TODAY'S WORD 09 MAY 2014: WHICH ONE: INSURANCE OR ASSURANCE?

I have asked people before about their relationship with the Lord and I hear replies like. I think I will go to heaven. I hope I will go. I want to go. But I am here to tell you today that it is the desire of God. Not hope, not wish, but know where you are in your relationship with God. So today for those of you who are not sure of the answer then my prayer is that you will know Him. “How will I know?” So let me give you some things so that you will have the assurance that you have or you can be saved.
There was a time I can remember when I was growing up in church singing a song called “Somebody touched me”. And in this song they would sing, “happened on a Monday somebody touched me”; and they would repeat each day of the week and you would stand up on the day that you were saved. And the last verse would say, “Happened on someday, somebody touched me”. That verse was the one that I would stand up and sing.
When the Pharisee Nicodemus came to Jesus one night, Jesus told him that you must be born again to see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus being confused thought He was talking about a physical birth. But just like you know your birthday, you know that one day your mom gave birth to you. You didn’t think you were born, you didn’t hope you were born; you know it. And everyone here has a physical birthday, and everyone must have a Spiritual birthday as well. 1 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
How do you know that you have been saved? There will be difference in your life. Now as I shared with you, at the age of ten I was not an ax murderer, but I can assure you that I knew that difference between right and wrong. But my difference was not as much of an outward difference but an inward one.
But there will be a difference. You cannot receive the Holy Spirit and not have a change. That is the reason that when someone walks down the aisle and says the words, and then leaves and never comes back to church and go out and lives like the dickens, then I would question the sincerity of the conversation. They might have said the words, but they never received the words.
Now just because you get saved does not make you exempt from sin, we all stumble and fall. But we will no longer be able to sin and not feel guilty about it, because we have the Holy Spirit living in our lives. There will be evidence of that change.
How do I have assurance of my Salvation? Even though our works does not save us, our works are the evidence of our Salvation. 1 John 4:15-16 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

If you have been saved then you will want to do things, (works) because you love Him and you want to please Him. And one the ways you can do that is by getting baptized. All through the New Testament, we read about when someone accepted Christ that they would almost immediately get baptized. Now baptism does not save you nor is it a requirement to be saved. The thief on the cross did not come down and get baptized, but yet Jesus told him, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise”. Baptism is an outward sign of an inward change.

You see if you can remember the time that Jesus came into your heart and life and there has been a change in your life, not that you will not sin but there will be evidence of that change, the you have no reason to doubt your relationship with Christ. Jesus said in John 6:37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. And when you come to Jesus with ASSURANCE that you are a child of God, then become a ‘shouting Christian’ rather than a ‘doubting Christian’.

Do you know Him today? Do you have assurance or are you relying on your insurance? Will you come to Him today?

TODAY'S WORD 08 MAY 2014: WHICH ONE: INSURANCE OR ASSURANCE?

Do you have “Assurance” or “Insurance”? I battled with this word when I joined Insurance Company. Both words sound very similar and have similar meanings. One of the definitions of both is a guaranty. Assurance is a guaranty of your word and Insurance is a guaranty of payment. The same, yet different.

I have assurance that if certain people tell me that they will do something that I don’t have to worry about it. Their word is all I need. This is a quality that we all should have, especially those of us who profess to be Christians. And I have insurance; lots of insurance. I have life insurance, car insurance, house insurance(yet to be completed), and health insurance. They guaranty me compensation if anything were to happen to my possessions or my family or me. But the one huge difference is that assurance is not based on anything I do. Insurance has everything to do with what I do. Insurance was only good as long as I paid my premiums. And like a good neighbor, the only way that the insurance company will be there for you, is if you pay the bill. If you don’t pay your bill, then your insurance will be cancelled.

Therefore, do you have “Assurance” or “Insurance”? Do you have assurance that if you died today that you would end up in Heaven with our Lord and Savior or do you have insurance, thinking that as long as you do the right things that you will end up in Heaven.

Let me answer the insurance question first. I read recently that according to a survey taken in 2001, only 30% of the people surveyed believed that there is nothing we can do to earn your salvation. That means that 70% of the people surveyed thought you could get to heaven on your own. And in that same survey, 50% of professed Christians believe that they have to be good or have to do something to earn their way to heaven.

Reminds me about a story I heard about a boy named Billy. Little Billy, caught in mischief, was asked by his mother, "How do you expect to get into heaven?" He thought for a moment and then said, "Well, I’ll just run in and out and keep slamming the door until they say, ’For heaven’s sake, either come in or stay out.’ Then I’ll go in."

We cannot do anything to earn our way to heaven. Like you have heard me say before, there will be a lot of good people who will not make it to heaven. And I think that is where a lot of people make the mistake. They think that all I have to do is live my life the best I can by doing the right things and being the best person that I can be. But that is not what the Bible says. Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

There is nothing you can do. You can pay your premiums with your good works all you want, but that’s not going to get earn your way into heaven. There is only one way to get to heaven. And Jesus paid that premium in full by giving His life on the cross for our sins. When Jesus tells His disciples that He is going away to prepare a place for them and Thomas ask Him how do we get to this place? How do we get to Heaven? And Jesus replied in John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
...to be continued