It's Friday... But Sunday's a Coming!

S. M. Lockridge (born Shadrach Meshach Lockridge, March 7, 1913 — April 4, 2000) was the Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, a prominent African-American congregation located in San Diego, California, from 1953 to 1993.

The Gospel
Four Things You Need to Know About God
By Ray Comfort

1. GOD IS HOLY AND JUST
“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and truth go before Your face.” (Psalm 89:14)

In civil law, a good judge must punish crime. If he turns a blind eye to injustice, then he is corrupt and he himself should be punished.

In one ten-year period in the United States, 100,000 murderers were never brought to justice. These were unsolved crimes. If God turns a blind eye to those murderers, then He is corrupt by nature. It makes sense that if He is good and just, He should be angry with those who have taken the lives of others, and He should punish murderers, rapists, etc. This is the teaching of the Bible—that God will “by no means clear the guilty.” He “will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.” “God is angry with the wicked every day.”

2. HIS WORD SAYS “THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH”
“Sin is transgression of the Law.” (1 John 3:4)

Let’s look briefly at the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20), and see if we have kept God’s Law:

You shall have no other gods before Me
You shall not make yourself a graven image
You shall not take God’s name in vain
Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy
Honor your father and mother
You shall not murder
You shall not commit adultery
You shall not steal
You shall not lie
You shall not covet
Before we say we have obeyed the Commandments, this is what someone would be like if he kept the Law—he would always love God with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his strength, and with all his mind, and love his neighbor as much as he has loved himself. He has never made a god to suit himself (either with his hands or in his mind).

He has always given God’s name reverence, kept the Sabbath holy, honored his parents implicitly, and never once has he been “angry with his brother without a cause.” He has never hated anyone, had lust in his heart, or had illicit sex. He has never stolen even a paper clip or ballpoint pen, or told as much as a “white” lie, and not once desired anything that belongs to someone else. He is, and always has been “pure in heart,” perfect in thought, word, and deed.

The truth is, we are not like that. We have all “sinned” many times, and therefore we have stored up God’s wrath, which will be revealed on Judgment Day. The proof that we have sinned will be our death, and after death we must face God in judgment.

Think of it—if He has seen our every thought, word, and deed, and if He is going to bring all of our sins out as evidence of our guilt on the Day of Judgment, we will all be found to be guilty. Our conscience has shown us right from wrong; we will be without excuse. God will give us justice, and Hell will be the place of our eternal punishment. “For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known.”

3. GOD IS RICH IN MERCY TO ALL THAT CALL UPON HIM
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us…” (Ephesians 2:4)

A youth once borrowed a fast car, and in a drunken stupor, sped through his hometown at 120 m.p.h. Since everything was horse-drawn in his country town, there were no laws against speeding. So the council passed a law saying that 30 m.p.h. was the maximum speed, and that any transgressors would be fined $100 for every m.p.h. over the speed limit.

On his way back through the town, the speedster decided to pull the same prank. He was apprehended, tried, and found guilty by his father, who was the town’s only judge. He was fined $9,000, and because he had no money and no words of defense, the youth was led off to prison. As he sat in despair behind bars, his father appeared at the door, and told him that he had sold all his own prized possessions and paid the fine for him. The son couldn’t believe that he loved him that much. They embraced as they never had before, and walked off in a new-found relationship, bonded together with love.

That’s a picture of what God did for us through the gospel

We have all broken God’s Law a multitude of times, but God came to this earth in the person of Jesus Christ, and paid the fine—”For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Jesus satisfied eternal justice, and then rose from the dead, defeating death. Hundreds saw Him after His resurrection; it’s no fairy tale. Jesus fulfilled all the prophecies about the promised Savior, written in the Holy Scriptures hundreds of years before His birth. But just as we cannot earn a gift, so we cannot earn eternal life by our good works—”For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

4. GOD OFFERS ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST
“He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” (John 5:24)

Life’s greatest mystery, death, was destroyed by the One who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life…” The Bible says, “He who has the Son has life…”

To find the way to God, to understand the truth of God’s Word, and to receive the gift of eternal life, begin by repentance and faith through a prayer like this: “Dear God, I understand that I have broken Your Law and sinned against You. Please forgive my sins. Thank you that Jesus suffered and died on the cross in my place and rose again. I now place my trust in Him as my Savior and Lord. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”

