Blessed Assurance
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Introduction
Introduction
We sang a hymn earlier in the service this morning called Blessed Assurance. It was written by a lady named Fanny Crosby in 1873. Ms. Crosby had over 8000 over her poems set to music, many of which we still use today. What you may not know is that at the age of 6 weeks old, she became sick with slight cold in her eyes. Her doctor was away so another country doctor was called in to treat her. He chose to put a hot mustard mixture under her eyes which destroyed her eyes completely. At the age of 5, she was taken by her mother to consult the best eye specialist in the country. Neighbors and friends pulled together money to send her. The dreaded answer came from the doctor: “Poor child, I am afraid that you will never see again.” However, it was the loss her sight that bothered young Fanny Crosby, but the thought that she would not be able to have an education like other boys and girls. Her attitude was reflected in the first piece of poetry she is known to have written.
At the age of eight, she wrote:
At the age of eight, she wrote her first recorded poetry:
0 what a happy soul am I!
Although I cannot see,
I am resolved that in this world, contented I will be.
How many blessings I enjoy, that other people don't.
To weep and sigh because I'm blind, I cannot and I won't!
She was greatly influenced by her grandmother who gave her a passion for the word of God. Fanny memorized the first 5 books of the Bible, the Book of Ruth, many of the Psalms, Proverbs, the Song of Solomon and much of the New Testament. This became the foundation for many of the hymns for which she wrote.
Around the age of 15, her mother gave her the announcement that she would finally attend a new school, the Institution For the Blind in New York City. To which she replied, “Oh Thank God, He has answered my prayer, just as I know He would!” She spent 23 years of her life there, 12 as a student and 11 more at as teacher. She had the privilege to recite her works before congress and knew every President during her lifetime.
Assurance of Fellowship
Assurance of Fellowship
Even though she was devoted to God and His ways, she did not become a Christian until she was 31. She attended a revival service at the old John Street Methodist Church in New York. She stated, “After a prayer was offered, they began to sing the grand old consecration hymn, ‘Alas! Did My Savior Bleed!’ and when they reached the third line of the fifth stanza, ‘Here Lord, I give myself away,’ my very soul was flooded with celestial light!”
Ms. Crosby was married at the age of 37, had one child that died in infancy. As a result, she wrote Safe in the Arms of Jesus, a song that has comforted thousands of people who have had loved ones pass.
Fanny Crosby wrote poems used for hymns right up to her death at the age of 94, just short of her 95th birthday. On her last night, she dictated a letter of comfort to a friend whose daughter had died. She had that Blessed Assurance right up into the moment she entered her Savior’s arms.
The Apostle Paul, though he lived 2000 years before Fanny Crosby, had a few things in common with her. Both experienced blindness and both understood how the light of Christ penetrates the darkest of darkness. Both had an understanding of Blessed Assurance.
In , we can see how Paul lived this out and how we can use his example in our lives.
After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.
When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized.
One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.
Blessed Assurance of Sweet Fellowship
Blessed Assurance of Sweet Fellowship
Notice first the blessed assurance of sweet fellowship. There is a beautiful experience in the Christian when believers can fellowship with other believers. Paul just moved into another city. The Bible tells us that he met Aquila and his wife Priscilla. They had a couple of things in common as they were believers and also tent makers. The custom of the day was for the rabbi to offer his services and legal work free of charge. In order to do this, he had to have a trade in which he could earn a living. For Paul, it was being a tent maker. They had the ability to work together and also enjoy Christian fellowship with each other.
We see in other passages of scripture that one of the mainstays of the early church was fellowship.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Acts 2:42
Paul writes in
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
In the passage we see not only fellowship with Aquila and Priscilla, but also with Silas and Timothy. We see it also with Titius Justus, Crispus and his entire household. There is blessed assurance in sweet fellowship.
Being part of a church is way more than just coming to a worship service every now and then. It is getting involved in the lives of other believers and spending time in fellowship with each other. If you are not participating in some type of fellowship group I want to encourage you to do so. We become our best when we can interact with other Christians and allow through our fellowship for iron to sharpen iron.
Paul also experienced the blessed assurance of Sonship.
