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A true account about Charlie Coulson - The Drummer Boy
I was a surgeon in the United States Army during the Civil War.
After the battle of Gettysburg , there were hundreds of wounded soldiers in
my hospital. Many were wounded so severely that a leg or an arm, or sometimes
both, needed to be amputated.
One of these was a boy who had been in the service for only 3
months. Since he was too young to be a soldier, he had enlisted as a drummer.
When my assistants came to give him chloroform before the amputation, he
turned his head and refused it. When they told him that it was the doctor's
orders, he said, "Send the doctor to me."
I came to his bedside and said, "Young man, why do you
refuse the chloroform. When I picked you up on the battlefield, you were so
far gone that I almost didn't bother to pick you up. But you opened those
large blue eyes, it occurred to me that you had a mother somewhere who might
be thinking of you that very moment. I didn't want you to die on the field,
so I had you brought here. But you've lost so much blood that you're just too
weak to live through an operation without chloroform. You'd better let me
give you some."
He laid his hand on mine, looked at me in the face and said,
"Doctor, one Sunday afternoon, when I was nine and a half
years old, I gave my life to Christ. I learned to trust Him then, I know I
can trust Him now. He is my strength. He will support me while you amputate
my arm and leg."
I asked him if he would at least let me give him a little
brandy.
Again he looked at me and said, "Doctor, when I was
about 5 years old, my mother knelt by my side with her arms around me and
said, ‘Charlie, I am praying to Jesus that you will never take even one drink
of alcohol. Your father died a drunkard, and I've asked God to use you to
warn people against the dangers of drinking, and to encourage them to love
and serve the Lord.’ I am now 17 years old, and I have never had anything
stronger than tea or coffee. There is a very good chance that I am about to
die and go into the presence of my God. Would you send me there with brandy
on my breath?"
I
will never forget that look that boy gave me. At that time I hated Jesus, but
I respected that boy's loyalty to His Saviour. And when I saw how he loved
and trusted Him to the very end, something deeply touched my heart. I did for
that boy what I had never done for any other soldier – I asked him if he
wanted to see his chaplain.
The Chaplain knew the boy well from having seen him often at
the tent prayer meetings. Taking his hand he said, "Charlie, I am sorry
to see you like this."
"Oh, I am all right, sir," answered Charlie.
"The doctor offered me chloroform, but I told him I didn't want any.
Then he wanted to give me brandy, which I didn't want either. So now, if my
Saviour calls me I can go to Him in my right mind."
"You must not die, Charlie," said the chaplain,
"but if the Lord does call you home, is there anything I can do for you
after you're gone?"
"Chaplain, please reach under my pillow and take my little
Bible. My mother's address is inside. Please send it to her and write a
letter for me. Tell her that since I left home, I have never let a single day
pass – no matter if we were on the march, on the battlefield, or in the
hospital – without reading a portion of the God's word, and daily praying
that He would bless her."
"Is there anything else I can do for you, my lad?"
asked the chaplain.
"Yes, please write a letter to the Sunday School
teacher of the Sands Street Church in Brooklyn, New York. Tell him that I've
never forgotten his encouragement, good advice, and many prayers for me. They
have helped me and comforted me through all the dangers of battle. And now,
in my dying hour, I thank the Lord for my dear old teacher, and ask Him to
bless and strengthen him. That is all."
Then turning to me, he said, "I'm ready, doctor. I promise
I won't even groan while you take off me arm and leg if you don't offer me
chloroform."
I promised, but I didn't have the courage to take knife in my
hand without first going into the next room and taking a little brandy
myself.
While cutting through the flesh, Charlie Coulson never groaned.
But when I took the saw to separate the bone, the lad took the corner of his
pillow in his mouth and all I could hear him whisper was, "O Jesus,
blessed Jesus! Stand by me now." He kept his promise. He never groaned.
I couldn't sleep that night. Whichever way I tossed and turned,
I saw those soft blue eyes, the words, "Blessed Jesus! Stand by me
now.'' Kept ringing in my ears. A little after midnight, I finally left
my bed and visited the hospital – something I had never done before unless
there was an emergency. I had such a strange and strong desire to see that
boy.
When I got there, an orderly told me that 16 of the badly
wounded soldiers had died. "Was Charlie Coulson, one of them?" I
asked.
"No, sir," he answered, "he's sleeping as sweet
as a babe."
When I came to his bed, one of the nurses said that at
about 9 o'clock two members of the YMCA came through the hospital
to sing a hymn. The Chaplain was with them, he knelt by Charlie's bed and
offered a fervent and soul-stirring prayer. Then, while still on their knees,
they sang one of the sweetest of all hymns, "Jesus, Lover of My
Soul." Charlie sang along with them, too. I couldn't understand how that
boy, who was in such horrible pain, could sing.
Five days after I performed the operation, Charlie sent for me,
and it was from him that I heard my first Gospel sermon. "Doctor,"
he said, "my time has come. I don't expect to see another sunrise. I
want to thank you with all my heart for your kindness to me. I know you are
Jewish, and that you do not believe in Jesus, but I want you to stay and see
me die trusting me Saviour to the last moment of me life." I tried to
stay, but I just couldn't – I didn't have the courage to stand by and see a
Christian boy die rejoicing in the love of that Jesus who I hated. So I
hurriedly left the room.
About 20 minutes later an orderly came and found me sitting in
my office with my hands covering my face. He told me that Charlie wanted to
see me. "I've just seen him," I answered. "and I can't see him
again."
"But, doctor, he says he must see you once more before he
dies.'
So I made up my mind to go and see Charlie, say an endearing
word and let him die. However, I was determined that nothing he could say
would influence me in the least bit, so far as his Jesus was concerned.
When I
entered the hospital I saw he was sinking fast, so I sat down by his bed.
Asking me to take his hand, he said, "Doctor, I love you because you are
a Jew. The best friend I've found in the world was a Jew." I asked him
who that was, and he answered, "Jesus Christ, and I want to introduce
you to Him before I die. Will you promise me, doctor that what I am about to
say to you, you will never forget?" I promised, and he said, "5
days ago, while you amputated my arm and leg, I prayed to the Lord Jesus Christ
and asked Him to make His love known to you."
Those words went deep in my heart. I couldn't understand how,
when I was causing him the most intense pain, he could forget about himself
and think of nothing but the Saviour and my unconverted soul All I could say
to him was, "Well, my dear boy, you will soon be all right." With
these words I left him, and 12 minutes later, he fell asleep, safe in the
arms of Jesus.
Hundreds of soldiers died in my hospital during the war, but I
only followed one to the grave, and that was Charlie Coulson. I rode 3 miles
to see him buried. I had him dressed in a new uniform, and placed in an
officer's coffin, with a United States flag over it.
That boy's dying words made a deep impression on me. I was rich
at that time so as far as money was concerned, but I would have given every
penny I possessed if I could have felt towards Christ as Charlie did. But
that feeling cannot be bought with money. Alas, I soon forgot all about my
Christian soldier's little sermon, but I could not forget the boy himself.
