The Open Word (Audio)

In our lesson today we’ll be reminded we’re here on this earth for a reason. We’ve been given a purpose, we’ve been called to proclaim the truth of God’s word. What we must understand is this is supposed to be the work of our Heavenly Father. It’s not us working in our own strength, it’s actually Him working in and through us. But that requires us dying to our own agendas, goals, opinions and ideas. It means that we submit to our Father and allow Him to lead us in His ministry.

As believers we must understand that we’re not saved for ourselves, we’re not saved merely for our own benefit. In fact, we’re saved to serve. We’ve been given a mission. That mission is to go out and proclaim the truth of God’s word. It’s to expose the lies of the enemy. In today’s message, Pastor David will share with us what it takes to prepare for this mission. Understand the most important way to prepare is to know the Word.

Because of the sin in the garden, we’ve all been infected with a disease. No one is immune from it. We’ve all inherited it, it’s an illness passed down from Adam. It’s sin! We are all born as sinners, no one can claim to be without sin. And to go a step further, there’s no one that can cleanse themselves of their sin. That’s why Jesus came. It’s because of what He did we can be set free and healed of our sin. All we must do is accept Him as our Savior, we must believe.

In today’s message we’ll be reminded of an important truth, that no matter how good we think we are, we’re all sinners in need of a Savior. The Bible teaches us that “we’ve all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”, Romans 3:23. Here’s another important point; there is nothing we can do to cleanse ourselves of sin, that’s why we need Jesus. He came to this earth to offer us free salvation. His sacrifice, His blood was, still is, and will always be sufficient.

There are many churches in the world today, there are countless doctrines, so which one is right? What we need to understand is we can’t look to a church, or to a body of believers and expect them to be the standard for right living. There really is only one truth, only one standard, and that is the word of God. So don’t worry about what other churches are doing, ask yourself if what you believe lines up with what God says. In Him is where we find true unity.

In the Body of Christ, we’re to be united as one, we are to walk as one, we are to serve as one. But how can that happen when we have so many different personalities, characteristics, talents, and ideas? Well, it’s simple really, the only way we can come together is by submitting to our Head, which is God. We can’t find unity in anything other than the truth. When we become unified based on man’s ideas or goals, we’ll eventually fail. But when we’re unified in God’s word, He’ll be able to use us mightily.

The Scripture is clear, it’s by grace through faith that we’re saved. It’s a gift of God, one that we can’t boast in. What we need to understand is there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation. It truly is a free gift, and once we receive it we’re not to go backwards and rely on our flesh to guide us. Instead we need to rely on the Spirit of God, we need to be empowered by His grace. We need to allow Him to lead us, and as we do so we will begin to walk in the good works that God has prepared for us.

When we accept Jesus as our Savior, when we decide to believe in the message of the Gospel, when we receive salvation, it’s accomplished by grace, through faith, it’s not a work of our flesh. The fact of the matter is that no one can save themselves. In today’s message Pastor David will remind us of that. He’ll also give us a warning, that the grace of God isn’t a one-time thing, it’s a continuous and ongoing resource for us. We can’t fall back and rely on our flesh.

In the Gospel of Mark we read, “For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world but lose his own soul?” This verse vividly expresses the point of today’s teaching. You see it doesn’t matter what this world has to offer us; fame, wealth or notoriety, none of it means anything if you lose your soul. That’s why we can’t use these things as measurements of success. Success isn’t what we gain in this life, success is obtained when we submit to God and allow Him to rule and reign in our lives.

In the world today the word “success” means you have arrived, you’ve made something of yourself. Perhaps you’ve earned notoriety, came into wealth, or accomplished major life goals. Well, none of these things equates “success” in the biblical sense. You see we can have all of these things and still be lost. The bottom line is that in order to succeed in this life you must be born again. You can have all the success and fame this world has to offer, but if you die without Jesus, your soul is lost forever.