Reformed Church, Bellville: Sunday 7
April 2002 Evening Service
Our help is in the Name of the Lord who made heaven and earth.
Beloved, grace and peace be with you from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ through the mighty working of God the Holy Spirit.
AMEN
Psalm of praise: 145: 1 & 10
Prayer
Psalm 71:13 & 14
Scripture reading: Isaiah 43
Text: Heidelberg Catechism
Sunday 1. Isaiah 43:1
"Fear
not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name, you are
mine."
Somebody who truly believes, expects the Second Coming of the Lord as a
day of comfort, because he realizes how great his sins are and the
extent of the Lord's punishment of his sins. For this reason we look
forward to this day as a day of salvation - because on this day we
shall experience the redemption of our debt to the Lord. On this day,
we know, we shall enter into life eternal in the Kingdom of God.
Let us consider two matters in particular:
1. Certainty of belief and joy in this
life
2. Certainty of belief and eternal
salvation
1. Certainty of belief and joy in this
life
All of us want to belong to someone. It is horrible to live without
being loved.
- We do not want to be loved only by people. We want to be loved by
the Lord.
- We want to be reminded of it always that the Holy Spirit calls to
me: "Fear not, because you belong to the Lord. The Lord has called you
by name, the Lord lived and died for you."
Hear how the Lord puts it in verse 3: "For
I am the Lord, your God, the Holy one of Israel, your Saviour."
The Lord calls Himself here "Saviour".
- The word "Saviour" means "Redeemer". God was true to His promise
of salvation and for this Jesus the Saviour came to earth.
- He sanctified us. He came to take away our sins.
Sin and death are related.
- Sin is the cause of death and death is the consequence of sin.
You may safely know that the Lord in forgiving our sins also snatches
us out of hell.
- We are also saved from the power of death. We shall die the
earthly death but the death of hell shall not near us because the Lord
Jesus has released us from it.
2. Certainty of belief and eternal
salvation
The way in which each of us lives comforted, depends on our certainty
of belief. Certainty of belief is to bring together two worlds.:
- It is to know that in this life and in the life hereafter you
belong to the Lord Jesus.
- You belong with body and soul in life and in death to the Lord.
- The true believer will not go to hell. You must always know this
positively. The Lord keeps you in this life every day and the Lord also
keeps you in the hereafter.
Of this life the Lord Jesus said that He keeps us so that not one hair
of our head shall fall. With this the Lord did not mean that this shall
be only until our death and then it is all over. He keeps us in this
life especially because in the hereafter we shall be with Him.
The question which worries us as to what is to become of us after our
death is:
- Where shall I open my eyes?
- How certain can I be that this will not be in Hell?
- Because we know that no one except the Lord can keep us in the
hereafter.
You have the assurance of eternal salvation in the birth, life and
death on the cross of the Lord Jesus.
- He came to earth and was born here to obtain life eternal for
each of us.
- For this His birth was later followed by the cursed death on the
cross where He bore all of God's wrath for our sins. And where He
defeated death.
- This He did not do for Himself, because He had no sins for which
He was to be punished and life eternal He also did not need for Himself
because He is the eternally living God!
He bore all God's wrath and obtained life eternal for us. Remember
especially His promise to His disciples that He was going away to
prepare a place for them.
- With that the work of atonement of our Lord Jesus did not end
because He is still working, at this moment He is praying for us so
that we may be received into His Kingdom.
- It is clear that we, after our earthly death, must then also
belong to the Lord because He has prepared a place for us with Him.
Time for prayer and time for believing is time of mercy.
- Time of mercy because each service of worship particularly brings
to our notice the salvation of the Lord Jesus.
- The believer cannot but see the fulfillment of God's counsel of
salvation in Jesus.
- Fix then today your eyes not on all the pain and perplexity of
this life but on the God of your salvation.
But, please, remain alive to the dangers of doubt. The danger of doubt
is that it can turn us into heathens.
- We too can, like the unbelievers, seek our joy away from God.
- Then we will also, like them, seek our comfort and joy elsewhere.
- History has taught us repeatedly that this kind of searching ends
in the glorification of man. It is already prevailent in our churches.
Do not permit the allurement of the world to alienate you from the Lord
and entice you into trespassing against the Almighty. Fix your eyes
onto the horizon of history and see the Lord of our salvation where He
is already approaching to take us with Him eternally.
Let us read Catechism Sunday 1 together.
AMEN
Closing prayer
Closing Psalm 116:1-15
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen
Dr (Rev) M.J. du Plessis
Reformed Church Bellville
7 April 2002