|
Lost
In Sin?
`Our
Creator is the Friend of sinners.' (DA24)
`Jesus
knows the circumstances of every soul. You may say, I am
sinful, very sinful. You may be; but the worse you are, the
more you need Jesus. He turns no weeping contrite one away. He
bids every trembling soul take courage. Freely will He pardon
all who come to Him for forgiveness and restoration.'
(DA568)
|
`The
Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy." (James 5:11) |
`Just as soon as you
commit sin, you should flee to the throne of grace, and tell Jesus
all about it. You should be filled with sorrow for sin, because
through sin you have weakened your own spirituality, grieved the
heavenly angels, and wounded and bruised the loving heart of your
Redeemer. When you have asked Jesus in contrition of soul for His
forgiveness, believe that He has forgiven you. Do not doubt His
divine mercy or refuse the comfort of His infinite love.' (3SM196)
`Jesus
loves to have us come to Him just as we are, sinful, helpless,
dependent. We may come with all our weakness, our folly, our
sinfulness, and fall at His feet in penitence. It is His glory to
encircle us in the arms of His love and to bind up our wounds, to
cleanse us from all impurity.’ (SC52)
`Hearts
that have been the battleground of the conflict with Satan, and that
have been rescued by the power of love, are more precious to the
Redeemer than are those who have never fallen.' (COL118)
|
`None
are so sinful that they cannot find strength, purity, and
righteousness in Jesus, who died for them.' (SC52) |
`The
Lord does not require us to do some grievous thing in order that we
may have the forgiveness of sin. We need not make long and wearisome
pilgrimages or perform painful penances, to commend our souls to the
God of heaven or to expiate our transgression; but he that
confesseth and forsaketh his sin shall have mercy. This is a
precious promise, given to fallen man to encourage him to trust in
the God of love and to seek for eternal life in His kingdom.’
(5T635)
`As
you see the enormity of sin, as you see yourself as you really are,
do not give up to despair. It was sinners that Christ came to save.
We have not to reconcile God to us, but - O wondrous love! - God in
Christ is reconciling the world unto Himself. He is wooing by His
tender love the hearts of His erring children.' (SC35)
`When
you are betrayed into sin, do not despair. Do not delay and mourn in
unbelief, but take your case at once to Jesus.' (ST 10-03-95.7)
|
`The
heavenly intelligences are waiting to co-operate with the most
helpless, the most sinful soul who feels his need. Those who are
great sinners may find great peace.' (ST 05-30-92.6) |
`Satan
may whisper, "You are too great a sinner for Jesus to
save." While you acknowledge that you are indeed sinful and
unworthy, you may meet the tempter with the cry, "By virtue of
the atonement [the price that Jesus paid for my Sin], I claim Jesus as my
Saviour. I trust not to my own merits, but to the
precious blood of Jesus, which cleanses me." ‘ (SD224)
`If
you feel yourself to be the greatest sinner, Jesus is just what you
need, the Greatest Saviour. Lift up your head and look away from
yourself, away from your sin, to the uplifted Saviour; away from the
poisonous, venomous bite of the serpent to the Lamb of God who
taketh away the sin of the world.' (2MCP 452)
`It
is not because of our worthiness that we receive the blessings of
heaven, but because of the worthiness of Jesus, and our acceptance,
through faith in Him, of God's abounding grace.' (9T 29)
`When
the enemy comes in like a flood, and seeks to overwhelm you with the
thought of your sin, tell him, ``I know I am a sinner. If I were
not, I could not go to the Saviour; for He says, "I came not to
call the righteous, but sinners to repentance," And because I
am a sinner I am entitled to come to Jesus. I am sinful and
polluted, but He suffered humiliation and death, and exhausted the
curse that belongs to me.'' ' (1SM325)
`If
any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous' who `died for sins once for all, the righteous for the
unrighteous, to bring you to God.’(1 John 2:1; 1 Peter 3:18)
`When
Satan suggests doubt to your soul, when he tells you that you are
too unworthy, too sinful, to realize the blessing of God, present
Christ before him as your Advocate and Saviour. Tell him you know
that you are a sinner, but that Jesus came to seek and save that
which was lost.' (TMK245)
`Many
do not pray. They feel under condemnation for sin, and they think
they must not come to God until they have done something to merit
His favor or until God has forgotten about their transgressions.
They say, "I cannot hold up holy hands before God without wrath
or doubting, and therefore I cannot come." So they remain away
from Christ, and are committing sin all the time in so doing, for
without Him you can do nothing but evil. Just as soon as you commit
sin, you should flee to the throne of grace, and tell Jesus all
about it. You should be filled with sorrow for sin, because through
sin you have weakened your own spirituality, grieved the heavenly
angels, and wounded and bruised the loving heart of your Redeemer.
When you have asked Jesus in contrition of soul for His forgiveness,
believe that He has forgiven you. Do not doubt His divine mercy or
refuse the comfort of His infinite love.' (3SM 196)
`Desponding
soul, take courage, even though you have done wickedly. Do not think
that perhaps God will pardon your transgressions and permit you to
come into His presence. God has made the first advance. While you
were in rebellion against Him, He went forth to seek you.
. . . The soul, bruised and wounded and ready to perish,
He encircles in His arms of love and joyfully bears it to the fold
of safety.' (COL188/9)
`Do
not listen to the enemy's suggestion to stay away from Christ until
you have made yourself better; until you are good enough to come to
God. If you wait until then, you will never come. When Satan points
to your filthy garments, repeat the promise of Jesus, "Him that
cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." John 6:37. (COL205)
|
`Whenever
one takes a step towards Jesus, Jesus is taking two steps toward
Him.' (MS 17,1893) |
`Jesus
takes the sinner from the lowest degradation, and purifies, refines,
and ennobles him. By beholding Jesus as He is, the sinner is
transformed and elevated to the very summit of dignity, even to a
seat with Jesus upon his throne. . . . ‘ (TMK96)
`As
the shepherd loves his sheep, and cannot rest if one is missing, so,
in an infinitely higher degree, does God love every outcast soul.
Men may deny the claim of His love, they may wander from Him, they
may choose another master; yet they are God's and He longs to
recover His own. . . . The darker and more tempestuous the
night and the more perilous the way, the greater is the shepherd's
anxiety and the more earnest his search. He makes every effort to
find that one lost sheep.' (COL187/8)
`No
sooner does the sheep go astray than the countenance of the shepherd
is filled with grief and anxiety. He leaves the ninety and nine
within the fold, and, however dark and tempestuous the night,
however perilous and unpleasant the way, however long and tedious
the service, he does not weary, he does not falter, until the lost
is found.' (1SM339)
`With
what relief he hears in the distance its first faint cry. Following
the sound, he climbs the steepest heights, he goes to the very edge
of the precipice, at the risk of his own life. Thus he searches,
while the cry, growing fainter, tells him that his sheep is ready to
die. At last his effort is rewarded; the lost is found. Then he does
not scold it because it has caused him so much trouble. He does not
drive it with a whip. He does not even try to lead it home. In his
joy he takes the trembling creature upon his shoulders; if it is
bruised and wounded, he gathers it in his arms, pressing it close to
his bosom, that the warmth of his own heart may give it life. With
gratitude that his search has not been in vain, he bears it back to
the fold.' (COL188)
`He
is happier about [the recovery of] that one sheep than about the
ninety-nine that did not wander off.' (Matthew 18:13)
`The
race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. The weakest
saint, as well as the strongest, may wear the crown of immortal
glory.' (AA313)
|
