O Wondrous Love

There is a Fountain – T4G 2008

There is a Fountain

There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
Lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day;
And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.
Washed all my sins away, washed all my sins away;
And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.

Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.
Be saved, to sin no more, be saved, to sin no more;
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.

E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.
And shall be till I die, and shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.

Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I’ll sing Thy power to save,
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.
Lies silent in the grave, lies silent in the grave;
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.

Words: Will­iam Cow­per, in Con­yer’s Col­lect­ion of Psalms and Hymns, 1772.

What is the Great Commission?

“Go therefore into all the world and make disciples.” This is the version of the Great Commission that many of us memorized. However, it leaves out a great deal. To begin with, it leaves out the whole rationale for the commission in the first place. Although it sounds a little corny, a good rule of thumb in reading the Scriptures is that whenever you find a “therefore” you need to stop and ask “what it’s there for.”

When we see an imperative such as “Go therefore,” we need to go back and look at what has already been said leading up to it. There is no reason for us to go into all the world as Christ’s ambassadors apart from the work that he has already accomplished.

The Great Commission actually begins with the declaration, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18). This is the rationale for everything the church is called to do and to be. The church’s commission is indeed directed by a purpose (“making disciples of all nations”), but it is driven by a promise  ……………….

The church’s mission is grounded in God’s mission, which he fulfilled objectively in his Son and whose subjective effects he is bringing about in the world through his Spirit. Because the Father sent the Son and then the Spirit, we are sent into all the world with his gospel…..

And God is the original missionary. He was a missionary in creation: speaking the world into being by his Word, in the power of his Spirit. Adam was commissioned to bring the whole earth under submission to God’s righteous rule, but he forfeited this calling. Israel too was called out by God as “a light to the Gentiles.” Yet, “like Adam, Israel transgressed the covenant” (Hos. 6:7). In the fullness of time, however, the Father sent the Son into the world to save sinners. In his post-resurrection appearances to the disciples, Jesus not only preached himself as the center of Scripture (Luke 24:27, 44), he made their proclamation of him part of that mission as well: “‘This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem’” (vv. 45-47). And after his ascension, the Son together with the Father sent the Spirit at Pentecost. God’s mission, of course, is qualitatively distinct from ours. The triune God is the Redeemer; we are the redeemed. But the redeemed are given the privilege of participating in God’s mission to the world by proclaiming the gospel, administering the sacraments, and caring for the expanding flock of Christ.

The Great Announcement – “All Authority in Heaven and on Earth Has Been Given to Me” By Michael S. Horton

Show Us Christ

Show Us Christ

Prepare our hearts, O God
Help us to receive
Break the hard and stony ground
Help our unbelief
Plant Your Word down deep in us
Cause it to bear fruit
Open up our ears to hear
Lead us in Your truth

Show us Christ, show us Christ
O God, reveal Your glory
Through the preaching of Your Word
Until every heart confesses Christ is Lord

Your Word is living light
Upon our darkened eyes
Guards us through temptations
Makes the simple wise
Your Word is food for famished ones
Freedom for the slave
Riches for the needy soul
Come speak to us today

Where else can we go, Lord
Where else can we go
You have the words of eternal life

Music by Doug Plank, words by Doug Plank and Bob Kauflin

Tell Me, What Is The Gospel ?

“This is not an invitation to moral apathy but to godly sanity. The bad news is far worse than occasionally failing to live up to my potential. The smallest sin in my eyes–not only what my hands have done, but what I’ve conceived in my heart–is sufficient to banish me from God’s holy and joyful presence forever. But the good news is far greater than the bad news is bad. The good news is far greater than “just try harder next time.” In fact, that is not good news at all because I know that God does not grade on a curve and he has not asked me to try harder. He demands perfect righteousness, not good intentions. The harder I try to cover up my nakedness in God’s presence, the more I hate God, fleeing in self-deceit from his terrifying presence. Left to myself, I will always accuse God and excuse myself–even using religion to hide my ineradicable guilt. The good news is that Christ’s righteousness is greater than my sin. Fully absolved in Christ, I am free to confess my sins, receive the assurance of pardon, and go on in my imperfect yet Spirit-led obedience.”

