God's Unexpected Intervention: Embracing Salvation Through Christ

what I'm about to say is about methodology and I want dreadfully to underscore the fact that when we are least expecting at least planning on at least ready for at least willing to do it God may choose to intervene and surprise us despite ourselves we are not the key he simply gives us the privilege of being a part of what he chooses to do only God can bring about conviction of sin [00:00:54]

we might speak about the remedy what is the remedy is there an answer to this and again we would take our Bibles and we would turn them to an Old Testament picture we might say to the individual I don't know if you ever have read the Old Testament prophets some of the stuff is really hard to understand but every so often there's something in it that just hits you right between the eyes let me share one of these hit you between the eyes verses and then we turn them to Isaiah 53 verse 6. [00:01:46]

we've said things are messed up we've said the Bible says the problem is sin that it's a disease that we can shake that we need somebody to shake it for us the Old Testament Prophet said that there was one who would come who could do just that and here we discover in Matthew's gospel that the very name Jesus means savior of our sins so in other words for us to begin to think of Jesus simply as a good man or a hero or a kind of religious leader somebody that ranks up there with some of the others Gandhi and the likes is an interesting notion but it doesn't follow the biblical record [00:03:45]

and then we might go on from there and direct them from Christmas to Easter say you probably know the Easter story as well do you remember that cry of Jesus from the cross and we turn to it my God my God why have you forsaken me another person might say no I don't remember the cry you're gonna have to tell them about it they might say yeah I do remember that I never understood it what was going on there anyway and you're going to say I'm glad you asked because he was shouting like that because in that moment he was bearing the penalty for your sin and for mine the hell that we deserve the Judgment that we might face the condemnation that is Upon Our Lives Jesus Christ bore when he died upon the cross [00:04:37]

but the Bible also says that in order for us to grasp this in its fullness we must personally respond to God's offer to us in Jesus Christ in other words that his solution is not mechanical nor is it impersonal that forgiveness is not conferred Upon Us automatically but quite straightforwardly there are steps involved in coming to have our sin forgiven now it may be at this point of the journey with completely bamboos with people this is where our great wisdom is going to have to come in and knowing when to stop and when to sideline it when to allow ourselves to go down another Direction but nevertheless if we have the opportunity and a listening ear we want to go on and say something like this [00:05:47]

you need to admit that in God's sight you are a helpless sinner someone said well I you know I don't think that I am a sinner and certainly not a sinner like some of the Sinners I know says the individual I'm not a bomb I'm not fiddling my income tax I'm not beating my wife I'm not stealing from the petty cash what is our answer to that our answer is simply this that there may be a difference in the degree to which men and women have sinned but there is no difference in the fact that men and women have sinned we may not have sinned as much as we might but we have sinned enough to be condemned and lost and we can never know forgiveness till first we admit our helpless sinful condition [00:06:53]

now you see this is very different loved ones from asking people if they have a felt need in their life you understand this because we can get responses out of people on the basis of questions like are you unhappy and would you like to be happy let me tell you how to be happy so we might tell people how to be happy but we never told them how to be saved and we might never have told them that they even need to be saved and if they discover that the way to become truly happy is to admit their helpless condition before God to believe that Jesus Christ is the only answer to sin and to confess freely their need of him and ask him in Repentance and in faith to save him they may not want to be happy that way [00:08:41]

when you reach that point of the conversation where the guy is starting to look out the window or the lady is looking down and wondering if she can find an excuse to leave or or just want to do or she may be deeply convicted and she doesn't have an angle from which to go on ask this question have you personally trusted Jesus Christ or are you still on the way it's a useful question because it allows the opportunity to answer in the affirmative or in the negative it's not a threatening question because the individual may choose to say actually I am I'm still on the way they may say I'm grateful for you sharing this I never heard this before in my life and it's a helpful question because it defines Christian as one who has personally trusted Jesus Christ [00:11:34]

how far along the way are you and it may well be that at this point is the point of great need for sensitivity because often when we share our faith when the spirit of God has done his work when the door of opportunity is opened up it will be at that point that the onslaught of the evil one is greatest for he is just about a witness another of his fans ushered in to the kingdom of Christ and all hell breaks loose in those moments the telephone rings the dog tears up the linoleum in the kitchen the lights fall over a guy reverses into your office walls who knows what it is is it don't be surprised at anything that happens in that moment be prepared for it and if you have friends who are observing what's going on always be praying in those circumstances [00:12:18]

and then you want to be prepared to say well that's fine and well but I want you to know that the Bible always speaks in the present tense and I want you to know I say that not to threaten you not to pressure but because we never know when the opportunity will ever come again when the door of our hearts may be swinging open where our souls are open to the word of Christ we never know that we may be able to reproduce this exact moment over again so if you must leave then that's fine and then I would give them a booklet to take encourage them to pray in the privacy of their own home encourage them to call me if I might help them encourage them in any way at all [00:14:19]

make it as difficult as possible for them to become a Christian say what yeah I had a young man come here Sunday after Sunday we used to meet and talk together the first day he came to talk to me he was really angry with me because of his religious background and he told me that I was a number of things that are unmentionable the second time he came to talk to me he backed off a little bit on that and he used to come every so often on a Sunday evening and say I think I might become a Christian tonight and I used to say to him you're not ready yet go home and he used to stop and say why is that I said because the night that you become a Christian you must become a Christian you won't be able to go home till you give your life to Jesus Christ [00:16:57]

ask them if they're ready for a revolution ask them if they're prepared to say no to sin to say no to self and to say no to secrecy remember what Jesus did with the Rich Young Ruler he sent him away sorrowful for one thing stood between him and an experience of Faith admit sin believe in Jesus count the cost and then get down on your knees with them and say why don't we pray together and lead them to Jesus Christ just as Andrew did his brother [00:18:14]