Looking back, I now know I was under deep conviction of sin at that time. But
for nearly 10 years I held back, until finally the dear boy's prayer was
answered, and I surrendered my life to the love of Jesus.
About
a year and a half after my conversion, I went to a prayer meeting one evening
in Brooklyn . It was one of those meetings where Christians testify about the
loving kindness of God. After several had spoken, an elderly lady stood up
and said, "Dear friends, this may be the last time I have a chance to
publicly share how good the Lord has been to me. My doctor told me yesterday
that my right lung is nearly gone, and my left lung is failing fast, so at
the best I only have a short time to be with you. But what is left of me
belongs to Jesus. It's a great joy to know that I shall soon meet my son with
Jesus in heaven.
"Charlie was not only a soldier for his country, but also
a soldier for Christ. He was wounded at the battle of Gettysburg , and was
cared for by a Jewish doctor, who amputated his arm and leg. He died 5 days
after the operation. The chaplain of the regiment wrote me a letter and sent
me my boy's Bible. I was told that in his dying hour, my Charlie sent for
that Jewish doctor and said to him, "5 days ago, while you amputated my
arm and leg, I prayed to the Lord Jesus Christ for you."
As I heard this lady speak, I just couldn't sit still! I left
my seat, ran across the room and took her hand and said, "God bless you,
my dear sister. Your boy's prayer has been heard and answered! I am the
Jewish doctor that Charlie prayed for, and his Saviour is now my Saviour! The
love of Jesus has won my soul!"
A true account about "Charlie Coulson - The Christian Drummer
Boy" taken from an old, out of print book called "Touching
Incidents and Remarkable Answers to Prayers."
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OUR WEBSITE: www.word.diaz.co.in <><><> blog by: JOSEPH CANISIUS DIAS
Sunday, 27 October 2013
THE DRUMMER BOY
Saturday, 12 October 2013
REORDER YOUR LIFE !
I have a very 'worldly rich' friend who has loads of money but experiences no heavenly blessings. His wife and little son yearn for him but his business takes him to many countries for long stretches of time. He owns expensive mansions everywhere but hardly lives in them (His servants have a better time in them!). When you ask him to slow down, he says that if he stops running, his competitors will have time to take a bite at him!
I have another friend who is equally rich but thankfully, this one has discovered the secret of life. He has sold all his company shares to his brother and travels to spread the Word of God! He was a Hindu whose life was totally messed up. His wife had left him and his children fell to diverse temptations (Alcohol, drugs etc). Now, just by being a 'doer of the Word', God has restored his whole family. His relationship with his wife now, puts Romeo and Juliet to shame! This friend put God first and blessings keep following him!
I attended the third anniversary of the GCCI church of Sharjah yesterday and i was truly blessed with Pastor Frank's message on how we lead our lives. According to him, if you have not set your priorities right, you are facing disaster! Check if you got your life in the right order!
First Priority: GOD
Second Priority: CHURCH
Third Priority: MINISTRY
Fourth Priority: DREAMS & GOALS
For the longest time after the message, i wondered why he did not pick out FAMILY as a priority! But then i realised that Life is a journey that you undertake individually. It is all about you and your God. In a family, we are supposed to practice the same love relationship you have with Jesus. Love in the family should result out of the individual's intimate relationship with Jesus. Without loving others with the love of Christ, we will surely fall prey to the selfish, familial, erotic love of this world. Love is not love if there is no sacrifice.The FAMILY, i believe should fall in the 4th priority! It would be better placed there!
Like my first 'friend', there are many who put the 'I' first in everything. 'I' did this and 'I' did that! The 'I' does not acknowledge God in everything ! Look at Proverbs 3:5,6:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And lean not on your own understanding
Acknowledge God in everything
And He will direct you path.
When misfortune strikes, such people are the first to say, " Why me Lord?'
When a local church is feeding you the 'Word', be a responsible member of the church and support it in every way you can. If God sent someone to introduce the Gospel to you and saved you, there are many who still need to be reached. The church is the only place where a new believer can be discipled and sent out to preach the Good News. Fellowship is important and the fire of your love for Jesus and the Word must be sustained by interacting with like-minded people. It is like coals in a barbecue pit. When the burning coals stick together, the fire is sustained for a much longer time however, if you separate a single coal from the pile, the fire dies out in no time! Don't try to do it alone! Be part of a church and be a responsible 'Christ-driven' individual- supporting the church with not only your finances but any other God-given talents you may have!
When you go out to save souls, be of one accord. Pastor Frank beautifully expounded on the following passage of scripture:
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on - Mark 2:1-12
In the above story, all of the four men had great faith in Jesus' wonder working power! If not, they would not have been driven to open the roof up and lower the paralyzed man! This is what ministry is all about! Each and every one of us has a 'ministry'. Each one of us is a 'KING' and 'PRIEST'!
ISA 61:6 And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named
ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast.1PT 2:5 And you also, like living stones, are being built into a
spiritual house, to be a Holy Priesthood.REV 1:6(KJV) And hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father.REV 5:10(KJV) And hast made us unto our God kings and priests and we shall
reign on the earth.ROM 5:17 Says we will reign in life through Jesus.( the Greek word for
"REIGN" is derived from the the word for "KING". And means to be a king).
When your 'dreams and goals' are set in line with God's Word, you will run the very race that God has set for you. God has made every provision available to you when you run that set race!
“Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).
And of course there's that favourite scripture of mine that gives you the very secret of a great life on earth:
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
(Note: I recommend that everyone reads from Mat.6: 25 to 33 to glean the true meaning of the scripture)
I have another friend who is equally rich but thankfully, this one has discovered the secret of life. He has sold all his company shares to his brother and travels to spread the Word of God! He was a Hindu whose life was totally messed up. His wife had left him and his children fell to diverse temptations (Alcohol, drugs etc). Now, just by being a 'doer of the Word', God has restored his whole family. His relationship with his wife now, puts Romeo and Juliet to shame! This friend put God first and blessings keep following him!
I attended the third anniversary of the GCCI church of Sharjah yesterday and i was truly blessed with Pastor Frank's message on how we lead our lives. According to him, if you have not set your priorities right, you are facing disaster! Check if you got your life in the right order!
First Priority: GOD
Second Priority: CHURCH
Third Priority: MINISTRY
Fourth Priority: DREAMS & GOALS
For the longest time after the message, i wondered why he did not pick out FAMILY as a priority! But then i realised that Life is a journey that you undertake individually. It is all about you and your God. In a family, we are supposed to practice the same love relationship you have with Jesus. Love in the family should result out of the individual's intimate relationship with Jesus. Without loving others with the love of Christ, we will surely fall prey to the selfish, familial, erotic love of this world. Love is not love if there is no sacrifice.The FAMILY, i believe should fall in the 4th priority! It would be better placed there!
