•CHRIST THE ROCK CONGREGATION
SUNDAY OCTOBER 20TH 2024
SERMON BY PASTOR MARC E SIMEON
•WHAT IS IT TO REJOICE IN THE GOD OF YOUR SALVATION
•Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Hab 3:18
•
INTRODUCTION
•No one can cherish something until he knows its value.
•I used to try to trick my children when they were little by asking them to exchange their ugly $20 bill for my beautiful one dollar bill.
•Their mom usually interfered without being asked, to assist them in the decision.
•Unless you know the value of your salvation, you will exchange it for anything that looks attractive.
•Mt 16:26 “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
•When we understand the salvation we have in Christ, we hold it very dear, with gratitude, fear and reverence.
•I just wanted a simple definition of salvation and Al gives me a full sermon.
•That’s my first time using Al although I did not seek for it specifically.
•Al’s definition is very good and I will be using it.
•I fear that some preachers will get very lazy in their progressive dependence upon Al.
•AI Overview
•“In Christianity, salvation is the act of being rescued from sin and its consequences through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
•“It is a central concept in the Christian faith and can be applied to both individuals and the world as a whole.”
•“Salvation is a way for people to be restored to a right relationship with God and to be adopted into his family.”
•“It is a gift from God that cannot be earned through good deeds or behavior. ”
•“The Bible describes salvation in a few ways:”
•“Conversion: Salvation is the act of converting to faith in Jesus Christ.”
•“The Christian life: Salvation is the entirety of the Christian life, including the resurrection from the dead and dwelling in the new heavens and new earth. ”
•“Three tenses: Salvation is described in three tenses: Christians have been saved, they are being saved, and they will be saved.”
•“The term “salvation” comes from the Latin word salvatio and the Greek word sōtēria, which both mean “saving” or “delivering”. ”
TO REJOICE IN THE GOD OF YOUR SALVATION
•To rejoice in the God of your salvation is to be thankful, appreciative, joyful, satisfied, grateful, content, happy, blissful and delighted for your salvation and The God who offered it to you.
•Isaiah 61:10
• 10 ¶ I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
•The experience of the salvation of God is so personal that each beneficiary may define it distinctively.
•For the saints of the Old Testament, their understanding of salvation was somewhat limited to the earthly realm.
•It had to do with the protection of God, the peace of God, the provision of God, the love of God, and the fellowship with God.
•The Christian view of salvation has manifold of meanings.
•God has saved me from my past; God is saving me in my present life; and God will continue to save me for all eternity.
•God is watching continuously over us to save us from the calamities of this life.
•God is also watching over the wellbeing of our souls.
•God is much more interested in securing our souls from the corruptions of this world than to push us up to the top of the societal latter of this world.
•The dilemma is that we prefer the earthly blessings over the spiritual transformations that God desires us to have.
•God is much more interested in our quest for intimacy with him who is the source of all blessings than to the blessings themselves.
•When your salvation becomes dear to you, you will begin to have a genuine love for the God who gave it to you.
•Your yearnings will gradually shift to the things that benefit the growth of your soul in order to foster a higher intimacy with God.
•Ps 25:4-5 Show me Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths.
• 5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.
•When you are delighted about your salvation, you will go to all extremes to preserve it.
•You will cherish it above all things.
•Ps 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties;
• 24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
PRIORITIZING YOUR SALVATION
•This world and all its pleasures are luring you out of the love for God.
•Every candidate of salvation must be proactive to create an atmosphere conducive for the improvement of their soul.
•You will either progress or regress in the development of your soul. The Bible encourages us to work out our own salvation.
•Mt 6:33-34 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
•34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
•1Ti 4:8 For bodily exercise has some value, but godliness has value in all things, having the promise of the life which is now, and of that which is to come.
•Do not spend all your time and energy just for the comfort of this life on earth.
•There are great things we can and must do to secure us a good living in this world.
•Taking care of your physical body is one of them.
•Going to school is one of them. Finding a good job is one of them.
•Having a healthy diet is one of them, and the list goes on.
•All of that are to no avail in the eternal landscape of life if you lose your soul.
•We all will die at some point and our souls will live on.
•Our soul will be transferred to the fitted body to where you will spend your eternity.
•Those who are bound for hell will be given an eternal body suitable to absorb the harshness of their environment.
•Christians and all the saints of the Old Testament will be given a body in the same pattern of the glorified body of Jesus Christ so that they will be able absorb the glory of God for all eternity.
•Isa 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in Yahweh, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
•The garment of salvation is figurative to the grace of God that covers all aspects of the life of the elect: past, present and future.
•Conclusion
•May God help each one of us to understand the value of our salvation!
•When you understand the salvation of God, it will be easy for you to rejoice in the God of your salvation.
•No matter what life may throw at you, it will be easy to say like Habakkuk:
•Hab 3:18 Yet I will rejoice in Yahweh. I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
•AMEN!
•
Pasteur Marc Simeon 