Suzy B Software 2/Suzy B Software CD-ROM 2 (1994).iso/christin/gosplads/shot_d.txt

Text File | 1995-05-02 | 14KB | 361 lines

                                          [4th file of 7]
     THE ROMAN ROAD

     "I've been doing good things all my life.  I've never
hurt anybody.  I have a close family and good relationships
on my job.  I go to church sometimes, and I don't even cheat
on taxes.  Don't you think God will accept me into heaven?"

     Sorry, friend, not on that basis He won't.  The Bible
has a shocking statement for you, that you may even consider
insulting.  But remember, this is from God's Holy Scripture.
The apostle Paul addressed the issue of being "good enough"
by referring to several passages in the Old Testament,
including this one:
     "All have turned aside, together they have become
useless;  There is no one who does good,  There is not even
one."  (Romans 3:12 NAS quoting Psalms 14:1ff. and 53:1ff.)

     The point is that nobody is good enough by their own
record to meet God's standards  (see Matthew 5:48).  In the
system of works, God's standard is total perfection, and the
Lord Jesus Christ is the only one who ever made a passing
score.

     We challenge you to find a good readable version of the
Bible, such as the New American Standard or the New King
James Version, and read the entire letter of Paul to the
Romans.  Depending on the edition, this might be about 20
pages or less.

     Pay special attention to  3:23  6:23  5:8  10:9-10
12:1-2.  These references have been used by thousands of
Christian witnesses as a brief presentation of the Good
News.  This presentation is fondly called "The Roman Road."
(The number before the colon is the chapter.  The number
after the colon is the verse.)

     You will find that Paul explains the purpose of the Law
(i.e.  "the Ten Commandments")  is to show us that we are
sinners who need a Savior.  Chapter 3 explains clearly that
no one can be made right with God by doing good things or by
being "good enough".

     The only way to be made right with God is by trusting
in Jesus Christ as your sin-bearing Savior and your living,
ruling Lord.  Then His perfect righteousness is imputed, or
"credited", to YOUR account.  THEN your motivation for
"being good" is to please your King, out of gratitude,
because you love Him.

     Walk this "Roman Road" for yourself.  Entrust yourself
to Jesus.  Do it NOW.
                                        Clyde Price    SHOT21




The "Roman Road" references from the New King James Version

3:23  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God,

6:23   For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

5:8   But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

10:9-10   that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus
and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the
dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes to
righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to
salvation.

12:1-2   I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies
of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that
good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

(Some folks add in John 1:12 or Revelation 3:20.)




     PAYDAY SOMEDAY

     You look forward to getting your paycheck, don't you?
Especially if you really worked hard for it, and most
especially if you have financial obligations that need to be
paid out of THIS check.  Hopefully, you have a sense of
satisfaction that you EARNED this money, and in every sense
it is rightfully yours.

     The Bible speaks of a "paycheck" which is rightfully
yours, which you have earned yourself with your own actions,
but which you are NOT looking forward to with pleasant
anticipation:

     "For the wages of sin is death..."

     This "death" refers to an eternity of separation from
God in what the Bible calls "the lake of fire".  It also
includes the "down payment" of a physical body subject to
aging and diseases and an environment cursed with the
pollutions resulting directly or indirectly from human sin.

     This same passage that tells of our wage also tells of
an alternative to that earned paycheck, and that is in the
form of an unearned, undeserved gift:

     "...but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ
Jesus our Lord."

     The Lord Jesus Christ took upon Himself the "wages" of
our sin when He died on the cross as an atoning sacrifice
for sinners.  The victory of His resurrection from the dead
promises eternal, abundant, purposeful life for all who will
put their trust in Him as sin-bearing Savior and living
Lord.

     "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of
God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 3:23
NAS)

     We urge you to read the letter to the Romans and the
Gospel of John for yourself, and then if at all possible,
come by and talk with us.

