (Ex. 20:19). But today there is no fear of the lord but laughter, and they even call it a holy laughter.

FALL OF MAN

Gen 3:3 ~ But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

Adam was righteous and perfect before God as he was created in the very image of God. He had a free will to obey or disobey God, as he was made perfect. But when Adam and Eve sinned they fell from their original righteousness and communion with God. Just like God said, they became dead in sin, and then sin polluted all parts, the soul, will and the body. Adam was the federal head of the human race, so through Adam sin came to all humanity.

Romans 3:23 ~ For all have sinned and fall short of the glory God...

Romans 5:12 ~ Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.

We need to understand that disobedience to God is a heinous crime. Adam and Eve revolted against the authority of God, abandoned the commandment of God, as pride was the beginning of evil. They despised the word of God; all reverence for God was gone. They did not honor God's majesty. There was ambition and pride as they wanted to become like god. Man obeyed the blasphemies of Satan. Is man a sinner because he sins? Absolutely not. Man is a sinner because he is a sinner. the sin is inherent in us and it is the sin that is in us that makes us to be sinners. David
said, "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." (Psalm 50:5) You do not have to teach a child to sin; he knows it already and he loves to be disobedient because it is in him. "For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is in my sinful nature..."(Romans 7:18)

THE LAW OF GOD

The law is given because there are law breakers. If you see too many policeman in a particular town, that means there are too many law breakers. We believe that we are good, compared to the criminals. But the law of God showed that I am a sinner. The more light the greater guilt the law affords that light, and so causes us to become double offenders. When the law comes home to the soul it is like light in a dark room revealing the dust and the dirt which else had been unperceived. It is the test which detects the presence of the poison of sin in the soul. Read the ten commandments and tremble as you read them., They do not merely touch the outward act, but penetrate into the inner motive and deal with the heart, the mind, the soul.

As we saw previously, God is infinitely holy and righteous. God's holiness and righteousness in manifested in the Ten Commandments, the law of God. As God is perfect so the law that came from God is perfect. (Ps 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.) The only way we can make it to heaven is to have a holiness and the righteousness equal to that of God. We need to be absolutely holy, in observing and practicing every bit of the law. But we have failed miserably and violated God's laws; we have sinned against the almighty God. Can we go to heaven with our sins? No, because God will not live among the sinners. "You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell." (Psalm 5:4) And God's eyes are too pure to look and approve evil. (Habakkuk 1:3) We need to be infinitely righteous to be with the infinitely righteous God. God gave man the law and said, in Lev. 19:2 "Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy." That means we need to live in perfect holiness without any form of sin, keeping the entire law of the Old Testament and not even sinning against the Lord ignorantly. "And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done somewhat against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which should not be done, and are guilty;" (Lev. 4:13) James said, "For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all of it" (James 2:10)
Today the church is hesitant in preaching the law. The law and the gospel go together. The law is God's perfection. The law is the standard that all are going to be measured by. It is the perfection and the glory of God. How have we measured up to the glory of the law? Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory God." The law is a double edged sword that strips the sinner and show him his sinfulness.

One day a man came to Jesus and said the following. And, behold, one came and said unto him, "Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" (Mt 19:16)

If this man came today and asked the same question from an average Christian what will the Christian say? Of course the modern day average Christian will say, "You want eternal life, that is very easy, just say the sinners prayer and you will be saved." But Jesus went to the law, and wanted to show his if he had kept all of the law. He saith unto him, "Which?" Jesus said, "Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honor thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." The young man saith unto him, "All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?" Jesus said unto him, "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me." But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. (Mt 19:18-22)

Now what is the sin of the young man? He had violated the first commandment, "You shall have no other gods before me." The young man's god was his treasure. He thought he was a pretty good person, then the law came and stripped him and showed his sinfulness. What does the law do? It strips the sinner and shows his sins. We become conscious of sin by the Law. In reality we have sinned against God in thought, by our speech, and by actions. Jesus exposed the law and the inability of man to keep the law when he said, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not commit adultery, But I say to you whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Mat.5:27) Man sees the result of sin but God sees the cause for sin. The Law condemned us and showed us to be guilty before the Lord.

