The sinner is convinced that all have sinned, the witness having gone through the law, the character of God; he has shown him the consequence of sin, the eternity stretching out before him like a fiery lake full of stench, brimstone, evil spirits, and the lack of anything good; a place of punishments for law breakers.

"But God, who is rich in mercy...."

Ah, here comes the good news of the gospel. We have heard the bad news, and it is terrifying. But here is a wooden cross, and one dying upon that cross. He is dying what is called vicariously; in the place of others; in the place of sinners.

The witness says that Christ died in the place of sinners, bearing their sin and guilt and shame.

The sinner is hopeful. He thinks that well, I am a sinner, and I'm told by this evangelist that Christ died for sinners, for the ungodly; I am a sinner, I am ungodly; Christ died for me. And so he says to the witness, "Then Jesus Christ died for me, then?"

At this point, the witness blows the whole thing. Just at the point of faith, he says, "Well, it all depends. I cannot actually tell you that."

But man causes problems with the gospel message itself. Extremists get so concerned about telling the truth to sinners, that they end up withholding the truth from sinners. How?

Well the witness who believes the sinner he is speaking to may, or may not be, one of God's elect, will not mention the love of God to him personally, because if he is not elect, there is no saving love of God for him. But this means that if the sinner he is speaking to IS one of God's elect, he has not told him that God loves him. And God is not impressed with that, because he has loved that sinner all the way to the cross and laid down his life in ignominy and shame, and now he is ready to save that dear one, and his witness refuses to tell him that God loves HIM.

I often read posts here and am reminded of the events of John 9. I don't deliberately think of it, but there are certain similarities between what happened then, and what happens today, and I just do.

John 9:16 KJV
(16)  Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man [i.e. Jesus of Nazareth] is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.

Adriel wrote:
With 'Vladimir' Corbyn and the commie unions in control ---
Absolutely yes!
The Conservative Party seems to be leaning Left too!!

Frank wrote:
Well, I have had the opportunity to visit several communist countries and I can tell you they were impoverished and unhappy. They sell this idea as the friend of the common man and not the upper class, but the ones who have the power and money are in fact only those who are registered members of the communist parties. IOW, the upper class simply take on a different definition.
They are a ruthless and anti-God movement as all of us know.

Mike wrote:
I'll give it a go, John, when I get to it. You have a long memory, my friend. Not sure I can bring it up clearly again. Aging takes its toll, no? Yet are we not being renewed day by day?
In the meantime, you mentioned Norman Smith and Lexiconis. Are they still with us? I remember the tender heart of Norman, who left the hostility he felt here. And Lexiconis, who wrestled with me without malice at times.

I can't give you anything definite about our two brothers. But I do believe that Lexiconis found his way onto the forum during the last weeks of his life, and he thoroughly enjoyed having debate and lighthearted banter with us all. I look upon that time as being a privilege before God of making his last month on earth an enjoyable experience. He suddenly stopped posting, because I believe he had gone to heaven.

Christopher000 wrote:
John UK Wrote:
"Besides which, a parcel has just arrived, and I must attend to its opening and see what treasures I find within."
I'm assuming you've already opened it, so no spoiler here..Surprise! I hope you enjoy, and treasure the 8x10 glossy of me. Hopefully you have a nice mantle to display it on, or I was thinking your breakfast table might be a good spot.

Actually, you may be interested in what was really in the parcel, and I fully expect you may have one or two lying around the office.

It was two Pentel P205 mechanical pencils and HB, 2B and 4B Ain Stein leads.

Now most people know of the industry standard P205, and they know the 05 part of its name refers to the 0.5mm lead size. The series is available in 0.3mm, 0.5mm, 0.7mm and 0.9mm. And each pencil is identical save for the body colour. The P205 is always black, which I have.

I know so little of Christianity, I have never before had any interest in it. But now, with Jesus in my flat, and a feeling of condemnation and judgment, I listen to the taped messages again. They are all I have. In my town of 90,000 people, some of whom must be Christians, no-one has ever tried to save my soul, not a tract, not a visit, nothing. This is quite normal, apparently.

I listen to the tapes over and over. I am perishing, I feel close to the gospel, but I can't seem to extract the meaning, I weep. I am 25 yrs-old and I am weeping. Jesus is there. He is doing nothing for me. I am lost, lost! He seems to be saying 'No' to me. Where is this door? What must I do to be saved? I cannot earn it, I have sinned and deserve his justice. I make a decision!

Dr. Tim wrote:
When the Lord said “If any man hear my voice, and open the door” the very fact that He required a man to open the door shows that this is an accursed, works-based gospel with no power to save?

