From Whence Comes My Help?

 By Pastor Benjamin Glaser - Posted at Thoughts From Parson Farms:

The Holy Spirit and the Work of Assurance

Howdy!

One of the most treasured stories from the gospels is the healing of the young boy after the transfiguration in Mark 9. In that telling of the situation immediately following the appearance of Moses and Elijah the men and Jesus come off the mountain to find the rest of the disciples engaged in a conversation with some scribes. Evidently the dispute is around why the followers of Christ were unable to fix whatever was wrong with the man’s son. The father explains to our Lord that he brought the child to where he heard Jesus was and not finding Him decided the best thing to do was to consult those who claimed to be His.

The whole circumstance seems to get Jesus in some righteous indignation. After lamenting the faithless generation of which He has come to save He heals the boy, bringing the demon out of him. Yet, in the midst of that Jesus asks a question/makes a comment to the dad. In v. 23 He says, “Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”. And then we hear the response in v. 24 we know so well, “Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!’”. Dumfounded at the events before them the hard-headed disciples inquire as to why they were unable to do what the Lord had done. Christ responds in v. 29, “So He said to them, ‘This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.’” So not only do we learn something about the nature of faith here, but we also learn something about the means by which to encourage ourselves and one another in the purposes of God in His Son.

There are a couple aspects of the story that have much to help us understand about the Larger Catechism questions for today. Assurance is such an important part of the Christian life, yet so many find it difficult to embrace it. I’ve said before that the criticisms some make of the Westminster Standards (WCF, WSC, WLC), that they lack warmth and piety, are in Q/A’s like the below shown to be not only false, but risibly so. The Divines knew men and women battle against the temptations to doubt the promises of the gospel in Christ, and they provide an answer to help the soul find peace in that struggle. Here’s this week’s questions and answers: ...

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