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
