God’s Assurance

Intro Music

Where you go, I will follow.

Welcome

Father, we thank and praise you for the life you have so richly given us. Thank you for the incredible blessing of being your sons and daughters and for the intricate and beautiful creations you have given us to share. Lord, we give you all that we are and ask that we might engage with your Spirit today.

553: I am a new creation

Prayers of Adoration and confession

Thanks be to you, our Lord Jesus Christ, for all the benefits which you have given us, for all the pains and insults which you have borne for us. Most merciful Redeemer, Friend and Brother, may we know you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly, day by day. Amen.

Almighty God, our heavenly Father: We have sinned against you, through our own fault, in thought, and word, and deed, and in what we have left undone. For the sake of your Son our Lord Jesus Christ, forgive us all our offenses; and grant that we may serve you in newness of life, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven

hallowed be they name

thy kingdom come, thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven

give us this day our daily bread

And forgive us our trespasses

as we forgive those who trespass againt us

And lead us not into temptation

but deliver us from all evil

For thine is the kingdom. the power and the glory

for ever and ever Amen

286: What kind of love is this

Readings

Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, 2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law, day, and night. 3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.

4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

1 John 5:9-13

9 We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

JOHN 17:6-19

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

6 “I have revealed you[a] to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of[b] your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by[c] that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by[d] the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

EZEKIEL 36: 24-28

24 “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.

30 Jesus stand among us

SERMON

Suppose somebody said to you here today, "there was a man in Rochdale who died last week and left five million pounds to a certain individual. "Well," you might say, "Wow, whoever it was that received it, must be really pleased," and then we probably think no more about it.

But suppose that fortune was left to you or me? That we were the ones approached by the solicitor and told that we were the beneficiary.

Then I think you like me would pay attention; I would probably ask, "To me?" "Yes, he left it to you." I would suddenly get a lot more interested. I would want to know all about it.

Gods Assurance

So, over the Easter period we have no doubt thought of the sacrifice and crucifixion of Jesus.

We recall Christ died for sinners he gave his life for everyone, and for nobody in particular.

The fact that Jesus died for everyone, can be a stumbling block, they miss the personal side of the sacrifice and so some do not take what is offered as a personal gift for themselves.

We can all read the about the promises of God. The big issue we face is that people see things in general, and isolate themselves, rather like hearing about the man recieving the 5 million pounds, I know about it but its for someone else.

But when the truth comes to us that eternal life is mine a personal gift to me, and all the glories of Heaven are mine, suddenly we begin to get interested. We say, "Where is the chapter and verse where it says I can be saved?"

If we understand we are sinners, not worthy of the gifts of God. But that when we come before him in true repentance then through God’s Gracious salvation and forgiveness and we are assured all the promises will be ours for eternity.

We all have a personal choice, we cannot hope to build a relationship with God, if we do not come into his presence and spend time with him, as much as you cannot be a friend to someone you don’t know.

I have a Facebook account and I have a number of connections were only around 50% of the people I am connected to are what could be termed as friends.

Why is this it’s because I know them personally, I know a little about their history and some of their like and dislikes.

The other 50% are possibly groups I have joined with subjects I am interested in but have no personal knowledge about the individuals,

But when it comes to God, I want to know him better, want to draw close to him.

One thing I do know is I cannot speak for others, but I can speak for myself.

I cannot read the Bible on behalf of others. I can only read it for myself.

In all our readings this morning we are given an insight of God’s nature.

This morning I am going to concentrate on the letter from 1 John 5 -13 this mornings reading is as the letter is drawing to a close, the letters John wrote are assumed to have be written as a circular letter from Ephesus to the early Churches.

1John 5:9

1 John 5:9 ESV

If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son.

So, what does this mean? We often take for granted in many ways what we are told or informed of by people by the news on TV the newspapers which will no doubt have some bias intentinal or not, but here it’s telling us that God is a far more reliable source of information, after all he is the creater of everything.

This whole section is about God’s testimony to us, the confirmation that Jesus is his true son.

With that in mind I would like us to look at several aspects of God’s assurance to us.

Assurance is based upon the certainty of God’s word.

As Christians we are called to trust in the words presented to us through various translations of the Bible that has been handed down to us over the centuries.

But basically we do need to ask ourselves some questions.

Do we believe the writers of the bible where indeed inspired by God?

If we answer yes then we can truly take to heart the statement “all scripture is inspired by God” then we have the foundation of our understanding, and more importantly it is where we can go to meet God.

Can you be confident and sure?

If we accept that what we read is true, then we can be assured of God’s promises all his promises from the Old Testament, and to the revelations given to us by the works and sacrifice of Jesus presented to us in the new testament.

Assurance because of God’s promise

Can you know you have eternal life?

Some people insist that we can only hope. Hope is a good word is it not. It’s used a lot we can say to friend hope to see you soon, but this has a different meaning than if we say I hope I win this competition.

This again is an idiom of the English language, the chance of meeting your friend is becoming more and more a reality now lockdown is easing, so saying I hope to see as soon can be a true statement.

Whilst hoping to win the special prize in a competition is pie in the sky.

So, it will in the end it depends on the type of hope we have in God, is the hope of meeting a friend, or is it fingers crossed and hope for the best.

Some may say that it is arrogant to say, I have been forgiven by God and now I have eternal live. You may say its pride or arrogance or being presumptuous to make this claim, but is it?