- Michael S. Horton, Christless Christianity, 121.

Jesus Declared His Gospel Honestly

"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Matt 7:13-14

[The Christian life] is not a life which at first is fairly broad, and which as you go on becomes narrower and narrower. No! The gate itself, the very way of entering into this life, is a narrow one. … Too often the impression is given that to be a Christian is after all very little different from being a non-Christian, that you must not think of Christianity as a narrow life, but as something most attractive and wonderful and exciting, and that you come in in crowds. It is not so according to our Lord. The gospel of Jesus Christ is too honest to invite anybody in that way. It does not try to persuade us that it is something very easy, and that it is only later on that we shall begin to discover it is hard. The gospel of Jesus Christ openly and uncompromisingly announces itself as being something which starts with a narrow entrance, a strait gate. …

We are told at the very outset of this way of life, before we start on it, that if we would walk along it there are certain things which must be left outside, behind us. There is no room for them, because we

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

have to start by passing through a strait and narrow gate. I like to think of it as a turnstile. It is just like a turnstile that admits one person at a time and no more. And it is so narrow that there are certain things which you simply cannot take through with you. It is exclusive from the very beginning, and it is important that we should look at this sermon in order to see some of the things which must be left behind.

The first thing we leave behind is what is called worldliness. We leave behind the crowd, the way of the world. … The Christian way of life is not popular. … You cannot take the crowd with you into the Christian life; it inevitably involves a break.

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, ii, pp. 220-1

Holy Spirit, Living Breath of God

 

Holy Spirit, living Breath of God

Holy Spirit, living Breath of God,
Breathe new life into my willing soul.
Bring the presence of the risen Lord
To renew my heart and make me whole.
Cause Your Word to come alive in me;
Give me faith for what I cannot see;
Give me passion for Your purity.
Holy Spirit, breathe new life in me.

Holy Spirit, come abide within;
May Your joy be seen in all I do—
Love enough to cover ev’ry sin
In each thought and deed and attitude,
Kindness to the greatest and the least,
Gentleness that sows the path of peace.
Turn my striving into works of grace.
Breath of God, show Christ in all I do.

Holy Spirit, from creation’s birth,
Giving life to all that God has made,
Show your power once again on earth;
Cause Your church to hunger for Your ways.
Let the fragrance of our prayers arise.
Lead us on the road of sacrifice
That in unity the face of Christ
Will be clear for all the world to see.

Sung By Kristyn Getty
Holy Spirit, Living Breath of God
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
© 2006 Thankyou Music

The Internal Witness of the Holy Spirit

The Internal Witness of the Holy Spirit

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. ….For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. …, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,  Romans 8:11, 14-16

Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor 12:3

God’s Sovereignty in Salvation

“This is the issue: Is it a part of God’s gift of salvation, or is it in our own contribution to salvation? Is our salvation wholly of God or does it ultimately depend on something that we do for ourselves? Those who say the latter, that it ultimately depends on something we do for ourselves, thereby deny humanity’s utter helplessness in sin….in effect, it turned faith into a meritorious work, … denied the sovereignty of God in saving sinners,…………Until we humble ourselves and understand that no man is an island and that no man has an island of righteousness, that we are utterly dependent upon the unmixed grace of God for our salvation, we will not begin to rest upon grace and rejoice in the greatness of God’s sovereignty, and we will not be rid of the pagan influence of humanism that exalts and puts man at the center of religion.”

Dr R C Sproul, The Pelagian Captivity of the Church ( from Modern Reformation, Vol 10, Number 3 (May/June 2001), pp. 22-29.)

Not What My Hands Have Done

Not What My Hands Have Done

Not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul;
Not what my toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole.
Not what I feel or do can give me peace with God;
Not all my prayers and sighs and tears can bear my awful load.

Your voice alone, O Lord, can speak to me of grace;
Your power alone, O Son of God, can all my sin erase.
No other work but Yours, no other blood will do;
No strength but that which is divine can bear me safely through.

