Blessing in the Saints

As I mentioned in the Words of Assurance, the sermon today can cause us to wonder if our hearts are fully turned to the Lord. It is easy to fall into the sin of failure to trust in the Lord for our safety, our security from the world, the flesh and the devil. We put up all sorts of barriers because we do not really fully trust the Lord to take care of us in His way and in His time.

         To the extent that we have been unfaithful and untrusting, we do need to confess and repent and  have our hearts fully renewed and turned to the Lord. But we should do this in Christ. Our answer is not to turn to ourselves, trying to find assurance by our own deeds and our own feelings. Our only assurance is that we are in Jesus. We know this by our love for God and we know our love for God by our love for the brethren. This is one reason why this meal and the way that we do it, looking around, is such a blessing. If we look around at our brothers and sisters, who are also in Christ, and we thank God both for the blessing of putting us in the brethren and for each of the brothers and sisters that are gathered here, this reveals that we do indeed love God and His Church.

This love cannot be here with us without the presence of God’s saving Spirit. So, now, even if the heart is shaken a bit by the presence of remaining sin, look around and rejoice that God’s love has made you a partaker of the blessing of His saints. And in your rejoicing, know that God’s love is directed at you for blessing among those saints.