Blessed Assurance of Sonship
Blessed Assurance of Sonship
Paul encountered the Living Christ. He knew Him well enough to know that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. we see in verse 5 that “Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.” That understanding no doubt revealed the Sonship of Jesus.
For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by me and Silas and Timothy, was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.”
and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
2 Corinthians 2:19
Romans
Romans 1:
As long as I have the ability to speak, I will always declare the Jesus is the Son of God. There is no degree nor any amount of education that will change my mind. There is no circumstance nor situation that can prove to me otherwise. Jesus Christ is the Son of God and He saved my soul in order that I can be made right with a Holy God. Blessed Assurance Jesus is Mine!
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.
Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
God lives in the person that acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God and by doing so, I can overcome the world. Paul recognized that understanding and declaring that Jesus is the Son of God, acknowledging the Sonship of Jesus, you will have blessed assurance!
Paul also recognized the blessed assurance of the Spirit.
Blessed Assurance of the Spirit
Blessed Assurance of the Spirit
Paul recognized through the prompting of the Holy Spirit when he needed to move and where he needed to move. We see in verse 1 that Paul was led to go to Corinth. We see in verses 6 and 7 that Paul was lead to go away from teaching the Jews in the synagogue because they opposed him. We see in verses 7 and 8 that Paul was led to go next door to fellowship with a worshiper of God named Titius Justus. Is it a coincidence that this led to the encounter of Crispus, the synagogue ruler whose whole household and many of the Corinthians to believe and be baptized? Absolutely not. It was the direct result of the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Oh the blessed assurance we have with the Holy Spirit! We are so fortunate to be able to guided and directed from the Holy Spirit’s promptings. The Holy Spirit will never contradict the Word of the Lord. The Holy Spirit gives us comfort. When Jesus first spoke of the Holy Spirit, He called the Holy Spirit the Counselor and Comforter.
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
“When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.
Did you catch what Jesus said? The Holy Spirit is sent by the Father, teaches us and reminds us of the very words of Jesus! Paul got to experience the blessed assurance of the Holy Spirit. Guess what? So can you and I! If you have said yes to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, you have been given the Holy Spirit. You can be guided by its promptings and you can live your life in a way that is led by the Holy Spirit.
In verse 9 of our text today, we see in a vision that Paul was reminded to not be afraid, keep on speaking, and not be silent. Then comes the promise of the Lord’s presence and safety. The blessed assurance of sweet fellowship is mentioned when the Lord says, “because I have MANY people in this city.”
One of the things we see in this passage that we get from the Holy Spirit, is whether to stay or go. There are times when we are prompted to go. However, there are times also when we are prompted to stay. The blessed assurance of the Holy Spirit directed Paul to experience the blessed assurance of staying.
Blessed Assurance of Staying
Blessed Assurance of Staying
In , we see that Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God. What a beautiful example of the blessed assurance of staying. When God tells us to stay and we do, we become blessed people. We are able to experience the fullness of God because we are in His will. There is no place I want to be except the perfect will of God. I have had many times in my life when quite honestly I wanted to quit. However, the Lord revealed to me not to quit but to keep on keeping on. Maybe there is someone here this morning that has been thinking, “I have had enough. I am tired and I am ready to call it quits.” I can’t help but think that you need to hear this word. There are so many phrases in God’s word that remind us to keep on going:
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Let us acknowledge the Lord;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth.”
Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God,
Hebrews 6:1
Sometimes to press on toward the goal, to press on to acknowledge, to go on to maturity, we need to stay. I wanted to look up that word and see what it meant. I looked at a few other versions to get a better understanding. The New King James and King James versions say, “And he continued there.” The New American Standard Version says,
And he settled there.” Stayed. Continued. Settled. All three words indicate dwelling, thriving, and excelling.
Sometimes, we need to remain so that God can use us in a very unique way to accomplish His great design. I have trained my dog Hershee with a command to stay. Amazingly, she will stay, watch me, and wait patiently until I give her permission to go. She always gets a reward for staying. Sometimes its a treat. Sometimes it is being petted and loved on by her master. I am convinced that she likes the attention I give her more than any treat. Oh in my relationship with my God that I can be more like my dog and experience the blessed assurance of staying!