Salvations Essential Vitamins: G.O.S.P.E.L and S.A.P

As Seventh-Day Adventists, We know that the time of trouble is coming our way, and the Lords desire is that we are prepared before and for the conflict that is soon to come.  As the great physician, the Lord has given us Salvations Essential Vitamins: G.O.S.P.E.L and S.A.P. In the form of an acronym, these essential vitamins will help in carrying us through this time.  Lets take a look at G.O.S.P.E.L:

1. G: GOD.  God is love.  This is the Number one truth that needs to be placed on every believer’s heart.  It is to know God, and the way we know him and his love for us is through his only begotten Son, The Lord Jesus Christ. If we have gone against the plain testimony of the Scriptures and our concept or view of God has been altered by a creed or traditions of men, then our views of him will be seen, and who we worship will be reflect in our words and our lives.  But if we hold to the plain testimony, as it is written that we have a literal heavenly Father and an Elder brother, then we are sure that we are on the right track in knowing who he is. (John 14: 6-10, 1John 4: 8-16, John 17:3, John 3:16)
2. O: Offers.  This word “offers” draws our minds back to the Sanctuary, in that the sacrifice was made as an offering for the Sins of the people.  As this offering was done in times past, even so did the Lord Jesus Christ give himself for us, as the Saviour of the world.  Offering is a symbol a self-sacrificing love.  The complete definition of love is the sacrifice of the Father, when he gave man his dearly beloved Son, Jesus Christ.  If God gave his Son for us all, are we not also to give ourselves for each other?  This is true love and this love is what the Lord is manifesting in his beloved Children. (John 3:16, John 16:10-15, 1 John 4:10, 1 John 2:10-11).
3. S: Sinful. By Nature we are Sinful, full of Sin!  Our natural state of being cannot save us, nor bring us into Favour with the high and Lofty one.  Not even our “good Works” are approved of God.  It is only through the merits and loveliness of God's dear Son that we can be seen by him.  Christ, our forerunner, goes before us and is before us, pleading with the Father to spare the sinner a little longer.  As the Son of Mankind, Christ represents us before his Father.  As the Son of God he manifests the loviness of the Father to the world.  As the great High priest wears the twelve stones on his breast, even so does Christ wear us before the mercy seat and before our Heavenly Father.  (Jer 17:9, Heb 2:17-18)
4. P: People. God created People, Man and Woman he created in his own Image.  The parable of the Man who went out to find goodly pearls, went out searching, and found the pearl of great price.  That pearl represents Christ.  The man represents those that seek Christ, the pearl of great price.  Also the man that went out looking for pearls can be seen as Christ, looking for those whom he has redeemed by his precious blood.  The value that Christ see’s in the soul is not so much the natural desires of man, but what was originally created in him, the image of God.  This image is the reflection of the Lovely Jesus, God beloved Son.  Also, the field that had the treasure hidden in it can be seen in the same light of the “value” that the Father and Son see in us, and the Value we have of the Father and the Son.  Gods Kingdom is fulled with people who Love the Lord and keep his Commandments.  It is said that the Lord Loves the Sinner, but hates the Sin.  This is true that it is the people whom God loves, and that he sent his Son to save them that were Lost.  The Lord prayed for a unity with his brethren, that they should be one, as he and his Father are one.  The relationship that we have with our Heavenly Father, the Christ and each other will determine whether we belong to a family based kingdom, or a kingdom that only performs its selfish desires and aspirations.  (Gen 1: 26-27, Matt 13:45-46, Matt 13:44, Rev 14:12, John 17:21, Matt 6:33)
5. E: Eternal L: Life: “And this is life eternal, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent” John 17:3.  This is what eternal life is, and this life is in God's only begotten Son.  This is the only way we can have true freedom.  Freedom from Sin, Self and Satan.  This freedom comes in when we accept Jesus as a personal saviour, and he comforts us with his own presence.  The Lord comes and abides in our hearts as the Comforter, and comforts the Soul.  His word to the weary soul is thus… “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, but give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27 (2 Cor 3:17, John 14: 18, John 8: 31-32)

So in Summary, when we read the following Acronym, we see the all inspiring message we can have for today and through the Time of trouble.

God Offers Sinful People Eternal Life.  When we accept this message, the peace of God that passes all understanding, will keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.

