Just the Name of Jesus is evocative. I can have a “feeling” about Jesus. I can think about Jesus. I can know what the Name Jesus means. I can understand who Jesus said He was and what He did. I can learn about Jesus academically. The question at hand is, “Do I believe in Jesus?” I can approach Jesus the same way I approach a newspaper. I can assimilate facts about Him. I can hear the Name Jesus and be completely ignorant of His importance. I can know the Name Jesus and be unaware of His impact on this world. I can educate myself about Jesus by reading a history book. The question remains, “Do I BELIEVE in Jesus?” That Name has been heard all over the world. That Name cries out for some kind of understanding. That Name is hard to ignore. Instinctively a human being knows that that Name carries weight. There’s something about the Name…. Jesus. We can use that Name as a good luck charm or a curse. But…the question still remains, “Do I believe in Jesus?” Nothing but the Bible can REVEAL that Name. Men can’t REVEAL Jesus; that is Gods’ work. Christians can’t REVEAL God to anyone. They can’t even REVEAL God to themselves. Christians depend on the same Name, the same Person unbelievers do. Jesus. It is God’s Word, the Bible and God’s Spirit alone who reveal and illuminate men about Jesus respectively. Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” God’s Word, the Bible and God’s Spirit. Nothing but the Spirit of God Himself can illuminate your soul about that Name. Men can’t use God for their purposes. God uses men. There is a difference between a spiritual man and a religious man. Spiritual men serve God. Religious men want God to serve them. A spiritual man provides Biblical answers to questions you might have concerning Christianity. A religious man seeks to impose rules on you leading you to believe Christianity is about rules or worse the religious mans “take” on what the rules look like. Religious people are as annoying to Christians as they are to the world at large. Christians are as messed up as anyone else on earth and that needs to be understood. Christians are sinners, saved by the Grace of Jesus Christ. Christians aren’t better human beings because they’re Christians, they have a better position In Jesus but they go right on sinning. By the way, this should not be surprising, the Bible talks about this in detail. Isaiah 64:6 “or all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” Isaiah 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.” Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” So if you are a sinner, and you are, and so am I, and revelation and illumination come from God you might wonder why He doesn’t reveal Himself to you. The answer is simple, when you want Him to He will. It’s a choice, your choice. I’m under no pressure to save you because I can’t. I’m not Jesus. I’m very happy Jesus revealed Himself to me and the Spirit of God illuminated my soul and spirit to who Jesus is but I can’t force Jesus on anyone else. I’ll certainly want you to believe in Him. The consequences of unbelief are severe and I wouldn’t wish that on any human being. This is not my opinion it is the Word of God, the Bible: II Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to a change of mind.” I’m very happy I personally love Jesus. He loved me first. I John 4:10 “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” I can’t force Jesus on anyone else and I shouldn’t. I trust God to provide His Christ to those He knows WANT Him and despite the fact that God gave His Son for every human being He reveals His Son Jesus to those who want Him. I simply wanted Jesus. It’s that simple. Christianity isn’t really all that complex. It’s a simple thing. Faith. Faith in a Person. Faith in Jesus. Now if you don’t want Jesus there is nothing I can do about it. As a Christian I believe every man has a will given to him by God and that will is a sacred gift. I won’t attempt to change your will, that’s between you and God. I would if I could because I know the Love of Jesus. Do I care personally what you decide, the answer is yes; because I understand the Grace of Jesus I wouldn’t want anyone to miss out on the Grace of Jesus Christ through unbelief. Yes, I want you to believe. But I am limited because all I can do is provide Biblical information about Jesus so you can make a decision based on the standard given to the world, the Bible. By the way, it may come as a surprise to you but the Bible is a gift to the world. Jesus is a gift to the world. Not just to Christians. The good news wouldn’t be very good if it extended only to certain people. This news, this information concerning Jesus is truly a matter of life and death. This is important information, more important than earthly concerns such as family, friends, money, politics or whatever you may think is important on this earth. Isaiah 40:8“The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.” John 1:1-5 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in thedarkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” What does the world do? It withers. Who is the Word? Jesus. What does the Word, Jesus do? He lives forever. God lives. This information about Jesus has to do with Life not only on this earth but in eternity after we die. Death is coming for each of us. In Jesus I have found hope in my death and I hope you find that same hope, the hope only that Name provides. The Hope of Jesus There is no hope in me other than that Name, Jesus. Jesus is the Hope of the world. Jesus is my Hope. So it’s up to you.We all have the right to reject anything we want to reject or accept anything we want to accept. That is as it should be. That’s how God made us. The only question left is “Do you want Jesus?” He has already given Himself for us all. Every man, woman, every race, every human being and by His life and death He has restored what the first man lost through