Thy work alone, O Christ, can ease this weight of sin;
Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, can give me peace within.
Thy love to me, O God, not mine, O Lord, to Thee,
Can rid me of this dark unrest, And set my spirit free.

I bless the Christ of God; I rest on love divine;
And with unfaltering lip and heart I call this Savior mine.
His cross dispels each doubt; I bury in His tomb
Each thought of unbelief and fear, each lingering shade of gloom.

I praise the God of grace; I trust His truth and might;
He calls me His, I call Him mine, My God, my joy and light.
’Tis He Who saveth me, and freely pardon gives;
I love because He loveth me, I live because He lives.

Words: Ho­ra­ti­us Bo­nar
Sung By: Nathan Clark George

And Can It Be – Hymn

 

And Can It Be

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

’Tis mystery all: th’Immortal dies:
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;
Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father’s throne above
So free, so infinite His grace—
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

Still the small inward voice I hear,
That whispers all my sins forgiven;
Still the atoning blood is near,
That quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Words: Charles Wes­ley, Psalms and Hymns, 1738.
Music: Sa­gi­na, Thom­as Camp­bell, Bou­quet, 1825

And Can It Be That I Should Gain ?

And Can It Be That I Should Gain ?

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

’Tis mystery all: th’Immortal dies:
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;
Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father’s throne above
So free, so infinite His grace—
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

Still the small inward voice I hear,
That whispers all my sins forgiven;
Still the atoning blood is near,
That quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Words: Charles Wes­ley, Psalms and Hymns, 1738.
Music: Sa­gi­na, Thom­as Camp­bell, Bou­quet, 1825

Bane of Modern Evangelism: Building a seeker sensitive church via another Gospel

” Neo-Christianity, which seems for the time to be the most popular(and is certainly the most aggressive), is very careful not to oppose sin. It wins its crowds by amusing them and its converts  by hiding from them the full implications of the Christian message. It carries on it projects after the ballyhoo methods of American business.” – A.W. Tozer from “The Next Chapter after the Last, p. 18.

” The feeling that we got to make converts at any cost has greatly wounded the Church of Christ. We must present the truth as we are told to present it and let the Holy Ghost(Spirit) work and the individual man decide whether he will accept it or not. This soft, pussy idea that in order to keep people coming and giving and filling the seats we don’t dare in any wise offend them, and we’ve got to make everything smooth and soft, is not New Testament.” -A.W. Tozer from sermon, “This I Believe,” 1969.

“The temptation to modify the teaching of Christ with the hope that larger numbers may ‘accept’ Him is cruelly strong in this day of speed, size,  noise, and crowds. But if we know what is good for us, we’ll resist it with every power at our command. To yield can only result in a weak and ineffective Christianity in this generation, and death and desolation in the next.”- A.W. Tozer from the “The Size of the Soul”, p. 119.

“The crowds-at-any-price mania has taken a firm grip on American Christianity and is the motivating power back of shockingly high percentage of all religious activity. Men and churches compete for the attention of the paying multitudes who are brought in by means of any currently popular gadget or gimmick ostensibly to have their souls saved, but , if the truth were told, often for reasons not so praiseworthy as this.” A. W. Tozer from “The Size of the Soul”, p. 117.

Galatians 1:6-12  “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel– not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.“

Related Posts:

What Does It Mean to Accept Christ ?

Gospel is a Call to Discipleship – Call to Faith and Obedience

Gospel is a Call to Discipleship – Call to Faith and Obedience

“The message Jesus proclaimed was a call to discipleship – not to faith alone but to faith and obedience. Jesus gave a solemn warning: “Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mathews 7:21). Obedience is the evidence of the reality of our repentance and faith. Our obedience does not achieve salvation, but it is the evidence of it.
Present-day preaching finds little place for repentance, yet without repentance there can be no regeneration. Many have been encouraged to believe that because they have come forward to an appeal or signed a decision card, or prayed to receive Christ, they are saved-whether or not there is any subsequent change in their lives.

