Salvation

Mysophobia is fear of dirt. Hydrophobia is fear of water. Nyclophobia is the fear of darkness. Acrophobia is fear of high places. Taxophobia is fear of being buried alive. Xenophobia is fear of strangers. Necrophobia is fear of the dead. Claustrophobia is fear of  confined places. Triskaidekaphobia is fear of the number 13.

Speaking to his physician, John cried in great perplexity, “I might not live a week!”

“Of course you may not, John, but very likely you will, and the medicine will be in the house; it will keep; and if you find yourself getting worse, you could take some. I shall not charge anything for it. If you should feel worse tomorrow you might begin even then.”

“Sir, I may be dead tomorrow!”

“When would you propose to begin your medicine then, John?”

“Well, sir, I hoped you would tell me to begin today.”

A Hebrew lady once told how seeing another Christian’s faith converted her: She was fleeing the German Gestapo in France during World War II. She knew she was close to being caught and she wanted to give up. She came to the home of a French Huguenot. A widow lady met her and said that it was time to flee to a new place. This Jewish lady said, “It’s no use, they will find me anyway. They are so close behind.” The Christian widow said, “Yes, they will find someone here, but it’s time for you to leave.

The historian Xenophon states, that when Cyrus had taken captives including a young prince of Armenia with his young and beautiful wife, of whom he was remarkably fond, they were brought before the tribunal of Cyrus to receive their sentence. The warrior inquired of the prince what he would give to be reinstated in his kingdom; and he replied, that he valued his crown and his liberty at a very low rate, but that if the noble conqueror would restore his beloved wife to her former dignity and possessions, he would willingly pay his life for the purchase.

A poor girl once wandered into a queen’s garden and asked the gardener if she could purchase some flowers for her sick mother. The gardener could not give the flowers away and told the girl that the queen did not have any flowers for sale. The queen overheard the conversation and told the girl that she did not have any flowers for sale, but she would give some to the girl. She then gave the girl some rare roses and told her to tell her mother they were from the Queen.

God does not sell salvation, He gives it freely to all who ask.

A twelve-year-old boy was saved at a revival. Later, his friends questioned him about it. One said, “Did you see a vision?” Another said, “Did you hear God speak?” The boy answered all of these questions with a simple no.

“Well, how did you know you were saved?” they asked. The boy replied, “It’s like when you catch a fish, you can’t see the fish or hear the fish; you just feel him tugging on your line: I just felt God tugging on my heart.”

Romans 8:16 “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”

Virginian Colonel Byrd was condemned to death by the Cherokee Indians. In that tribe there was a chief who had been a friend to him. That chief said, “This man is my friend; before you can get at him, you must kill me.” The Cherokees let him go free. 

The believer is held safely in Christ's hand. Before the believer could lose his salvation, Christ would have to be overcome; and that is impossible.

Source: Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations, Paul Lee Tan

Submitted by the homiletics class of West Coast Baptist College

D. L. Moody told the story of a shop girl in Chicago; one day she could not have bought a dollar’s worth of anything; the next day she could buy a thousand dollars worth of anything she wanted. What made the difference? She married a rich husband. She had accepted him and, of course, all he had became hers. All that Christ has becomes ours when we receive Him.

Source: The Speaker's Quote Book, Roy B. Zuck

submitted by the homiletics class of West coast Baptist College

Just as knowing that soap will clean the dirt off our hands does nothing for us until we use it, knowing the facts of the Gospel does nothing for a man until he personally applies them.

Submitted by the homiletics class of West Coast Baptist College

In her autobiography, My Life, former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir tells the story of her devout Jewish grandfather who lived in Russia. He was required to serve in the Russian army for sixteen years. During that time he tried to keep every Jewish law and custom even though it meant that he faced intense persecution—even being forced to kneel on a stone floor for hours.

Bette Nesmith was a secretary at a bank in Dallas when she decided there must be a way to correct typewriter mistakes without erasing the ink. She cane up with a formula for a fluid that she could use to paint over mistakes. In a short time all of the secretaries in her office were using her correction fluid.

