OUR CHRISTMAS MESSAGE! 24/12/87--A Prayer for Pagans!: "You Need Jesus!--Just Take Him!" DO 2388--And Let Others See Jesus in You!
1. All over the World, where there are self-righteous people you're going to have them tell you, "Why do I need Salvation? What's wrong with me? Look, I'm a good man. I've never committed any crimes! What do you mean, sinner? What sins? What sins have I got? What are you trying to tell me I'm a sinner for?" They can't understand why you insist that they have to be a sinner before they can get saved!
2. Forget it! John 3:16 doesn't say you have to confess your sins! We're going to have to change our little Sinner's Prayer! We call it the Sinner's Prayer, but if they don't realise they're a sinner, how are you going to get them to pray that prayer?
3. Americans, of course, have a Christian background & culture, at least, so they know what a sinner is! They know when they're a sinner! They know what they're supposed to be like & they know they're not like that, so they know they're sinners. Of course they've committed sins, of course they're wicked old sinners!
4. Like Aaron said when he went to that college at Ranger, Texas, not far from TSC, he said, "I was a wicked, filthy sinner until the age of five!"--And those guys nearly fell off the benches, they just roared! That was one way of shaking'm up!
5. We've read a lot about some of the good & righteous Easterners: No siree, they've never been sinners! They're good people, law abiding, not criminals, do good! They'll tell you about your sins! "You shouldn't have thrown that piece of paper on the ground, you shouldn't have broken this tradition, you shouldn't have been impolite!" They'll pick out all your faults & tell you where you're wrong & where you've sinned against their culture & their mores & their traditions!: "You're the sinner, I'm not a sinner! You Westerners, you're the sinners!"
6. Well, I think for those who have this attitude we're going to have to change that Sinner's Prayer! Maybe we can change it to the Good Person's Prayer! "Lord, I thank Thee that I am not as other men! I don't understand why I have all these problems & all these troubles & I'm not happy & I know I'm not satisfied. I've got all this money, I've got everything, but I'm still not happy, I still wonder about things & I have problems!"
7. We have to have a new approach for those people! "God? Which God? Which one are you talking about? We have lots of gods! We stop on the street & bow to a little stone image, we stop on the street & bow to the junior high school, we stop on the street & bow to the telephone or the Post Box! Which God are you talking about?" Sure they believe in god, all kinds of gods! They worship almost everything! They worship nature, they worship trees, they worship rocks!--Not only idols & shrines & temples & whatnot, they worship everything! Some even worship each other!--Bowing down to man!
8. They think they have everything they need! "Who needs you? Who needs missionaries? Who needs your God?" But they know there's something wrong because they're not happy, they're not satisfied! They've got everything, & yet they can't keep peace with their wife, they're not happy with their girlfriend, things go wrong with their children, they have troubles, problems, business failures! But don't try to convince them they're a sinner, it's impossible, they're not mentally conditioned that way like the Christian countries are.
9. You need to ask them a question, something like Mary Pickford did, the most famous actress of the days of the silent movies. She'd won all the laurels & was World-famous & made enough movies & had enough money to have a big mansion in Beverly Hills, yet she wasn't satisfied. She said she was totally unsatisfied, like Lord Byron: "I have quaffed every cup of pleasure & I have drunk every cup of fame, & yet I die of thirst!"
10. But then she got saved & she wrote a book: "Why Not Try God?" You've tried everything else, why not try God? She wrote it for the acting population of Hollywood. She was on the top of the heap! So when she gave a testimony, she could tell them, she knew what they needed! "You've tried everything else, why not try God?"
11. Some people have tried everything, they've got everything, or they're trying to get it, & they think when they get it that it will make them happy! And the people who should be the easiest to convince are the ones who've already got it! That's why it was so easy to persuade the young people of Huntington Beach to try the Lord! They'd tried everything else, they had everything else, why not try God? Why not try the Lord? Why not listen to the answers the Bible gives?
12. You just need to ask them, "You know what's wrong with you? Maybe you think everything's all right, but you need Jesus! You've got everything else, but still you can't understand why everything goes wrong! You know you're not perfect, you know you've made mistakes & it troubles you--you missed the mark, & that's wrong--that's a sin! Why not try Jesus?"
13. We've got such set, dogmatic, theological dogmas in our heads because we understand it all & we know this is all true, so we're trying to put across big, heavy theological doctrines of the personality of God, the Divinity of Jesus, He's the Son of God, & who is God, the Creator, & all of these big heavy things they know nothing about! We need to make it simple so that a little child can understand it! We don't have to prove Divinity!
14. We just need to use that little childish concept I've used before: God is our Heavenly Father, Jesus His Son is our big Heavenly Brother Who came to show us what God is like--He's Love!--And you need His Love to be happy. So you need to ask Him to come into your heart & life & fill it with His Love to love others & be happy & saved to go to Heaven.
15. Like that drug addict, the prostitute who drifted into a mission one night where my Mother was preaching. She came to the altar when Mother said, "All you need to do is just receive Him, just take Jesus!" And she gripped my Mother's arm so tight, that when my Mother got home she said she still had the imprints of that girl's fingernails in her arm!
16. She said, "You mean to tell me all I have to do is take Jesus? That's all I have to do is take Jesus?" Mother said, "Yes, that's all you have to do!" So the girl said, "I take Him!" And just then the Salvation Army Band started striking up a tune & playing a hymn, "Onward Christian Soldiers", & she got up & staggered out the door, followed the Salvation Army Band, went to the Salvation Army for a place to stay & didn't even want to go back to her old room where her things were, she said she didn't want anything of that old life any more at all, she didn't ever want to go back there! She said, "I've taken Jesus & all I want is Jesus!" She only lived about a year, but she became known as the Angel of some street, I've forgotten now. It's a true story! She just took Jesus!