     We warn you that if you have not received the Gift,
that you WILL receive your wages.  There's going to be a
Payday someday.

     It could be sooner than you think.  Don't wait.  Put
your trust in Jesus.
                                      [SHOT22 Clyde Price]
[WITH WARM MEMORIES OF DR. ROBERT G. LEE, WHO PREACHED HIS
FAMOUS SERMON "PAYDAY SOMEDAY" MANY HUNDREDS OF TIMES.  HIS
WORKS FOLLOW AFTER HIM.]




BORN ONCE: DIE TWICE;  BORN TWICE: DIE ONCE

     "Well, man, I'll just balance out my kharma some other
time, maybe in my next life."  In the last several years, an
increasing number of people from traditionally Protestant
American, European and British-heritage areas have embraced
belief in reincarnation.  Some even try to back it up with
twisted Bible texts.

     One plain statement that Scripture makes is this:
     "It is appointed for men to die once, and after this
comes judgment." (Hebrews 9:27 NAS)

     Jesus Christ declared the necessity of the "new birth"
through faith in Himself. (Read John 3.)  This birth of the
Spirit, or "second birth" is the essential beginning of
eternal life.

     This second birth comes about when we have heard the
gospel, the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit applies the
work of "new creation" as we believe the message and put our
trust in Jesus alone for our salvation.

     All who have this "second birth" through faith in the
Lord Jesus shall be found on Judgment Day to be recorded in
the "Lamb's Book of Life"; and those who have not trusted in
Christ will be judged according to their works and cast into
the  "lake of fire"  called  "the second death"  (see
Revelation 21).

     If you're born twice, you only die once.  If you're
born only once, you die twice.

     There are no second chances, no balancing out kharma,
trying to "tip the scales", no past or future incarnations.
"TODAY is the day of salvation."

     Jesus Christ said, "I am the way, and the truth, and
the life;  no one comes to the Father, but through Me."
(John 14:6 NAS)  Read the Gospel of John for yourself.  This
is the most urgent issue of your life.

     Don't wait 'til your next incarnation; you won't have
one.  Don't wait 'til tomorrow.  For you tomorrow might not
come.  Put your trust in Jesus, right NOW.
                                         [Clyde Price SHOT23]




     DON'T BLAME GOD

     DO NOT BLAME GOD for the sinful things done by other
people (or by yourself), or for the painful things that
happen as an indirect or direct result of somebody's sin.

     The apostle Paul explains in his letter to the church
in Rome how sin entered our world.  He wrote:
     "Through one man sin entered into the world, and death
through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all
sinned." (Romans 5:12 NAS)

     God created Adam and Eve without sin.  They had, at
that point, the ability not to sin; and since they were
responsible moral agents they also had the ability (but NOT
THE RIGHT) to sin.

     They both sinned before having any children, and all
their descendants (including YOU) have been born into the
same state of separation from God which they voluntarily
stepped into.

     As a result, you were born into a world which bears the
scarring effects of the sins of our first parents and their
children through the millennia.

     We cannot simply blame our plight on Adam and Eve.  The
Bible charges each of us with specific acts of sin, and
convicts us by showing us the Law which we have broken.  We
stand convicted as sinners whose only hope is the Savior
promised to Adam and Eve even before they were evicted from
the Garden (Genesis 3:15).

     Read the letter to the Romans and the Gospel of John
for yourself.  You will see that God is not the Great Ogre
who has caused your problems, but rather He is the loving
Father who has provided for your deepest needs, and desires
to bring you into His LIFE.

     From the same chapter in Romans quoted above, we read
Paul's words,  "But God demonstrates His own love toward us,
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
(Rom. 5:12)

     Though we had no hope of life, being born with the same
sin nature our parents had, and standing condemned by the
record of our sinful acts; GOD SENT HIS SON to purchase
redemption for everyone who would trust in Him as Savior and
yield to Him as Lord.