It needs to be reiterated that “saving faith is more than just understanding the facts (of the gospel) and mentally acquiescing. It is inseparable from repentance, submission, and a supernatural eagerness to obey. The biblical concept of saving faith includes all these elements.”
It is sad but true that whenever the way of the cross and its implications are preached, superficial believers, whose conversion experience have been shallow , fall away. “

J. Oswald Sanders “Spiritual Discipleship – Principles of following Christ for every believer” page 21-22

Similar Posts:

Jesus said, “Come Follow Me. It Will Cost You Everything, Count the Cost.”

The Gospel is an invitation to be a slave of Jesus Christ

The Good Shepherd: Looking at, Turning to, Resting in, Listening for, Following after

A “Christianity” without Jesus Christ and the Gospel

Worldliness is Departing from God

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:15-17

‘What is Worldliness?

Worldliness is departing from God. It is a man-centred way of thinking; it proposes objectives which demand no radical breach with man’s fallen nature; it judges the importance of things by the present and material results; it weighs success by numbers; it covets human esteem and wants no unpopularity; it knows no truth for which it is worth suffering; it declines to be a ‘fool for Christ’s sake’.

Worldliness is the mind-set of the unregenerate. It adopts idols and is at war with God. Because ‘the flesh’ still dwells in the Christian he is far from immune from being influenced by this dynamic.

It is of believers that it is said, ‘the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary one to another’ (Galatians 5:17). It is professing Christians who are asked, ‘Do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?’ (James 4:4) and are commanded, ‘Do not love the world’, and ‘keep yourselves from idols’ (1 John 2:15, 5:21).

Apostasy generally arises in the church just because this danger ceases to be observed. The consequence is that spiritual warfare gives way to spiritual pacifism, and, in the same spirit, the church devises ways to present the gospel which will neutralise any offence.

The antithesis between regenerate and unregenerate is passed over and it is supposed that the interests and ambitions of the unconverted can somehow be harnessed to win their approval for Christ. Then when this approach achieves ‘results’ – as it will – no more justification is thought to be needed. The rule of Scripture has given place to pragmatism.‘

(Evangelicalism Divided by Iain Murray p.255,  published by Banner of Truth, 352)

Who is God and how are we saved? – Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with Muslims

Thabiti Anyabwile has a unique perspective of explaining the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Muslims

In these video clips from the Muslim – Christian dialogue held in Dubai 2009, Thabiti Anyabwile explained the Gospel of Jesus Christ and specifically “Who is God and how are we saved?”. This is third dialogue/debate in a series organised by the Muslim Student Association and Christian Fellowship Club from the University of Wollongong in Dubai.

Thabiti Anyabwile, currently senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman, has a remarkable testimony of being converted to Islam while being a nominal Christian, and then God called him to a true saving faith in Jesus Christ. Being a former Muslim and is now a Christian pastor, Thabiti Anyabwile has a unique perspective of explaining to Muslims the Gospel of Jesus Christ and specifically “Who is God and how are we saved?” with some very useful insights.

Related Post:

Who is Jesus Christ ? – A former Muslim explaining the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Evangelism: Faithful Preaching of Gospel in Full

An excellent “must see” video clip documentary on how, Mark and Gloria Zook, a New Tribes Mission’s missionary couple from the US went to Papua New Guinea to share the Gospel with Papuan natives in a remote village.These people have previously never seen the world outside of their village. These people have never heard of God of the bible, the missionaries did not want to jump right into sharing who Jesus Christ is without first providing them the full picture on the Gospel story as revealed by the bible. The missionaries started by sharing with these Papuan natives simple information on the location where the natives lived relative to others in PNG and in relation to the community of world nations. The Papuan natives started to have a bigger worldview beyond their remote village. They realized that there is a much bigger world beyond their village. With an enhanced worldview, teaching the bible and its events began to make much better sense.

