{"id":720,"date":"2018-08-05T08:00:09","date_gmt":"2018-08-05T13:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/?p=720"},"modified":"2018-08-04T17:56:13","modified_gmt":"2018-08-04T22:56:13","slug":"what-does-the-bible-say-about-hope-for-spiritually-awakened-and-anxious-sinners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/2018\/what-does-the-bible-say-about-hope-for-spiritually-awakened-and-anxious-sinners\/","title":{"rendered":"What does the Bible say about hope for spiritually awakened and anxious sinners?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\u201cBut as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.\u201d John\u00a01:12\u201313<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Every interaction with the lost is notable for the Christian who counts every evangelism opportunity as a sacred, thoughtful and prayerful act, especially with those sinners who begin to respond to Holy Spirit prompted conviction. When evangelism is done purposefully, the awakening sinner is painfully conscious that he is unworthy of salvation and of the sheer weight of his sin dragging him down to an eternal Hell.<\/p>\n

The conscientious evangelist recognizes that his message to the repentant one must turn from \u201cgiving law to the proud\u201d to \u201cgiving grace to the humbled.\u201d While the Bible reveals ample evidence of the unregenerate soul\u2019s perdition, it is also the final authority on the good news enunciated in the Gospel. The lost state of the soul is discovered by verses that illustrate the doctrine of the total depravity of man<\/em>, and proof texts of the blessed hope found in the Lord Jesus Christ reveal the divine antidote to each soul\u2019s depravity\u2014God\u2019s grace.<\/p>\n

Once the Holy Spirit begins to open a sinner\u2019s eyes to his soul\u2019s jeopardy, the sinner\u2019s heart fails to provide expectation of hope until the grace of God is explained. Our passage in John\u00a01:12f is a great place to begin explaining God\u2019s grace. A sinner discovers his need in verses like Romans\u00a03:10, 3:23, 5:8 and 5:12. His soul perceives the just wrath of God hanging over him and he sees the darkness that is within his own heart. As the convicting message of the Gospel is applied to his heart by the Holy Spirit, the sinner\u2019s eyes need to be lifted up to the cross. Jesus Christ died as his substitute, paying the penalty of God\u2019s wrath due for his sin (Romans\u00a06:23).<\/p>\n

It is at this juncture that the light of God\u2019s grace must flood into his soul. In recognition of his personal, total inability he needs to see that all ability to rescue is in the power and at the disposal of the Almighty God. John\u00a01:12f provides a glimpse into the mighty saving hand of God. The grace of God is described as a gift. To those who receive Him He gives \u201cthe right,\u201d not just the possibility or ability, but the liberty of action and the lawful right. God\u2019s gift is the authority \u201cto become\u201d (literally to be born, to be brought forth) a child of God! This begetting is not of descent, desire, or of human power, but of God. The converted sinner can only be the product of sovereign grace!<\/p>\n

There are many verses which proffer the grace of God to a newly awakened sinner. The open handed invitation from God is found in Isaiah\u00a055:1: \u201cHo! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.\u201d John\u00a03:16f reads, \u201cFor God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.\u201d Acts\u00a016:30f reads, \u201cAnd he brought them out and said, \u2018Sirs, what must I do to be saved?\u2019 So they said, \u2018Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved\u2026\u2019.\u201d Romans\u00a010:13 quotes Joel\u00a02:32: \u201cFor \u2018whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Our Lord\u2019s own words offer grace to the repentant sinner. Shortly after John\u00a03:16 we read verse\u00a036: \u201cHe who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.\u201d John\u00a05:24 reads, \u201cMost assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believe in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.\u201d John\u00a010:9 reads, \u201cI am the door, if anyone enters by Me, he will be saved\u2026.\u201d John\u00a014:6 reads, \u201cJesus said to him, \u2018I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The grace of God is always on full display in the Gospel. 1\u00a0Peter\u00a02:24 reads, \u201cwho Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness\u2014by whose stripes you were healed.\u201d 1\u00a0John\u00a04:9f reads, \u201cIn this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.\u201d Revelation\u00a022:17 reads, \u201cAnd the Spirit and the bride say, \u2018Come!\u2019 And let him who hears say, \u2018Come!\u2019 And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.\u201d<\/p>\n

While all of these verses are wide-open invitations to a soul under conviction, they are also \u201cHallelujah\u201d verses for every born-again Christian. They revive the heart and feed the soul. Visit them often and be ready to share them with someone who is in the throes of trusting in Christ. Trust and obey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cBut as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.\u201d John\u00a01:12\u201313 Every interaction with the lost is notable for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}