     Do it today.  Put your trust in Jesus.
                                          [Clyde Price SHOT24]




24B   TO THOSE WHO READ THIS COLLECTION:

     If you're wondering why I avoid the phrases "Christ
died for everybody" or "Christ died for all sins", my
purpose is to avoid any chance of someone reading into the
message any possibility of universalism.

     I John 2:1-2 states that the propitiatory sacrifice of
our Lord was SUFFICIENT for all sin for all time.  The rest
of I John explains that only those who trust Him as Savior
and abide in Him as Lord can boast with any confidence that
they "have the Son of God" and the life which is in His
name. John notes that those who SAY they love God without
obeying Him are LIARS.

     Christ's death was a payment SUFFICIENT for everyone,
but His REDEMPTION will only be EFFECTIVE for true
believers.

     I think it is both safer and more piercing to draw a
CLEAR LINE, and invite the sinner to step over it.

     Some would object to my insistence on Christ as Lord AT
THE OUTSET.  I can only say that if you have changed
citizenship from the dominion of darkness to the Kingdom of
the Son, you automatically owe your allegiance to the King.
He is the believer's elder Brother and Friend.  He is also
our liege Lord.  I believe that any gospel message which
omits or short-circuits the crown rights of King Jesus is
damnably defective.

     I do not believe that anyone who only wants the goodies
of heaven and deliberately withholds the title deed of his
life from the Lord Jesus can claim to be a real Christian.
If you say, "Jesus is Lord" when He is not your Lord, that
is not a confession of saving faith.  It is a LIE.

     If you object to this, please DO NOT USE ANY OF THESE
ARTICLES.  Such use would then constitute theft of the fruit
of my creative labor, and also fraud in the form of false
advertising.  I SPECIFICALLY FORBID the use of these
articles if the call to Lordship is edited out.

     Let us seek together to  know and to make known our
Lord Jesus Christ, in as many different media as God
providentially makes available to us.  May all glory go to
the Lamb who has purchased us His people with His own blood.

     Abraham's blessing is extended to us in the New
Covenant.  "And in your seed all the nations of the earth
shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."  God,
give me MIGHTY seed, in every nation of earth!  I call on
You to make good Your promise to do this in the name of
Jesus Christ my Lord.
     ccp



     GOD PROVES HIS LOVE

     Many people do not really believe that God loves them.
They look at the heartaches and tragedies of their lives and
ask how a loving God could "do this" to them.

     They fail to realize that many things that occur in
life are the direct or indirect result of somebody's SIN.

     God does not take personal responsibility for the
sinful actions of people, or the physical or emotional
consequences of sin.

     Instead, He demonstrates His love toward people by
taking an incredibly expensive course of action to deal with
our most basic problem.  He gave His Son to be the atoning
sacrifice for our sin, and raised Him from the dead for our
justification.

     The apostle Paul wrote:
     "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8
NAS)

     Almost everyone has questions about why God allows the
various kinds of evil and tragedy in the world.  Don't wait
until you understand all those questions to put your trust
in the Lord Jesus Christ.

     If you become hardened in your bitterness, you may not
even be able to respond to the gospel.

     The first letter of Peter is written to people who have
been through fiery trials and found that their faith in
Jesus Christ could pull them through.  God proved His love
even in their trials.  Read this little letter for yourself.

     Don't blame God for the evil you've seen.  He is the
one who spent the blood of His Son to buy your forgiveness,
and He offers you this incredibly expensive gift freely, IF
ONLY you will put your trust in His Son, The Messiah of
Israel, the Lord Jesus, as your own Savior and King.

     Long before you had ever considered Him, He had made
this demonstration of love for sinners, even such as you.

     Don't be mad at God; and don't doubt His love.  Receive
it by receiving Jesus Christ as your sin-bearing Savior and
risen, reigning Lord.  Don't wait.  Do it today.
                                         [Clyde Price SHOT25]
[SHORT SHOTS 4th file of 7]