51 lines
2.9 KiB
Plaintext
51 lines
2.9 KiB
Plaintext
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THE WAY OF SALVATION
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What must I do to be saved? Saved from what? What is it
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you wish to be saved from? Hell? That proves nothing. Nobody
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wants to go there. The issue between God and man is SIN. Do you
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wish to be saved from it?
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What is sin? Sin is a species of rebellion against God. It
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is self-pleasing; it is the utter ignoring of God's claims--being
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completely indifferent whether my conduct pleases or displeases
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Him.
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Before God saves a man, He convicts him of his sinnership.
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By this I do not mean that he says with everybody else "Oh yes,
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we are all sinners, I know that." Rather do I mean that the Holy
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Spirit makes me feel in my heart that I have been a lifelong
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rebel against God, and that my sins are so many, so great, so
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black, that I fear I have transgressed beyond the reach of divine
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mercy.
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Have you ever had that experience? Have you seen yourself
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to be totally unfit for heaven? For the presence of a Holy God?
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Do you now perceive that there is no good thing in you, nothing
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good credited to your account, that all the way through you have
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loved the things God hates and hated the things God loves?
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Has the realization of this broken your heart before God?
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Has it made you mourn that you have so despised HIs mercies,
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misused His blessings, broken His Sabbaths, neglected His Word,
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and given Him no real place at all in your thoughts, affections
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and life? If you have not yet seen and felt this personally,
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then at present there is no hope for you, for God says, "Except
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ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3). And if you
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die in your present condition, you will be lost forever.
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But if you have been brought to the place where sin is your
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greatest plague, where offending God is your greatest grief, and
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where your deepest desire is now to please and honour Him, then
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there is hope for you. "The Son of man came to seek and to save
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that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). And He will save you provid-
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ing you are ready and willing to throw down the weapons of your
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warfare against Him, bow to His Lordship, and surrender yourself
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to His control.
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His blood can wash the foulest clean. His grace can support
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and uphold the weakest. His power can deliver the tried and
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tempted. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the
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day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2). Yield yourself to Christ's
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claim. Give Him the throne of your heart. Turn over to Him the
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regulation of you life. Trust in His atoning death. Love Him
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with all your soul. Obey Him with all your might and He will
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conduct you to heaven. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and
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thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31).
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A. W. Pink
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