Assurance on SermonAudio

Romans 5:20 "Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" This sermon explores the theological truth that God's grace far exceeds the abundance of human sin, as articulated in Romans 5. The message contrasts the dominion of sin, which brings death and condemnation through Adam, with the reign of grace, which brings justification and eternal life through Jesus Christ. The central argument is illustrated through three key moments: the provision of mercy in the Garden of Eden after the fall, the atoning sacrifice at Calvary which defeated sin and Satan, and the transformative power of grace in individual conversion, exemplified by the Apostle Paul. The tone is both convicting and comforting, urging listeners to recognise their sinful nature while assuring them that God's unmerited favour is sufficient to pardon, renew, and sanctify. Ultimately, the sermon affirms that where sin has reigned, grace reigns all the more through righteousness unto eternal life.

EVENING WORSHIP Zephaniah 3:16-17 Jehovah's Joyful Singing I. The Beautiful Idea II. The Gracious Explanation III. The Needed Assurance Scripture: Zephaniah 3

OUTLINE: We will have assurance at the second coming: I. WHEN WE ABIDE IN CHRIST. (V. 28) II. WHEN WE LIVE RIGHTEOUSLY. (V. 29) III. WHEN WE REMEMBER WHO WE ARE. (V. 1) Who we have become: (a.) It is to be beheld. (b.) It is to be received. (c.) It is a calling. (d.) It is a separation. IV. WHEN WE HOPE IN THE PROMISE. (Vv. 2-3)

What does it mean to be saved by grace alone? Is God's grace simply an invitation to salvation, or is it the very power that saves and transforms sinners? In this special Reformation Sunday message, Pastor Robb Brunansky examines Sola Gratia—Grace Alone—one of the five foundational truths recovered during the Protestant Reformation. Drawing from passages throughout Scripture, Pastor Robb explains why salvation is entirely the work of God's undeserved favor, accomplished through Jesus Christ and received by faith alone. The sermon explores four essential truths about God's grace: our desperate need for grace because of our sinful condition, God's gracious provision of salvation through the cross of Christ, the reception of grace through faith apart from works, and the transforming power of grace that produces genuine holiness. Pastor Robb also addresses two dangerous misunderstandings of grace: treating it as a license to sin and believing that God's acceptance depends on our personal performance. Biblical grace does neither. Instead, it provides believers with lasting assurance of salvation, freedom from the dominion of sin, and a growing love for the Savior. Ultimately, this message reminds us that we contribute nothing to our salvation and that God deserves all the glory. We are not saved because we are worthy, but because God is gracious. Key Scriptures: Ephesians 2:1–10; Romans 3:9–24; Romans 4:4–5; Romans 6:1–14; Romans 11:6; Genesis 3; Acts 20:24.

On Reformation Sunday, Charles Sebold steps back from Luther's biography to ask what the church looked like before him, in "Do Your Best, and God Will Do the Rest." Luther did not stand outside a corrupt system throwing stones; he was the most faithful man inside a sincere system that could never tell him he was forgiven. Beginning with the 1505 thunderstorm that drove the young law student into the Augustinian monastery, the lesson surveys the medieval church: one Latin liturgy and Bible few could read, a papacy claiming submission to Rome was necessary for salvation even as Avignon and the Great Schism left Christians guessing which pope to obey, and a Council of Constance that burned Jan Hus despite his safe conduct. Grace had become an economy of sacraments, penance, purgatory, the treasury of merit, and indulgences, with Wittenberg's 17,443 relics promising nearly two million years of remission, yet no one could ever know whether he had done enough. Underneath it all lay Gabriel Biel's teaching that God does not deny grace to those who do what is in them, the medieval form of "Do your best, and God will do the rest." For an honest man examining his own heart, that offered no assurance. Assigned to lecture on the Bible, Luther found in Romans 1:16-17 and Habakkuk 2:4 that the righteousness of God is not the standard that condemns us but the gift God gives, for God justifies the ungodly. The gospel is not a better version of "do your best"; it is an entirely different message. The Reformation did not invent grace but set a burning lamp back on its lampstand, and every believer must root out "do your best" from his own heart.

This sermon explores the call to praise God as outlined in Psalm 47, emphasizing that true worship is enthusiastic, frequent, intellectual, and reverent. The message highlights the greatness of the Lord as a triumphant, terrible, and delivering God who sits upon a throne of holiness. It further instructs believers to find contentment in God's sovereign choice of their inheritance, trusting in His perfect plans and purposes for their lives. The preacher encourages humility, patience, and obedience to God's will, assuring the congregation that God provides for those who follow Him. Finally, the sermon issues a solemn challenge to the unsaved to repent and call upon the name of Jesus for salvation, contrasting the peace of the believer with the impending judgment of the wicked.

The Canons of Dort The Fifth Head of Doctrine – The Perseverance of the Saints ARTICLE 11 – Believers struggle with various carnal doubts and do not always feel the full force of this assurance, but God will never tempt them above their ability to bear it, but makes for them a way of escape; also the Holy Spirit works assurance in us. The Scripture moreover testifies that believers in this life have to struggle with various carnal doubts, and that under grievous temptations they do not always feel this full assurance of faith and certainty of persevering. But God, who is the Father of all consolation, does not suffer them to be tempted above that they are able, but will with the temptation make also the way of escape, that they may be able to endure it (I Cor. 10:13), and by the Holy Spirit again inspires them with the comfortable assurance of persevering.