If we believe the promises given to us by God’s and trust that these words as true. Then why would we doubt when we are read repeatedly throughout the Bible.

“You have been told these things so that you may know you have eternal life.”

This is the promise that God, gives to us his people the assurance that we who have faith in him, have the promise of eternal life. more than this we will be his Children.

the only thing we can do is humbly accept this though Jesus, trusting in his word.

Assurance because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ

Again we think of the Easter story and the resurrection of Jesus and his meeting with his followers.

What is this eternal life promised by Jesus, is it something in far off future as we live our lives as best we can? No, in fact it’s what we possess right now. I dont mean it is the end of suffering of worries and concerns we are still in the world with all its man made flaws, but what we have we can find in the old testament reading:

EZEKIEL 36:26

Ezekiel 36:26 ESV

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

It is the life of God in the soul of man. Do you have this new heart within you?

Have you been touched by God?

Some can identify the day and even the moment that they were converted or reborn. it may be like a Paul on the road to Damascus an experience with the blinding light of understanding busting into their lives.

Some people can’t pinpoint the time the God entered their hearts, it may be that he’s been at the centre all their lives for as long as they can remember, it may have developed throughout years of attending Church and the study of his Word.

How you come to know God is not important, what saves you is belief and trust in Jesus Christ the Son of the Father.

It’s nothing to do with going forward at a service or something like that, it’s actually not required all you need is to trust in God’s word and in Christ.

Some people may believe they have sinned and now feel they have fallen out of favour. That they have gone too far away from God, if you ever feel like that think of this.

Do you recall the last supper? Where Jesus washes the disciples’ feet, on one hand it is demonstration of how we should serve one another. But do you remember what Peter said to Jesus and the answer he received?

John 13:9–10 ESV

Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.”

Jesus is making the point that we have one baptism; we have one conversion.

Once the Holy Spirit takes up residence, he remains with us, we may grieve him at times with our actions, we may even ignore his presence. But be sure he remains with us always. He will guide us back if we stray.

We have great reason to celebrate here today we are blessed we have God living within each one of us otherwise why would we be here? It can’t be for the tea after the service as there isn’t any.

We are gathered here led by God, called to worship him, even if we cannot sing, we are together as servants, as children of God, what more can you ask for.

But if you ever feel lost, feel you have strayed from the path, as we all do at times, we are told what we need to do. Metaphorically wash our feet, come to God on bended knee and ask for forgiveness. And forgiveness will be given to us abundantly. If we truly repent.

Assurance comes through the work of the Holy Spirit

I spoke briefly about the Holy Spirit who takes up residence with all who turn to Christ.

It is by the Holy spirit who prompted you to come to the service today, after such a long time away from worshiping together, it would have been so easy to rollover and have a lie in or go off to enjoy the day some other way.

But it is Holy Spirit who calls us to gather together in worship of our God.

The Holy Spirits work is tireless, he intercedes for us as we pray, we are encouraged, challenged, and comforted by his presence, he is the helper Jesus promised, not just to some but to everyone who believes and trust in the word of God.

At the moment of conversion God, the HS came inside you, he makes a home with you.

Assurance based upon the testimony of God’s people

There are many scholars, writers, and witnesses to faith, you may know many of them, Billy Graham the great evangelist and charismatic teacher. Charles Wesley who started the Methodist movement, Tom Wright who is a great translater , Ncky Gumbel who I listern to every day who was a founding creator of the Alpha course.

There may be people you have known or know personally who for want of a better description overflow with God’s presence you can sense God in them, and spending time with them feels like a blessing.

If we look at Gen 15:6

Genesis 15:6 ESV

And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

this is about the foundation of faith. Abram believed the unbelievable that in his old age he would have a son. And because of this belief and not for any other reason, God called him righteous. Why? Because he believed and had faith is what God had told him.

To summarise

The assurance of believers is based upon the certain knowledge of God revealed in creation and his mighty acts in history, upon the certainty of his promises, the vindication and resurrection of Christ and the inward testimony and outward demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit.

We are truly blessed to have a God who cares for us, not only as a group but as individuals. Christ died for everyone which is true. But he died personally for me and he died personally for you.

331: King of Kings majesty

Prayers of Thanksgiving and supplication

God of all blessings, source of all life, giver of all grace:

We thank you for the gift of life: for the breath that sustains life,

for the food of this earth that nurtures life,

for the love of family and friends

without which there would be no life.

We thank you for the mystery of creation: for the beauty,

that the eye can see, for the joy,

that the ear may hear, for the unknown,

that we cannot behold filling the universe with wonder,

We thank you for setting us in communities: for families, for friends.

who love us by choice, who share our burdens and daily tasks,

for strangers who welcome us into their midst,

for people from other lands who call us to grow in understanding,

for children who lighten our moments with delight,

Help us to have our hearts and minds to work for justice and peace,

for neighbours who may need our prayers and support,

We bring to you all our concerns for friends or relatives who need your supporting Grace at this time.

In a moment of silence help us to bring issues that are on our hearts before you,

For these, and all blessings,

we give you thanks, eternal, loving God,

through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

548: Blessed Assurance

Collection

Please leave any collection in the basket at the rear of the Church on your exit:

Lord God who has given us so much

take these humble offerings to use for the work of your Kingdom

Amen

Blessing

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

May the Lord make his face to shine upon you,

and be gracious to you.

May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

End music Jesus paid it all.