Fra forvirring til fred Evangeliemeddelelse om evig frelse
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Fra forvirring til fred Optagelse af en evangelieprædiken Lukasevangeliet 15: 17, 20, 22 24 Apostlegerningerne 22: 6 8, 10, 11 Jeg tænkte på disse 2 skriftsteder, det første er en lignelse, Herren taler om Guds nåde som havde åbenbaret sig. Det er vidunderlig sag at tage ind, Guds nåde som fremstrålede i Jesus, strålede frem for dig. Tænk på alle de milliarder af mennesker som findes på jorden og alle de milliarder døde, og hvordan Gud er den suveræne Hersker, alt er under hans kontrol. Han lader jorden gå videre. Man indbilder sig måske at mennesket kontrollerer den, men kigger man lidt nærmere bag scenen, indser man snart at det er Gud som styrer. Han lader tiden løbe og forlænger nådens tidsfrist, så at flere skal få gavn af det Glade Budskab. Jeg tænkte på denne yngre søn, hvilken forvirring hans egenvilje havde ledt ham ind i. Når man ser sig omkring, og ser ind i sit eget hjerte, ser man hvilken forvirring som opstår når man følger sin egen vilje. Jeg tror måske at jeg gør det bedste og behager mig selv, jeg tror jeg er smart og ved hvad jeg skal gøre. Jeg sætter mig op mod mine forældre, trodser 1
deres autoritet, måske til og med sætter mig mod loven, landets lov, trodser den og forsøger at at omgå den, og så havner jeg gennem min oprørskhed i en tilstand af forvirring. Det er hvad denne unge mand fik lov til at erfare, han gik sin egen vej, hans far lod ham tage halvdelen, som han krævede. Han sagde, giv mig min del af ejendommen, og faderen delte op mellem sine to sønner alt hvad han havde. Derefter står der: ikke mange dage derefter; der gik ikke lang tid før denne unge mand fik lov til at erfare følgerne af den forvirring som opstod. Herren kom med fred. Der blev fred på jorden og fred i himmelen, for det værk som skulle udføres. Tænk hvordan Gud har forsørget fred til alle som accepterer Jesu værk. Har du gjort det? Har du gjort det? Eller gør du modstand? Er der nogen af de unge her, som gør modstand, som ikke forstår Guds nåde og hvorfor han har efterladt dig her i dag? Han kunne have fjernet dig i din lovløshed, gjort det af med dig og forkastet dig. Han har gjort det så mange gange og han gør det i dag, han gør det i denne by. Han fjerner unge mænd og kvinder i deres lovløshed og ondskab. Han fjerner dem, men her er vi i dag, emner af Guds nåde. Og denne unge mand rejser sig. Han kommer til sig selv, jeg tror at han indser hvilken forvirring hans 2
egensindighed, lovløshed og egenvilje har ledt ham ind i. Hans eget hjertes beslutsomhed, da han søgte spænding, lykke og tilfredsstillelse, ledte ham til forvirring og tomhed og fattigdom. Han husker sin faders hus, kommer til sig selv og rejser sig. Og så får vi en beskrivelse af ham tilbage i sin faders hus, sikken en skildring. Det er fred, rigtig fred. Vi ser en sjæl som har haft med Jesus at gøre, som har opgivet sin egen vilje og blevet befriet fra den forvirring som satans indflydelse havde forårsaget. Som nævnt, tidligere, er satans indflydelse årsag til al forvirring i hele verden. Når en sjæl bliver befriet fra denne indflydelse og vender tilbage til Faderens hus, opstår der fred, forsoning, man tager fordel af Kristi værk. Stiftet fred, står der, ved Blodet på Hans kors. Han gjorde det selv. Han gav sit eget blod, Han døde for dig, Han gik til Golgatas Kors for dig, Han led, Han bar skammen og foragten, tornekransen. Han var kongen, herlighedens Konge, men han bar tornekransen for dig. Han bar den for dig. Hvorfor? For at fuldbyrde Guds retfærdighed så at du kan få fred. Fred nu, evig fred, men fred nu. Det er samme sag, samme sag. Du kommer ikke; og kan ikke komme nærmere Kristus i evigheden end du er nu. Men tænk på dette, tænk alvorligt på dette: Du som fortsætter 3
med lovløshed, er du nær Kristus? Du som er oprørsk, er du nær Kristus? Den eneste måde at komme nær Kristus er gennem underdanighed, ved at underkaste sig Hans autoritet, og det kan du gøre nu. I evigheden kan du ikke gøre det, det bliver ikke muligt i evighed, der bliver ingen moralsk forandring, ingen åndelig tilvækst i evigheden. Det er nu, i dag, i dag er Frelsens dag. Og det er hvad Paulus kom ind i. Paulus blev påvirket da Kristus kom ind i hans liv. Paulus var imod Kristus; ville ikke have haft med ham at gøre, ville ikke have med ham at gøre, han hadede hans navn, hadede alle udtryk om Jesu vidnesbyrd. Alligevel kom Herren ud fra himmelen, kom ned fra himmelen, stoppede ham, og rejste ham op. Og Paulus fik fred. Jeg er overbevist om at Paulus fandt fred i det tidspunkt hvor Jesus sagde: Saulus, Saulus, hvorfor forfølger du mig? og Jeg sagde: hvem er du Herre? Han siger: Jeg er Jesus. Og så siger han: hvad skal jeg gøre, Herre? Og Herren svarede: rejs dig op og gå til Damaskus, der vil alting blive dig fortalt. Og han blev ledt ved hånden. Jeg tror at Paulus fandt fred på dette tidspunkt, da hele hans væsen og sjæl underkastede sig Kristus. Han opdagede at den han hadede, elskede ham. Den som han havde sat 4
