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"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." "You have confessed your sins, and in heart put them away. You have resolved to give yourself to God. Now go to Him, and ask that He will wash away your sins and give you a new heart. Then believe that He does this because He has promised." "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." "The fatal effects of sin can be removed only by the provision that God has made. The Israelites saved their lives by looking upon the uplifted serpent. That look implied faith. They lived because they believed God's word, and trusted in the means provided for their recovery. So the sinner may look to Christ and live." "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. " "Through the cross the sinner was drawn from the stronghold of sin, from the confederacy of evil, and at every approach to the cross his heart relents and in penitence he cries, 'It was my sins that crucified the Son of God.' At the cross he leaves his sins, and through the grace of Christ his character is transformed. The Redeemer raises the sinner from the dust, and places him under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. As the sinner looks upon the Redeemer, he finds hope, assurance, and joy. Faith takes hold of Christ in love. Faith works by love and purifies the soul. " "God's supply of grace is waiting the demand of every sinsick soul. It will heal every spiritual disease. By it hearts may be cleansed from all defilement. It is the gospel remedy for every one who believes." "Many of the Israelites saw no help in the remedy which Heaven had appointed. The dead and dying were all around them, and they knew that without divine aid, their own fate was certain; but they continued to lament their wounds, their pains, their sure death, until their strength was gone, and their eyes were glazed, when they might have had instant healing." "Jesus loves to have us come to Him just as we are, sinful, helpless, dependent. We may come with all our weakness, our folly, our sinfulness, and fall at His feet in penitence. It is His glory to encircle us in the arms of His love, and to bind up our wounds, to cleanse us from all impurity. "Here is where thousands fail; they do not believe that Jesus par-dons them personally, individually. They do not take God at His word. . . None are so sinful that they cannot find strength, purity, and righteousness in Jesus, who died for them. He is waiting to strip them of their garments stained and polluted with sin, and to put upon them the white robes of righteousness; He bids them live and not die." Why is it that so many people do not believe that Jesus can cleanse them and give them a new heart and mind today? Because they have the idea that it takes a lifetime to give up their sins. They have believed a lie. Today is the day of salvation. Today you can be cleansed from all your sins. Today you can be in a right relationship with God. You may not be living tomorrow. Come today! The thief on the cross believed and he was immediately saved to the uttermost. "Through all ages and in every nation those that believe that Jesus can and will save them personally from sin, are the elect and chosen of God; they are His peculiar treasure. They obey His will, and come out of the world and separate themselves from every unclean thought and unholy practice. . . . It is a sad fact that the great proportion of God's professed people have not had faith in Christ as their personal Saviour. " "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." "Be not faithless, but believing. " "All things are possible to him that believeth." "The same power that turned the water to wine at the marriage feast of Cana is able to eradicate all evil from our nature, and to make us partakers of the divine nature. The very same power that made the leper clean can make the heart pure, fit for the society of God, of angels, and of the redeemed host." "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." "According to your faith be it unto you. " "Faith is simple in its operation and powerful in its results. Many professed Christians, who have a knowledge of the sacred word, and believe its truth, fail in the childlike trust that is essential to the religion of Jesus. They do not reach out with that peculiar touch that brings the virtue of healing to the soul." If you don't have this faith that brings spiritual healing, what can you do? Spend more time with Jesus, learning of Him. "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. " When you hear the word of God and act on what you hear, God can perform His saving miracle for you. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." "Do not wait to feel that you are made whole. Believe His word, and it will be fulfilled. Put your will on the side of Christ. Will to serve Him, and in acting upon His word you will receive strength. Whatever may be the evil practice, the master passion which through long indulgence binds both soul and body, Christ is able and longs to deliver. He will impart life to the soul that is 'dead in trespasses.' It is wonderful to be free from attitudes of anger, resentment, bitterness, irritation, hatred, selfishness, or any other sin, and to allow God's love to control us. "God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness." "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." "Christ came to break the shackles of sin-slavery from the soul. 'If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.'" "True conversion is a radical change. The very drift of the mind and the bent of the heart should be turned and life become new again in Christ." "For it is as the Spirit of God touches the soul that the powers of the soul are quickened, and man becomes a new creature in Christ Jesus." "And you he made alive, when you were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked. . . . Among these we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of body and mind, and so we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with him." "To arouse those spiritually dead, to create new tastes, new motives, requires as great an outlay of power as to raise one from physical death." "God has redeemed us from the slavery of sin, and has made it possible for us to live regenerated, transformed lives of service." "When the Spirit of God takes possession of the heart, it transforms the life. Sinful thoughts are put away, evil deeds are renounced; love, humility, and peace take the place of anger, envy, and strife. Joy takes the place of sadness, and the countenance reflects the light of heaven. No one sees the hand that lifts the burden, or beholds the light descend from the courts above. The blessing comes when by faith the soul surrenders itself to God. Then that power which no human eye can see creates a new being in the image of God. " This is what the thief on the cross experienced when he surrendered in faith to Jesus and he even saw the light descend to show his acceptance with God. "As He (Jesus) spoke the words of promise, the dark cloud that seemed to enshroud the cross was pierced by a bright and living light. To the penitent thief came the perfect peace of acceptance with God. Christ in His humiliation was glorified. . . . It is His royal right to save unto the uttermost all who come unto God by Him." "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." "To be pardoned in the way that Christ pardons, is not only to be forgiven, but to be renewed in the spirit of our mind. The Lord says, 'A new heart will I give unto thee.' The image of Christ is to be stamped upon the very mind, heart, and soul." "Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." "When a man is converted to God, a new moral taste is supplied, a new motive power is given, and he loves the things that God loves." "The faculties of the soul, paralyzed by sin, the darkened mind, the perverted will, He has power to invigorate and to restore." "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself. " "Those who receive the Saviour become sons of God. They are His spiritual children, born again, renewed in righteousness and true holiness. Their minds are changed." "We must learn of Christ. We must know what He is to those He has ransomed. We must realize that through belief in Him it is our privilege to be partakers of the divine nature, and so escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. Then we are cleansed from all sin, all defects of character. We need not retain one sinful propensity. Christ is the sin-bearer; John pointed the people to Him, saying, 'Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.'" "If you are right with God today, you are ready if Christ should come today. What we need is Christ formed within, the hope of glory." "Those who see Christ in His true character, and receive Him into the heart, have everlasting life. It is through the Spirit that Christ dwells in us; and the Spirit of God, received into the heart by faith; is the beginning of life eternal." |