OUR CHRISTMAS MESSAGE!
--A Prayer for PAGANS!: "You Need JESUS!--Just Take HIM!"
--And Let Others See JESUS in YOU!
DO 2388          24/12/87

         1. ALL OVER THE WORLD, WHERE THERE ARE SELFRIGHTEOUS 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. 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!"
         4. 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.
         5. 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! They've TRIED everything else, they've had everything else, why not try GOD? Why not try the LORD? Why not listen to the answers the BIBLE gives?
         6. 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?"
         7. 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 the non-Christians know nothing about! We need to make it SIMPLE so that a little CHILD can understand it! We don't have to prove Divinity!
         8. 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.
         9. 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? (Prays:)
         10. 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!
         11. "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:
         12. "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!
         13. 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!"-Mk.9:24. He had his doubts, he had his questions, he had his problems, but he still believed in YOU, Jesus!
         14. 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!
         15. 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!

LET OTHERS SEE JESUS IN YOU!

         16. 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!

         17. 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! The only way they're going to see JESUS is in YOU!
         18. 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!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family