When a person breaks the law, he is indebted to the authorities of the law. He needs to pay the price of breaking the law. Our human authorities are finite and the penalty is finite. But God is infinite and the penalty is infinite as we have broken the law and the debt we owe to God is an infinite payment. We lay powerless to pay the debt and sinned against the almighty God.

MAN IS GUILTY BEFORE GOD.

Man was born with sin, and there is no way he can save himself, as God said, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil." (Jeremiah 13:23)

When someone is charged with a crime, he is brought to court before the Judge. But our crime is not against just someone but against the Judge himself. He is not just a human Judge but the God Almighty, the Judge of the Universe. How can we escape from the Judge as we stand guilty before the Judge. We have robbed God's authority as we want to do our will, and have sin against him by being disobedient.

What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; There is no one who understands no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless." (Romans 3:9-10) The Apostle Paul goes on to say that the whole world stand guilty before God. (Romans 3:19) "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we say we have no sin, we make God a liar." (1 John 1:10)

JUSTICE OF GOD

When we understand how seriously we have hurt God and we feel terrified of God's justice. How can he pardon my sins? Because my sins cry out for punishment. How can I escape his righteous wrath? God will punish the sinner. The door to heaven is shut, and waiting for the dreadful day of the judgment of God. A day will come when God will judge all the secret thoughts and actions of men. The day of judgment is coming. "Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment..." (Heb. 9:27)

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11-15)

The result is the wrath of God. God will punish the sinners in hell. But isn't God loving and merciful? Yes, but also God will not compromise with sin. The Lord will not leave the guilty go unpunished. (Nahum 1:3) If the judge in your town or city allows all the law breakers to go free, while telling the community, "I am a loving and a good judge, that's why I am allowing the law breakers to go free," then is he really a good judge? No, a good judge will punish the lawbreakers. God is the Judge of the Universe and he will punish the sinners. "God is a righteous judge, a God who expresses his wrath everyday." (Psalm 7:11) Let us not forget how the justice of God was displayed during the time of the flood, and how God rained fire and brimstone out of heaven upon man's sin, and how the earth opened her mouth to swallow the lawbreakers, how the Lord buried Nineveh and how God slew Ananias and Sapphira. God is just and sin must be punished.

God is infinitely holy His punishment will be infinite. If God is less holy then His punishment will be less. And if God is not holy then there will be no punishment. That is why the cults and the other religions will not believe in hell, as their gods are not holy. If you sin against a very poor man, you may be able to get away with a very small punishment or no punishment at all. But if you sin against the richest, the most popular man in the world, everyone will know and the punishment will be much greater. In the same way God owns the universe and He is infinitely powerful and righteous and sin against him deserves an infinite punishment. Hell is a place of unquenchable fire, where the sinners will be tormented in their bodies and minds for eternity. Every part of the body will be tormented at the same time.

We saw in our natural nature we were unrighteous before God as Apostle Paul said, "There is no one righteous, not even one, there is no one who understands, no one seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good not even one." (Romans 3:10-12)

We could not become righteous by observing the law but we are lawbreakers and guilty before God. How desperately we needed righteousness to go to heaven, but without righteousness we are lost and on the way to the lake of fire.

SAVED FROM THE WRATH OF GOD.

The Divine wrath and vengeance of God, and eternal death, were upon us. We deserved horrible destruction and were exposed to the curse of eternal death. We were without any hope of salvation, the slaves of Satan, and captives under the slavery of sin, waiting for that horrible destruction. Is it possible, then, that the sinner cannot be saved?

Then the horrible destruction was interrupted as Christ came in between God and man and took the punishment and the destruction upon Himself. He bore the judgment that was upon us, and with His own blood He satisfied the anger of God toward the sinners and found peace between God and men. Oh! the grand discovery of the gospel, the good news! the justice of God that was angry with the sinner and now that justice is satisfied and have become the sinner's advocate. Oh! how we can appreciate the good news and give glory to the Lord for the salvation He has provided us as we now can understand that we are saved not from our immediate problems, but saved from the wrath of God. Salvation means we are saved from the wrath of God.

