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CHAPTER SEVEN

APPENDIX

for Practical Application of Lessons

and the Reception of the Redeemer

WHAT ? HOW ? WHY ? THE CALL OF JESUS CHRIST

         What ?                            Peace now in His haven and heaven then in God's heaven.

         When  ?                          When you receive the resurrected Christ as Lord of your Life
                                                 and Saviour.         

         From What ?                  The deadly drudgery and awesome folly of sin.

         By what ?                        By His anguished death, sinless but bearing shame,
                                                 on the Cross in place of each saved sinner.

         Through what ?              Through the washing of regeneration and the renewal
                                                 of the Holy Spirit  (Titus 3:5ff.).

        What does He renew ?  The lost chord of contact with God, the missing link that is real -
                                                 your holy relationship with God.

         Why did He do it ?        Out of love, for He delights in mercy (John 3, MIcah 7:19ff.).

         What follows ?              You do - you follow Him.

         In what way ?                By coming to know Him, reading and heeding His word,
                                               commands and promises,
                                               finding His mind in all things and doing His will
                                               (Ephesians 5:17, 3:14ff,1:3ff.,Colossians 1:9-11).

        And what else ?            By acting in faith on His word, the Bible, fearing nothing,
                                              attempting every good thing He enables (Philippians 4:13).

        Can I change
        the commandments ?  Of course, if you want to be a hypocrite, naming Him Lord and being
                                              your own lord anyway (Luke 6:46). In that case,
                                              remember Matthew 7:21ff.,and read I Corinthians 5-6.

       Must I change myself ? No, but you must be changed by God
                                              (Jeremiah 13:23, Titus 3:5, John 3).
                                              Receiving Him by faith can cause more than excitable tongues:
                                              it gives you a changed heart and a yearning for holiness
                                              (Hebrews 8:8-12, II Peter 1).

      Am I alone in this ?         Not if your faith is more than a dead fiction.
                                              If it is not, then call upon Him
                                              to operate (Acts 2:38-39). "Call upon the name of the Lord ..."

      What if I don't want to ? It is easy to be damned. Simply reject the plan of God for you in Christ
                                              (John 3:36).

     What if I don't want hell   What if you stopped breathing, wilfully, yet don't want death!
     but don't love God ?

     Is it so hard to be            Is it challenging to be crucified! but better the pain of renewal after
     a Christian ?                    dying with Christ, and the peace of pardon than walking in a swamp
                                              (I John 5:3-4); moreover the power of the Redeemer is yours
                                              (Ephesians 1:19). Life demands living.

     How can I love God ?     By examining yourself and regarding Christ,
                                              and knowing the difference, one which may be covered
                                              by grace and pardon
                                              (I John 3:1-3, II Corinthians 5:17-21).

     Does this mean that        Does a cyclist play baseball in a bicycle race, by mistake ?
    I can do anything I like ?    

    Does it mean God can     He can save you to the uttermost even from ungainly acts of self-will
    do anything ?                    (Hebrews 7:25) and none who enter by Jesus Christ can perish
                                               (John 10:9,27-28), just as you cannot turn back the centuries.

    Can I follow any                You may but in the case of some pretenders (II Corinth 11:1-4,13ff.), 
    good-looking Church        to your own damnation. Follow CHRIST only and HIS WORD and be 
    at all and be safe ?           as a rock, ON a Rock, and rocked by nothing (Romans 8:36ff.,
                                              Ephesians 1:11, I John 2:27, Psalm 62:1ff., II Samuel  23:31-33,47).
                                              Test: In ALL things Christ must have the pre-eminence
                                              (Colossians 1:18), and ALL the Bible received with authority
                                              from God (II Timothy 3:16, Matthew 5:17ff.),
                                              with neither addition nor subtraction (Proverbs 30:6,
                                              Revelation 22:17-19).     

   What then can I find ?       Seek a Church where Christ is exalted, not in bread or babble
                                              as key, but in heart and adoration as Deity,
                                              not prescribed by man but revealed by His word, applied by
                                              His Spirit, where the power of God appears at His pleasure.

   When I come to Jesus     Those who in fact receive the salvation become open to this
   as Lord and Saviour,        knowledge and assurance: Chosen from the first, they are His
   does Romans 8:29-39     to the last (II Timothy 1:9ff.), and nothing can separate them
   apply ?                               from the love of God. Trusting Him according to His word,
                                              they relish His presence in perpetuity (John 5:24).