SpeakerDesmond Ford

;'''''-r

DESMOND FORD

humanity. But if we aregoing to do the second,we need to look at thebest of humanity-theone who came fromabove and calledhimself the Son ofMan that he might bebrother to all, male

and female, blackand white, youngand old.

What did Jesus sayabout life? What didhe say about you andme? You rememberon one occasionwhen he was diningwith publicans andsinners (Lk 15), theself-righteousreligious people ofthe day said, "Lookat this man; he's

dining with publicans and sinners.This man receives sinners."

They preached the gospel muchbetter than most preachers, becausethe good news unlimited is just that:This man receives sinners.

When they accused him of receivingsinners, Jesus' reply was "Guilty."That's the only thing Christ ever saidhe was guilty about.

It does not matter who you are, mybrother, my sister. It does not matterhow many times you've failed. It doesnot matter how many mistakes you'vemade. It does not matter how weakyou feel, how foolish you've been-this man, Christ, receives sinners.

To know that we are loved, despiteour failures; to know that it is true ~

WI1EnnOnSEnSE

f111KrS srnsr

[The following excerpts are taken verbatim from tapes of Dr. Ford's radioprogram "Good News Unlimited." We know you understand spoken

language is not identical to written. We include these messagesespecially for those unable to hear the- broadcast.However,those who have already heard them

on the air will find reward in enjoyingtheir high quality again. A special

thanks to Daisy 5tanletj, SanCarlos, CA, and GloriaClaus, Australia, for

their long hoursof transcription.

-Ed.]

My FRIEND, youthere by theradio, who

do you think you are?Have you ever hadthat question addressedto you?

Not long ago aChicago workmanslipped from hisscaffolding andplummeted earthward.His fall was broken bythe canopy of astore. He slippedfrom the canvas tothe sidewalk-nonetoo gracefully-andlay there stunned. As

PROGRAM GNV-3 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEa crowd gathered, apoliceman hurried tothe center of thegroup and addressedthe prostrate figure,"What's going on here. What's thisall about?" Still dazed, the workmanmurmured, "I don't know. I've onlyjust arrived."

A biographical snippet concerningthe German philosopher ArthurSchopenhauer [1788-1860] parallelsthis story. Considerably disheveled inappearance, he was sitting on a parkbench in Frankfurt. A park attendant,thinking the untidy stranger a tramp,approached him with the query,"Who are you?" The dowdy figurereplied disconsolately, "I wish Iknew." These two anecdotes illustratethe core problem of existence.

We can either interpret humanity bylooking at the universe, or we caninterpret the universe by looking at

It does notmatter whoyou are, mybrother, mysister. Itdoes notmatter howmany timesyou'vefailed. Itdoes notmatter howmanymistakesyou'vemade. Itdoes notmatter howweak youfeel, howfoolishyou'vebeen-thisman, Christ,receivessinners.

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that whosoever will (that's you,that's me, that's every failure) bybelieving might not perish, buthave everlasting life-to know that,my friends, turns life into a melody.It brings heaven down here. Itmeans that every good dream ispossible of fulfillment. Listen tohim today. He is saying to you,"Come unto me all ye that laborand are heavy laden and I will giveyou rest. He that cometh to me Iwill in no wise cast out. All mannerof sin and blasphemy shall beforgiven unto men. I will neverleave thee nor forsake thee."Believe it today and you will knowwho you are, and life will becomea song. D

TIlE DIDLE'SrIOS T IrIFOITTllTITnOOK

PROCRAM CNU-I" FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SUPPOSE, MY FRIEND, thatyou were told that you couldkeep only one of the sixty-six

books of the Bible. Which wouldyou keep?

Many would choose Luke'sGospel-that beautiful book withsuch universal appeal that particu-larly emphasizes the value ofoutcasts in the sight of God inheaven . . . Other readers wouldwant to keep John's Gospel, thatspiritual account by the discipleJesus loved, with its record ofnineteen personal interviews byJesus ... Others again, wouldwant to choose Psalms, that harp ofthe human heart.

But not one of these books spell

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out in detail the most importantmatter of all to you and me: HowGod saves sinners, how we can getrid of guilt and death, and be readyfor the great Judgment Day. Theydo teach concerning it, of course.That is through all the Scripture.But only one book takes up thismost important topic of salvation indetail, and that is the epistle tothe Romans.

There are lots of surprises inScripture. You don't find anywherein the Bible a list of things to bebelieved. Another surprise is thatJesus wrote no book. He seemed toput his time into people. A thirdsurprise is that Jesus is not thegreatest theologian of the Bible. Hecame to make the atonement, notto explain it; that is, until the cross-resurrection event had taken place,its meaning could not fully be setforth. That's why Jesus spokewonderful truths in proverbialform; in short, terse, gnomicfashion, as seeds that were later tobe germinated into flowers underthe breathing of the Holy Spirit onthe minds of the apostles.

Two-thirds of the epistles of theNew Testament carry the name ofone man, the most influential per-son in all history, next toJesus-Paul.

F.F. Bruce, perhaps the greatestof modern evangelical scholars said,"One should be very,very carefulin reading the book of Romansbecause he never knows what willhappen. When Augustine read it,he was converted and changed thetheological history of the world.When Luther read it, he spawnedthe Protestant Reformation. WhenWesley read it, he saved Englandfrom a revolution like that ofFrance. When Whitefield read itand, later, Jonathan Edwards, thiscountry of America experiencedtide after tide of gospel revival."