The missionaries took great pains to faithfully teach and explain the whole counsel of God, starting from the creation of the world, creation of man and how man sinned against God, the basis of Old Testament revelations in the calling of Abraham and the sacrificial offering of Isaac by Abraham and how God finally provided the sacrificial lamb. Old Testament’s typology were carefully explained and necessity for a perfect sin bearer to atone the sins of sinners and then pointing to God sending His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Jesus Christ was faithfuly expounded and the people began to see their sinfulness to be as vile as that of people of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is evident that God moved amongst these people, by His grace, the glorious Gospel’s saving power to shine into their hearts, giving them light and opening the hearts to repentance and faith. The people turned to trust in Jesus Christ and were overjoyed that they have found a Savior in Jesus Christ, they loved Him. This video showed the results of true evangelism, wrought through faithful preaching of Gospel in full and relying on God’s mighty power and promise to save through His Gospel.

Mark Zook – Biography

Mark Zook and his wife, Gloria, were born and reared in Belleville, Pennsylvania. While farming, they were involved in their local church and in correspondence courses through Moody Bible Institute.

They completed New Tribes Mission’s training and moved to Papua New Guinea in 1983 to begin working with the Mouk People. After learning the language and culture, Mark began Bible translation, Bible teaching, and church planting work. He has translated the New Testament and portions of the Old Testament, developed an extensive Bible teaching curriculum in the Mouk language, and trained Mouk believers for the ministry which has been documented in the videos EE-TAOW and EE-TAOW, the Next Chapter. More than one hundred Mouk men serve as pastor-elders, deacons, Bible teachers, teacher trainees, and literacy program workers ministering to the eighteen indigenous churches in the Mouk tribal area. During the time the Zooks lived and worked with the Mouk tribe, Mark also served as a consultant for tribal missionaries.

Upon returning to Pennsylvania in 1997, Mark joined the team that developed new curriculum for the New Tribes Missions Institute. For the next four years, he taught and refined church planting courses. He has presented church planting seminars in Ivory Coast, Senegal, Venezuela, Papua New Guinea, Argentina, Portugal and the Philippines.

Most recently, Mark co-founded the Worldview Resource Group (WRG), which provides training in cross-cultural church planting methodology with an emphasis on a worldview approach to ministry. Mark’s seminars and workshops are a combination of proven methodology and Biblically-based, practical advice. On December 11, 2004, he received the Honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree from Lancaster Bible College.

Mark and Gloria live in Belleville, PA. They have two children, Rick and Nichole, and two grandchildren. Rick and his family are church planters in Papua New Guinea. Nichole and her family live in Pennsylvania.

Be Faithful to The Gospel of Jesus Christ: No Prosperity “gospel”, No False “christ”

It is very sad and it grieves to know that many professing church pastors and “evangelists” today are not faithful to their calling to make a full and accurate presentation of Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many present Jesus as simply a mean to an end. To suit their whims and fancies of their own humanistic theology and bellies, they present a false “christ” and a perverted “gospel” like “Accepting Jesus as your Lord and Saviour will not only save you from sin and hell, but also give to you health, ….., favour, the power to get wealth, all good things you can think of and more.” This perversion of the Gospel invitation sadly robs Christ of His true accomplishments in the Cross and the Glory due to God alone. This type of false and perverted Gospel invitation directs sinners away from true faith and repentance found in Jesus Christ alone. Such perversion of the Gospel turns sinners to seek a “lesser god”, more like a “golden calf”, definitely not the Lord Jesus Christ and God of the Bible .

For some faithful preaching, check this video out. This video on an open air sermon by a nameless preacher to the homeless community in Detroit that stay in a large underground plaza underneath the city of Detroit.

Preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to homeless of city of Detroit
Under the City Evangelism:

Visit http://www.puregospeltruth.com/
Support: http://www.puregospeltruth.com/donate.html

From Homosexuality to Holiness – Living with HIV and Hope

A gripping testimony of a rebellious young man who was steeped into homosexuality and drugs. The young man and his non-believing parents were saved and transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. A sovereign God, through sad and disappointing circumstances, drew them and called them to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

(Video:From Homosexuality to Holiness – Living with HIV and Hope)

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jer 29:11-13

“In this video, Christopher Yuan gives his testimony with his father, Leon at a Thanksgiving service. Christopher tells his story of God bringing him out of the homosexual lifestyle into a life of purity and obedience. In addition, although living with HIV, Christopher has realized that his true hope is found in Jesus Christ and lives each day to please His Lord and Savior. Visit his website at www.christopheryuan.com.”

