✝ Daily Encouragement (7/8/22) "To Save Sinners"
Published: Fri, 07/08/22
A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. The online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber.
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Listen to these messages
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Friday, July 8, 2022
This is the view at the end of our road where we get on Donegal Springs Road. The wheat was recently harvested giving a great color contrast to the farm setting.
Click on photo to enlarge "To Save Sinners"
Message summary: Christ said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32). The process of salvation begins when we acknowledge our sin and realize our need for God’s forgiveness. Today, we challenge all of you who read this message to examine your life. Have you acknowledged your sinfulness and come to the Savior for forgiveness of sins?
 "It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all” (1 Timothy 1:15). On this date (July 8) in 1741 Jonathan Edwards stepped behind the pulpit of the church he served in Enfield, Connecticut and methodically delivered what many consider the single most famous sermon ever preached in America. He didn't have the benefit of sound amplification, powerpoint slides, let alone flashy lighting like they have in many churches now.
Here is a description of Edward’s preaching style: By all accounts his delivery was not sensational or emotional. It was not due to theatrics. One observer wrote, "He scarcely gestured or even moved, and he made no attempt by the elegance of his style or the beauty of his pictures to gratify the taste and fascinate the imagination." Instead he convinced "with overwhelming weight of argument and with such
intensity of feeling".
The sermon had a title that it is hard to imagine being used today, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. But the astounding conviction from the Holy Spirit that came over the assembled listeners that day had a powerful and lasting impact. People wept and cried out to God for mercy and many were saved. The next several years America experienced a sweeping revival known initially as "The Great Awakening” (later called First Great Awakening). The Meeting House itself where Edwards preached burned down in 1775 and only a small, engraved stone now marks the spot where it once stood. Brooksyne and I have prayed at that very spot and reaffirmed our commitment to faithfully serve God in our generation. Sadly most of the churches influenced by that great awakening have long since fallen from the faith. In America from the early to mid-1800’s there was another period of revival known as the “Second Great Awakening” and some consider a period later in the 1800’s as the "Third Great Awakening". Many are crying out to the Lord for another Great Awakening as the only hope for stalling our country’s rapidly increasing slide into apostasy. Among the foundational characteristics of any true revival or awakening will be the acknowledgment of sin and our need for Jesus, our redeeming Savior, to forgive and cleanse us from our sin.
Some of our readers will recall an old hymn: Such love, such wondrous love
Such love, such wondrous love That God should love a sinner such as I How wonderful is love like this. In our age of emphasis on human worth and self-esteem we tend to avoid labeling people, especially calling them a sinner. The label "sinner" is very politically incorrect, and seen by many as offensive, intolerant and judgmental. Our short daily text is considered by many commentators to be part of an early church creedal statement. "It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all” (1 Timothy 1:15).
There are 5 trustworthy statements in the subsection of books known as the Pastoral Epistles (1&2 Timothy and Titus) that would have been familiar to the early church as summaries of key doctrines. Bible teacher Kenneth Wuest notes that "trustworthy" is a word worthy of unqualified acceptance. The Amplified Bible states, "The saying is sure and true and worthy of full and universal acceptance". The
trustworthy statement here in 1 Timothy 1:15 has been called "the Gospel in miniature". You can stake your life (in time and eternity) on this trustworthy statement! (Precept Austin online commentary).
Throughout the Holy Scriptures "sinner" is a designation often used to describe the fallen human race. The desperate appeal from the tax collector to Jesus was, "Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner" (Luke 18:13). A short, concise Bible verse many of us have memorized puts it this way: “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
Christ said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32). Indeed the process of salvation begins when we acknowledge our sin and realize our need for God’s forgiveness. Today, we challenge all of you who read this message to examine your life. Have you acknowledged your sinfulness and come to the Savior for forgiveness of sins? If so proclaim with us,
That God should love a sinner such as I
How wonderful is love like this. Be encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
 Daily prayer: Father, we come to you as sinners; poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore, weary and wounded by
the fall. How eternally grateful we are that Jesus stands ready to save us and empower us through His mighty Holy Spirit. As we arise and go to Him He embraces us with His loving compassion, and complete pardon for our sins. In Him we have unending blessings both now and forevermore. Amen.Prayer inspired by the hymn, “Come Ye Sinners”
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"Such Love" Video Congregational singing
"Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy" Video The Worship Initiative
"Chain Breaker" Video Zach Williams
Lancaster County Amish Country Drive Video I came across this recently published video that merely takes you on a country ride through Lancaster County. Interestingly we are familiar with almost every part of the ride as for many years we have had various chaplaincy locations in this part of the country. Through the years we have posted many photos from
this area.
Years ago we had an opportunity to visit the very site where
Edwards preached the sermon, "Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God" on July 8, 1741.
 The meeting house burned down in the years following the
message but this small stone marks the location where Jonathan Edwards preached.
Click on photo to enlarge If you care to do so you can read Jonathan Edward's sermon here. Warning: It's not "seeker friendly"
 Here's another farm scene from yesterday about 3 miles west of us on Beatty's Tollgate Road. The bluff in the distance is on the other side of the Susquehanna River in York County.
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