17. Quit worrying about how electricity works or Who God is or His Son Jesus!--Just try Him! Remind yourself that all you need is Jesus! You've tried everything else, why not try Jesus? PTL? Amen?
18. Thank You for reminding us, Lord, as we go through trial after trial & testing & in spite of everything & all the years of service & all the good things we've done, & all the fruits, all of which we're thankful for, but still, all we need, Lord, is You! We just need You, Jesus, You're the only One that can pull us through! You're all we need!
19. Thank You for all You have revealed to us & given us & so many blessings & so many accomplishments & so many souls & so much Family, so much, Lord! But it's all because we just took You, Jesus, because we needed You, Jesus. We acknowledged that fact, that's all we really needed to know & to accept, that we need You!
20. All they need to know, Lord, is that You so loved the World You gave Yourself for us, so we won't perish but have Everlasting Life in Heaven!--And You are giving Yourself even now, Lord! You can give Yourself right now to any soul that needs You & is willing to admit & confess that they need You, & want You enough to be willing to pray & ask You to come into their hearts. That's all they have to say, that's all they have to do, Lord. They don't have to believe in all this, that & the other, they don't even have to know they're a sinner, Lord! You didn't say anything about that! You just said, "He that believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved!" It doesn't say, "He that believes he's a sinner shall be saved." "For God so loved the World He gave His Only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him"--in Him, in You, Jesus!--Not that they're a sinner, but if they believe in You, You'll show'm soon enough they're a sinner! You'll show'm, Lord!
21. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life!"--John 3:36. All they need to do is acknowledge their need of You, Jesus, & believe it & pray to receive You, Jesus, ask You to come into their hearts, ask You to help them:
22. "Help me, please, Jesus! Help me, dear Jesus! If You are God, if You are the Son of God, if You are what they say You are, please come into my heart & help me, Jesus!" And we believe that You will honour what little faith they have, just the faith they have in us, because they see You in us & they believe in us, Lord. "He that receiveth you receiveth Me!"--Mat.10:40. They see that we are happy & that we know we're right & we speak the Truth & they believe it, Lord!
23. Help them, Jesus, to acknowledge that we have something they don't have & they need, & it must be this Jesus we're talking about, & sow that grain of faith in their hearts, that they're willing to ask You to come in to try & see if that's what it is, that it's You, Jesus! Help them, Lord, to have that little bit of faith.--Like the man who even said, "Lord, I believe, help Thou mine unbelief!" He had his doubts, he had his questions, he had his problems, but he still believed in You, Jesus!
24. Help them to believe in You, Lord! Give them the faith! You're the only One Who can give them the faith, Lord! Faith comes through You, Lord, by Thy Spirit, by reading Thy Word, hearing the Word of God!--Rom.10:17. So give them the faith, Lord!
25. We don't have to force them to get on their knees & repent & confess they're sinners, Lord, & all this sort of thing. That's nice if they would, Lord, but all they have to do is believe in You, Jesus! All they have to do is take Jesus! Help them to just take You, Lord! In desperation or in true sincere crying out for help, help them to try You, Jesus, be willing to try You, & we believe You'll honour what little faith they have. You'll come into their hearts & show them, Lord, in Jesus' name! TYL! Amen! PTL! TYJ! Hallelujah!
26. I think my favourite Christmas carol is that one that talks about taking Jesus into our hearts! (Sings:)
O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie.
Above thy deep & dreamless sleep,
The silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The Everlasting Light!
The hopes & fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight!
O holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend on us we pray,
Cast out our sin & enter in
Be born in us today!
We hear the Christmas Angels
The great glad tidings tell,
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel!
27. All we need to do is receive Jesus! Even that Holy Child of Bethlehem, if they believe in nothing but maybe that that story's true, Lord, You can put faith into their hearts! If they hope it's true, Lord, that's a form of faith. If they want to believe it's true, Lord, You'll certainly help them believe it!--In Jesus' name we ask it for Thy Glory!
LET OTHERS SEE JESUS IN YOU!
28. Help our Family to show these people You, Lord! Let others see Thee in us, Lord! If they haven't seen Him anyplace else, if they don't understand Christianity or anything, Lord, just help them to see Jesus in us! TYJ! (Sings:)
Let others see Jesus in you!
Let others see Jesus in me!
Keep telling the Story,
Be faithful, be true!
Let others see Jesus in you!
29. That's what's going to convince them! --Jesus!--Even if they don't know anything about Jesus, even if they don't know anything about Christmas, even if they don't know anything about God! They're going to have to see Jesus in you! PTL! That's a good chorus to remember this Christmas night. The only way they're going to see Jesus is in you! (Sings:)
Let others see Jesus in you!
Let others see Jesus in me!
Keep telling the Story,
Be faithful, be true!
Let others see Jesus in you!
30. PTL! Even if you may not feel like it or see that you're having any effect, keep telling the Story of Jesus, be faithful & true to Jesus! Let others see Jesus in you! Hallelujah! TYJ! Let's praise the Lord & thank Him for this night & thank Him for the night we're commemorating when You were born, Lord! TYJ! PYL! Let others see You in us, Jesus! PTL!--That they may know You, Whom to know is Life Eternal!--In Jesus' name! TYL! PTL! Amen!
31. Bless these now & give them a good night's rest & sleep, in Jesus' name! PTL! Keep us safely tonight, Lord, from all the dangers that could be & even are, but You've spared us & kept us in spite of it all, Lord! TYL! PTL! Amen! It wasn't exactly a Christmas message, but it must be the one the Lord wanted you to have! Let others see Jesus in you!
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