You related to me the fact of having preached a message on serving the Lord, and added a short gospel message on the end? And that this was very much used of God to save several?

Well, one of the preachers I mentioned, through whom I came to know the Lord, did exactly the same thing. He spent 45 minutes sharing about serving the Lord, and evangelism, and persecution, and danger, just normal Christian life, really. I was fascinated, never heard anything like it. And the Lord himself was present, convicting me of sin, and causing me great fear of hell and judgment.

Dr. Tim wrote:
Yes, John, I have often seen God moving as the wind blowing where it listeth. I have preached straight salvation messages with nary a soul getting saved, and I have preached sermons on Christian service with hardly a mention of salvation and seen multiple conversions.
This shows me God is a sovereign God, and He giveth not account of any of His matters. However, in His sovereignty He has commanded that all Christians everywhere proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. That only about five percent of Christians actually do tell others about Christ is ample proof that just because something is God’s will doesn’t mean it will automatically happen.

1 Timothy 2:3-6 KJV
(3)  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
(4)  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
(5)  For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
(6)  Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

If we accept all of scripture, we will never get into an extreme, cultish position.

Hi Christopher. Obviously, this is Jesus telling his disciples that obedience results in blessing.

Also obviously, the Father's love in salvation is not dependent upon the sinner loving Christ. This amazing grace and love of God for his elect is unconditional. It is a pact between Father and Son concerning the salvation of his elect from eternity past. "I have loved thee with an everlasting love..."

And just before Jesus met the rich, young man, this happened:

Mark 10:13-16 KJV
(13)  And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.
(14)  But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
(15)  Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.
(16)  And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.

Just goes to show that disciples can annoy the Lord Jesus Christ by their wrong attitude and lack of love. But Jesus himself, being God (for God is love, as scripture says) loved all the children brought to him. He picked them up, showed them a true Father's love, prayed for them and blessed them. And let us not forget that some of these children would later reject their Messiah, as very few in Israel would follow him. "He came unto his own, and his own received him not..."

I would very much like Mike NY to comment on this passage of scripture, as he has often used it to prove something or another, so he probably knows far more about it than I do.

There is no doubt in my mind that there will be an article in the Decision magazine concerning this text, or at least in reference to it.

Now here is a great thing! "He that believeth on him is not condemned". Can there be any greater comfort than that? That all those believing on Christ are not condemned? That they are saved for ever, justified through faith, destined for glory, savingly loved by the Almighty? It is indeed a majestic thing, a glorious thing, to be especially loved by God. The NT has the word "beloved", which I think is an endearing term.

But what of those who have not believed? Or who have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?

I wonder, if we are all honest with ourselves, how much we care about whether or not sinners hear the gospel. Does it bother us that countless souls die without ever hearing about Jesus?

They are already condemned, and our text says that if they disbelieve, they give up all hope of eternal life.

Dr. Tim wrote:
I don’t use a cookie-cutter approach to preaching the gospel, but preach using various approaches as I am led by the Spirit. This, I believe, is a scriptural practice. Jude 22-23: “And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.” I preach on hell far more than heaven, and the wrath of God more than the love of God. I believe Holy Ghost conviction comes from the fear of God in most cases, and without emphasizing the consequences of sin there is little hope of seeing the fear of God produced.

It is a fact that the Spirit is seeking to convict of sin, all whose hearts he is working in, who are not yet converted. How he does that is a mystery. You can be preaching on the Song of Songs, and deep conviction comes to someone. You can preach on the fires of hell and nothing happens, people go out of the hall laughing. You can preach on Genesis One and creation, and several are converted.

Christopher000 wrote:
I've been in the shadows, following along, and soaking it all in, John. The differing perspectives by all, and how they're arrived at, is interesting, and good for learning.

One of the most important verses of the Bible is found in James. It behoves us to always seek a practical application.

James 1:22 GNB
(22)  Do not deceive yourselves by just listening to his word; instead, put it into practice.

There are three worlds in this text, and I do not believe anyone can stick "all kinds of men" instead of "world" or "Gentiles as well as Jews" instead of "world". So it is perfectly okay to say that world means the world, that is, all men.

Of course, the logic-master will say, "Well, hang on a minute. That doesn't tally with what I believe about God's purpose and will and sovereign power." And so, I say, "And what is that, exactly?" And logic-master says, "Well, Jesus was not sent into the world to make the whole world of sinners saveable." And I say, "True." And so logic-master replies with, "So how then can you reconcile this text with other texts?" And I say, "I just believe the word of God, don't you?" And logic-master says, "Well both cannot be true." And I say, "If this verse was the only verse of the Bible which you had in your possession, and you were converted through it, how would you now interpret it?"

Just accept it as it is.