. . . . . . . . . . . .THE CASE FOR CHRISTIANITY
For those who have little patience as yet, but genuinely seek the Lord through good reasoning and few words.
(1) God
is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that
he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath
he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Num2319. For the invisible
things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal
power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse, Rom0120.
(2) God is a Spirit, Jhn0424. A spirit hath not flesh and
bones, Luk2439. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten
Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him,
Jhn0118. The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, Jhn0114.
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing:
the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are
life, Jhn0663.
(3) The Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear, Jer2504.
(4) For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil, Pro0129-33.
(5) There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death, Pro1412. Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death, Jas0114,15.
(6) I (the Lord) gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them, Eze2011.
(7) Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Jhn0719. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all, Jas0210.
(8) Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin, Rom0319,20.
(9) Because they turned back from him (God), and would not consider any of his ways: So that they cause the cry of the poor to come unto him, and he heareth the cry of the afflicted, Job3427,28. I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early, Hos0515.
(10) But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not...For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should (an image of the beast, cf.Rev1314:Dan0723-26) be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days, Mrk1314-20. When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them, Deu0430,31.
(11) Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree (idolatry), and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord, Jer0313. The Lord will have mercy upon his afflicted, Isa4913. Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger, Zep0203. And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man, Luk2134-36.
(12) God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved, Jhn0316,17. And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage (under the elements of the world, Gal0403), Heb0215).
(13) God,
who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto
the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto
us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom
also he
made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the
express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word
of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down
on the right hand of the
Majesty on high, Heb0101-03.
(14) Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man (Jesus Christ) is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses, Act1338,39.
(15) Verily, verily, I (Jesus) say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me (For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God, Jhn0334), hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life, Jhn0524. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do, 1Th0509-11.
(16) Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins (and by whom we have now received the atonement, Rom0511). Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another, 1Jn0410,11. For he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law, Rom1308. Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you, Eph0432.
(17) God,
who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with
Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together,
and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages
to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his
kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast, Eph0204-09.
(18) Forasmuch
as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things,
as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition
from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of
a lamb
without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained
before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these
last times for you, 1Pe0118-20.
(19) Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people, Act0322,23. Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men, Act0529.
(20) Jesus saith, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me, Jhn1406. I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die, Jhn1125,26.
(21) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess (or, acknowledge) with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him, Rom1008-12.
(22) Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life, 1Jn0222-25.
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