Like my first 'friend', there are many who put the 'I' first in everything. 'I' did this and 'I' did that! The 'I' does not acknowledge God in everything ! Look at Proverbs 3:5,6:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And lean not on your own understanding
Acknowledge God in everything
And He will direct you path.
When misfortune strikes, such people are the first to say, " Why me Lord?'
When a local church is feeding you the 'Word', be a responsible member of the church and support it in every way you can. If God sent someone to introduce the Gospel to you and saved you, there are many who still need to be reached. The church is the only place where a new believer can be discipled and sent out to preach the Good News. Fellowship is important and the fire of your love for Jesus and the Word must be sustained by interacting with like-minded people. It is like coals in a barbecue pit. When the burning coals stick together, the fire is sustained for a much longer time however, if you separate a single coal from the pile, the fire dies out in no time! Don't try to do it alone! Be part of a church and be a responsible 'Christ-driven' individual- supporting the church with not only your finances but any other God-given talents you may have!
When you go out to save souls, be of one accord. Pastor Frank beautifully expounded on the following passage of scripture:
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on - Mark 2:1-12
In the above story, all of the four men had great faith in Jesus' wonder working power! If not, they would not have been driven to open the roof up and lower the paralyzed man! This is what ministry is all about! Each and every one of us has a 'ministry'. Each one of us is a 'KING' and 'PRIEST'!
ISA 61:6 And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named
ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast.1PT 2:5 And you also, like living stones, are being built into a
spiritual house, to be a Holy Priesthood.REV 1:6(KJV) And hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father.REV 5:10(KJV) And hast made us unto our God kings and priests and we shall
reign on the earth.ROM 5:17 Says we will reign in life through Jesus.( the Greek word for
"REIGN" is derived from the the word for "KING". And means to be a king).
When your 'dreams and goals' are set in line with God's Word, you will run the very race that God has set for you. God has made every provision available to you when you run that set race!
“Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).
And of course there's that favourite scripture of mine that gives you the very secret of a great life on earth:
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
(Note: I recommend that everyone reads from Mat.6: 25 to 33 to glean the true meaning of the scripture)
Tuesday, 8 October 2013
DESTINY? ILL FATED?
I almost ran over someone yesterday! He just stepped off the kerb when i was doing 70 kph. I braked hard and the car skidded to a halt ... i missed him by a hair's breadth!
Both Leander and i were silent with shock. Then i broke the silence with, 'Thank you Lord!"
Later, i told Leander that although i was blameless in this instance, the first thing the police would have done was to lock me up! Whilst in the lockup, the decision could go either in my favour or against me! (Depends on the social position of the injured/dead!). My destiny would have changed in that accident!
Several years ago, i read about those who were saved from getting killed inside the World Trade Centre buildings on 9/11. One had gone to drop his kid to school because she had missed her school bus. Another had gone out to bring breakfast for his colleagues since it was his turn for the task. Yet another stayed home because of a headache. But then, look at the flip side of things ... the firemen who lost their lives. They must have been chatting about the birds and the bees before they responded to the distress call. Even whilst they entered the building, they would never have thought of a total collapse of the building! THEIR DESTINY CHANGED! MOST OF US WOULD CALL THEM 'ILL-FATED'!
A typical response to a belief in fate is resignation—if we can’t change destiny, then why even try? Whatever happens, happens, and we can’t do anything about it. This is called “fatalism,” and it is not biblical.
Fatalism is a major premise of Islam, which demands total submission to the sovereignty of Allah. It is widely held in Hinduism, too; in fact, it is a fatalistic view of life that helps keep India’s caste system in place. Again, fatalism is not a biblical concept!
The Bible teaches that God is in charge. At the same time, He has given us the freedom to obey or disobey Him, and there are some things that God does only in answer to prayer (James 4:2).
God blesses the obedient, and He is patient with those who disobey, even to the point of seeming laxity. He has a plan for our lives, which includes our happiness and His glory both in this world and in the world to come. Those who accept Christ as Savior have accepted God’s plan (John 14:6). From then on, it’s a step-by-step following of God’s best for us, praying for His will to be done (Matthew 6:10), and avoiding the sidetrack of sin (Psalm 32:1-11;119:59;Hebrews 12:1-2).
You may still not understand why bad things sometimes happen to good people but then if you are following Joshua 1:8, then your path WILL BE PROSPEROUS! If in your obedience in doing the will of God takes you through a process of untold hardships (Read about Joseph in Gen 37, or the book of Job!), then know that he will also deliver you out of the same!
"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" - Romans 8:28.
Both Leander and i were silent with shock. Then i broke the silence with, 'Thank you Lord!"
Later, i told Leander that although i was blameless in this instance, the first thing the police would have done was to lock me up! Whilst in the lockup, the decision could go either in my favour or against me! (Depends on the social position of the injured/dead!). My destiny would have changed in that accident!
Several years ago, i read about those who were saved from getting killed inside the World Trade Centre buildings on 9/11. One had gone to drop his kid to school because she had missed her school bus. Another had gone out to bring breakfast for his colleagues since it was his turn for the task. Yet another stayed home because of a headache. But then, look at the flip side of things ... the firemen who lost their lives. They must have been chatting about the birds and the bees before they responded to the distress call. Even whilst they entered the building, they would never have thought of a total collapse of the building! THEIR DESTINY CHANGED! MOST OF US WOULD CALL THEM 'ILL-FATED'!
A typical response to a belief in fate is resignation—if we can’t change destiny, then why even try? Whatever happens, happens, and we can’t do anything about it. This is called “fatalism,” and it is not biblical.
Fatalism is a major premise of Islam, which demands total submission to the sovereignty of Allah. It is widely held in Hinduism, too; in fact, it is a fatalistic view of life that helps keep India’s caste system in place. Again, fatalism is not a biblical concept!
The Bible teaches that God is in charge. At the same time, He has given us the freedom to obey or disobey Him, and there are some things that God does only in answer to prayer (James 4:2).
God blesses the obedient, and He is patient with those who disobey, even to the point of seeming laxity. He has a plan for our lives, which includes our happiness and His glory both in this world and in the world to come. Those who accept Christ as Savior have accepted God’s plan (John 14:6). From then on, it’s a step-by-step following of God’s best for us, praying for His will to be done (Matthew 6:10), and avoiding the sidetrack of sin (Psalm 32:1-11;119:59;Hebrews 12:1-2).
You may still not understand why bad things sometimes happen to good people but then if you are following Joshua 1:8, then your path WILL BE PROSPEROUS! If in your obedience in doing the will of God takes you through a process of untold hardships (Read about Joseph in Gen 37, or the book of Job!), then know that he will also deliver you out of the same!
"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" - Romans 8:28.
Saturday, 5 October 2013
THE 'BORN AGAIN' EXPERIENCE.
Repentance is the first step to this experience. But in order to repent
(turn from sin) you must first know what sin is. There is a lot of false
understanding of repentance among Christians today, because there is a lot of
false understanding of sin.