1Th 1:10 ~ And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

Rom. 5:9 ~ Much more then, having been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

THE UNRIGHTEOUS WERE MADE RIGHTEOUS

"BUT now a righteousness from God, apart from the LAW has been made known to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe." (Romans 3:21)

The power of the gospel is that it can make the unholy man into a saint; it can make the drug addict, the drunkard, the thief, the adulterer and the self-righteous into a righteous man. Remember Jesus' first miracle was to turn water into wine. He came to turn the sinners into saints, the unrighteous into righteousness. This is the power of the gospel.

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation of everyone who believes; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to the last, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith." (Romans 1:16-17)

JESUS FULFILLED THE LAW FOR US

Jesus was born without the inherited sin of Adam. He became our substitute and represented us. As our representative, He fulfilled the Law which we have broken. He satisfied the justice of God, and with sweat, tears, pain, agony and blood he fulfilled the law.

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." (Matt. 5:17-18)

We did not bring glory to God, but brought dishonor as we lived in disobedience. But on the other hand Jesus as our representative became obedient to the Father and brought glory to His name as He accomplish the work of God.

"My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish the work." (John 4:34)

"For just as through the disobedience of one man the many were made sinners, also through the obedience of one man the many were made righteous." (Romans 5:19)

"...because by one sacrifice he has made perfect for ever those who are being made holy." (Hebrews 10:14)

"It is finished." (Luke 19:30)

"I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do." (John 17:4)

THE IMPUTATION OF CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS

An imputation is charging to another account. At the cross the guilt and the penalty due to us were imputed (charged, or credited) to the account of Jesus. Then the righteousness of Jesus was imputed (credited) to our account. Now we have become righteous, and it is not our righteousness but a righteousness that is outside of us and that is the righteousness of Jesus. For the Son of God, though spotlessly pure, took upon him the disgrace that was due to us and transferred his righteousness and holiness to us.

We broke the law and we deserved the curse, while Christ kept the law and He deserved the blessing. But the curse and the blessing was exchanged as the curse due to us was imputed to Christ and the blessing that was due to Christ was imputed to us! Oh! my friend, the justice of God which was the great barrier to the salvation of sinners, does not stand as a barrier anymore. Now the sinner can be pardoned, justified through the blood of Jesus Christ!

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21) Also in Romans 4:22-24, the apostle wrote, "written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead."

"Oh, hear that piercing cry! What can its meaning be? 'My God! my God! oh! why hast thou In wrath forsaken me?' "Oh 'twas because our sins On him by God were laid; He who himself had never sinn'd, For sinners, sin was made."

Christ was not guilty, and could not be made guilty; but he was treated as if he were guilty, because he willed to stand in the place of the guilty. Yes, he was not only treated as a sinner, but he was treated as if he had been sin itself in the abstract. This is an amazing utterance. The sinless one was made to sin. In the Garden of Gethsemane, where he "sweat as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground." The full pressure of it came upon him when he was nailed to the cross. There in the hours of darkness he bore infinitely more than we can tell. We know that he bore condemnation from the mouth of a man, so that is written, "He was numbered with the transgressors." We know that he bore shame for our sakes. Our hearts should tremble, when, they spit on his face. It was the most cruel thing to do upon the most holy person. Oh! the love of Christ to the believer, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Oh this weighty text! No man living can exhaust it. Who could ever get to the bottom of this statement.

We are said to be "made righteousness." What is more, we are not only made righteousness, but we are made "the righteousness of God. "This is a great mystery. The righteousness which Adam had in the garden was perfect, but it was the righteousness of man: ours is the righteousness of God. Human righteousness failed; but the believer has a divine righteousness which can never fail!

SAVED BY GRACE ALONE

Almost all professing Christians believe that salvation is by grace. There are many preachers who speak on the grace of God but when you analyze their grace there is works involved in it and that is not grace.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast. (Eph. 2:8-9)

Some try to lay hold upon salvation by grace through the use of ceremonies; but it will not do. You are christened, confirmed, and caused to receive "the holy sacrament" from priestly hands, or you are baptized, join the church, sit at the Lord's table; this is not grace my friend, you are depending on your works for salvation. Salvation is given to us, not earned by us. God does not owe us anything. So salvation is not a reward but of grace. Grace is the unmerited favor of God. Grace is free! Grace is unconditional! Anything earned, merited, or deserved by you s not grace. The man who thinks he deserves God's salvation does not believe in grace. The person who believes that his acceptance by God depends upon his works, does not believe in grace.

