The sermon today was from Paul Ridgewell and based on Romans 5:1-2: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God thorough our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.”
The sermon with reading of Romans 5:1-11 can be downloaded at http://www.surreyhillspresbyterian.org.au/sermons/2011-01-23%20Morning.mp3
Paul had us look at Hymn 139 in the Rejoice Hymnbook of the Presbyterian Church of Australia. Horatius Bonar (1808-89) wrote:
I bless the Christ of God, I rest on love divine,
and with unfalt’ring voice and heart, I call this Saviour mine.
For nothing I have done, can save my guilty soul;
no burden that my flesh has borne can make my spirit whole.
Not what I feel or do: no toil, nor pain nor blood,
not all my prayers and sighs and tears can give me peace within.
Your work alone, O Christ, can ease this weight of sin;
Your blood alone, O Lamb of God, can give me peace within.
Not love for You, O Lord, but Your great love for me
can rid me of this dark unrest and set my spirit free.
Your voice alone, O God, can speak the word of grace
to calm the tempest in my heart and make its raging cease.
And so I bless Your Name, I trust Your love divine;
by grace, for all eternity, I dare to call you mine.
The hope we rejoice in is fact, and not wishful thinking and wishing. As we look back to what God has done we are better prepared to live out each day. As we look forward to what God is doing and will do, we are encouraged.
We did not get into verse three which states: “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings …” Suffering for our faith is something we in the West rarely experience. Why are we missing out, when our brothers and sisters in so many countries experience this?
In verse 5 we read: “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”
These are encouraging and challenging words to live by, and to keep coming back to frequently.
Noel Johnston
23 January, 2011
4 months ago
