What The Gospel Does

What The Gospel Does Acts 26. 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’ Romans 1. 14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. We can attest to this happening in our lives. We are saved. We are being saved. Hebrews 7. 25 Therefore, He is always able to save those who approach God through Him, since He lives forever to make intercession for them. Let’s look at what the Gospel does. * It Opens Our Eyes the eyes of the mind, the faculty of knowingly Until the Gospel comes we are blind to the eternal things We are not able to see things truly as they are. We are spiritually blind. We really cannot understand the Eternal Word of God until we come to know Christ, the Living Word. The Spirit draws us. We receive Christ through repentance and faith. His grace for you. You believe and suddenly you see things Eternal. Life can be understood as we read the Proverbs. Learn and Live. It is amazing to me that years ago when I read Proverbs I read without a lot of examples, kind of this is the way life is. Now as I read them people come to mind, both righteous and wicked and what they have sown and are reaping. The Proverbs are in a way a commentary on life. The Gospel opens our eyes to good and evil, right and wrong. We see things in life in focus. There is a clarity in relationships. Our eyes are opened to Eternity. There is a Heaven and Hell. The gentleman in Florida reading his Bible who said to the LORD in his Convertible on his way home from work, “God if You are real, will You show me?” He got home and began to read the Bible critically. He said to his wife, “Where is my Bible?” She said, “That is your Bible!” He went on to explain that this one was making sense and was not like the other one. Then he remembered his prayer. His eyes were opened. He surrendered his life to Jesus. Elisha and his servant. II Kings 6.17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, LORD, so that he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. The Word of God is about Light shining in the Darkness. Genesis to Revelation If the Gap Theory is true (That there is a gap between Genesis 1.1 and 1.2 and Satan fell from Heaven at that time) then this fits perfectly. There was a recreation of the original creation. And that is what happens when a person is born from above. * It turns us from Darkness to Light. Ephesians 5:8-14 ESV / For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. John 3:19-21 ESV / And this is the judgment: the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the Light and does not come to the Light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the Light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” 1 John 1:5-10 ESV / This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ... Before we hear the Gospel and believe we are in darkness, sin, wandering spiritually. That darkness is deceptive. We stumble over things we do not see. When we come into the Light we can see where we are going. We have compassion on those walking in darkness. It is pitiful. It is heartbreaking. When we do this we are following Jesus. Matthew 9.36 When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Sheep must be led and cared for. People without the LORD are not being led, not having the deep needs of their lives met and will make bad choices. * It breaks the Power of Satan and Turns Us to God. If you are under the power of Satan, you have no choice. You obey him. Romans 6.16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? We are born children of the Devil. Sin is inherited from our parents. We choose Christ and He frees us. We become children of God. A whole bunch of things happen among which we are adopted. That makes us children of God. Now we have a choice: to serve Him or to resort to sin. When we are children of the Devil we have choice. This breaking of the power of God continues to this day in lives. It also happens in nations! Pastor Daniel from Kenya, who is a dear friend, has a friend serving in Haiti on the Police Force sent in there to fight the gangs, the Kenyan Police Force. These are the ones who fought and won against ISIS in Kenya. Last evening I was speaking with him, felt led to call him, and he has a desire to come to the United States for a visit. He would like to be at my Mom’s Celebration of Life and Burial in June. He asked if I thought we could go to Haiti from here. At first I was going to say, “That would be impossible.” Then I heard the LORD say in my heart, “Nothing is impossible with God,” so instead I said that would take a bunch of miracles! But God works miracles! So we prayed at the end of our conversation for God to do that! Remember that Word given to Habakkuk, “Look at the nations and watch, and be utterly amazed, for I am going to do something, in your days that you would not believe even if you were told.” Haiti being set free would be wonderful! Freedom from Voodoo and oppression. When Jesus sets us free we choose each day to serve Him. Pastor Faisal in Pakistan yesterday. Electricity out. Very upset. Asked me to send a link so he could play the video recording. I did. He wrote back, “Brother I'll arrange many meetings and your all records message we'll plan via laptop or LED.” Told him we would be praying. As for the enemy he meant it for evil, but as for God He meant it for good to the savings of many lives! Let’s pray! For Haiti and Pakistan right now. * We receive the Forgivness of sins This means freedom from the guilt of sin, from the penalty of sin. It means no record of sins! The slate is wiped clean. The Prodigal Son and the Waiting Father Luke 15 * We receive a place among the Sanctified By Faith In Him. This is such a blessing I Thessalonians 5. 23 May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our LORD Jesus Christ. 24 The One Who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. Set apart for God For His Possession For His Service For His Glory Being like Jesus Receiving the Gospel Open our eyes Turns us from darkness to light Breaks the power of Satan