Religious Thoughts of Grace Russ
A. ADMIT your need of Christ’s free gift of eternal life
B. BELIEVE in Christ
C. COME & COMMIT your life to Christ
ROMANS 5 v 8
23 October 1973
What does it mean to be a real Christian?
Someone in whom Christ is living
What is the greatest sin?
Matthew 22 v 37 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul & mind” is the greatest commandment therefore the greatest sin is to break this commandment.
It is Sin that separates us from God
Romans 3 v 23 “We all have sinned & all fall short of God’s glorious ideal”.
We cannot “buy” or “earn” our ticket to Heaven by our “Good Deeds” or by “trying to be Good”
The only way to God is through Jesus Christ. By his sacrifice in dying for ‘our’ sins he has given us the chance of everlasting life. This is a gift that is freely given and which we can only take advantage of it we ask, and let, him live within us.
Without this last important fact we are surely lost; no matter how ‘Holy’ our lives may be or how many ‘Good Deeds’ we may do.
ISAIAH 64 v 6 “All our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment”.
ROMANS 6 v 23 “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”.
Therefore sin by paying wages is an employer, but the free gift from God is just that; a free gift. You cannot pay for it and you cannot earn it.
TITUS 3 v 5 “He saved us not because of our own good deeds, but because of His loving kindness and mercy”
30 October 1973
GOD’s REMEDY (from Directions)
What was God’s attitude to this sinful world?
John 3 v 16 & 17 “God loved the world so much that he gave his only son so that anyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it”.
So we have the choice to choose between Light & Darkness; Life & Death; Gain & Loss.
How did He prove His Love for us?
ROMANS 5 v 8 “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us… while we were still sinners.
(What an optimist he must be: Thank God he isn’t a pessimist!)
Why Did Jesus Come?
LUKE 19 v 10 “The Son of man came to seek and to save the lost”
TIMOTHY 1 v 15. “How true it is, and how I long that everyone should know it, that Christ Jesus cam into the world to save sinners… and I was the greatest of them all”.
HEBRES 2 v 14 & 15 “Since we are of flesh and blood he became flesh and blood by being born in human form. For only as a human being could he die and break the power of the devil who had power over death. By dying he was able to deliver those who because of their fear of death had lived their lives in constant dread”.
Why was he called Jesus?
Matthew 1 v 21 “You shall name him Jesus (meaning Saviour) for he will save his people from their sins”.
How did he save us from our sins?
Peter 3. 18 and Peter 2 v 24
Christ died for all men’s sins even though he was free on any sin himself he took all our sins upon himself so that he could bring us to God. He died in the flesh but his spirit lived on, and we can now be free of sin.
What happened to Him because He bore the penalty of our sins?
GALATIANS 3 v 13
Christ redeemed us by taking the curse of our wrong doing on himself.
MATTHEW 27 v 46 and 2 CORINTHIANS 5 v 21
The agony of his cry “My God, My God why have your forsaken me can be fully understood when we realize that he was himself a completely sinless man in whom God poured all the sins of the world. In exchange we had God’s goodness given to us.
6 November 1975
I BELIEVE IN GOD
What are the evidence of God’s existence?
Psalm 19 v 1. “The Heavens are telling the glory of God and the earth proclaims his handiwork”.
ROMANS 1. 20 “Ever since the creation of the world, his eternal power and deity has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made”.
(1 & 2) The stars, the whole galaxy, the heat of the sun by day; the trees and wild life; the seasons. All these are visual evidence of God’s existence.
PSALM 139 v 13 & 14 “For thou didst form my inward parts, thou didst knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise thee for thou art fearful and wonderful. Wonderful are thy works. Thou knowest me right well”.
God being my Creator knows me… as I am. At my very worst, and even my very thoughts and outlook on life (one feels very naked).
John 14 v 7 to 9 “…anyone who has seen me has seen the Father”
To know Jesus is in fact to know God.
It is possible to prove God in experience. How?
John 1 v1 & 14 “Before anything else existed there was Christ, with God”. “And Christ became a human being and lived on earth among men and was full of loving forgiveness and truth… and some have seen the glory of the only son of God”.
MARK 9 v2 to 7 “…Jesus took Peter, James and John to the top of a mountain. No one else was there. Suddenly his face began to shine with glory and his clothing became dazzling white, for more glorious than any earthly process could make it…. And a voice from the cloud said “This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him”.
MATTHEW 3 v 16 & 17 “After his baptism as soon as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God coming down in the form of a dove, and a voice from Heaven said “This is my beloved Son…”.
JOSHUA 23 v14 “…not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass, not one thing has failed”.
1 to 4 above are all evidence of the ‘proof of God’ experience by men. Whilst I myself have not experienced anything quite so spectacular there have been several occasions of late, which before I turned to Christ I would have put down to “Luck” or perhaps “Coincidence” but which I now know in my own heart to be real clear “proof of God in experience”.
Being on Social Security, and some days having an empty purse and an empty pantry, and yet not one day going by without me having a meal… often offered me quite out of the blue from an unexpected source!
How does the Bible describe what God is like?
ISAIAH 6 v3 “… Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord….”
JOHN 4 v 7 to 9 “…for God is Love…”
PSALMS 90 v2 & 4 “…from everlasting to everlasting you are God…”
JAMES 1 v17 “Whatever is good and perfect comes from God the creator of all light. He shines forever without change or shadow”.
JOB 42 v2 “I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted”
PSALMS 139 v 7 to 10 “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Where shall I flee from your presence? ….if I dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me and your right hand shall hold me…”
The Bible describes God as:-
Holy
Love
Everlasting or Timeless
Consistent or never changing
Invincible
All knowing