The standards in Christianity have come down greatly in these past few decades. The "gospel" being preached today by most preachers is a highly diluted version of the truth. People are being told only to believe in Jesus. But believing in Jesus alone will not save anyone, if they do not repent.
Being born again is the foundation of the Christian life. If you live a good life, without laying this foundation, then your Christianity will be just like all the other religions in the world - that also teach people to live a good life. We must certainly live a good life. But that is thesuperstructure of Christianity - not its foundation. The foundation isbeing born again. We must all begin there.
Jesus used the expression "born again" in John 3:3, when speaking to Nicodemus who was a religious leader and a God-fearing man who lived uprightly. Yet Jesus told him, "Unless you are born again you cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). So we see that to enter God's kingdom you need to have a spiritual birth, even if you are a very good man! Jesus then told him that He (Jesus) would be lifted up on a cross to die and that those who believed in Him would receive eternal life(John 3:14,16).
Jesus went on to tell him that men loved darkness more than light, because their deeds were evil (John 3:19). But those who are honest would come into the light and be saved (John 3:21). To be born again, you must come into the light. That means being honest with God and confessing your sins to Him. Obviously, you cannot remember all the sins that you have committed. But you must acknowledge that you are a sinner and tell God whatever sins you remember.
Sin is a very big thing and you can see only a very small part of it in your life, at first. That is something like your living in a large country of which you have seen only a very small part. But as you turn from the sins that you know, you will gradually see more and more of this"country of sin" in your own life. As you walk in the light, you will see more of your sin - and you can then cleanse yourself more and more from it. So you must walk in honesty before God all the time.
To use another illustration: You are living in a house that has many dirty rooms. You want the Lord Jesus to come and live in your house. But He cannot live in dirty rooms. So He helps you to clean up each room - one by one. Little by little, the whole house is cleaned up. That is how we grow in holiness in the Christian life.
The apostle Paul once said that everywhere he went, he preached the same message to everyone: Repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:20). These are the two requirements to lay a good foundation in your life and to be born again. God has joinedrepentance and faith together. But most Christian preachers have separated them. Repentance has been left out from most of today's gospel-preaching. Only faith is being preached by most preachers.
But if you have only faith, you cannot be born again. That is like saying that a woman cannot have a child, all by herself, no matter how hard she tries. A man also cannot have a child all by himself. A man and a woman have to come together for a child can be born. Even so, it is when repentance and faith come together that a spiritual child is born - that the new birth can take place in your spirit. This spiritual birth is just as real as physical birth - and it also takes place in a moment. It is not gradual.
There may be months of preparation for the new birth - just as there are months of preparation for physical birth. But the new birth itself (just like physical birth) takes place in a moment. Some Christians do not know the date of their new birth. I do not know the date of my own new birth. But that is just like not knowing the date of one's physical birth. That is not a serious matter - if one is alive!! In the same way, the important thing is to know for certain that you are alive in Christ today.
When we think about Jesus' claim to be the ONLY WAY to God the Father, we have to say that either what He said was true or He was aliar and a deceiver. Who would dare to say that He was a liar and a deceiver? It is not enough to say that Jesus was just a good man or a prophet. No. He is God Himself - and not just a good man. He couldn't possibly be a good man if He were a liar or a deceiver! So we conclude that Jesus was indeed God in human form.
All truth is narrow-minded. In mathematics, 2 + 2 is always 4. We cannot be broadminded and accept 3 or 5 also as possible answers. We cannot even accept 3.9999. If we accept such variations of the truth, our mathematical calculations will go wrong. In the same way, we know that the earth revolves around the sun. If we decide to be"broadminded" and accept some theory that says that the sun also revolves around the earth, our astronomical calculations will go wrong. Likewise, in chemistry, H2O is water. We cannot be broadminded and say that H2O is also salt!! So we see that truth is absolute in every area and very narrow-minded. It is so, even in the matter of God. Broadmindedness can bring serious errors in mathematics, in astronomy and in chemistry - and also in knowing the truth about God.
The Bible teaches that all human beings are sinners - and Jesus died forsinners. So, if you come to Jesus as a "Christian" , He will not forgive your sins, because He did not die for Christians! He died for sinners. The only person who can be forgiven is the one who comes to Jesus and says "Lord, I am a sinner" . You cannot come to Jesus as a member of any religion and be forgiven, because He died for sinners. If you come to Him as a sinner, then your sins can be forgiven immediately.
It's easy for all of us to know that we are sinners - because God has given us all a conscience. Children have a very sensitive conscience, that makes them aware of wrong very quickly. But as they grow up, that conscience can become hard and insensitive. When a 3-year old child tells a lie, his face looks guilty because his conscience is guilty. But 15 years later, he can tell a lie with a straight face, because he killed his conscience by repeatedly ignoring its voice. The soles of a baby's foot are so soft that it can feel even the stroking of a feather. But the soles of the feet of adults are so hard that they don't feel even the poke of a pin until it is pressed in hard. This is what happens to their conscience too, as they grow up.
Conscience is a voice that God has placed within us, that tells us that we are moral beings. It gives us an elementary understanding of right and wrong. And so it is a wonderful gift of God. Jesus called it "the eye of the heart" (Lk.11:34). If we don't preserve this "eye" with care, we will become spiritually blind one day. Ignoring the pricks of conscience can be as dangerous as ignoring the particles of dust that enter your eye - one day you will become totally blind, spiritually.
When babies are born, none of them have any religion. They are all the same. Two years later, they are still the same - selfish and quarrelsome. But as time goes on, their parents indoctrinate them into different religions - and that is how they end up in different religions. In more than 90% of cases, a person's religion is what his parents chose for him.
But God doesn't look at us as people of different religions. He sees us all as sinners. Jesus came from heaven to earth to die for the sins of all humanity. He didn't come for those who consider themselves good enough to enter God's presence, but for those who acknowledge that they are sinners and unfit to enter God's presence. Your conscience tells you that you are a sinner. So why should it be difficult to come to Jesus and say, "Lord, I am a sinner, I have done many wrong things in my life"?
A question that some may ask is, "Can't a good God overlook our sins and forgive us, just like a father would forgive?" If a son broke (or lost) something valuable, and was sorry for it and apologised to his father, his father would forgive him. But these matters are not moral issues. If all our sins were just like these matters, then God would forgive us immediately. But sin is not like these matters. Sin is a crime.
