The Bible is God's Treasure Book, containing the benefits and treasures stored up for every believer. Many of these benefits are available NOW - the moment you receive Christ as personal Savior.

Salvation is more than fire insurance to save one from the fires of hell; more than life insurance to provide an assurance of eternal life. It is this and so much more. The benefits begin in the here and now!

I am amazed to find many are reluctant to study the Bible or attend Bible classes. They are robbing themselves of wonderful blessings which are revealed in God's Treasure book, the Bible.

Imagine that you received a phone call from a lawyer. The attorney explains to you that your rich uncle has died and left you a fortune. He urges you to drop by his office, sign some papers and receive the first installment of your inheritance. Would you say: "Thanks for calling. I appreciate the invitation, but I can't make any promises right now You see, my aunt Suzie is sick and I've got to visit her, then i must go to the store..." No way! You would "burn rubber", spin your wheels all the way to the lawyer's office to discover how rich you are. So should we hurry to the house of God to learn of the treasures laid up for us as Christians.

Now, let us rush to the Treasure Book, God's last will and testament and discover how rich we are or can be when we receive Jesus as Savior.

In Romans chapter five, Paul discloses several special treasures that become the birthright of every believer.

If you have never invited Jesus Christ to come into your life, forgive your sins and take charge of your life, this is what you can expect to happen the moment youbelieve in Christ. If you are already a believer, this can be a refresher course on your rights and privileges as a child of God.

I. PERFECT STANDING BEFORE GOD. "Therefore, being justified by faith"

Here is an amazing truth! No one is perfect. We are all sinners - either unsaved sinners or saved sinners; however this word: JUSTIFIED has a special meaning. It means "declared righteous".

A simple definition of this powerful word is this: God treats us "JUST AS IF I'D NEVER SINNED." The righteousness of Christ is put on your account. Your debt is put on Jesus. God treats you as though you had never sinned. The moment one believes in Christ, all the filth, contamination and guilt is removed, erased forever! What good news!

Have you experienced that joy of sins forgiven, the record cleared? It is the first benefit in the inheritance of the believer.

II. PEACE WITH GOD. "We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:"

We have peace, we know that we have, we enjoy it; it is not a thing of the future, we have peace, a deep calm like that which came to the disciples when Christ hushed the winds and waves to sleep. "We have peace with God," his peace has entered into us, we possess it now; but it is all "through our Lord Jesus Christ"

The history of the world, is the story of warfare. Remove the wars from the history books and there is not much history left. What is wrong with the human race? Why can't we have peace in this world? The United Nations has worked at this task since 1945, but the results are very striking. Since that date when the nations organized to maintain the peace, there have been 147 recorded wars and over twenty million people have died in military combat.

Man is at war with God. The first man, Adam, rebelled against the rightful ruler of the universe, the Creator God. When man rebelled, he caused the whole human family to become a rebel race. Mankind is at war with God, there is no peace within the human personality because there is a warfare going on. He doesn't know what the problem is, there is inner turmoil, so the person strikes out at those around him. He can't get along with family, neighbors, fellow human beings, because of a boiling, churning discontent on the inside that will not allow him to live at peace on the outside.

In a very real sense, God has signed a peace treaty with the human family, written in the blood of Jesus Christ. He offers pardon and peace to all who will believe.

I spoke to a wounded veteran once who had been through some terrible fighting in a previous war. As we talked, I asked him if he had considered receiving Christ as his Savior. He replied: "I've tried being a Christian. I've gone to church, talked with the pastor, but I guess I am too bad to be forgiven. I killed too many people in the war for God to forgive me."

After I had listened to him awhile, I asked him: "Buck, how did the fighting ever end? How did the war stop?"

He replied: "When the enemy put up the white flag of surrender, the war was over." This opened the door for me to tell him that God is just waiting for him to surrender complete control of his life, to put up the white flag, and then he can have peace with God. He prayed a simple prayer of surrender and in a few moments I could see a marvelous change taking place in Buck's personality. He found peace through surrender...that's the only real way to peace.

That same wonderful peace is available to all who call on the Lord, surrendering to His control.

III. AN OPEN DOOR TO GOD. "By whom also we have access by faith ..." (5:2)

Every believer is a priest unto God. A priest is one who has entrance into the presence of God. This is a glorious privilege of every believer. Every Christian has the privilege of coming into the presence of the Living God, casting every care upon Him, fellowshipping with Him, growing in relationship with Him. That is to say, we come near to God; we have entrance into the Kings palace; "we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand", with firm foot and confident heart, we stand in God's presence. Happy people!