If you have repented and trusted in Jesus, then your sins are forgiven and you can now partake in the blessings of “the New Covenant.” Here are just ten of God’s exceedingly great and precious promises:

You have passed from death into life (Jn. 5:24).
God will supply all of your needs according to His riches (Phil. 4:19).
Jesus will be with you in trials, promising never to leave nor forsake you (Heb. 13:5).
The Holy Spirit will lead you into all truth, and give you the power to live a holy life (Jn. 16:13).
You are cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ—God has removed your sins as far as the East is from the West (Ps. 103:12).
As you abide in Christ, you will see the “fruit” of His Spirit begin to manifest in your life (Gal. 5:22-25).
As you read the Bible daily, it will come alive to you and cause you to grow in your faith (1 Pet. 2:1-3).
When you pray, God will hear you and answer your prayers (1 Jn. 5:15).
The cross will be continual evidence of God’s love for you (Rom. 5:8).
God “is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 1:24).
Search the Scriptures daily, and see what God has in store for those that love Him. Honor Christ’s command to be baptized, and find yourself a Jesus-centered, Bible-teaching church and commit yourself to it.

May God continue to bless you as you obey Him.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Steps to Spiritual Growth
If you have become a follower of Christ, these steps will save you a lot of pain.
Read: Save Yourself Some Pain →
https://www.livingwaters.com/save-yourself-some-pain/

LIVING WATERS MINISTRY
Ray Comfort
https://www.livingwaters.com/

Living Waters exists to inspire and equip Christians to fulfill the Great Commission.

Living Waters seeks to train the members of Christ’s Body in the principles of biblical evangelism and to provide them with practical tools to proclaim the gospel.

STATEMENT OF FAITH
GOD
We believe in one God, eternally existing in three equally divine Persons: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This one true God is infinitely perfect in both His love and holiness. He is the immortal and eternal Creator of all things, both visible and invisible. He sovereignly rules over all things, and is providentially at work redeeming and restoring His fallen creation. He is worthy to receive all glory and adoration.

Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 6:3; Matthew 5:48; 28:19; John 10:30; Colossians 1:16; 1 Timothy 1:17; 1 John 4:8; Revelation 4:11

SCRIPTURE
God has graciously revealed His existence and power in created order, and in the Person of His Son, the incarnate Word. God is a speaking God who, by His Spirit, has graciously disclosed Himself in human words through Scripture, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, which are both a record and means of His saving work in the world. These writings alone are the verbally inspired Word of God, which is authoritative and without error in the original writings, complete in its revelation of His will for salvation, sufficient for all that God requires us to believe, and final in its authority over every domain of knowledge to which it speaks. In summary, all of Scripture is the inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word of God.

Psalm 19:1–4; Proverbs 30:6; John 1:14; Romans 1:19,20; Hebrews 1:1,2; 2 Timothy 3:15,16; 2 Peter 1:19–21

MANKIND
We believe God created human beings, male and female, in His own image. Adam and Eve belonged to the created order that God declared to be “very good.” Both male and female were created equal in worth and value, and have equal access to God through faith in Jesus Christ. Because we were created in His image, we believe that human life is sacred from conception to its natural end and that we must honor the physical, social, and spiritual needs of all people. Following Christ’s example, we believe that every person should be treated with love, dignity, and respect.

Genesis 1:27,31; 9:6; Exodus 20:13; Mark 12:30,31; Galatians 3:28

THE FALL
We believe that all men everywhere are lost and face the judgment of God. We believe that Adam, made in the image of God, distorted that image and forfeited his original blessedness—for himself and for all who came after him—by falling into sin through Satan’s temptation. Now, all human beings are alienated from God, corrupted in every aspect of their being (physically, mentally, volitionally, emotionally, spiritually) and condemned finally and irrevocably to death—apart from God’s own gracious intervention. The supreme need of all human beings is to be reconciled to the God under whose just and holy wrath we stand; the only hope of all human beings is the undeserved love of this same God, who alone can rescue us and restore us to Himself through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Genesis 3:6–19; Romans 1:18; 3:23; 5:12–14; 1 Thessalonians 1:10

JESUS
We believe that the eternal Son became human: the Word became flesh, fully God and fully human being, one Person in two natures. The man Jesus, the promised Messiah of Israel, was conceived through the Holy Spirit, and was born of the virgin Mary. He perfectly obeyed His heavenly Father, lived a sinless life, performed miraculous signs, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead on the third day, and ascended into Heaven. He is seated at the right hand of God and is our High Priest and righteous Advocate.