If a man were a judge in a court and his own son was standing in front of him, accused of some crime, can he tell his son, "Son, I love you. I forgive you. I won't punish you"? Any earthly judge with the slightest sense of justice, would never do such a thing. That sense of justice that we all have is a small part of the perfect justice of Almighty God, in whose likeness we have been made. So when we have done something seriously wrong, God as a judge, has to say to us, "I love you very much but you have committed a crime - and so I have to punish you." In that court, however much the son may be sorry for his crime, his father still has to punish him, as a judge. Let us suppose that the boy had robbed a bank. The father fines him the full penalty of the law - say, one million rupees. Since the boy does not have the money to pay the fine, he has to go to jail! The father then steps down from the judge's chair, takes off his judge's robe and comes down. He takes out his personal check-book and writes a check for one million rupees (his entire life's savings) and gives it to his son to pay the fine. Can his son accuse him now of not loving him? No! At the same time, no-one can accuse him of not being a just judge either, because he gave his son the full punishment that the law demanded. That is exactly what God did for us too. As a Judge He declared that we must all die for our sins. Then He came down as a Man and took that punishment Himself.
The Bible teaches us that even though God is One, He exists in Three Persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If God were just One Person, He could not possibly have vacated His throne in heaven and come down to earth as a man in the person of Jesus. Who would run the universe then? But because God exists as Three Persons, the Son could come to earth and die for our sins before the Father in heaven Who was the Judge. Some Christians baptize people in the name of "Jesus only"saying that there is only One Person in the Godhead - Jesus. This is a serious error. 1 John 2:22 says that anyone who denies the Father and the Son has the spirit of the antichrist. Because he then denies that God the Son came in human form as Jesus Christ, and denied his own human will and did the Father's will and then took the punishment for our sins, before God the Father (1 Jn.4:2,3).
Jesus was fully God and fully man when He came to earth. When He died on the cross, He took the punishment for the sins of all humanity. The punishment for our sin is to be separated from God for eternity. And when Jesus hung on the cross, He was separated from His Father in heaven. Such separation is the most terrible suffering that any human being can ever suffer.
Hell is the only God-forsaken place in the universe. God is not there. And so in hell, all the evil in the devil manifests itself fully. That evil is what makes things so miserable for all who go to hell. Jesus experienced that punishment when He hung on the cross. He hung on the cross for 6 hours. But in the last 3 hours He was forsaken by God. The sun became dark and the earth shook. His connection with His Father in heaven was cut off. The Father is the head of Christ (1 Cor.11:3) - and when Christ was forsaken, it was like having His head wrenched off. We cannot understand fully what an agony that was for Him.
If Jesus were merely a created being, He could not possibly have taken the punishment for the billions of human beings who have lived since Adam! For one man cannot be hanged in place of one billion murderers! But Jesus could take that punishment because He is the Infinite God.
Further, because He is infinite, He could also take an eternalpunishment within three hours.
If Jesus Christ were not God, and God the Father had punished Him for our sin, that would have been a great injustice. God cannot punish one person for the crime of another, even if the person is willing to take the punishment. Your friend cannot take your punishment and be hanged in your place. That would be unjust. So if Jesus were merely a created being, and He was punished for our sins, that would have been the greatest injustice.
So it is clear that no created being could possibly have taken the punishment for our sins. God alone could take that punishment, because He is the Judge of the universe. He has the right to punish us - and He has the right to take our punishment Himself. And that is what He did, when He came to earth in the Person of Jesus Christ. The foundation of the Christian faith lies in two great truths: First, that Christ died for the sins of humanity. Secondly, that He rose from the dead after three days.
If Christ did not rise from the dead, there would have been no proof that He was God. His rising from the dead was proof that all that He had said was true. No religious leader has ever claimed that he would die for the sins of the world. And no religious leader has ever risen from the dead. These two facts alone make Jesus Christ unique.
All religions may teach us to do good to others and to live in peace. But the Christian faith has an unique foundation: Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead. If these two truths are removed from Christianity, then Christianity becomes just like any other religion. These two truths are what make Christianity unique.
We were all created by God to live for Him. But we have all lived for ourselves. So, when we come to God, we must come as repentantthieves who have stolen for many years, what belonged to God. We must come to Him with thankfulness for Christ dying for us, and believing that He rose from the dead and is alive today. We could not possibly pray to Jesus if He were not alive today - for you cannot pray to a dead person. But because Jesus rose from the dead, we can converse with Him.
After Christ rose from the dead, He ascended and returned to heaven. Then the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Godhead came down to earth. The Holy Spirit is a real Person like Jesus Himself. He has come to earth to fill our lives with His presence. If we yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit, He can make us holy. When the Holy Spirit fills you, you will be enabled to live a life of victory over sin. No-one could live like that before the Holy Spirit came to indwell man - on the day of Pentecost. Before that, people could only improve their external lives. Their inner lives remained defeated by sin and unchanged. When the Holy Spirit fills you, God Himself lives inside you and He can enable you to live a godly life inwardly too.
The wonderful message of the gospel is that your heart can become totally clean when God forgives you and then Christ can live in you through His Spirit making your body the house of God.
I was speaking to a Christian once who was smoking cigarettes. I asked him if he would ever smoke a cigarette inside a church building? He said he would never do that because a church building was the house of God. I told him that it was his body that was the house of God and not some church-building. You would not commit adultery inside a church-building, would you? You would not watch internet pornography inside a church either. Your body is the house of God, when Christ lives within. So be careful what you do with the members of your body. Habits like smoking, drinking, taking harmful drugs and allowing impure thoughts to enter your mind will gradually destroy your body and your mind.
The Christian life is like a race. When we turn our back to sin and are born again, we come to the starting line of this race. Then begins a marathon race - until the end of our life. We run and run and run. And thus we get closer and closer to the finishing line each day. But we must never stop running.
Or to use another illustration: When we are born again, we lay the foundation for our house. After that we slowly build the superstructure - and this consists of many floors.
This is the best life you can ever live, because you gradually eliminate everything bad from your life and become more and more like God as each year goes by.
So what must you do to be born again?
First of all, acknowledge that you are a sinner. Don't compare yourself with others and find any comfort in imagining that you are better than them. Sin is like a deadly poison. Whether you drink one drop or a hundred drops of poison, you still die. So, if you want to make a good start in your Christian life, acknowledge that you are no better than the worst sinner in the world. Then decide to turn from all known sin in your life.
Then believe in Christ. That means to commit yourself to Christ - and not just to believe something about Him in your mind. You can believe in someone without committing yourself to him. A bride is asked at her wedding, "Are you willing to commit yourself to this man?" Supposing she replied saying, "I believe he is a very good man. But I am not sure whether I want to commit my whole life and future to him". Then she cannot be married to him, because she does not have faith in him.When a woman gets married, her whole life's direction changes. She changes her last name to the man's last name. She leaves her parents' home and goes to live with her husband. She may not know where he will live, but she trusts her entire future to him. She has faith in him. That is a picture of what it means to have faith in Christ.
The word "Christian" (to put it reverently) means "Mrs. Christ"! My wife could take my name only after she married me. In the same way, you can take Christ's name and call yourself a "Christian" only if you are married to Him. If some lady took my name without being married to me and called herself "Mrs.Zac Poonen" , that would be a lie. In the same way, anyone who calls himself a Christian, without being married to Christ is also telling a lie.
