BLESSED ASSURANCES

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Various passages within the message.

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Yesterday, I wrote about the fact that we serve a God who communicates with and through His people. In that message, we were reminded in the first verse of the first chapter of the Book of Numbers how God had spoken directly with Moses. We saw where this was something He had done, talking with and through people like prophets, disciples, and apostles since the days of the first man, Adam. We also affirmed that this communication practice of God has continued through the ages, right up to present times.

Today, I would like to extend this discussion regarding God communications to the blessed assurance He has spoken, assurances that give us comfort, hope, and strength as we live this thing called life. The scriptures are full of them.

What is an assurance?

Well, it’s defined as a pledge or something that inspires or tends to inspire confidence. I think it’s best to think of them (assurances) as promises or vows that God has made with us and we know He never breaks a promise. This truth allows us to be edified, inspired, or encouraged anytime we open our Bibles and begin to read what the Lord has to say.

As a primer, let’s examine a few of His blessed assurances:

“The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8

This single verse from Deuteronomy contains eternal promises from God that can help us in times of trial. For while our enemy, Satan, would want to convince us that we’re alone, abandoned, and forsaken in times of trouble, God’s word declares just the opposite. For He has promised us that He will never leave or forsake His people and so we should never allow ourselves to feel isolated, afraid, or discouraged.

Going to the New Testament, we also find these words from Jesus, who we know was One with God the Father (John 10:30):

“…surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:20b

These are words found at the end of what we know is the Great Commission, the command from our Savior to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit while and teaching others to obey what He had commanded. This calling had to feel very daunting to His followers then who were being asked to carry on Jesus’ ministry at a time when Christianity was just getting started as a religion and His ideals were being rejected, so much so that He was crucified. His faithful followers had to be wondering whether they might be next.

And so Jesus blessed assurance, that He would be with them until the end of the age had to be a real confidence booster for His disciples for their Master was promising them that they would not ever be alone as they obediently responded to what He told them to do, despite the potential for danger.

Today, it’s critical for us to remember this as well. For the orders that Jesus gave to His chosen few in New Testament times are the same orders that His followers have been responsible to carry out ever since. And although in many places of the world, Christian believers can share the Gospel in relative safety, there are places where it’s a matter of life and death. In any place with a potential for persecution and harm for being obedient to the Great Commission, the words of Jesus still work to speak blessed assurance into places of fear for indeed, He is still with His disciples as He will be until the end of the age.

Here’s another important promise regarding our God:

“For nothing is impossible with God.” Luke 1:37

We can also go back to the Old Testament Book of Genesis and add this verse as Abram and Sarai scoffed at the notion that they might have a child at a time when they had grown very old. God posed this question to them:

“Is anything too hard for the Lord?” 18:14

Interestingly enough, these blessed assurances both were spoken into matters where women would become pregnant through sure divine intervention which affirmed that there was truly nothing impossible when God was involved. After all He was, is, and will always be the Maker of Heaven and Earth, the Creator of all things.

The bottom line is that we serve a Lord through which all things can happen if He wills it to. He is a worker of miracles and holds the power to make the improbable probable, a truth that allows us to be buoyed up in faith, no matter our circumstances.

So what do we do when the hardships of life press down on us, seeking to leave us in despair and feeling hopeless?

God has made some promises that we need to remember in those times which include these two verses:

“Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.” Psalm 68:19

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

Live life long enough and it’s inevitable that we will face hardship at some time. Without having God would lead a person to try and shoulder their burdens on their own and try to find other ways to cope. But in the scriptures, we read that when we place our trust in our Lord, He will bear our burdens daily. We only need to believe and trust in Him, remembering that He and only He can make the seemingly impossible, possible.

And so God believers can find peace and rest in knowing they have the almighty God of creation on their side, daily bearing their burdens. He becomes the calm in the midst of the storm found within life’s difficulties, the One who allows us to live out these words found in verses 6 and 7 of the fourth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Philippians:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Need another assurance for times of trouble?

Here’s one from one of my favorite chapters in the New Testament outside of the Gospels, chapter eight of Paul’s letter to the Romans

“…in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

The claim here sounds simple enough, right?

God works for the good of those who love Him.

But unfortunately, this part of the verse gets misused way too much for many people read it and think it means that God will always bring them good things just because they love Him. And so they yearn for the Lord to give them something or do something for them instantaneously and when that doesn’t happen, they turn on God and blame Him for not being true to His promise, only because He didn’t act within their expectations, as if they have any right to dictate any terms to the Almighty.

We need to see here that the scriptures don’t say that God will give us everything good that we want. Rather, it says that He will work for the good of those who love Him. This means that we might need to persevere through our difficulties as He works, a time intended by our Lord for our spiritual growth as we become stronger in patience, faith, and trust in Him.

In other words, by helping us develop persistence, He is working for our good. To this end, we should also remember these words from Romans, chapter 5:

“…we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Romans 5:3-4

Okay, time to close this wonderful message with the best promise ever in the Bible, a verse that is arguably the best known even among non-believers.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

What makes this assurance so great is that it’s just not for the here and now. Rather, it holds eternal implications.

For God so loved the world, not the world itself but the people in it, those who could become His children. He loved these people so much that He was willing to offer up His one and only Son so that the punishment of Hell wouldn’t happen to someone at death. Rather, anyone who would believe and trust in His Son, Jesus, wouldn’t perish but gain salvation and the guarantee of eternal life in Heaven.

Note here that there is only one way to Heaven, one way to be able to spend forever with the very God who created us. That way is through becoming a Christian through believing in Jesus as Savior, the Jesus who said this in John’s Gospel:

“I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

The same Jesus who calls us to help people become disciples is the One who brings us to everlasting life in Heaven with God. I pray today that you have placed your hope in Him as your personal Savior, embracing the blessed assurance of salvation found within the scriptures.

Amen. 

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.