sig imod, var for ham. Jesus elskede ham, var hans Forsvarer, Han påtog sig Paulus sag. Tænk på denne Paulus, Saulus fra Tarsus, som han var da, hvordan han talte mod Kristus, hvordan han var som person, han skriver selv: en påtrængende og hensynsløs forfølger. Man kunne ikke komme ham nær. Men han opgav alt og overgav sig til Kristus. Det kan vi gøre idag, det giver fred, det giver fred, når du opgiver din egen vilje for Kristus. Og Paulus taler om lysets herlighed. Han havde aldrig før set lyset. Han vidste alt om jødedommen, han vidste alt om loven, men han havde ikke set Jesus. Jesus åbenbarede sig for ham, som han selv skriver: Ham som åbenbarede sig på vejen, på vejen til Damaskus, da han selv var ubekymret og hensynsløs mod Kristus. Herren åbenbarede sig for ham, og han bøjede sig for ham. Han fandt en Person, en Mand, Kristus Jesus, Mægleren mellem Gud og mennesker, den eneste, Manden, Kristus Jesus. Det betyder at Han er kommet dig nær i dag i det Glade Budskab. Han er kommet dig nær i dag i det Glade Budskab, det er pointen. Hvis du ikke kommer nær ham nu, vil du aldrig komme nær ham i evigheden. Vent ikke på evigheden, gør noget nu, kom nærmere ham hver dag, gør ham til din Ven. Små børn, Jesus er din 5
Ven, Han er din Ven, Han er din Frelser, Han har udgydt sit blod for dig. Jeres hjerter er følsomme, jeres hjerter er bløde, jeres hjerter er åbne, jeres samvittighed er ren, er ikke blevet hærdet af synd, hvor hurtigt lader vi ikke satan forhærde os gennem syndens fordragelighed. Sådan gjorde denne yngre mand, og dog han vendte tilbage. Må vi vende tilbage i dag, finde fred og finde afklaring, finde tilfredsstillelse, opdage at vi kan komme Kristus nær, nu. Lad det blive en erfaring i din sjæl, lad det vokse hver dag, stræb efter det hver dag. Kommer jeg nærmere Kristus? Kommer jeg længere væk fra verden, kommer jeg længere bort fra denne verdens hersker, menneskesynderen, som snart vil fremtræde? Menneskesynderen bliver højdepunktet for al forvirring som har eksisteret siden syndefaldet; Jesus Selv vil åbenbare sig og tilintetgøre ham med et åndepust af sin Mund. Sikken en Frelser, sikken Befrier! Må vi forny vores tro og tillid til Ham idag og finde afklaring i vore sjæle. For Hans navns Skyld. B.D. Hales 6
be close to Him eternally. Don t wait for eternity, make it now, get closer to Him every day, make Him your Friend. Little children, Jesus is your Friend, He is your Friend, He is your Saviour, He has shed His blood for you. You see, your hearts are tender, your hearts are soft, your hearts are open, your consciences are tender, haven t been hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. How quickly we get that way, how quickly we allow Satan to harden us through the deceitfulness of sin, like that young man, and yet he returned. Oh, may we return today and find peace, find settlement, find satisfaction, find that we can get close to Christ now, now. Make it a current experience in your soul, let it grow every day, aim at it every day. Am I getting closer to Christ? Am I getting further away from the world? Am I getting further away from the ruler of this world, the man of sin? Heading up shortly, heading up. He will be the climax of all the confusion that s existed since the fall, will come out in the man of sin, and Jesus Himself will come out and annul him with the breath of His mouth. What a Saviour, what a Deliverer! May we put our faith and trust in Him afresh today, and find a settlement in our souls. For His name s sake. 6 B.D. Hales
things. And he was led by the hand. I think Paul found peace at this point, when his whole being and soul came into subjection to Christ. He found the One that he hated was his Lover, he found the One that he had set himself against was for him, was for him. He was his Lover, and He was his Advocate, He took up his case. Think of Paul, Saul of Tarsus as he then was, speaking out against Christ, and what he was as a person, as a man, insolent, he says, overbearing. You couldn t come near him as a man here in the flesh. And yet he gave it all up and surrendered to Christ. That s open to us today. That s peace, that s peace, that s peace, when you surrender your will to Christ. And he says, the glory of the light. He never had that light before. He knew all about Judaism, he knew everything according to the law, but he hadn t seen Jesus. Jesus appeared to him, he said the One that appeared to him in the way, on the road to Damascus, when he was hell-bent against Christ. And the Lord appeared to him, and he submits, and he finds the Person, he finds the Man, the Man Christ Jesus, the Mediator between God and men one, the Man, the Man Christ Jesus. That means He has come close to you in the glad tidings, He has come close to you today, that s the point. If you re not going to get close to Him now you ll never 5
