May I tell you about . . .
Knock, Knock!
Who’s There?
River!
River Who?
Man’s Dilemma
People are Sinful and Separated
from God. They do not Know God’s Story
about What He has Done to Rescue Them.
q We are All Sinful.
“The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there
are any who understand, any
who seek God. All have turned aside,
they have together become corrupt,
there is none righteous, not one . . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Psalm 14:2; Rms. 3:10-23
We
were all created to know God, yet we do not.
Why? Because we have sinned and
gone our own way. Our relationship with
God has been broken. Our fallen
self-will is a basic evidence of this sin.
q We are All Separated
from God.
“For the wages of sin is death [spiritual separation from
God].” Romans 6:23
The stakes are as
high as they can get: "Those
who do not believe the testimony of our Lord Jesus will suffer eternal misery
and be forever outside the presence of the Lord." II Thess. 1:8 & 9
This
diagram shows that God is holy and we are sinful. A great gulf separates the two.
The arrows show that we continually try to reach God through our own
efforts, but because of our sin, we always fall short. None of us can erase our own sin from before God’s holy eyes.
Holy God
Great Gulf
Sinful Mankind
q The next step explains our only
hope to solve this dilemma . . .
God’s Plan of Rescue
Jesus
has Died so that the Guilty may Live.
q Jesus Died in Your Place to Pay Your Debt for Your Sin.
“God has demonstrated His love toward
us. His love is why Christ died for us
even though we are sinners.” The just [Jesus] died for the unjust [us]. Jesus died to pay your debt to God — a debt
you could not pay yourself. Romans
5:8
Jesus was born into a family office that enabled Him to represent you in
God’s court and take the judgment against you upon Himself. He is your Kinsman-Redeemer, and paid your
legal debt to God for you on the cross.
This is the key to your hope of Heaven.
There
is an exchange made: Your sin
flows to Jesus and exchanged for His righteousness, which then flows to you.
This is how God makes you just.
It is the most undeserved act of mercy and lovingkindness ever performed
for a guilty person. Jesus took your
guilt and God’s judgment.
q He is the Only
Way to the Father.
Jesus
said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father,
but through Me.” John 14:6
All religions have their prophets, but only
Christianity has a Savior. He came and erased your sin from before God’s holy
eyes for you. No one else could ever do
this. Jesus is the Lord who Rescues—our
Savior.
The
following diagram shows that God has bridged the great gulf that separates us
from him. He did this by sending his
Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in our place—paying our debt to God.
God
Man
q But it is not enough just to know about
these spiritual truths. . .
How to Drink Living Water
You
Must Believe God’s Story about Jesus,
Then You May Drink
the Living Water.
q
Heaven is God’s free Gift of Kindness to Those who Trust
Him.
“Because
of his kindness you are saved (rescued) through trusting Christ, and
even the trusting is not of yourselves, it too is the gift of God, . . . ”
Ephesians 2:8 paraphrase
You must believe that God’s testimony about what he has done for you is true
and that he is worthy of your trust.
Here is a sweet mystery: God’s
testimony is the story of your
salvation. The great question you must
ask yourself is: “Do you believe God’s testimony?”
In turn, if you do not believe God’s testimony, you do not have
salvation. The golden key that unlocks
the kingdom for you is to believe him.
Then you may drink the Living Water.
q
What is Your Most Valuable Possession?
Jesus said, “For
what advantage is it if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?” Your eternal soul is your most valuable possession. Mark
8:36
God requires you to trust
the destiny of your most valuable possession to him. You are not truly believing his story if you are not willing to
trust the eternal future of your soul completely into his hands. This is
saving faith.
q You Receive Eternal
Life Through Faith—Not Good Works.
“By grace you have been
saved through faith; and it is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as
a result of works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:9
Does this passage say that you can get to heaven by your good works? How does this passage say you get to
heaven? Is heaven a gift to you from
God?
Here is how valuable faith is: When you, as a sinful
person, believe with your heart God’s story about Jesus, your eternal soul is
rescued from judgment. The great
issue for your soul is whether or not you believe God’s testimony.
q Now that you have heard God’s story about what he has done for you, you
can come to the Water. Drink and you
will receive eternal life . . .
Drinking Living Water
Are You Thirsty for His
Living Water?
q To
Drink You Must Open the Door to Your Heart.
