BLESSED ASSURANCE

BLESSED ASSURANCE

Sunday, July 17, 2016

“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. This is my story, this is my song …” (Hymn BLESSED ASSURANCE, Fanny J. Crosby/Phoebe P. Knapp)

2Timothy 2:11-16 The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness,

  A Christian sister informed me that her family was meeting to discuss “unplugging” a terminally ill vegetative relative. She commented that her greatest concern was whether they were saved or not. Another family member responded to the effect “I don’t believe you can really know until after you die.” The question, “Can you really know before you die?” was passed on to me.

  The answer is you can know, by, of, and from God, as recorded in His Word.

  There are a number of places we could go in Scripture for His blessed assurance; I have chosen the First Epistle of John.

1.       Using KJV, read all 5 chapters slowly and carefully.

a.       Take note in 1:1-4 why the epistle was written.

b.      Underline clearly the word “know” every time you see it. You should find it 27 times in 22 verses.

c.       Reviewing again, underline “we know”. (11 verses)

d.      Reviewing again, underline “know we”. (3 verses)

e.      Reviewing again, underline “known”. (4 verses)

2.       If you’re not a KJV reader, now take your favorite translation/version and circle the knowing verse numbers from the KJV then look them up in your Bible.

3.       Once again, read slowly and carefully, thoughtfully noting the context of each “know”, “we know”, “know we”, and “known”.

4.       Take particular notice of 3:2 with its “Beloved, now”, and “we know”.

  Any further question fellow workmen? (In doing the above study of God’s Truth you may discover that you are not saved. If so, and you desire to know God’s answer, please feel free to write me.)  

EBB4