And when you read Scripture and you find out, like I have posted before, when we deal with people-our friends or our associates. Either the Scriptures are true or they are not. And in John chapter 3, you need to read the whole chapter. I mean, you get into not only born again and that God gave His son-but you get into the fact that the wrath of God abideth on them that don't believe right now! So when I talk to somebody that is an unbeliever-the very wrath of God abideth on them. Oh, but He is a loving God! You better define His love!
As blood-bought believers, now we can love Him-how? Because He first loved us!
That verse says that God so loved . . . that's past tense . . . how can God do more than He already did at Calvary? We get this mushy love out here and we get all this other kind of junk going on that's not scriptural. PEOPLE ARE DAMNED TO HELL IF THEY ARE NOT SAVED!!!!! It's not waiting for some opportune time! If the Gospel comes to them, they got to react then!!! God's Spirit doesn't have to strive with them all the time. The very fact that He died is the apex, the epitome of love. You can't do more than that!
That's why you show people the cross! Calvary! You don't show them 'religion' - you show them the cross! They have to deal with the cross. The only way you can deal specifically with that cross is to understand and be honest about who you are in relationship with God.
- You are unholy. - Everything that you do that is right is filthy rags. - You're own righteousness is filthy rags!
And when you get that perspective-I tell you what-you can do business with God. Only a great God can give and only a great God can give Himself. You think about Him giving Himself, and why, and you read verses like this-God defines it. It's not confusing. You don't need interpretations of dead languages . . . You can read 'thus saith the Lord'-it tells you why.
- You are a sinner. - You are lost. - You are undone. - Your father is the devil. - You have to be born again by God's Spirit to be in His family. - There has to be a supernatural transaction that takes place.
So you need to get your perspective properly, and biblically - on Who God is, and Who Jesus is (Jesus is God) and He is God manifest in the flesh-that is the incarnation.
“No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father” (John 10:18).
What am I saying? What I am saying is . . . voluntarily . . . our Lord and Saviour gave Himself for us-voluntarily and the other part is, vicariously.
Everybody knows what vicarious means? In place of us? Do you know that there is a religious organization that has a head of that organization that believes he is the answer to mankind on earth-that he has been given vicariously to the world. They call him ‘papa’, the ‘pope.’ He has a throne that he sits on that they consider ‘ex cathedra’- when he sits on that throne, whatever he says is infallible. They write it on a piece of paper and they call it a Bull (and this preachers thinks it’s nothing but bull). My word, for a man to say that he is in place of God on the planet earth-that he is the holy father-that’s so devilish it stinks! That’s why they don’t want you to read the Bible. That’s why they like to change the Bible in every way they can so that they can try to trick people. Can’t trick people if they have the Word of God because they are going to check them out with the Book-and that is why it is important to know we have the Book to check them out with.
It’s pretty simple to anybody that is saved and you really think this thing through logically.
Oh, we’re sorry that we had the inquisition and we killed all you people, so please forgive us and let’s get back to business. What’s the business? We’re going to be the religious head of the world-that’s the business. God said so. No! You are not the rock, you are not even a stone-you are a puke. If you don’t get saved, you are going to burn in hell. There is no way there is any religious entity that is co-equal with God.
Only God is God, and Jesus Christ is God and He is the Head of His Church!
“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6).
This passage is speaking about Jesus Christ.
- He was wounded for our transgressions - It wasn’t the pope.
- He was bruised for our iniquities - No way this is the pope.
- the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed - oh yeah, I know that verse . . . they use it all the time on TV. We ain’t got no diseases, we ain’t got no sickness, because Jeeesuuus healed us. Yea, and like this is heaven, dummy. Can Jesus heal? In a minute! Just like that! Those stripes healed us from the wrath of God-from the penalty of sin.
- the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all - ain’t no priest, ain’t no potentate, ain’t no preacher, ain’t nobody that died for your sins. Nobody bears the wounds except Jesus Christ.
Vicariously means that He did all that for you and I-personally!
When you received Him - His death is our death.
When you received Him - His resurrection is our resurrection.
When you received Him - You entered into the Body of Jesus Christ, we are co-laborers with Him.
When you received Him - We became joint-heirs with Him.
Wow! Because of what He did-not what anybody else did.
Only a great God can give, and only a great God can give Himself.
“Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (I Peter 2:24).
You see the context? Healed from what? Healed from the penalty of sin! It goes with the stripes of Isaiah.
Good way to start my day, thanks for sharing Him!