2017-11 EngNov

CONTE NTS
• I am the Way, the
Truth, and the Life
• What a friend we
have in Jesus
• Your life?
THE GOOD NEWS
N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 7
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life
by Billy Graham
Over the years I have talked
to thousands of people who have
asked me how to find their way to
God. Some have sat in church pews
all their lives but never come to personally
know God. Others have
sought for ultimate meaning in all
sorts of ways but
never found the
peace of mind for
which they were
searching. Some
simply realize
that there is
something vital
missing in their
lives.
The Bible
teaches that this
sense of lostness
is rooted in the
fact that we live in a fallen world.
We are all handicapped by a sin nature:
“All have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
And despite our best efforts, we are
unable to remove the haunting
weight of guilt that separates us
from our Creator.
God sent His Son to solve the
dilemma caused by our sin: “For
God so loved the world, that He
gave His only Son, that whoever believes
in Him should not perish but
have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Jesus Christ made the way to
God for us by His
death on the
cross. He purchased
our salvation
by the shedding
of His blood.
His death and resurrection
made a
new and everlasting
covenant
between God and
humanity.
Jesus told
His disciples, “I
am the way, and the truth, and the
life. No one comes to the Father except
through me” (John 14:6). He
did not merely point the way to
God. He Himself claimed to be the
only way to the Father and the
source of eternal truth and life.

P A G E 2
The way to God is through
personal faith in Jesus Christ. Intellectual
acceptance of Christ is not
enough. You must come to Him
determined to turn from what displeases
Him, with a total trust in
Christ’s saving power for you.
Christ promises those who
turn to Him: “Whoever hears my
word and believes Him who sent
me has eternal life. He does not
come into judgment, but has
passed from death to life” (John
5:24).
Today you can come to Him
by surrendering your life and heart
to Christ. The Bible says: “To all
who did receive Him [Jesus Christ],
who believed in His name, He gave
the right to become children of
God” (John 1:12).
Right where you are you can
pray something like this: Lord, I
know that I have sinned and need
your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus
Christ died for me and rose
from the dead. I invite you into my
life to be my Lord and Saviour.
If you sincerely put your
faith in Christ, God promises not
only to forgive you, but also to
adopt you into His family. It’s the
greatest gift you will ever receive!
“...trust in
Christ’s
saving power
for you”
T H E
G O O D
N E W S
What a friend we have in Jesus
What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry,
Everything to God in prayer.
O, what peace we often forfeit,
O, what needless pain we bear.
All because we do not carry,
Everything to God in prayer.
©Joseph Scriven
The man who wrote this nineteenth-century hymn was familiar
with grief and loneliness. Scriven was engaged twice, and
both times his bride-to-be died before the wedding. He fought depression
all his life. It was after one bout with depression that he
wrote the words to this song.

He could write those words
because he had discovered the reality
of friendship with Jesus Christ.
Jesus understands our feelings because
He lived on earth as a man.
Jesus
knows what
it is like to
be lonely.
He suffered
the pain of
rejection
and cruelty,
and He felt
hunger and
thirst. The Bible describes Him as
“a man of sorrows, and acquainted
with grief” (Isaiah 53:3).
Yet Jesus did more than just
sympathize with our troubles. The
Bible says that “all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of
God” (Romans 3:23), and that “the
wages of sin is death” (Romans
6:23). But God transferred our sin
to Jesus, His sinless Son, to make us
right with God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Jesus Christ died on the cross
for our sins and rose from the dead
on the third day. He experienced
God’s wrath in our place. Because
of that, those who trust in Jesus
Christ as Saviour are given the right
to know God as their Father
(Romans 8:15). And God has promised
that He will never leave or forsake
those who put their trust in
Him (Hebrews 13:5).
God does not promise an
easy life, but He gives those who
trust in Jesus the privilege of taking
everything to Him in prayer and the
confidence
to know
that He
hears them
and will answer
(1
John 5:15).
What
God requires
is
that you and I turn from our sins
and receive Jesus Christ as Saviour
and Lord. “If you confess with your
mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe
in your heart that God raised
him from the dead, you will be
saved” (Romans 10:9).
To believe in Christ means
you acknowledge that there is
nothing you can do to be good
enough to meet God’s holy standard.
Christ alone made the perfect
sacrifice to pay the price for your
sin. He died for you, even though
you are a sinner (Romans 5:8). God
promises that all those who believe
in Jesus and trust in his perfect sacrifice
for their sin will have everlasting
life (John 3:36). Will you
consider your need for Jesus as
your Lord and Saviour today?
“Christ
alone made
the perfect
sacrifice”
T H E
G O O D
N E W S
P A G E 3

Your life?
The statistics say that 10 out of 10 people
die. It's true; we all have an appointment with
death. A question each of us should ask is,
"What happens after I die?"
The Bible says that God has a standard
that He will judge you by on your appointed day
of death. It's called the Ten Commandments.
Let's see how you will do. Have you ever told a
lie? (Including white lies and fibs). Have you ever
stolen anything? (no matter the value). The
third Commandment is "You shall not take the
name of the Lord your God in vain." Have you
ever used His name as a curse word to express
disgust? That's blasphemy. The seventh Commandment
is "You shall not commit adultery," but
Jesus said "If you look upon a woman to lust after
her you've already committed adultery with her in
your heart." Have you ever looked at another person
with lust or sexual desire? If you said 'yes' to
these four questions, then by your own admission, you're a lying, thieving, blasphemous,
adulterer-at-heart, and we've only looked at four of the Ten Commandments.
On Judgment Day, if God were to judge you by those standards, would you be innocent
or guilty? Would you therefore go to Heaven or Hell? The Bible says that you
would be guilty, and that means eternity in Hell. Know that God, the just judge of the
universe, is also rich in mercy. He sent His Son Jesus to suffer and die on the cross on
your behalf to take the punishment for your sins. God's wrath came down upon Him, instead
of on you. He paid your fine with His life's blood.
That means God can forgive your death sentence. He can allow you to live because
of what Jesus did on the cross. Through His death and resurrection, God can now
dismiss your case. So what must you do? You must repent - turn from your sins. Don't
just confess your sins to God; confess and forsake them. Don't just believe in Jesus -
trust in Him, like you would trust in a parachute to save you. You don't just believe in a
parachute, you put your trust into it! That's what you must do with the Saviour. Then,
get a Bible and read it daily, and obey what you read.
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