FROM THE SOVEREIGN LORD COMES ESCAPE FROM DEATH

Proclamation:

“Praise be to The Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.  Our God is a God who saves; from The Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.”  Psalm 68:19-20 (NIV)

Explanation:

The words of this psalm were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by King David.  Exactly what David was dealing with when he wrote this psalm is not clear.  This is a song which addresses many issues.  Here he notes that believers should praise The Lord for it is He who daily bears our burdens.  He also states that our God is The God of salvation.  He himself has conquered death and He will deliver us from it.

Application:

He bore all of our griefs and sorrows, and He was wounded and bruised for our sins. (Isaiah 53:4-5)  For all that The Lord God has done for us and all that He does for us daily, (Psalm 68:19) we ought to praise Him daily and continually. (Psalm 34:1)  God gave His only begotten Son so that we would have a chance at salvation and eternal life. (John 3:16)  Jesus, The Christ, said that all power in heaven and earth was given to Him. (Matthew 28:18)  He also has the power over death. (1 Corinthians 15:52-57 and Revelation 1:18)  He has defeated death and those of us who believe in Him will be delivered from death. (John 5:24 and 6:40) 

THE PENALTY FOR SIN AND THE GIFT OF GOD

Proclamation:

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."  Romans 6:23 (KJV)

Explanation:

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by the Apostle Paul to the believers in Rome.  Paul wanted them to know that death is the punishment for sin.  However, believers in Jesus, The Christ, will receive the God given gift of eternal life. 

Application:

We all have sinned. (Romans 3:23)  None of us is righteous. (Romans 3:10)  We all deserve the penalty of death for our sins.  Death is both physical and spiritual.  The physical death is the separation of the body and the soul.  Man is just the dust of the earth into which God breathed the breath of life and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7)  Without the God given breath of life the body dies and the soul returns to God.  The spiritual death is the eternal separation from Jesus, The Christ.  This "second death" occurs when the soul is cast into the "lake of fire" for eternal damnation and torment.  The only way to escape the second death is by belief in Christ and the acceptance of the gift of eternal life. (John 3:16)  We cannot pay the debt that we owe for our sins.  However, Jesus has already paid the debt for us with His death on Calvary and He has given us the opportunity for eternal life with Him, if we believe in Him.  At some point in time we will all die.  The question is, after death, where will your soul spend eternity?

GOD KNOWS ALL ABOUT US AND STILL LOVES US

Proclamation:

"Jesus answered, 'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.'  The woman said to him, 'Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.'  He told her, 'Go, call your husband and come back.'  'I have no husband,' she replied.  Jesus said to her, 'You are right when you say you have no husband.  The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.  What you have just said is quite true.'  'Sir,' the woman said, 'I can see that you are a prophet.' … The woman said, ‘I know that The Messiah is coming.  When He comes, He will explain everything to us.’  Then Jesus declared, ‘I, the one speaking to you, I am He.’"  John 4:10-26 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words spoken by Jesus, The Christ, as recorded by the Apostle John under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  When Jesus left Judea heading to Galilee, He went through Samaria.  There He met the Samaritan woman by a well and asked her for a drink of water.  She questioned Him because she knew that the Jews and the Samaritans did not get along.  During their conversation Jesus told her that if she knew who He was, she would have asked Him for the living water that He could give her.  Even though she did not fully understand she asked for that water.  Jesus told her to go and get her husband and return.  When she said I have no husband, Jesus told her about her past five husbands and her current living situation.  She thought that Jesus was a prophet but He told her that He was The Messiah.

Application:

All of us are sinners. (Romans 3:23)  None of us are righteous on our own. (Romans 3:10)  God demonstrated His love for us in that, while we were lost in our sins, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)  The Lord knows us and all about our past, including all of our sins, shortcomings, failures, iniquities, and our indiscretions, and yet He still loves us enough to offer us salvation and eternal life.  Jesus had to tell the Samaritan woman about herself before she believed.  Sometimes The Lord God allows things to happen to us so that He can show us who He is and what He can do for us.  He loves us and He wants us to be with Him throughout eternity, but we must first accept Him. (John 3:16)  It is only by the love and grace of God that we have been saved and not by anything that we have done. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

ENJOY THIS LIFE MORE ABUNDANTLY

Proclamation:

Jesus said "... I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."  John 10:10 (KJV)

Explanation:

These words of Jesus, The Christ, were recorded by the Apostle John, the disciple who referred to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved.  Jesus spoke these words to the Pharisees, and to the crowd of Jews who had gathered around Him and His disciples.  The Pharisees were questioning Him after He gave sight to the man who was born blind but He did so on the Sabbath.  After He had told them that they were spiritually blind, He told them that He was the gate for the sheep.  He said that He was the gateway to salvation. (John 10:9)  Then Jesus said that He did not come to kill or destroy, He came that men might have life, and have it more abundantly.

Application:

Jesus, The Christ, is the only gateway, door, or entry way to salvation.  He is The Way, The Truth, and The Life. (John 14:6)  No man can enter heaven or gain access to God, The Father, except through Him.  He came to earth to give us life, eternal life, not to kill and destroy.  The moment that we accept Christ as our personal savior, He gives us the gift of eternal life. (John 3:16 and Ephesians 2:8-9)  The more that we turn our lives over to The Holy Spirit of God, and follow His guidance and direction, the more fully we will enjoy this life. (1 Timothy 6:17)  As believers we will enjoy eternal life later on, and we will enjoy this life more abundantly the more obedient we are to His Word.

HOW DO WE KNOW THAT WE ARE SAVED

Proclamation:

“We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers.  Anyone who does not love remains in death."  1 John 3:14 (NIV)

Explanation:

The Apostle John, who referred to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved, here in this verse provided the answer to the question, "How do we know that we are saved?"  Under The Divine inspiration of The Holy Spirit of God his answer was, we know that we are saved because we love our brothers.  Those who do not love their fellowman are still lost in sin and are unsaved.

Application:

God is love, and he who does not love is not of God. (1 John 4:8 and 1 John 4:20)  If we love one another, then we are in God and God is in us. (1 John 4:12 and 1 John 4:16)  Jesus, The Christ, taught us that we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. (Mark 12:31)  If The Holy Spirit of God is within us, then we will exhibit evidence of the fruit of The Spirit, part of which is love. (Galatians 5:22-23)  When we display the love of God in our behavior, then we know that we are saved.  Death is the separation from God.  Those who live in the darkness of spiritual death, live a life which is dominated by hate, and not by love, because they have not accepted Christ. (John 3:36)  Therefore, they have not been born into the light of life with Christ.  Salvation is only available to those who believe. (John 3:16 and Romans 10:9)  

Believe In Christ And Have Eternal Life

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."  John 3:16 (NIV)

These words were recorded by the Apostle John, as part of The Gospel according to John, which was written so that all people would believe. (John 1:7)  Jesus, The Christ, left the splendor of heaven, wrapped Himself in human flesh, and dwelt among us. (John 1:14)  Because mankind was lost in sin, He who was without sin, came to earth to die in our place for our sins. (Romans 5:8)  The price to be paid for sin was death, and He paid the price for all of us so that we might have a chance at salvation and eternal life. (Romans 6:23)

The Lord God loves us, and it would please Him if all mankind would be saved and that none would be lost.  However, man was given the free will to choose to believe as he wants.  Only those who choose to believe in Christ will be given the gift of eternal life.  Those who choose not to believe have condemned themselves. (John 3:18)