J.R. Packer has pointed out,"Every great revival the world hasever known started with are-studyof the book of Romans. My friends,today we stand in need of thegreatest revival of all . . . one thatwill lighten the whole earth withthe glory of the gospel of Christ,and it has to begin with thisbook." D

PSYCHIATRISTStell us, theaverage person by the age offorty has contemplated suicideat

least once. That's a statistic which isonly another way of telling us thatour world, our personal experience,is full of trouble. The world is full ofgriefs and graves. The world is sodark, men and women cry outagainst the silent heaven, and noone should speak on the mystery ofsuffering without, at least, tears inhis heart.

A blind boy, once being teased forhis Christian faith, was asked, "Ifthere is a God of love, such as yourheavenly Father, why are youblind?" He gave a verse from theNew Testament in reply: "Even so,Father; for so it seemed good in Thysight" (Lk 10:21).There is no glibanswer, no complete answer, andthe Bible has much to say about theproblem. Whole books are devotedto it. The book of Job is devoted toit; the book of Lamentations isdevoted to it, and much ofEcclesiastes is devoted to it. Psalmsis full of it. The last book of theBible foretold trouble and strife forbelievers in Christ all their days untilthe Second Advent.

If there is a God, and he cares forhis followers, why doesn't he savethem from trouble? Which is justanother way of saying, "Christiansought to be the teacher's pets of theuniverse." But nobody likesteacher's pets because they arespoiled. All of us can see muchfurther through a tear than througha telescope, and constant sunshinemakes a desert. For a Christian to beexempt from trouble would probablyend in that person ceasing to be aChristian. ~

The atheist, of course, has alwayssaid that trouble shows that God iseither not all good, or not all power-ful. Part of the Christian answerwould be that for every thousandthat speak about the problem ofpain, the problem of evil, hardly onespeaks about the problem of good.

If there is a God, and hecares for his followers,why doesn't he save themfrom trouble?

How does the atheist explain that? Ifyou or I see someone walkingvigorously across the road, we don'tpoint to that person as an exampleof health; but if we see someone oncrutches, we do point. When wehave one sore finger, it's mainly sorebecause we have nine good ones.

Well, what's the real answer? Youremember when Christ was on thecross, he, too, was a man of sorrowsand acquainted with grief. The peo-ple cried out, "Let God deliverhim!" But God didn't. Christ criedout, "My God, my God, why hastthou forsaken me?" God didn'tdeliver him. He did something bet-ter. God turned Bad Friday intoGood Friday. He took that bruisedand broken body and turned it intoglorified flesh. He took the greatesttragedy the world has ever knownand turned it into the greatestblessing.

My friends, that's exactly what theBible teaches about trouble. In Luke21, as Jesus comes to the end of thelist of troubles for Christians, hesays, "And it shall tum to you for atestimony" (Lk 21:13). Oppositionbecomes opportunity; calamitiesbecome a source of profit, ofwitnessing, blessing, and glory.That's the way it is all through theNew Testament: the best thingscome out of the worst things.

The greatest pain is guilt. Christhas dealt with that. I've turned inmy Bible to 2 Corinthians, chapterfive, and let me read to you fromverse fourteen: "For the love ofChrist controls us, because we areconvinced that one has died for all;therefore all have died" (RSV). It is

saying that when Jesus died, wedied. When the first Adam sinned,we became sinners. We inherited hisguilt; we inherited his twisted naturewhen he lost the indwelling God.But there's a second Adam come,the Lord Jesus Christ. He, too, isour Representative. While we wereruined without asking for it, we'vealso been redeemed withoutasking for it. One died for all.All have died.

Get this good news, and yourtroubles will shrink away tonothingness in comparison. You diedfor YOui sins 2,000 years ago in yourRepresentative. You don't have to beanxious about what God thinks ofyou, only what he thinks of Christ,your Substitute. You are not calledupon to make your peace with God;you're called upon to acceptChrist-who is your peace.

God turned Bad Fridayinto Good Friday. Hetook that bruised andbroken body and turned itinto glorified flesh. Hetook the greatest tragedythe world has ever knownand turned it into thegreatest blessing.

Whatever the flooding waters,whatever the bitter waters of yourexperience, if you will accept theman whose name is "the Branch,"

the rod out of the stem of Jesse, theman of the tree, the man of the cross-ifyou will accept him, and put himand his cross into your suffering;

The trauma of earth isonly permitted to make ushomesick for heaven ...

if you surrender your self-will toGod, and believe that he makes allthings work together for good, thatnot a hair of your head will perishbut by his permission, and for yourultimate good; if you believe thatnightmares never last, that nothinghappens by chance; that God doesnot originate evil, but does overruleit, that it can be turned into goodfor you; that you are never alone;that God loves you, and that thetrauma of earth is only permitted tomake us homesick for heaven; if youbelieve these things and find inChrist your righteousness-then, myfriends, heaven begins today even ifit seems to you that you are livingin hell itself.

God bless you. 0

"Beloved,

let us love

one another,

for love is

from God;

and everyone who loves

is born of

God

and knows God ....

for

God

islove."

1 John 4:7.8 NASI)

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