Closer to Jesus

So you want to be closer to Jesus?  That’s wonderful because He wants that too.  But we human beings can never be closer to Jesus than our own human ability will allow us, if we are trusting in ourselves alone.  Consider that. It’s very important.                  

God says through His Apostle Paul that “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”  (Romans 5:6) Notice two things here in this verse.  First he says we were without strength.  That is to say our own righteousness our own good deeds were not, are not, strong enough to bring us to God, to cause us to have merit with Him.  You say why? Why will not God accept my goodness, my good deeds?  The second thing I want you to notice answers that question.  Paul said by the Spirit that “Christ died for the ungodly.”  The ungodly.  We all, apart from Gods goodness being born within us, are ungodly. If you believe Jesus died for you too you must surely know this to be true.  Let me explain.

The Bible says by the Spirit through King David that God looks down from heaven to see some things regarding mankind. It says “The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.” (Psalm 14:2)

Then He says, “They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” (Psalm 14:3)  This is exactly what Paul tried to explain by the Spirit to the Romans.  He said “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:” (Romans 3:10) that is to say that there is no one that is perfect and without sin.  No one.  Then he says, “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” (Rom. 3:11)  You may say “but I am seeking God.” “I seek God.”  That may be true now but there was a time when you did not.  Understand this, the only reason you are seeking Him now is because He first reached out to you through one of His children.  Surely you must know also that this is true.

Paul goes on to write “They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”  What Paul is saying here is that our trusting in our own goodness, our own ‘good deeds’ is not good.  Why?  Because we are trying to merit acceptance with God by our own works apart from the work that He did to provide us His full, and complete, and unmerited acceptance.  It is a ‘slap-in-the-face’ to God Almighty to try to get around the provision that He gave for our forgiveness by suggesting that our ‘works’ will have to be good enough.  God’s salvation is a free gift, a gift of grace, and not from following good deeds or of keeping God’s laws. Paul said in another place “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” (Galatians 2:21) Again, It is a ‘slap-in-the-face’ to God Almighty to try to get around the provision that He gave through the death of His precious, holy, perfect, Only Begotten Son Who was so undeserving of the punishment that belonged to us.  So what is all this talk of Law, and grace, and forgiveness of sin? What is sin?

The Apostle John said by the Spirit that “sin is defined as the transgression of the law.”  God’s Law.  And Paul in Galatians says that “the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith."  By grace alone; through faith alone.  So what are these Laws that mankind is guilty of violating?

The Law is the 10 Commandments given to Moses by God and it is recorded in Exodus 20 in the Bible.  In the Law God spells out how He expects us to be toward Him and toward Man; toward others.  When we do not keep this LAW it is called SIN.  They are listed below.  If you don't want to read the whole text just read the bolded words, you'll get the idea.

1. Thou shalt have NO other gods before me. (Exodus 20:3)
2. Thou shalt NOT make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (verses 4-6)
3. Thou shalt NOT take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (verse 7)
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy gates: For [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them [is], and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (verses 8-11)
5. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. (verse 12)
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal. (#6-8 are in Exodus 20:13-15)
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. (NO ‘pass the buck’)

And Finally…

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that [is] thy neighbour's.

You are going to have to bear with me for a little bit.  It is very important that you understand the Law.  The word Gospel means ‘glad tidings’ or ‘good news’ and while there is good news in this story, the good news is not going to make any sense to you unless you understand the situation those who break God’s Laws are in.  Please be patient.


Now to elaborate a little bit about the Law Jesus said; …. remember Him? He's the One you said you wanted to be closer to. Jesus said if you 'hate' it's the same as if you had killed.  To Him it's the same.  (Read Matt. 5:21-22 if you need to see it.)

Have you ever hated someone?

Be honest with God,

He already knows the answer.

Think of it, If you say, "I hate you! I hope I never see you again!"  There is only one place that will ever, ever happen.  For those who go to hell, they will never be seen from or heard of again. Ever! So when you say "I hope I never see them again!" you might as well say, "Go to Hell!"  That is how Jesus takes it when you hate.

He also said if you lust then you have already committed adultery in your heart.  He said, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”  He said if you look with lust you’ve done it already?

Have you ever looked with lust?  Again be honest with God; Be honest in yourself.

    Now if you follow God’s reasoning out.  If you have hated it is the same as having killed.  If you have lusted it is the same as having committed sexual sin.  If you follow that principle; then to covet, which is one of the 10, is the same as stealing.  Have you ever wanted something that belonged to someone else enough that you would take it if you could?  Most of us don’t need a nudge on this one because who hasn’t, if only as a child, stolen something in their lifetime?  Have you ever taken something that belonged to someone else?

Now listen to this.  If you have broken any of six through ten then you have also broken five.  Because when we do these things we dishonor our parents.

One and Two are out for most too because we have idols of the mind and we worship ourselves.  Who or What is more important to you than Jesus is? Those things are false gods and our false views of God are ‘graven images’, they are gods we have fabricated in our minds.  Not the true and living God.  We say things like, “I don’t think god would create a place called hell.” That’s a false god, because God did create a place called hell. (Go read "WHO IN HELL CARES" If you want more on that subject.)

“Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:”  Hell was not created for humans it was created for the rebel angels.  But humans who refuse God cannot be allowed into Heaven.  God only made two eternal homes.

Now if you have stayed with me this far you're doing pretty good, that is to say you must be really serious about wanting to be closer to Jesus.  By now you should be feeling pretty crumby.  That’s what is meant by “the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”  If you are not feeling the weight of your sin right this very second then stop here, go try to live out the whole ten commandments for a few hours and come back and finish reading.  I’m not kidding.  If you still think your own goodness is good enough to merit forgiveness then give it some time.  Go out to where there are a lot of other people, 'rub shoulders' with them, go drive in your car in a busy part of town.  If you go somewhere quiet and alone you might 'deceive' yourself into thinking you are a 'pretty good' person, so go where the potential for conflict or temptation exists.  Go. God has begun a work in your heart.  He will not let you rest. See you soon.

Oh yeah.  While you're out there try not to use Jesus name in any other way besides praise, prayer, or telling others about Him.  That is called taking His name in vain.  This is one of the 10 also. 

See you soon.  You say, "What is this?" "Why is it so important that I stop here?"  Well it's just this.  The Bible says that "he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder  to them that diligently seek Him."

There is no greater way, besides the witness of creation that you see with your own two eyes, there is no greater way to know that "God is" then when after hearing, or in this case after reading the Word of God, after hearing or reading that when the Spirit of God opens to your heart and to your mind the truth of what you just read.

Remember I said that God says through His Apostle Paul that “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”  (Rom 5:6) When you come back I want to talk to you about Christ's death on a crude Roman cross,  where He died in the place of a criminal between two thieves.  That criminal He died for was not only Barabbas, that criminal was me, that criminal was you.  We all have broken the Law, our Creator's Laws.  Think about how small our home, our planet, really is and think about how our awesome Creator, the Creator or galaxies, loves you so intensely that He would die for you as a man. When you come back you don't have to read this whole thing all over again, just scroll down to this point.

___________________________________________________________

You must be familiar with the song Amazing Grace. It goes "Amazing grace! How sweet the sound - That saved a wretch like me! ~~ I once was lost but now am found, Was blind but now I see."  Do you sense or see the lost state we all are in or 'were in' in the case of the believer in Jesus, do you see the lost state we, or more personally now, that you are in?  I hope that you do.  And I hope that you are more than just a little afraid for the health of your soul.

The second stanza in the song goes, "’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears relieved;” Fear is a wonderful thing.  That is to say Fear of God is.  Fear of man is a snare.  The Bible says “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.”  So you are taking your first steps on a path that leads to eternal life and abundant life.  This is the beginning.

Now let's look at that verse “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”  (Rom 5:6) Let's look at it in it's context and see if it makes more sense to you.  Okay?

“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."

•      For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. [Pause to think about each verse as you read ~ reread it if it helps]
•      But God commendeth (demonstrated) his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. [Pause~think ~ reread ~ think]
•     Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. [Pause ~ think]
•      For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

     (This is Romans 5 verses 6 through 10)

    [take your time ~ trust me God is not going anywhere] ~ Notice the words 'enemies' and 'wrath' and 'reconciled', It is most important.

     I have on the inside cover of my Bible a safety sticker that reads, "THINK ~ Carelessness Is Dangerous"  In this situation it is very important that you think and listen to your conscience... that is your 'ear' to God's voice.

     We are talking about God's goodness being born within us, we are talking about a phenomenon called being 'born-again', it can't be rushed.  It takes 9 months normally for a newborn child to develop in the womb of its mother.  Sometimes the delivery process takes hours upon hours. (I'm so sorry about that ladies.) You can't rush this process.  God never does.  Take your time.

Jesus said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”  Jesus coined the phrase ‘born again’, it was His idea, not mans.  Now let’s read through those verses in Romans five without my interruptions.  Pay attention to the words.  Take your time and think it through.  Remember the word ‘commendeth’ means ‘demonstrated’

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

So God demonstrated His love for us; for me and for you.  Not only did He die for your sins He also has prayed for you and is praying for you this very moment before the Father’s throne.  After His ressurection, and after spending time with the men He would send forth to preach, He ascended into Heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father, being there to make intercession for us; for you.

He Loves You. He said “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

So here is the Question: Do you believe Jesus loves you, and that He died for your sins?

He prayed for you. “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come;…    glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

I have manifested thy name unto these men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

So here is the Question again: Do you believe Jesus loves you, and that He died for your sins? Do you believe that He is alive now from the grave to receive you if you should call out to Him? I hope you do because its true...

Will you receive and accept all that I said about your sinful state, the penalty of that sin which is death and hell, the fact that Jesus paid your sin debt on the cross so that you wouldn't have to pay for your sin debt in hell, will you tell Him you believe, thank Him for loving you and dying for you? Here is John 3:16 again...

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Now: Talk to Him, Don't turn Him away like so many have and still do, Tell Him where you're at and ask Him for more understanding if you still do not understand.


And then: Be sure to reciprocate
His love by loving others.