Comfort in The Storms

Not what my hands have done, can save my guilty soul; Not what my toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole. Not what I feel or do, can give me peace with God; Not all my prayers and sighs and tears can bear the awful load.

Thy work alone, O Christ, can ease this weight of sin; Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, can give me peace within; Thy love to me, O God, not mine, O Lord, to Thee, Can rid me of this dark unrest and set my spirit free.

Thy grace alone O God, to me can pardon speak; Thy pow’r alone O Son of God, can this sore bondage break. No other work save Thine, no other blood will do; No strength, save that which is divine, can bear me safely through.

I bless the Christ of God, I rest on love divine; And with unfalt’ring lip and heart, I call this Savior mine. His cross dispels each doubt, I bury in His tomb, Each thought of unbelief and fear, each ling’ring shade of gloom.

I praise the God of grace, I trust His truth and might; He calls me His, I call Him mine, my God, my joy, my light. ‘Tis He who saveth me, and freely pardon gives; I love because He loveth me, I live because He lives.

Tune: “This is My Father’s World,” (SM/double)
Words by brother Horatius Bonar, 1861 A.D.


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FULL ASSURANCE OF FAITH

“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. Let us hold fast the profession of faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised)” -Hebrews 10:22-23 [KJV]

Those who live in doubt and fear for salvation and fitness for Heaven are obviously looking to someone other than the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work for righteousness before God. This is the essence of unbelief. No sinner has ever performed well enough to earn God’s approval so as to earn salvation. Believers trust in what Christ has earned for us. "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name." There is no true assurance to be found in anyone else. Believing the demands of God were met in Christ for me is my ONLY hope and rest. When a person doubts this, he is looking to something other than the righteous work of Christ for his acceptance with God.

To comfort the people of God we must preach the particulars of the Gospel. No experience or emotion will bring the lasting comfort that the good news of the work being finished will bring. To realize that if left to myself I would be guilty and condemned by my best deeds. To trust Christ as my Surety, Substitute, Redeemer, Righteousness, and Savior is the full assurance of knowing that I am saved by the grace of God. To know that the enmity between God and myself has been nailed to the cross and taken away, that I have been reconciled by my Lord, is the confidence of my soul. To know that I have free access into the “holiest of all” by the blood of Christ should give me confidence. Every believer ought to realize this and enter into God's rest. This is the full assurance of faith in Christ.

-Gospel report by preacher Bill Parker