sin. Sin? Yes, I’m a sinner. There’s almost a strange comfort in knowing that about myself. Ever hear about people going off to an isolated spot to “find” themselves. I found myself in the Bible. The Bible told me I am a sinner and I believed that too. The Bible makes the following statements concerning my true nature; who I really am as a human being. The Apostle Paul pretty much sums it up in his statement to the Roman Church: Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned— There it is. All men were infected with sin, including me. Since God is Holy and Perfect He cannot have fellowship with impurity. I need to be cleansed of my sin for Him to be able to fellowship with me. I am separated from God by my infectious sin nature. So my Gracious and Loving Heavenly Father provided a way for me to come home to Him. Paul states: Romans 3:8-12 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, "There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one." Christians aren’t better than those who have rejected Jesus. We’re all sinners. As Christians, however, we have accepted the Divine solution to our sin problem through faith alone in Jesus alone. Grace is a beautiful word. This is good news for the world. There is a way provided by God through Jesus where we can be restored to fellowship with our Heavenly Father.Faith in Jesus. You may say that’s too easy, don’t we have to be good or live up to God’s rules? Paul again answers that question when he states: Ephesians 2:8&9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.” The prophet John the Baptist said the following when he met Jesus: John 1:29 “The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” “Takes away the sin of the world?” Wow. Good deal for us isn’t it? Who would reject such a beautiful deal? Why, you’d have to be a fool. Yes, I said it. A fool. Now that’s not my opinion, it is in fact REVEALED by God through King David in the following passage of scripture: Psalm 14:1 “The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good. The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men, To see if there are any who understand, Who seek after God.” It is possible to be a fool. A fool is worse than ignorant, he is stupid. He denies truth. I am going to say it clearly right here, right now, if any human being rejects the revelation of the Bible concerning Jesus Christ that human being is a fool. Now, that’s certainly an option. It just needed to be said. What does the Name Jesus really mean to the world? We find the answer to that question in the Book of John: John 16: 8-11 "And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you no longer behold Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world (Satan) has been judged." The Name of Jesus convicts the world of its need for help with the sin problem. Jesus answers that cry for help, not through technology or science but with a sacrifice so astonishing that it literally turned the world upside down. Previously Satan owned the world when he seized possession of it away from Adam and Eve through deceit. Jesus did what the first man didn’t do, He remained perfect and sacrificed His precious Life on this earth on the cross. When Jesus hung on that cross He took the sin of the entire human race onto Himself and was judged. He cleaned the slate of sin for mankind. He provided a way of escape for sinners. And He made it easy, all that is required by man is to BELIEVE in Him. Paul states the case of Grace beautifully in the following passage of scripture: Romans 3:19-29 “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comesthe knowledge of sin. But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even therighteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This wasto demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,” Isn’t that beautiful? The Law of God was fulfilled in Jesus and we receive His righteousness through faith. Truly amazing Grace. It sure isn’t up to us to be good enough for God. That’s religion. One Warning Matthew 12:31 "Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. "And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in the ageto come.” If you speak against the ILLUMINATING Spirit of God concerning Jesus you will not be forgiven this unbelief. You will be judged. Not my opinion, the Bible clarifies this important issue in the following passage of scripture: John 3:36 "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." Hebrews 9:27 “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,” Hebrews 10:26&27 “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.” Revelation 20:13-15 “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Rejecting Jesus Christ as your personal Way of Salvation carries with it unthinkable consequences. The future is bright with Jesus. The future is unbelievably dark without Jesus. These passages of scripture exist to assist you in clearly understanding the issues of salvation and what it means to believe in Jesus: Acts 16:31 “And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved.” John 3:16&17 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.” John 1:14-17 “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him, and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'" For of His fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.” John 8:12 “Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life." John 11:25-27 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" She said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, evenHe who comes into the world." John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.” Acts 4:12 12 "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved." Do you want Jesus? He’s one act of faith away. Jeremiah 17:7 7 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD And whose trust is the LORD.”
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