KEY SCRIPTURE: John 8:51 KJV” Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.”

God created man to live forever, yet sin, which is neglect, rebellion or disobedience to the word of the Lord has brought man into this state. God told Adam, the day you shall eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall die. They ate it, and so they died. Even at that time, they lived to be, over nine hundred years.

It was further, disobedience and an outright dislike of Godly instruction that caused God to make the following decree over man. Gen 6:3 KJV” And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” Man’s days were brought to 120 years because he would not retain God’s word in himself. Remember that God’s word and God’s Spirit are one (John 1:1, John 6:63. 2 Tim 3:16) Man’s condition was not just a decree of God, but a result of his actions or making.

It was not the original intent and desire of God, (for from the beginning it was not so, Matt 19:8b) for men to be destroyed by death. Remember according to Gen 6:3, John 6:63, and Rom 8:11, it is the Spirit that gives life. KEEPING THE WORD IS KEEPING THE SPIRIT.

Apostle Paul’s experiences explain how one could overcome death’s destructive power and leave this life when ready to go. Paul survived a viper attack Acts 28:3. The following are death-bound conditions that could not take away his life.

1. Five times he received 39 stripes.

2. Three times beaten with rod.

3. He was stoned once and dragged on the floor yet he woke up again. Acts 14:19, 20

4. Twelve hours of daytime in the deep, and twelve hours of nighttime in the sea as well.

5. In perils of robbers, perils of waters, perils of countrymen and that of foreigners, perils among false brethren, and many more.

6. In colds and nakedness.

All these are life-threatening conditions that could not take his life.

What on earth could hold his life against all these death-threatening events? The power of God’s word at work in Him. He kept the word or trusted in the word he received from the master.

How did apostle Paul go about surviving these events? In Colossians 3:16, He said let the word of Christ, dwell in you richly. In 2 Corinth 4:13 he said, We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; Apostle Paul kept declaring the word which he had gladly believed in his heart. He spoke life, God’s protection and the fulfilment of his ministry. He said in Philipp 3:12, that he may achieve, whatever Christ had called him to achieve. I believe these were his confessions of faith. The Bible said the Lord Jesus is the high priest of our confession. Heb 3:1. You can also keep the word and experience a divine hand in sustaining you against every danger or threat to your life

CONFESSION

God’s word dwells in me richly. I put my confidence in His word. My life is secured, and preserved against every satanic onslaught. His word in me is my seed for immortality.

THOUGHT: THERE ARE TWO SIDES TO SURVIVE THE THREAT TO LIFE, GOD’S PART, WHICH IS HIS WORD, AND MAN’S, WHICH IS TO KEEP THE WORD.

FURTHER STUDIES

Prov. 18:21 KJV “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”

Prov. 15:4 KJV” A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.”