Jesus invites you to invite him in: "Behold, I stand
at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come
in to him." [He will bring the Living Water with him and dine
with you]. Revelation 3:20
n Can
you tell me what door Jesus is
talking about in the passage we just read?
n If you hear his voice and open the door, he will flow into
your heart with Living Water.
n
This step is an act
of your will. It is a decision to believe Him and to trust Him.
n You must believe
God’s testimony about your lost condition and about what Jesus has done to
rescue you out of that condition.
Then you must trust your eternal soul into His care—because He cares for
you. He will give you new hope and new life.
q Drinking the Living Water:
You can drink the Living Water right now through
prayer. The following is a suggested prayer:
Father in Heaven, I have listened to your story and
believe that your testimony in the Bible is true. I also believe that you have
called me to come and drink your Living Water.
Lord Jesus, I believe you died on the cross to
rescue me from judgment. I confess the
deepest sin of my heart to you ______.
I ask for your cleansing forgiveness.
I believe you are my Savior and I now open wide the door of my life to
you. I trust the destiny of my eternal
soul into your care.
Holy Spirit, You are welcome in my heart. I ask the River of Life flow into me and through me, so that
others may also drink and live.
Amen.
If it does, pray this prayer right now. Ask God to reveal the deepest sin of your
heart so you can quietly confess it to him. Trust Christ to come into your
heart just as He has promised. He
will. Let’s pray to God now.
Your Most Important Discovery
How
to Know That Christ Is in Your Life.
q Did
You Just Pray to Receive Christ?
n Look back at the verse from
Revelation 3:20. According to God’s
promise in this verse, where is Christ right now in relation to you?
n How do you know that God has
answered your prayer?
(Answer: The Holy
Spirit has entered into your heart to assure you that what God has said in the
Bible is true. He has given you a new
and special faith to believe Him.)
n The Bible will now become
alive to you. You will discover that God
will be speaking to you personally as
you read the Bible. Start reading today
in the Gospel of John in the New Testament.
n You
will now have new peace, new hope, and a new love for Christians.
q God Promises Eternal Life to
All Who Believe Him.
The testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this
life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the
Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who
believe in the name of the Son of God, in
order that you may know that you have eternal life. I John 5:11-13
According to this passage: Who has eternal life? Does everyone have eternal life? Do you know if you have eternal life? How did you receive it?
Thank God often that Christ is in
your life and that He will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). You can know on the basis
of His promise and the testimony of his Holy Spirit—now in your heart—that
Christ lives in you and that you have eternal life.
q What is the
“River of Life’?
He is the
Holy Spirit of God who now lives in you and will flow through you as you share
him with others. The more you tell
others what Jesus did for you, the larger the River will grow. Flow River flow! Flow through me! (See John 7:37-39)
Can you think of anything more wonderful that could happen
to you than meeting Jesus Christ? You
joy and strength in the Lord will be found in praising Him daily. Start now by
thanking him for rescuing you today.
A Child of God
Now that You Have Received
Christ.
q The moment you received
Christ many things happened:
1.
You
were born again (John 3:1-21).
2.
Jesus
Christ came into your heart (Revelation
3:20; Colossians 1:27).
3.
All
your sins were forgiven (Colossians 1:14).
4.
You
became a child of God (John 1:12).
5.
You
received eternal life (John 5:24).
6.
You
found your reason for living (John 10:10;
II Cor. 5:17 and I Thess. 5:18).
q An Important Reminder: Do
not depend on your feelings.
Feelings come
and go. The Christian lives by faith
(trusting God and believing that His
testimony in the scriptures is true).
Feelings can mislead you. Right
feelings are the result of faith fueled by praise (See Psalm 16 & Psalm 27).
FAITH PRAISE FEELINGS
This train will run with or
without the caboose. However, it would
be useless to try to pull the train by the caboose. In the same way, we as Christians do not depend on our feelings or
emotions, but we place our faith (trust) in the trustworthiness of God and the
promises of His Word.
q Isn’t This the Most Important Discovery of Your
Life?
“Those
who turn many to righteousness will shine as the stars forever.” Daniel 12:3
You can be a true disciple working in the Lord’s harvest. Ask the Holy Spirit to flow, then take this
material to others. Ask for permission
to share it with tehm by saying: “May I tell you about the most important
discovery of my life?”
Most will want to hear. Read to
them from cover to cover. Many will be
rescued. Start with your family and friends (See John 4:35-36; Matthew
9:37-38).
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This revision is dated
9-12-00
Email: greatbabylon@usa.com
Website: www.oocities.org/greatbabylon
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