peace eternally, but peace now. It s the same thing, it s the same thing. You can t get, you re not going to get nearer to Christ eternally than you are now. But think about it, think about it. You go on in your lawlessness, are you near to Christ? You going on in rebellion, are you close to Christ? The only way you ll get close to Christ is through submission, through coming under His authority. And you can do it now. You won t be able to do it eternally, won t be able to do it eternally, there will be no change morally, no growth spiritually eternally. It s now, it s today. Today is the day of salvation. And that s what Paul came into. Paul was affected by Christ coming into his life. Paul was against Jesus, he would have had nothing to do with Him, have nothing to do with Him, he hated His name, hated every expression of the testimony of Jesus. And yet the Lord came out from heaven, came down from heaven, and arrested him, and took him up. And Paul found peace. I think Paul found peace at this time, when He says, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? And I answered, Who art Thou, Lord? He says, I am Jesus. And then he says, I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said, Rise up, and go to Damascus, and there it shall be told thee all 4
And this young man, he rises up. He comes to himself, I think he comes to see what confusion that his wilfulness, and his lawlessness, his self-will, has led him into. His own determination in his heart, seeking excitement and happiness and satisfaction, led him into confusion and emptiness and barrenness. And he remembers his father s house, and he comes to himself, and rises up. And then you get the picture of him back in his father s house. What a picture! That s peace, that s peace. When you see a soul that s had to do with Jesus, and given up their own will, and been extricated from the confusion that s brought in through the influence of Satan, as we had earlier, influence of Satan is what s brought in the confusion to this whole scene, when some soul gets extricated from it, and returns to the father s house, that s peace, that s reconciliation, that s taking advantage of the work of Christ. Made peace, it says, by the blood of His cross. He did it Himself, He shed His own blood, He died for you, He went to Calvary s cross for you, He suffered, suffered the ignominy and shame and scorn, the crown of thorns. He was the King, King of glory, and yet He bore the crown of thorns for you, bore it for you. What for? To accomplish God s righteousness, so you can get peace; peace now, but 3
defy their authority, get up against law even, the law of the land, you know, come right up against it, think I can beat it. And what I m finding myself is in a state of confusion, through my rebellion. And this young man found that, he went his own way. His father let him take half, that s what he wanted. He says, give me the share of the property. And he divided to them what he was possessed of, the two sons. And, it says, after not many days, it wasn t long before this young man found the results of the confusion that was brought in. The Lord came in bringing peace. It was peace upon earth, and then it was peace, peace in heaven, in view of the work that was going to be accomplished. Think of God providing peace to everyone that took account of the work of Jesus. Have you done it? Have you done it? Are you holding out? Any young person here holding out, not understanding the grace of God, why He has left you here today, why He could have taken you away in your lawlessness, and dispensed with you, and disposed of you? He has done it many times, He is doing it today, He is doing it in this city, He is taking young men and young women away in their lawlessness and their wickedness, He is taking them away. And we are here today, subjects of the grace of God. 2
From confusion to peace Record of preaching in gospel hall Luke 15: 17, 20, 22 24; Acts 22: 6 8, 10, 11 I thought of these two Scriptures, the first one is a parable, the Lord bringing out the grace of God that had appeared. It s a wonderful matter to take in the grace of God that s shone out in Jesus, shone down to you. You think of all the billions of men there are on the earth at the present time, all the billions that have died, and yet God is the supreme Ruler, everything is under His control, He is letting the earth run on. You might think men are in control of it, but if you look a little behind the scenes you ll find that God is in control, and He is letting the time run on in view of the dispensation of grace being lengthened, so that more will come into the gain of the glad tidings. I thought of this younger son, what confusion he was led into through his own will. One looks around, one can look within one s own heart, and can see what confusion is brought about when I follow my own will. I might think I m pleasing myself, I might think I m so smart that I know what to do, get up against my parents, 1
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From confusion to peace Gospel news for eternal salvation