Many Christians believe that we are saved because of our faith in God. If this is true, man has something to boast about in his faith toward God for salvation. But the apostle goes on to say this faith is not from ourselves but is the gift of God. My friend, listen very carefully, this faith is not the product of man's free will and the power to accept Christ but the free gift of God.

And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. (Ro 11:6) Faith is a simple and utter dependence and believing in the faithfulness of God, a dependence upon the promise of God, because it is God's promise, and is worthy of dependence. It is a reliance with all our might upon what God has said. This is faith, and every man who possesses this faith is perfectly justified.

Repentance is to leave The sins we loved before, And show that we in earnest grieve, By doing so no more.

Nothing in my hands I bring,
Simply to thy cross I cling;
Naked come to Thee for dress;
Helpless look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly,
Wash me, Saviour, or I die.
(From the Hymn: "Rock of Ages" by A.M.Toplady 1740-78)

Against thee, thee only, have I sinned,
And done that which is evil in thy sight;
That thou mayest be justified when thou speakest,
And be clear when thou judgest.
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity;
And in sin did my mother conceive me.
[And] my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
(Psalm 51:4-5)
 

CRY OUT FOR HIS MERCY!
INSTEAD OF HIS JUDGMENT

Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I get. But the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote his breast, saying, God, be thou merciful to me a sinner.
I say unto you, This man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. (Luke 18:10-14)

In this parable of Jesus, we see the religious man was righteous in his own eyes and in front of others. He was proud of himself and self-confident in approaching God. This self-confidence depended on his works toward God. It was a prayer of thanks giving in order to exalt himself and his own works.

But on the other hand the tax collector stood far from the altar as he realized his unworthiness to come closer to God. His prayer was short and different than the Pharisee. He trembled before God as he realized he deserved the judgment of God. He saw how sinful he was in the presence of the almighty holy and righteous God. He trembled in fear and beat his chest as he realized he was guilty, filthy and deserved the wrath of God. It was a true confession of sin, and he cried out for the mercy of God instead of the judgment.

Jesus' verdict was the tax collector was justified, made righteous and went to heaven and not the religious Pharisee. For whoever humbles himself before the Lord will be exalted. The tax collector did not get saved by raising his hand, going forward in an altar call or repeating a prayer, but by crying out to God in true repentance.

Now in conclusion, I have tried to explain to you the "Glorious Message of the Gospel" in simple terms. Now you can become God's friend instead of the enemy. If you are convinced of your sin, my friend do not waste any time, go to your room, close the door cry on to God, and confess your sins to him. Trust in the Lord Jesus for all what he did on the cross for salvation. Now you will have peace with God which the world cannot give, and which the world cannot take away. Now you can hunger and thirst for God's righteousness, by having a deep passion for his Word, communicate to him through prayer. God who was so far away, can become your heavenly Father.
 

"I am the bread of life. he who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes on me shall never thirst." John 6:35,36.

"If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink - he who believes on Me - as the Scripture has said, "Out of His innermost being shall flow rivers of water". John 7:37-38

Read God 's word daily for your spiritual food and attend a church that teaches and practices the holiness of God and will not compromise with sin. (We strongly recommend for you to write to us and we will give a list of good churches in your area)
 

THE WRATH OF GOD IS FOR THOSE WHO
WILL NOT SURRENDER TO JESUS CHRIST.

John 3:36 ~ He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

If you don't trust in the work of the lord for your salvation, God said in Isa 13:9 ~ Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

Ro 1:18 ~ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

IF YOU WISH TO SHARE THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL, WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO MAKE COPIES OF THIS AND DISTRIBUTE FREELY. PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THE CONTENT OF THE MESSAGE. WE NEED CHRISTIAN WORKERS WHO WILL TRANSLATE THE GLORIOUS MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL INTO DIFFERENT LANGUAGES, PLEASE CONTACT US.

Agape Chapel Ministries
P O Box 59084
Norwalk, CA 90652

Please visit: Agape Chapel Ministries

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