Everyone who thirst, Come To Me and Drink!

Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water (John 7:37-39)

John 7:37-39 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

The feast mentioned here is the Jewish festival of Sukkot and there is a ritual of the drawing of water from a spring and bringing it to the altar as an offering to be poured out. The “Pouring of the Water” (nisuch hamayim) was an important feature of the festival of Sukkot. It was already at the end festival of Sukkot, when all the celebrations including the ritualistic pouring of the water at the altar of the Temple are already finished, our Lord Jesus Christ stood up and cried out …..EVERYONE WHO THIRST, COME TO ME and DRINK !

Background to the Jewish festival of Sukkot and “Pouring of the Water”
“When the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem, the “Pouring of the Water” (nisuch hamayim) was an important feature of the festival of Sukkot….; .. The drawing of water for this purpose was preceded by all-night celebrations in the Temple courtyard, with music-playing Levites, torch-juggling sages and huge oil-burning lamps that illuminated the entire city. The singing and dancing went on until daybreak, when a procession would make its way to the Shiloach Spring which flowed in a valley below the Temple. A golden pitcher, holding three lugim, was filled from the Shiloach Spring. When they arrived at the Water Gate, the shofar was sounded…. [The priest] ascended the ramp [of the altar] and turned to his left … where there were two bowls of silver … with small holes [in their bottom], one wider and the other narrower so that both should empty at the same time–the western one was for the water and the eastern one for wine…” – The Taste of Water-Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe; adapted by Yanki Tauber

From what the Lord said, there are three things to happen : you must thirst, you must come to Him and you must drink from Him.Unless you thirst after righteousness of God, why would you go and get a drink ? Would any man or woman “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph 2:1) thirst after God’s righteousness and seeks after God ? Rom3:11 says it: “there is none that understandeth; there is none that seeketh after God.”. No no one will seek after God unless God draws him or her to Him. Our Lord said in John 12:32 “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”

Can we claim our drink from Him on the basis we earned it by our “works of righteousness” ? Simply put, can we seek to claim salvation from God on the basis that we have always striven to live better and behave better. No! Why would you come to the Divine Physician unless you acknowledge that you are sick in sins and it is incurable and terminal without God’s remedy and power? “But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.” Matt 9:12 Every one has to humble himself or herself, leaving behind all our “self righteousness” claims, come to Jesus Christ and ask Him to give us a drink. In our Lord’s encounter with the Samaritan woman, he revealed that it is “the gift of God” and she will only ask if she really knew who Jesus Christ is. Yes, Jesus Christ is greater than Jacob, only Jesus Christ can give us the gift of the Holy Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit can give us living water of eternal life through born again and regeneration because Jesus Christ has provided the only Way to God and the only Truth to come to God and the only Life Everlasting.

John 4:10-13Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”"Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Only By His Grace, God the Father upon His begotten Son’s victorious work on the cross has raised Him from the dead, sent the Holy Spirit into all who come and believed in Him. Our rebellious kneels and hearts must have bowed to the our Sovereign who is absolutely Holy and absolutely Just. Our faith must be in Him as our sin-bearer, the Lamb of God. We have to look to Lamb of God lifted up and live. We in our bodily temples are cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb, the Holy Spirit comes and lives in us.

All life on earth needs water, without water, all life will die sooner or later. Without water, we will die ! The Holy Spirit is the living water of eternal life, we have to come to Jesus Christ to drink of the Holy Spirit. He alone can quench our spiritual thirst and will continue to abide with us and give us “the rivers of living waters” ! He will be a “spring of water welling up to eternal life”. The Holy Spirit will do His mighty works of righteousness in us. The Holy Spirit is the gift of our risen Lord Jesus Christ to all who heard Him stood up and cried out, we have come to Him and we have drank and we have Life Everlasting. Hallelujah ! To God be the Glory !