What is My Only Comfort in Life and in Death?

This coming Sunday we are going to recite the first question and answer that is found in the historic Heidelberg Catechism, which was written in 1563. For more information on his theologically masterful and pastorally devotional confession of faith, go to this helpful article on the Resurgence.

Here is the Q and A we’ll recite on Sunday.

Q: What is my only comfort in life and death?

A: That I, with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; he so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; in fact, all things must work together for my good; therefore, by his Holy Spirit, God assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready to live for him.

Sermon Resource Notes for Sunday, May 27, 2012 • Romans 11:33-36

Romans_11.33-36.resrouce_pages.pdf Download this file

Sermon Resources Available in the Morning

Since I had a wedding to perform tonight, I will be uploading the sermon resource notes in the morning, or maybe late tonight. Thanks! Hope to see you in the morning.  

The Gospel Doen’t Fit in a Box

An Anchor of Hope for the Dinghy of Despair

The gospel gives us freedom to be honest. Honest with ourselves, with others and with God. Psalm 13 describes an anguished David, wresting with his present life experience and the role of God in it. His emotions are being tossed like a dinghy on the waves of a storm. But when his heart finds anchor in the gospel promises of the Lord, he is steadied, sustained and able to face his distress with new hope.

Here is the Psalm:

1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 

2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?  How long will my enemy triumph over me? 

3 Look on me and answer, O Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; 

4 my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall. 

5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. 

6 I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me. 

Take-aways for me today are:

1. Sometimes it seems as if God is far off, uncaring and unresponsive (it’s okay to admit that’s how you feel) – v. 1
2. Emotions are powerful and can overwhelm us to despair – v. 2
3. When emotions weigh down with despair, look up to God for grace in prayer (talk to him out loud, not just in my mind- have a real conversation) – vv. 3-4
4. When emotions weigh down with despair, remember that God’s love is “unfailing” (his covenant faithfulness is relentless and unwavering – Romans 8:28) – v. 5a
5. Sometimes we have to fight for faith (“I WILL TRUST!” – I need to learn to say “but”) – v. 5a
6. Meditating on the cross of Christ (actively remembering and personalizing the cross) is a source of great hope and is the anchor for my soul (since Jesus experienced this same seeming abandonment for me, I can know that I will never be abandoned – he is the one who slept in death in my place) – v. 5b
7. Singing the gospel has a uniquely powerful way of reviving the heart – v. 6a
8. Since God has been good to me, he will continue to be good (Romans 8:31-32) – I am his beloved son – v. 6b

 

A Prayer for the Morning (and All Through the Day)

Reading this moring in The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers, one struck me as particularly helpful for re-aligning the heart with God’s sufficient, sustaining grace at the beginning of a day. It reflects the heart of Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:7-12:

7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations,t a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.9 But he said to me, ”My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Here is the first part of the prayer. 

O Lord of Grace, 

The world is before me this day, and I am weak and fearful, but I look to Thee for strength; If I venture forth alone I will stumble and fall, but on the Beloved’s arms I am firm as the eternal hills; If left to the treachery of my heart I shall shame Thy name, but if enlightened, guided, upheld by Thy Spirit, I shall bring Thee glory.

Here are five take aways for me today from this prayer:

1. God is a God of grace – he is a glad and generous giver 
2. I am weak in every way
3. God is strong in every way
4. Without a conscious awareness of my weakness and his strength, I will fail and fall hard and often
5. But walking close to Jesus, by his Spirit’s power, I can face my fears and obstacles with supernatural power and peace and glorify God, as the giver of saving and sustaining grace

Soli Deo gloria.

The Valley of Vision daily devotional may be found here.

Radical Gospel Newness

In my study today lots of things are percolating. One idea is how the gospel brings radical newness into our lives. Here is a sample:

The Old —> The New

Radical guilt to radical forgiveness
Radical justice to radical mercy
Radical enslavement to radical freedom
Radical hopelessness to radical hope
Radical anxiety to radical peace
Radical despair to radical joy
Radical self-centeredness to radical God-centeredness 
Radial law-focus to radical cross-focus
Radical fear to radical courage
Radical pride to radical humility
Radical insecurity to radical confidence 
Radical orphanhood to radical sonship