BLESSINGS FROM THE VICTORY AT CALVARY III.
MEMORISE:
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. John 15:16
READ: Mark 16:15 -20
15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
MESSAGE
We shall continue to examine more blessings from the victory at Calvary today. The first one we will consider today can be seen in John 15:15 which says:
Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
The sacrifice and victory at cavalry qualify believers to be called friends of Jesus. This also makes every believer an ambassador of the Most High on earth, as we see in 2 Corinthians 5:20:
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
The implication of the above blessing is in the Bible text of today. “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” Jesus commanded. You enjoy the privilege of an ambassador for the Almighty God when you have a divine encounter with Jesus Christ. With this comes the assurance that He will be with us until the end of the world (Matthew 28:20). The good thing about this assurance is that the Scripture says, “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31).
Another blessing from the victory at Calvary is that every believer can become a vessel through which God performs miracles. This means that we can control circumstances, principalities and powers, as we see in our Bible reading today (Mark 16:15-20).
There is a lot to rejoice over in the Scripture above. While it is true that there is still a lot of evil in the world, there are, however, numerous instances of devils being cast out of people, of persons in one form of bondage or the other being set free and so on. More and more people are baptized with the Holy Spirit, and we are constantly slaying spiritual giants. Even when we eat deadly things, they cannot harm us, and when we lay our hands on the sick, they are healed.
The only way to be part of these blessings is by accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. If you haven’t done so already, surrender your life to Him today, so that the blessings from the victory at Calvary can become yours, also.
PRAYER POINT
Father, please give me a full portion of the blessings of Calvary.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1King 21-22
HYMN 28: WHEN WE WALK WITH THE LORD
1 When we walk with the Lord
in the light of his word,
what a glory he sheds on our way!
While we do his good will,
he abides with us still,
and with all who will trust and obey.
Refrain:
Trust and obey, for there's no other way
to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
2 Not a burden we bear,
not a sorrow we share,
but our toil he doth richly repay;
not a grief or a loss,
not a frown or a cross,
but is blest if we trust and obey.
3 But we never can prove
the delights of his love
until all on the altar we lay;
for the favor he shows,
for the joy he bestows,
are for them who will trust and obey.
4 Then in fellowship sweet
we will sit at his feet,
or we'll walk by his side in the way;
what he says we will do,
where he sends we will go;
never fear, only trust and obey.