There are three more essential ingredients that will help us in our personal walk with the Lord, it is called S.A.P

This word “SAP” is the unseen substance that keeps the branched well nourished, when it is connected to the vine.  Branches may remain in the vine, but the branch that bears fruit are the ones that are drawing SAP from the True Vine.  Christ is the Vine, The Father is the Husbandman and we are the Branches.  The fruit is the lovely image of Jesus explained in Gal 5:22-23.  What then is the SAP?  Let us use this word as an Acronym to illustrate the hidden stuff that allows the branch to be a channel to bear the beautiful fruit, which essentially comes from the Vine.

1. S: Spirit.  “Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Liberty” (Cor 3:17) The Spirit is the Omnipresence Spirit of the Lord.  The Lord is with us and lives in us by his Holy Spirit.  Jesus said that the Words that he spoke are Spirit and Life.  This refers to his divine nature, his personal presence, unseen to the human eye, stripped of the personality of humanity, and independent thereof.  By this unseen agent, the Lord is manifested in the heart, and it is he himself that manifests and represents himself as the omnipresence.  We do not have the full knowledge of how this operates, but the Lord has revealed his truth to us that he is here with us, as if he never left us.  Without the holy spirit of God it is impossible to be drawn to the loveliness of Jesus.  The Life of Christ is in his word, and his word reveals his life.  When the Word of God is placed in the heart, sin is hated, and the righteousness of God, the Lord our Righteousness, is cherished.  Christ is the Word, He is the Righteousness of God, He is the Light, and he is the Rock.  Christ is the fountain of life and it is his very life that draws us to him, quenches our thirst and fills our cup until it overflows to a dry and thirsting world.  By what is written, we know exactly who the Holy Spirit is, “…the Lord is that Spirit…” 2Cor 3:17. It is the Lord with us, God with us, Immanuel.

2..A: Answers.  The word “answers” is represented as God's answer or promise to us, in his written Word.  The Lord declared, through the prophet Jeremiah “Before you call upon me I will answer thee, while you are still speaking, I will hear”.  When we take the word of the Lord, and believe it just as it reads, and understand the intention that God had in mind for the reader, we surely know that we see a “Thus saith the Lord”.  The Bible is to be regarded as the Voice of God speaking to the soul.  It is a type of Christ, whom we have in our reach.  As Christ Is both the Son of God and the Son of Man, Divine and Human, Even so is the Bible, written by Man and Inspired by God.  The Father knows our every experience and thoughts and feelings.  As Christ suffered for mankind, let us also bear in mind that the Father suffered also, in giving up his only begotten Son.  The Answers that God gives us from his word is the Manna by which every person who is in hunger may eat and live.  The true manner is hidden in the word of God.  When we know who and what the word of God is, and eat of this word, then we shall be satisfied, yet longing for more of him.  This is the direct channel that the Lord himself speaks to us.  It is not by impressions alone, but by a thus saith the Lord.  If it is according to the Law and the testimony, Then we know that the true light is shining forth, bring the soul into captivity to his voice and to himself.

3.  P: Prayer.  Prayer is considered the breath of the Christian soul.  This is our opportunity to talk to the Father and the Son, and that we honour them both in the same way.  Our prayers are carried to heaven, and translated through the voice of Gods dear Son.  The prayers that come before our God are “incense” to the Father, and this is done through the voice of the Son of God.  The Lord translates our prayers into the Language of Canaan.  So that when the Lord hears our prayers, through the darling of heaven, then only through his begotten son, our cries are answered.  It is written “because ye are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts crying Abba, Father.”(Galatians 4:6).  When we receive God's Son,  the Spirit of his Son, Jesus Christ dwelleth in man; the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of the Lord, and the Spirit of Christ.  It is Christ that crieth out to the only wise God our Father, who is above all, through all and in you all.  We therefore do not live unto ourselves, defending our own course, but rather we give our petitions before the Lord, who pleads with our heavenly Father.  What a wonderful gift, what a mighty intercessor, what a wonderful Comforter.  When we have the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal saviour walking with us, through us, in us, for us and above us, only then can we boldly reiterate the words spoken by our brother Paul “ I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.  And the Life which I now live I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me” Gal 2:20.

In Summary, when we are fully connected to the true vine, and bear fruit, not by labour, but by connection, then it will be seen who we are, by the fruit that had come forth.  The SAP is hidden from the naked eye, but is seen by the Eye of Jehovah.  God sees all things and his ears are open to the Just.  He is merciful and will save to the utmost of those that come to him, when we come by his beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

My Prayer is that before the Time of trouble, we may have this truth installed in our hearts, remembering who we are: “sons and daughters of God”.  Children of the King, through the only begotten Son of the Father.  Let us always remember that God Offers Sinful People Eternal Life, and if we drink of the “SAP” and stay connect to the Lord, The True Vine, his lovely image will be seen.