You might be surprised!  Oh, you likely wouldn’t be surprised to find a certificate which said: ‘Be it known before heaven and earth that (and here your name would be recorded) has bee forgiven of all sins.  GOD DECLARES THIS PERSON “NOT GUILTY” as God the Father accepts His Son as substitute for the punishments of sins.”

 

YOU WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED to find a crown fitted for you, a prince or

princess within the eternal kingdom of God.

 

BUT YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED to find a suit of armor... with breastplate and helmet and sword and other apparel for war.

 

You might be surprised because armor fitted just for you means that in the Gospel you are outfitted for battle...  there is something that will happen to you when you are covered by the blood of the Lamb...  You enter a battlefield... and you will be

attacked... and you will serve.

 

Now let’s be clear about something.  You don’t get the treasure of the Gospel by

entering into a battle... you don’t earn the treasures of the Gospel through a life of sacrifice and service; but once the GOSPEL DOES ITS WORK WITHIN THE HEART OF FAITH, Spiritual warfare and sacrificial living just start taking place.

 

This means that those who truly treasure the Gospel will also endure trials.  THIS IS AN IMPORTANT POINT TO STRESS!  Some new Christians, or even sheltered long-term Christians, mistakenly believe that to be a child of God in the world takes place in total safety.  They see Baptism ans living as a child of God within the world as an escape from troubles and the mischief of Satan.

 

This simply isn’t the case.  Although tribulation and battles with Satan cannot take from the heart of faith the forgiveness of sins, the robe of righteousness or the crown of eternal life; the Bible does not say that there is a hedge placed around the believer so that the Christian is not troubled and afflicted.  Jesus told us, “In this world you will have tribulation...”  Or as the Apostle Paul writes, “We are sheep readied for the slaughter...”

 

For those who treasure the Gospel, life is not merely a joy ride down a beautiful stream under a summer’s sun, but it includes serious warfare against evil and darkness.  IT MEANS INVADING the enemies graveyard in your neighborhood and place of work and schools where Satan seeks to keep trapped the walking, talking dead.

 

 

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