Assurance of Salvation

ASSURANCE OF SALVATION
 

Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis and this is “Multiply,” the podcast that

provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

I spoke today with a brother serving Christ in a West African country. He told

me that he had asked over 1,000 people if they knew where they would spend

eternity after they died. Of the 1,000 people he asked, many of whom

attended church each Sunday, only seven reported that they knew they would

live eternally with Christ because of what He had done for them. The rest

reported that they were not sure where they would spend eternity or that they

knew, in fact, that they would spend eternity in hell. My brother was quite

concerned that many who were going to church did not have assurance of

salvation in Christ.

So, my word of encouragement today is that we can live in this broken world

knowing for sure that we are children of God, joint heirs with Christ, forgiven,

justified believers who have a new and eternal life in Christ. We need not fear

death or hell.

I found assurance of salvation when I was 13 years old. I have lived in that

assurance for the last 55 years. Here is how I found it. I told a brother in Christ

that I wasn’t sure that I was a Christian. He opened his Bible to 1 John 5:10 and

read these words to me:

Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not

believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the

testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given

us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever

does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Then the brother asked me, “Dean, do you have the Son of God in your life?” I

thought for a moment, and then I said, “Yes. I have trusted Jesus as my Savior.

He lives in me.”

Then the brother read again from 1 John 5:11, 12: “God has given us eternal

life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life.” Next, he asked,

Dean, do people who have the Son of God in their lives have eternal life? I said,

“Yes.” Then he asked me, “Do you have eternal life?” I said, “Yes, I have Jesus;

I have eternal life.” Then, the brother confidently told me, “Dean, you can go

from this place and never doubt that you are a child of God, a Christian who

has eternal life.” And do you know what? I did go from that place with full

assurance that I am a child of God and that I have eternal life. I have

experienced many fears since that time. But I have never been afraid of going

to hell or being separated from Jesus. I have him and He has me.

Do you have assurance of salvation in Jesus Christ? You can. Do your disciples

have assurance of salvation in Jesus Christ? They can too. Please, without

delay, share with them the wonderful truth about assurance of salvation from

God’s word found in 1 John 5:10-12.

I’m Dean Davis, praying for a church in every African village and that each

person in those churches will live daily with full assurance of the saving

presence of Christ in them, the hope of glory.

#EncouragementForVillageChurchPlanters #AssuranceOfSalvation

A Great Multitude

       Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis and this is “Multiply,” the podcast that

provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

A great day is coming. A wonderful day is before us. It’s a day that was

foreseen more than 1,900 years ago. It’s a day of great rejoicing! Listen to the

words that the apostle John used to describe this coming great day:

“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one

could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before

the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were

holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,

who sits on the throne,

and to the Lamb.”

All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the

four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and

worshiped God, saying:

“Amen!

Praise and glory

and wisdom and thanks and honor

and power and strength

be to our God for ever and ever.

Amen!”

(Revelation 7:9-12)

What a great day! A multitude. A huge multitude. The crowd of people is so big

no one can count it. And it’s not just any crowd; it’s an enormous crowd of

people who have found forgiveness in Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who by his

shed blood and resurrection victory over death grants pardon for sin and

salvation to all who trust Him.

The people of this enormous crowd are not just speaking one or two languages;

they are speaking every language from the whole world. They represent nations

and tribes: every nation and every tribe.

Where did they come from and what are they doing? They come from

everywhere. But, more importantly, they come to Christ and they stand before

his throne praising him because Jesus’ disciples in every generation went out

and proclaimed the Good News. The multitude is before the throne of God for

two reasons:

1) Because Jesus paid it all so that they could be saved.

2) Because his followers multiplied evangelists and disciple-makers and

cross-cultural workers to carry the Good News to every nation, tribe,

people and language.

This scene of the multitude before the throne is a future event. It was revealed

to John in a vision about 1,930 years ago. This scene cannot yet take place, in reality,  today because there are still some tribes and peoples without a single

person who has a white robe cleansed in the blood of the Lamb. Our job is to

multiply disciple makers so that the Revelation 7 scene before the throne

becomes a reality as soon as possible.

So, my brothers and sister, keep making disciples who make disciples; keep

crossing cultural barriers to make Christ known.

This has been Multiply! And I’m Dean Davis asking, “Who will you share this

encouraging word with today?

#EncouragementForVillageChurchPlanters #Revelation7 #AGreatMultitude

Blessed To Multiply

 

Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis and this is “Multiply,” the podcast that provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

One of the most beautiful blessings that God our heavenly Father has given his children is the power to multiply. Genesis 1:27 and 28 tell us, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

This is amazing! Our Creator did not pre-set the world’s population. Nor did he limit the number of people who could live on the earth. Instead He gave people the power to multiply humanity and rule all of the living things on the planet. The book of Genesis calls that power a blessing, “God blessed them and said “Be fruitful and multiply…”

Right from the beginning, God wanted us to embrace the power of multiplication. And it seems that, in general, people have done so!  The earth’s population that started with just two people is now over 8 billion people.  And it’s still growing.

I am expecting a grandchild to be born in about seven weeks.  My little grandchild will be just one in eight billion, but she will be a blessing to her parents, to her extended family and to her people. Multiplication is a blessing. God’s word tells us so, and so does our own experience.

But there is another kind of multiplication that God is concerned about. He wants us to multiply disciples.  Disciples are followers of Jesus who do three things:

1. Disciples hear the Word of God,

2. Disciples understand the word of God. And,

3. Disciples bear fruit by obeying the word of God.

In the Great Commission, Jesus set forth a chain of multiplication of disciples. He said, Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

If you teach your disciples to obey all that Jesus commanded, they too will multiply disciples because Jesus commands disciple making.  Let me say that another way: If you teach your disciples to obey each of Jesus commandments, including the Great Commission, your disciples will also make disciples because Jesus commands disciple making! When disciples make disciples, we have multiplication. Now if multiplying people across the face of the earth brings blessing, how much more does the multiplication of disciples bring even greater blessing.

Multiplication is a necessary part of God’s plan to bless all peoples.  So, here is my word of encouragement to you today: Be fruitful and multiply, not just natural children, but spiritual children as well, disciples of Jesus who in turn will live an abundant, fruitful life that brings blessing to many.

 

This has been “Multiply,” and I’m Dean Davis asking, “Who will you share this encouraging word with today?

 

#EncouragementForVillageChurchPlanters #GreatCommission #MultiplyDisciples