We believe that by His incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus Christ acted as our representative and substitute. He did this so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God: on the cross He canceled sin, propitiated God, and, by bearing the full penalty of our sins, reconciled to God all those who believe. By His resurrection Christ Jesus was vindicated by His Father, broke the power of death and defeated Satan who once had power over it, and brought everlasting life to all His people; by His ascension He has been forever exalted as Lord and has prepared a place for us to be with Him. We believe that salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name given under Heaven by which we must be saved. Because God chose the lowly things of this world, the despised things, the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, no human being can ever boast before Him—Christ Jesus has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.

John 1:1,2,14; 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Corinthians 1:27–30; 15:3–5; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Colossians 1:19–22; 2:9; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Timothy 2:5

JUSTIFICATION
We believe that Christ, by His obedience and death, fully discharged the debt of all those who are justified. By His sacrifice, He bore in our stead the punishment due us for our sins, making a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God’s justice on our behalf. By His perfect obedience He satisfied the just demands of God on our behalf, since by faith alone that perfect obedience is credited to all who trust in Christ alone for their acceptance with God. Since Christ was given by the Father for us, and His obedience and punishment were accepted in place of our own, freely and not for anything in us, this justification is solely of free grace, in order that both the exact justice and the rich grace of God might be glorified in the justification of sinners. We believe that a zeal for personal and public obedience flows from this free justification.

Romans 3:21,22,24,26,28–30; 4:3,5; 5:1,9; 10:9,10; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8,9; Philippians 3:9

THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that salvation, attested in all Scripture and secured by Jesus Christ, is applied to His people by the Holy Spirit. Sent by the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ, and is present with and in believers. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and by His powerful and mysterious work regenerates spiritually dead sinners. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life. In Him they are baptized into union with the Lord Jesus, such that they are justified before God by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.

By the Spirit’s agency, believers are renewed, sanctified, and adopted into God’s family. The Holy Spirit is Himself the down payment of the promised inheritance, and in this age indwells, guides, instructs, equips, revives, and empowers believers for Christlike living and service.

Matthew 9:13; John 1:12,13; 3:3–7; 5:21; 7:37–39; 16:7–14; Romans 6:13; Ephesians 1:13,14; 2:5; Titus 3:5

THE CHURCH AND ITS GREAT COMMISSION
We believe that God’s new covenant people have been saved into the Church, His bride. This universal Church is manifest in local churches of which Christ is the only Head; thus each “local church” is, in fact, the Church, the household of God, the assembly of the living God, and the pillar and foundation of the truth. The Church is the body of Christ, the apple of His eye, graven on His hands, and He has pledged Himself to her forever. The Church is distinguished by her gospel message, her sacred ordinances, her discipline, her great mission, and, above all, by her love for God, and by her members’ love for one another and for the world. This gospel we cherish has both personal and corporate dimensions, neither of which may properly be overlooked. Christ Jesus is our peace: He has not only brought about peace with God, but also peace between alienated peoples. His purpose was to create in Himself one new humanity, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile all people to God through the cross, by which He put to death their hostility. The Church serves as a sign of God’s kingdom when its members live for the service of one another and their neighbors, rather than for self-focus. The Church is the corporate dwelling place of God’s Spirit, and the continuing witness to God in the world. We believe it is the mandate of the whole church to go into the world and preach the gospel to every person.

Matthew 28:20; Mark 16:15; John 13:35; 1 Corinthians 12:12–27; Ephesians 4:11–16; 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 21:2,9,10

THE RESURRECTION
We believe in the personal, glorious, and bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ when He will exercise His role as final Judge, and His kingdom will be consummated. We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the just and the unjust—the unjust to judgment and eternal conscious punishment in Hell, as our Lord Himself taught, and the just to eternal blessedness in the presence of Him who sits on the throne and of the Lamb, in the new Heaven and the new Earth, the home of righteousness. On that day, the Church will be presented faultless before God by the obedience, suffering, and triumph of Christ, all sin purged and its wretched effects forever banished. God will be all in all and His people will be in the presence of His holiness, and everything will be to the praise of His glorious grace.

Matthew 16:27; 25:31–34; John 14:3; Acts 1:11; 1 Corinthians 15:51–53; Ephesians 3:20,21; 1 Thessalonians 4:15–17; Revelation 1:7

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