Betty called her product, “Mistake Out,” and began a business selling it full time.When she sold her business to Gillette Company for $47.5 million, it was making $3.5 million every year on sales that grossed $38 million.

A duck hunter was with a friend in the wide-open land of southeastern Georgia. Far away on the horizon he noticed a cloud of smoke. Soon he could hear crackling as the wind shifted. He realized the terrible truth; a brushfire was advancing, so fast they couldn’t outrun it. Rifling through his pockets, he soon found what he was looking for—a book of matches. He lit a small fire around the two of them. Soon they were standing in a circle of blackened earth, waiting for the fire to come. They didn’t have to wait long. They covered their mouths with handkerchiefs and braced themselves.

In 1830 George Wilson was convicted of robbing the U.S. Mail and was sentenced to be hanged. President Andrew Jackson issued a pardon for Wilson, but he refused to accept it. The matter went to Chief Justice John Marshall, who concluded that Wilson would have to be executed. “A pardon is a slip of paper,” wrote Marshall, “the value of which is determined by the acceptance of the person to be pardoned. If it is refused, it is no pardon. George Wilson must be hanged.” For some, news of the pardon comes too late. For others, the pardon is not accepted.

The devil and his cohorts were devising plans to get people to reject the Gospel. “Let’s go to them and say there is no God,” proposed one. Silence prevailed. Every devil knew that most people believe in a supreme being. “Let’s tell them there is no hell, no future punishment for the wicked,” offered another. That was turned down, because men obviously have consciences which tell them that sin must be punished. The concave was going to end in failure when there came a voice from the rear: “Tell them there is a God, there is a hell and that the Bible is the Word of God.

A German botanist, who was traveling in Turkey, saw a rare flower hanging from an inaccessible precipice. He offered ten piastres, then twenty, then half-a-sovereign, and, finally, one pound, to a tempted but hesitating boy, if he would be slung over with a rope and cut the plant. The boy, struck with a new thought, said, “Wait a moment, and I will go for my father to come and hold the rope; then I will willingly go down and get it.”

Three-year-old Shawn accompanied his dad to church on Easter. The father wanted his son to understand the meaning of Easter, so he tried to explain the significance of the cross which hung at the front of the church. He said, “Jesus died because people nailed him to the cross.” The little boy’s eyes widened as he scanned the church. He asked his dad, “You mean these people?”

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.—Isaiah 53:5

A big lump of something lay for centuries in a shallow pool in North Carolina. People passing by just saw an ugly lump and walked on.

One day a poor man saw the heavy lump, and thinking it would be a good thing to hold his door open, took it home. Later a geologist stopped at the poor man’s home and identified the lump as the biggest piece of gold ever found east of the Rockies.

Many people see Jesus as only a historical figure. Friend, you must see Jesus as the only One who can save you from the penalty of your sin.

It is said that the ancient city of Troy had only one entrance, and that from whatever direction travelers approached the city they could only enter through that one legally-appointed entrance.

Likewise Jesus is the only way to Heaven and the Father. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6

Source: Encyclopedia of 7,700 Illustrations, Paul L. Tan

Submitted by the homiletics class of West Coast Baptist College

During the Spanish-American War, Clara Barton oversaw the work of the Red Cross in Cuba. One day Colonel Theodore Roosevelt came to her, asking to buy food for his sick and wounded Rough Riders. However, she refused to sell him any. Roosevelt was perplexed. His men needed the help and he was prepared to pay out of his own funds. When he asked someone why he could not buy the supplies, he was told, “Colonel, just ask for it!” A smile broke over Roosevelt’s face. Now he understood—the provisions were not for sale. All he had to do was simply ask and they would be given freely.

In June of 2008 Phuljharia Kunwa, a rich 80-year old Indian widow, spent thousands of dollars on a feast for 100,000 people hoping it would please the gods and open the doors of heaven for her. She fed lunch to people from surrounding villages and towns for two consecutive days. She has no family or relatives to bequeath her property to. Mrs. Kunwar spent $37,500 on the feast.

Isaiah 64:6 says that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in God's sight. No amount of benevolence can earn someone the right to dwell in Heaven or forgive their sin.