Men of the Word Sermon Podcast · Grace Community Church

Assurance and the Primacy of God’s Love

·58 min·1 clip

Christian starts in the city of Destruction, a man in rags who reads Scripture and is confronted by his sin. The preacher treats the gospel as good news of forgiveness and new life, but the burden does not fall away right away. It comes off only when Christian reaches the foot of the cross. There the three shining ones appear and speak over him. One says his sins are forgiven. Another takes off his rags and clothes him anew. The third marks his forehead and gives him a scroll. The sermon uses that scene to talk about assurance. Pulling away from God's people, it says, almost always makes assurance harder to hold onto. The evil one tempts the fallen believer to stay away from the saints, and that distance only drains confidence further. The way back is among the beloved, where love shows itself in service to one another. The preacher then returns to John's command to love one another. He gives three reasons for it: love comes from God, everyone who loves is born of God, and the new birth is supposed to show up as love in daily life. First Thessalonians 4:9 is cited to show that believers are already taught by God in this. The sermon closes by lifting the eye back to Christ and praying that God's love, and the scroll that recalls it, stay near until the celestial city is reached.

As heard by us

A serious sermon on assurance that connects private faith with the shared life of God's people.

This sermon follows assurance through John Bunyan and Scripture, moving from Christian's burden and release at the cross to the claim that certainty about God's love returns in the life of God's people.

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Why you'd press play

When assurance feels thin, this sermon ties comfort to God's love and God's people.

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