A marriage is forever and not just for a few days. In the same way, being a Christian also is a lifetime commitment. Total commitment to Christ, does not mean that you have become perfect. When a woman gets married, she does not promise that she will never make a mistake in her life. She will make many mistakes, but her husband will forgive her. But she promises that she is going to live with her husband forever. That is a picture of our union with Christ.
The next step you must take is water-baptism. Getting baptized is something like getting a marriage certificate. You cannot get married by just getting a marriage certificate. Neither can you become a Christian by getting baptized. It is only after you are married that you can get a marriage certificate. Even so, it is only after you have given yourself to Christ that you can take baptism. In baptism, you are testifying that you have finished with your old life and have made Jesus Christ Lord of your life.
Good husbands and wives talk a lot to each other. So you too must talk to Jesus and listen to Him as He talks to you through the Bible, every day.
A good wife will never do anything that makes her husband unhappy. She will want to do everything in fellowship with him. A true Christian also will not do anything that displeases Christ - like watching a movie that Jesus would not watch. He would not do anything that he cannot do along with Jesus Christ
Can you be certain that you are born again? Yes. Romans 8:16 says that when you are born again, the Holy Spirit of God will bear witness with your spirit that you are a child of God.
This is a wonderful life - because we are living with the best Friend anyone can ever have. We will never be lonely, because Jesus will be with us always and everywhere. We can share our problems with Him and ask Him to help us solve them. It is a life full of joy and one that is freed from anxiety and fear - because Jesus holds our future in His hands.
If you want to be born again, say these words to the Lord in sincerity from your heart, right now:
Lord Jesus, I believe that You are the Son of God. I am a sinner who deserves hell. Thank You for loving me and dying for my sins on the cross. I believe You rose from the dead and are living today. I want to turn from my sinful life right now. Please forgive me all my sins and give me a hatred for sin. I forgive everyone who has harmed me in any way. Come into my life Lord Jesus, and be the Lord of my life from today onwards. Make me a child of God right now."
God's Word says, "As many as received Christ, to them He gave the right to become the children of God" (John 1:12). The Lord Jesus says, I will never reject anyone who comes to Me" (John 6:37). "
So you can be certain that He has accepted you.
Then you can thank Him saying, "Thank you Lord Jesus, for forgiving me and receiving me. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit and give me power to live for You. I want to please You alone from today onwards."
You should now read God's Word every day and ask the Lord to fill you with His Holy Spirit daily. You also need to fellowship with other born-again Christians. Only thus will you grow in the Christian life and have the power to continue following the Lord. So ask the Lord to direct you to a good church.
May the Lord bless you richly.
The standards in Christianity have come down greatly in these past few decades. The "gospel" being preached today by most preachers is a highly diluted version of the truth. People are being told only to believe in Jesus. But believing in Jesus alone will not save anyone, if they do not repent.
Being born again is the foundation of the Christian life. If you live a good life, without laying this foundation, then your Christianity will be just like all the other religions in the world - that also teach people to live a good life. We must certainly live a good life. But that is thesuperstructure of Christianity - not its foundation. The foundation isbeing born again. We must all begin there.
Jesus used the expression "born again" in John 3:3, when speaking to Nicodemus who was a religious leader and a God-fearing man who lived uprightly. Yet Jesus told him, "Unless you are born again you cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). So we see that to enter God's kingdom you need to have a spiritual birth, even if you are a very good man! Jesus then told him that He (Jesus) would be lifted up on a cross to die and that those who believed in Him would receive eternal life(John 3:14,16).
Jesus went on to tell him that men loved darkness more than light, because their deeds were evil (John 3:19). But those who are honest would come into the light and be saved (John 3:21). To be born again, you must come into the light. That means being honest with God and confessing your sins to Him. Obviously, you cannot remember all the sins that you have committed. But you must acknowledge that you are a sinner and tell God whatever sins you remember.
Sin is a very big thing and you can see only a very small part of it in your life, at first. That is something like your living in a large country of which you have seen only a very small part. But as you turn from the sins that you know, you will gradually see more and more of this"country of sin" in your own life. As you walk in the light, you will see more of your sin - and you can then cleanse yourself more and more from it. So you must walk in honesty before God all the time.
To use another illustration: You are living in a house that has many dirty rooms. You want the Lord Jesus to come and live in your house. But He cannot live in dirty rooms. So He helps you to clean up each room - one by one. Little by little, the whole house is cleaned up. That is how we grow in holiness in the Christian life.
The apostle Paul once said that everywhere he went, he preached the same message to everyone: Repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:20). These are the two requirements to lay a good foundation in your life and to be born again. God has joinedrepentance and faith together. But most Christian preachers have separated them. Repentance has been left out from most of today's gospel-preaching. Only faith is being preached by most preachers.
But if you have only faith, you cannot be born again. That is like saying that a woman cannot have a child, all by herself, no matter how hard she tries. A man also cannot have a child all by himself. A man and a woman have to come together for a child can be born. Even so, it is when repentance and faith come together that a spiritual child is born - that the new birth can take place in your spirit. This spiritual birth is just as real as physical birth - and it also takes place in a moment. It is not gradual.
There may be months of preparation for the new birth - just as there are months of preparation for physical birth. But the new birth itself (just like physical birth) takes place in a moment. Some Christians do not know the date of their new birth. I do not know the date of my own new birth. But that is just like not knowing the date of one's physical birth. That is not a serious matter - if one is alive!! In the same way, the important thing is to know for certain that you are alive in Christ today.
Are
we being narrow-minded when we say that Jesus is the only way to God?
Let me answer that with an illustration: Someone
who has never seen my father (or even a picture of my father), cannot know what
my father looks like. In the same way, we who have never seen God cannot know
anything about Him or the way to Him. Jesus Christ however, came from God. And
so He alone can show us the way to God." He said "I am the
way. No one can come to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6).When we think about Jesus' claim to be the ONLY WAY to God the Father, we have to say that either what He said was true or He was aliar and a deceiver. Who would dare to say that He was a liar and a deceiver? It is not enough to say that Jesus was just a good man or a prophet. No. He is God Himself - and not just a good man. He couldn't possibly be a good man if He were a liar or a deceiver! So we conclude that Jesus was indeed God in human form.
All truth is narrow-minded. In mathematics, 2 + 2 is always 4. We cannot be broadminded and accept 3 or 5 also as possible answers. We cannot even accept 3.9999. If we accept such variations of the truth, our mathematical calculations will go wrong. In the same way, we know that the earth revolves around the sun. If we decide to be"broadminded" and accept some theory that says that the sun also revolves around the earth, our astronomical calculations will go wrong. Likewise, in chemistry, H2O is water. We cannot be broadminded and say that H2O is also salt!! So we see that truth is absolute in every area and very narrow-minded. It is so, even in the matter of God. Broadmindedness can bring serious errors in mathematics, in astronomy and in chemistry - and also in knowing the truth about God.
