Encouragements for our troubled times No. 46
COVID-19 Series | Date: 04 Februaryy 2021
The Elders and Deacons want to encourage the members and those who regularly meet with us through this weekly letter. If you have news which you would be happy to share with the fellowship or request for prayer, then please let us know.
A message from our Pastor
1 Peter 1:8-9
“Whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith - the salvation of your souls."
We live by faith not by sight but sometimes we want to see before we will believe. We want to see how the Lord will help us and work all things together for our good before we will trust Him to do so. But real faith does not need to see first to believe and trust the Lord to keep His promises. But real faith is not blind, it is the ‘substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’ It has substance and is based on evidence. And our faith is based on the substance of God’s infallible Word, and all the evidence that we have to its truth. Therefore, we do not need to have seen Jesus Christ to believe in Him and to love Him. All that the Scriptures reveal to us of Him lead us to love Him for who He is. And all we have experienced of Him in our lives confirm the Scriptures and leads us to love Him personally for all that he means to us.
Now, our faith in Him and our love for Him leads us to believe in Him and trust Him with our lives, and we can say with Paul “for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that day.” What wonderful confidence we can have in Him knowing that He who loves us and gave Himself for us, is able to keep us. To know Him certainly fills us with joy inexpressible and full of the glory for such a one as our Saviour. And, no matter how dark our circumstances and bleak our situation may be, it makes our hearts want to rejoice and our lips want to sing out His praises.
And, even though we have yet to see the end of our faith yet we know in whom we have believed and we know that no one can snatch us out of His Almighty hands and, therefore, we shall receive the end of our faith - the salvation of our souls. We have the substance of His word that reveals His almighty, Sovereign power to do all things and the evidence in our lives that confirms His promise to us. He will complete His work in us and finally bring us to Glory. O, what a Saviour we have. O, what confidence we can have in Him.
O what a Saviour that He died for me! From condemnation He hath made me free; ‘He that believeth on the Son’, saith He, ‘Hath everlasting life.’