In the Old Testament era, only one person could enter into the Holiest Place, that inner sanctuary that represented the presence of God. The High Priest, once a year, on the Day of Atonement, was allowed to enter into that holy place with a blood offfering which he sprinkled on the mercy seat for an atonement for the sins of the people. This was an awesome, frightening experience, to enter into the presence of a holy God.

When Christ Jesus hung upon Calvary's cross, there was darkness, an earthquake, and in the temple, the heavy curtain that kept people out of the Holy of Holies was split from top to botttom. It was as though God was saying: "Because my Son has died and shed His precious blood, you can come inside and fellowship with me.

The Great Creator God has an "open door policy" with all His children! kYou can enter into the presence of God through prayer. You can cast every burden on Him for He cares for you.

What a privilege! God hears and answers the prayers of His people.

V. THE PROMISE OF HEAVEN. (5:2). "And rejoice in hope of the glory of God."

We rejoice because we know we shall share God's glory and share His home in heaven. Blessed assurance! What a treasure we have. We know that should we die today, there is a glorious home in heaven waiting for us.

How rich the believer is! What is this wonderful hope of heaven worth? Imagine the devil came to you and offered you millions of dollars and said: "If you will give up your hope of heaven, all this will be yours....but you must give up any hope of ever being saved and going to heaven! You must agree that when you die you will spend eternity in hell.!" Would you accept the offer? How foolish to do so. Your eternal soul is worth so much, eternity is so long and the torment of hell is so terrible, only a fool would make such a choice.

This hope of heaven is worth more than diamonds, more than the greatest fortune. Think about it! Every believer has this blessed hope: that if we died this day, our wonderful home is reserved for us in heaven.

Do you know that you have a home reserved for you in heaven? If not you can have that blessed hope. Our Lord is only a prayer away, waiting to hear from you and share all of this and heaven, too.!

VI. A PURPOSEFUL LIFE. (5:3) "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation works patience, and patience experience, and experience hope..."

Tribulation -that is the blackest thing a Christian has, the troubles, trials, suffering we endure. When you are hemmed in, and there is no place to turn, look up...you're not alone. He is able to take those troubles and work them together for your good (Romans 8:28).

Trials come into every life; there is no escaping them. The blessed promise we have is that when the troubles come, our Lord stands with us to guard, strengthen and encourage us. We will never walk alone! What assurance this gives the Christian.

Tribulation works patience. A man cannot prove that he has patience if he has never been tried. The true believer comes out of the time of troubles, tried, tested and proven. His faith is strengthened, and he is assured that God is real and working in his life. Nothing can touch the Christian but that God can transform it into a blessing in disguise.

"And patience, experience; and experience, hope:" You cannot make an experienced Christian without trouble. You cannot make an old sailor on shore, nor make a good soldier without fighting.

Three Hebrew men who were friends of Daniel the prophet, were thrown into a furnace of fire because they would not bow down before an idol. When the king looked inside the furnace, after they had been in long enough to have burnt to a crisp, he was startled when he saw them still alive and well, and he saw a fourth man with them. The king remarked: "That fourth man looks like the Son of God!" He was right! The Son of God was right there with them, turning the worst day of their lives into the best day. They found Him near when their troubles were the worst they could be.

When you, dear believer, are passing through your furnace of fire; when your days are dreary, your life hardly seems worth living, look up! The Son of God is with you and in you to be your strength and joy. You are not alone. He is there. Draw strength from Him.!

These benefits are only the first installments of the inheritance of every believer. The Treasure Book is filled with countless treasures. After a lifetime of discovering the blessings contained in the Book, there will be thousands more yet to be discovered when we walk with our Blessed Savior.

The treasures are for believers only. It is through our Lord Jesus Christ, that these benefits are ours. Through a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, one begins the delightful journey into the fullness of the treasures of knowing Him.

If you have never invited Jesus into your life, you can do it now. He is just a prayer away.

Pray a simple prayer like this: "Dear God, I know I am a sinner. I have broken your law and deserve to pay the debt myself. I believe Jesus paid the debt for me and died in my place. Please forgive me and take charge of my life. I surrender to your control, and I wall serve you until I die. Amen."

If I may answer any questions, or offer any encouragement to you, please e-mail me, and I shall respond as quickly as possible. God bless!

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