The Bible teaches that all human beings are sinners - and Jesus died forsinners. So, if you come to Jesus as a "Christian" , He will not forgive your sins, because He did not die for Christians! He died for sinners. The only person who can be forgiven is the one who comes to Jesus and says "Lord, I am a sinner" . You cannot come to Jesus as a member of any religion and be forgiven, because He died for sinners. If you come to Him as a sinner, then your sins can be forgiven immediately.
It's easy for all of us to know that we are sinners - because God has given us all a conscience. Children have a very sensitive conscience, that makes them aware of wrong very quickly. But as they grow up, that conscience can become hard and insensitive. When a 3-year old child tells a lie, his face looks guilty because his conscience is guilty. But 15 years later, he can tell a lie with a straight face, because he killed his conscience by repeatedly ignoring its voice. The soles of a baby's foot are so soft that it can feel even the stroking of a feather. But the soles of the feet of adults are so hard that they don't feel even the poke of a pin until it is pressed in hard. This is what happens to their conscience too, as they grow up.
Conscience is a voice that God has placed within us, that tells us that we are moral beings. It gives us an elementary understanding of right and wrong. And so it is a wonderful gift of God. Jesus called it "the eye of the heart" (Lk.11:34). If we don't preserve this "eye" with care, we will become spiritually blind one day. Ignoring the pricks of conscience can be as dangerous as ignoring the particles of dust that enter your eye - one day you will become totally blind, spiritually.
When babies are born, none of them have any religion. They are all the same. Two years later, they are still the same - selfish and quarrelsome. But as time goes on, their parents indoctrinate them into different religions - and that is how they end up in different religions. In more than 90% of cases, a person's religion is what his parents chose for him.
But God doesn't look at us as people of different religions. He sees us all as sinners. Jesus came from heaven to earth to die for the sins of all humanity. He didn't come for those who consider themselves good enough to enter God's presence, but for those who acknowledge that they are sinners and unfit to enter God's presence. Your conscience tells you that you are a sinner. So why should it be difficult to come to Jesus and say, "Lord, I am a sinner, I have done many wrong things in my life"?
A question that some may ask is, "Can't a good God overlook our sins and forgive us, just like a father would forgive?" If a son broke (or lost) something valuable, and was sorry for it and apologised to his father, his father would forgive him. But these matters are not moral issues. If all our sins were just like these matters, then God would forgive us immediately. But sin is not like these matters. Sin is a crime.
If a man were a judge in a court and his own son was standing in front of him, accused of some crime, can he tell his son, "Son, I love you. I forgive you. I won't punish you"? Any earthly judge with the slightest sense of justice, would never do such a thing. That sense of justice that we all have is a small part of the perfect justice of Almighty God, in whose likeness we have been made. So when we have done something seriously wrong, God as a judge, has to say to us, "I love you very much but you have committed a crime - and so I have to punish you." In that court, however much the son may be sorry for his crime, his father still has to punish him, as a judge. Let us suppose that the boy had robbed a bank. The father fines him the full penalty of the law - say, one million rupees. Since the boy does not have the money to pay the fine, he has to go to jail! The father then steps down from the judge's chair, takes off his judge's robe and comes down. He takes out his personal check-book and writes a check for one million rupees (his entire life's savings) and gives it to his son to pay the fine. Can his son accuse him now of not loving him? No! At the same time, no-one can accuse him of not being a just judge either, because he gave his son the full punishment that the law demanded. That is exactly what God did for us too. As a Judge He declared that we must all die for our sins. Then He came down as a Man and took that punishment Himself.
The Bible teaches us that even though God is One, He exists in Three Persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If God were just One Person, He could not possibly have vacated His throne in heaven and come down to earth as a man in the person of Jesus. Who would run the universe then? But because God exists as Three Persons, the Son could come to earth and die for our sins before the Father in heaven Who was the Judge. Some Christians baptize people in the name of "Jesus only"saying that there is only One Person in the Godhead - Jesus. This is a serious error. 1 John 2:22 says that anyone who denies the Father and the Son has the spirit of the antichrist. Because he then denies that God the Son came in human form as Jesus Christ, and denied his own human will and did the Father's will and then took the punishment for our sins, before God the Father (1 Jn.4:2,3).
Jesus was fully God and fully man when He came to earth. When He died on the cross, He took the punishment for the sins of all humanity. The punishment for our sin is to be separated from God for eternity. And when Jesus hung on the cross, He was separated from His Father in heaven. Such separation is the most terrible suffering that any human being can ever suffer.
Hell is the only God-forsaken place in the universe. God is not there. And so in hell, all the evil in the devil manifests itself fully. That evil is what makes things so miserable for all who go to hell. Jesus experienced that punishment when He hung on the cross. He hung on the cross for 6 hours. But in the last 3 hours He was forsaken by God. The sun became dark and the earth shook. His connection with His Father in heaven was cut off. The Father is the head of Christ (1 Cor.11:3) - and when Christ was forsaken, it was like having His head wrenched off. We cannot understand fully what an agony that was for Him.
If Jesus were merely a created being, He could not possibly have taken the punishment for the billions of human beings who have lived since Adam! For one man cannot be hanged in place of one billion murderers! But Jesus could take that punishment because He is the Infinite God.
Further, because He is infinite, He could also take an eternalpunishment within three hours.
If Jesus Christ were not God, and God the Father had punished Him for our sin, that would have been a great injustice. God cannot punish one person for the crime of another, even if the person is willing to take the punishment. Your friend cannot take your punishment and be hanged in your place. That would be unjust. So if Jesus were merely a created being, and He was punished for our sins, that would have been the greatest injustice.
So it is clear that no created being could possibly have taken the punishment for our sins. God alone could take that punishment, because He is the Judge of the universe. He has the right to punish us - and He has the right to take our punishment Himself. And that is what He did, when He came to earth in the Person of Jesus Christ. The foundation of the Christian faith lies in two great truths: First, that Christ died for the sins of humanity. Secondly, that He rose from the dead after three days.
If Christ did not rise from the dead, there would have been no proof that He was God. His rising from the dead was proof that all that He had said was true. No religious leader has ever claimed that he would die for the sins of the world. And no religious leader has ever risen from the dead. These two facts alone make Jesus Christ unique.
All religions may teach us to do good to others and to live in peace. But the Christian faith has an unique foundation: Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead. If these two truths are removed from Christianity, then Christianity becomes just like any other religion. These two truths are what make Christianity unique.
We were all created by God to live for Him. But we have all lived for ourselves. So, when we come to God, we must come as repentantthieves who have stolen for many years, what belonged to God. We must come to Him with thankfulness for Christ dying for us, and believing that He rose from the dead and is alive today. We could not possibly pray to Jesus if He were not alive today - for you cannot pray to a dead person. But because Jesus rose from the dead, we can converse with Him.
