Sunday, November 20, 2016 - The Joy of Having A Savior
Pastor Roger C. Marcos
November 20, 2018
True joy is in the presence of God.. Practice God’s presence and See His Power. Do you know that the best time to thank God for His presence is when you don’t feel His presence? When it comes to Jesus presence, don’t go by your feeling. GO BY HIS PROMISE THAT HE IS IMMANUEL!
Do you believe or agree with me that God is the SOURCE of LOVE, mercy and joy? Joy is both a description of God and a description of what He gives.
Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
The three words used to describe JESUS--- Savior, Christ, and Lord.
Jesus is Savior because He died for our sins. Christ the Messiah because He is the anointed or chosen one who fulfills Old Testament prophecy. The term Lord calls attention to His Authority over all things in heavens and on earth Matthew 28:19.
God Son the Savior of the World. - And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. 1 John 4:14
10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Luke 2:10 KJV
God’s Great Love:
For 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 [attain wholeness]. John 3:16-18
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
God’s great act of love when He gave His only begotten son in order to provide men in the world with a possibility of salvation, or as it is called here, „that the world through him might be saved“.
Man, born into this world, needs a Savior in order to have salvation..why? Because as natural man is lost and has no eternal life. All men do have this possibility of salvation, of being saved and receiving eternal life - but this is related to a certain condition: „whosoever believeth in him [Jesus Christ] should not perish“. Those who do not believe are already under the sentence of condemnation which puts him in the category .of being condemned; but those who believe on him will not be lost but will have eternal life. God has sent His only begotten Son as savior of the world, but that does not mean that automatically all the world will at one time attain to salvation. No! Salvation is available to all the world, but it is a matter of decision on the part of each individual to appropriate it by believing on Him. Only those who believe on Christ will receive everlasting life and will not be lost.
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
We have no valid excuse of not understanding what true love is all about. Since love motivated God to give up His Son for salvation, think about what love can motivate you to do for God and for others.
"He himself bore our sins" in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; "by his wounds you have been healed. 1Peter 2:24
THE JOY OF SERVING GOD.
Some may not understand how joyful it can be to serve the Lord. When I say joy, I am not talking about mere happiness or laughter, but a way of life. When you have joy in your heart from being a faithful servant of God, it will give you stability in your life that produces peace and hope.
Joshua certainly understood how joyful it was to serve God. As he told the people of his day:
Joshua 24:15 "And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
We all know that Jesus is our best example of servitude. As Jesus said:
Matthew 20:28 The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,
Luke 4:8 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.' "
Jesus first priority was to serve the Father, which included serving others because it is the Father’s will that we serve others. You certainly never read about Jesus complaining about what the Father asked Him to do nor do you see Him having a negative attitude about the opportunities He was given to glorify His Father in heaven. Instead, it was always a joy for Jesus to serve God and others.
I want you to think about your life right now. How do you feel about serving God in the church?
Do you still find joy in serving or does is seem like a burden to you?
If it seems like a burden to you, ask yourself why? If you don’t know for sure, I would suggest that you need to examine your prayer life and the amount of time you spend in God’s Word. If you are not praying as you should you may have become more dependent on yourself instead of God. If you are not studying God’s Word as you should, you could be allowing the world and its sinful ways to influence you and rob you of your joy of serving the Lord.
If you want to cure your problem and find joy in serving the Lord, then I would recommend these same two things. Start praying more and studying God’s Word more. You should pray to God to help you have more joy in serving Him. When you put God’s Word into your life on a daily basis, it will serve as constant reminder of all the wonderful things that God has done for you and the promises He has made. It will help change your attitude about serving the Lord.
When Christians get to the point in their life where it is no longer joyful to serve God, then something is wrong.
The further we distance ourselves from God and His Word, the less joy we will have in serving Him. If we do not make God’s Word part of our life and use it to remind us of His great love for us and how He has given His all for us, then it easy for us to take the blessing He has given us for granted.
If you ever find yourself feeling like serving God is more of obligation than joyful, then you need take a serious look at your life because you are in a bad place in your relationship with God.
Think about: THE JOY OF HAVING A SAVIOR!
Conclusion:
A. Accept Jesus Today!
The most important decision you can make In Your Life Is ACCEPTING Jesus.