Through the hearing of God’s Word, the Holy Spirit opens our ears to the truth of our sin and our salvation. Without this word, we are deaf to the divine truth and we are unable to rightly confess and praise God. We cannot know right from wrong. We become prideful of our own righteousness or we are filled with despair over our guilt. If we are to know the only way of salvation our ears must be opened by the illumination of the Holy Spirit. And how does the Holy Spirit illuminate our hearts? Through the Scriptures. As we read, hear, study, and meditate upon the Holy Scriptures, the Holy Spirit works upon our hearts and our minds to open our ears that have been closed by sin so that we may hear Jesus and know Him to be our Savior who has prepared our salvation. Thus, whenever we would engage the Word of God, we pray, asking the Holy Spirit to remove the deafening sin of our hearts and open our mouths to declare His praise. I look forward to gathering with you this coming Lord’s Day, receiving the gifts of salvation, and hearing the living and life-giving Word of God.
Pastor Ulmer