After Christ rose from the dead, He ascended and returned to heaven. Then the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Godhead came down to earth. The Holy Spirit is a real Person like Jesus Himself. He has come to earth to fill our lives with His presence. If we yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit, He can make us holy. When the Holy Spirit fills you, you will be enabled to live a life of victory over sin. No-one could live like that before the Holy Spirit came to indwell man - on the day of Pentecost. Before that, people could only improve their external lives. Their inner lives remained defeated by sin and unchanged. When the Holy Spirit fills you, God Himself lives inside you and He can enable you to live a godly life inwardly too.
The wonderful message of the gospel is that your heart can become totally clean when God forgives you and then Christ can live in you through His Spirit making your body the house of God.
I was speaking to a Christian once who was smoking cigarettes. I asked him if he would ever smoke a cigarette inside a church building? He said he would never do that because a church building was the house of God. I told him that it was his body that was the house of God and not some church-building. You would not commit adultery inside a church-building, would you? You would not watch internet pornography inside a church either. Your body is the house of God, when Christ lives within. So be careful what you do with the members of your body. Habits like smoking, drinking, taking harmful drugs and allowing impure thoughts to enter your mind will gradually destroy your body and your mind.
The Christian life is like a race. When we turn our back to sin and are born again, we come to the starting line of this race. Then begins a marathon race - until the end of our life. We run and run and run. And thus we get closer and closer to the finishing line each day. But we must never stop running.
Or to use another illustration: When we are born again, we lay the foundation for our house. After that we slowly build the superstructure - and this consists of many floors.
This is the best life you can ever live, because you gradually eliminate everything bad from your life and become more and more like God as each year goes by.
So what must you do to be born again?
First of all, acknowledge that you are a sinner. Don't compare yourself with others and find any comfort in imagining that you are better than them. Sin is like a deadly poison. Whether you drink one drop or a hundred drops of poison, you still die. So, if you want to make a good start in your Christian life, acknowledge that you are no better than the worst sinner in the world. Then decide to turn from all known sin in your life.
Then believe in Christ. That means to commit yourself to Christ - and not just to believe something about Him in your mind. You can believe in someone without committing yourself to him. A bride is asked at her wedding, "Are you willing to commit yourself to this man?" Supposing she replied saying, "I believe he is a very good man. But I am not sure whether I want to commit my whole life and future to him". Then she cannot be married to him, because she does not have faith in him.When a woman gets married, her whole life's direction changes. She changes her last name to the man's last name. She leaves her parents' home and goes to live with her husband. She may not know where he will live, but she trusts her entire future to him. She has faith in him. That is a picture of what it means to have faith in Christ.
The word "Christian" (to put it reverently) means "Mrs. Christ"! My wife could take my name only after she married me. In the same way, you can take Christ's name and call yourself a "Christian" only if you are married to Him. If some lady took my name without being married to me and called herself "Mrs.Zac Poonen" , that would be a lie. In the same way, anyone who calls himself a Christian, without being married to Christ is also telling a lie.
A marriage is forever and not just for a few days. In the same way, being a Christian also is a lifetime commitment. Total commitment to Christ, does not mean that you have become perfect. When a woman gets married, she does not promise that she will never make a mistake in her life. She will make many mistakes, but her husband will forgive her. But she promises that she is going to live with her husband forever. That is a picture of our union with Christ.
The next step you must take is water-baptism. Getting baptized is something like getting a marriage certificate. You cannot get married by just getting a marriage certificate. Neither can you become a Christian by getting baptized. It is only after you are married that you can get a marriage certificate. Even so, it is only after you have given yourself to Christ that you can take baptism. In baptism, you are testifying that you have finished with your old life and have made Jesus Christ Lord of your life.
Good husbands and wives talk a lot to each other. So you too must talk to Jesus and listen to Him as He talks to you through the Bible, every day.
A good wife will never do anything that makes her husband unhappy. She will want to do everything in fellowship with him. A true Christian also will not do anything that displeases Christ - like watching a movie that Jesus would not watch. He would not do anything that he cannot do along with Jesus Christ
Can you be certain that you are born again? Yes. Romans 8:16 says that when you are born again, the Holy Spirit of God will bear witness with your spirit that you are a child of God.
This is a wonderful life - because we are living with the best Friend anyone can ever have. We will never be lonely, because Jesus will be with us always and everywhere. We can share our problems with Him and ask Him to help us solve them. It is a life full of joy and one that is freed from anxiety and fear - because Jesus holds our future in His hands.
If you want to be born again, say these words to the Lord in sincerity from your heart, right now:
Lord Jesus, I believe that You are the Son of God. I am a sinner who deserves hell. Thank You for loving me and dying for my sins on the cross. I believe You rose from the dead and are living today. I want to turn from my sinful life right now. Please forgive me all my sins and give me a hatred for sin. I forgive everyone who has harmed me in any way. Come into my life Lord Jesus, and be the Lord of my life from today onwards. Make me a child of God right now."
God's Word says, "As many as received Christ, to them He gave the right to become the children of God" (John 1:12). The Lord Jesus says, I will never reject anyone who comes to Me" (John 6:37). "
So you can be certain that He has accepted you.
Then you can thank Him saying, "Thank you Lord Jesus, for forgiving me and receiving me. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit and give me power to live for You. I want to please You alone from today onwards."
You should now read God's Word every day and ask the Lord to fill you with His Holy Spirit daily. You also need to fellowship with other born-again Christians. Only thus will you grow in the Christian life and have the power to continue following the Lord. So ask the Lord to direct you to a good church.
May the Lord bless you richly.
By ZAC POONEN
Friday, 4 October 2013
SHEPHERD TO KING, WORSHIP GOT HIM EVERYTHING!
King David sinned gravely but along with his 'contrasts', he was single-mindedly committed to God!
The key to greatness was the quality of his worship. When he was yet a mere shepherd, his heart was totally focused on God. God anointed him to be king even whilst he was just a shepherd boy! David was a great warrior and king and as long as his mind was fully stayed on the Lord, God blest him plentifully.
King David's Strengths:
- David was courageous and strong in battle, trusting in God for protection.
- He was loyal to Saul, despite Saul's crazed pursuit of him.
- David loved God deeply throughout his entire life.
King David's story runs from 1 Samuel 16 through 1 Kings 2. David wrote much of the book of Psalms and is also mentioned in Matthew 1:1, 6, 22, 43-45; Luke 1:32; Acts 13:22; Romans 1:3; and Hebrews 11:32.
The praise and worship practices of David's time included numerous musical instruments, singing, chanting, shouting, bowing, standing, lifting of hands, clapping of hands, processions and dancing. There were times of great joy, as well as moments of repentance and introspection.
A few scripture references out of many that touched my heart are:
1 Samuel 16:7
"The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
1 Samuel 30:6
David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.
Psalm 23:6
Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
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THE DOWNSIDE:
King David was a great military conqueror, but he could not conquer himself!
He allowed one night of lust with Bathsheba to open the doors to disastrous consequences in his life. Although King David's life was a rough ride, he left us an example of passionate love of God and dozens of psalms, some of the most touching, beautiful poetry ever written.
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