Look out on things going on today. And it's good to be reminded. That although there's much. Going on that we see is wrong and. That this still is our father's world. And he's in control. That he certainly does for his people believers. Center saved by grace. that all things do work together for good to them that love him who are the called according to his purpose. I believe that, don't you? I believe it. We're gonna be looking at 1 John chapter two. 1 John chapter two, we're gonna begin looking at verse 12. The title of the message is Threefold Assurance. And of course, since we began the book of 1 John, we've been talking about assurance. We're talking about assurance of salvation. Talking about how assurance, true godly assurance. Now a lot of people have assurance of salvation. I mean, there's a lot of people, if you ask them this question, and I used to hear this on TV all the time. Preacher would be standing before a crowd of people and they say, he'd say, if you're as sure for heaven as if you were already there, raise your hand. And of course, a lot of people would raise their hand. And then when I learned the gospel, the true gospel, I began to ask this question. I wonder what their ground of assurance is. For a lot of people, it's not what we would call from the scripture a true God-honoring, God-breathed ground of assurance. Most people's assurance of salvation comes from something they do or something they think they've been enabled to do. And that's not biblical. Now, I know it sounds all right, but it's not right. I've, you know, you talk to most people about salvation. They'll talk about, well, when I was 12 years old, I walked an aisle, gave my heart to Jesus, and got baptized. And I'm telling you now, I'm not trying to just be mean or suspicious. Somebody said, you're not trying to be judgmental. I don't have to try to be, I am. I had a man from Africa write me one time. He said, why are you so judgmental? And I wrote him back and I said, because God's word tells me to be judgmental. But judge not self-righteous judgment. That's what Matthew 7, that verse that is so much taken out of context, judge not that you be. He's talking about self-righteous judgment there, not all judgment. Over in John chapter 7, he said, judge righteous judgment. Now, what is righteous judgment? It's judgment based upon this right here, the word of God, in the gospel especially. But what I'm saying is that what you do is not a proper God-honoring ground of salvation. Well, certainly not a ground of salvation, but ground of assurance. Well, what is? Well, I'll say it in just a few words, but you can really expand upon it. The proper God-honoring ground of assurance of salvation is what Christ did, not what you do. Somebody says, well, you've got to believe in Him. Yeah, you've got to believe in who He is, what He did, why He did it, and where He is now. Who is He? He's God manifest in the flesh, the Messiah, the one Savior of sinners. one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me." There's not many ways to heaven now. Preachers will tell you that but they're false. There's only one way and that's the way of grace in Christ. And what did he do? As the representative as the surety. You know what a surety is, don't you? Somebody that signs a note. If you don't pay it, I will. Well, he signed a note for us in the covenant of grace before the foundation of the world, but then we could never make that payment. He was always going to be the payer. So he's our surety. He's our substitute. He came to earth. Galatians 4 says that in the fullness of the time, God sent his son, made of a woman, that's his humanity, the son of God, that's his deity, made of a woman, made under the law, that was the payment that he must make, all salvation conditioned on him, not on us, but on him, to redeem, to buy back those who were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons. And what he did on that cross as the surety, the substitute, the redeemer of his people, sealed their salvation. In time, the Holy Spirit's gonna bring them under the gospel and give them life from the dead. A new heart, a new knowledge, a new mind. That's the new birth. You must be born again. So what did he do? Why did he do that? He did it for the glory of his father, and the eternal goodness and salvation of all whom he represented. Given him before the foundation of the world, what did he say? All that the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. This is the will of him that sent me that of all that he hath given me I should lose nothing but raise it up again at the last day. His death, burial, and resurrection sealed it Where is he now? He's seated at the right hand of the Father ever living to make intercession for his people so that they can never be lost. And the reason you can never be lost, if you look to him, is because he won't let you go. If he let you go, you'd go. But he won't let you go. He said, no one can pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. Now, assurance. is grounded upon what Christ has done for me. And how do I know he did it for me? Because God has brought me under the gospel and given me the gift of faith. Faith in Christ. Repentance of dead works. Now John here in his first epistle, he had emphasized that fellowship with God and with one another comes through the knowledge of what he called a propitiation. Remember over here in 1 John 2 and verse 2? It said Jesus the righteous, Jesus Christ the righteous, he's the propitiation for our sins. Not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. The whole world there, meaning all whom the Father gave to him before the foundation of the world, who live all over this world. That's not all without exception now. The propitiation is the guarantee of salvation. Because the word that you would probably use for it today is more like satisfaction. It pleased the Lord, Isaiah said, to bruise his son. and God was satisfied, he shall be satisfied. In other words, he was successful. He did not fail. He did not make salvation available, he made it sure. And all for whom he made it sure shall come to him. and all that come to him, he will know why he's cast out. But propitiation means a satisfaction based on a just ground, and the just ground is his obedience unto death for the sins of his people. Well, that's how we come to know God and have fellowship with God. It's on the basis of the person and the work of Christ, who is the Lord, our righteousness. Peter said something similar to that. Look back a few pages to 2 Peter 1. And of course they all agree on this, 2 Peter chapter one, beginning at verse one. It says, Simon Peter, 2 Peter one, verse one, Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith, they obtained it, it's a gift, with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ, Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. That's revealed knowledge. God reveals it to his people. And he says, according as his divine power hath given unto us. Now listen to this. Don't let this slip by you. He hath given, that's a free gift, unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. Now when it says all things that pertain to life and godliness, nothing is excluded. And what that means is that if God has given this to you, it's not because of your contribution. You didn't contribute. Not even your faith is a contribution. It's a gift from God, like precious faith. And how does he give it? Look at verse three. Through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue. Glory meaning salvation, assured, and virtue meaning godliness. Now look at verse four. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises. That's the promises of salvation, eternal life, and glory. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 1 20, all the promises of God are in Christ, yea, and in Christ, amen. And he says that by these, these promises of a gift, You might be partakers of the divine nature. That word partaker is the same word that John uses and it translated fellowship. You have fellowship with the divine nature. And what's the divine nature? God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust, even religious corruption. You've escaped it because God brought you out. Now go back to 1 John. So John talks about that fellowship. We have fellowship with the Father and the Son. And John has told us that there are ways in which we can test our relationship with God. And the first way that he really talks about is walking in the light. 1 John 1 verse 6. Walking in the light. And what is that? Well, walking in the light involves a continual confession of our sins. What am I at my best? I'm a sinner saved by grace. And I'll tell you right now, the way I put it is this, that what blessings that I have obtained, that I have been given as far as salvation, as far as forgiveness, As far as a right relationship with God and a right relationship with my brethren in Christ, what blessings I have, there's not one of them that I've earned or deserved. You hear that? Whatever it is, I have. And of course, the Bible says we have all things. Ephesians 1, 3, we're blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Well, all those blessings, I didn't earn them, and I don't deserve them. That's right, I'm an undeserving sinner that God has been pleased to have mercy. And that's by His sovereign will. That's what He said in Romans 9. That's what He told Moses back in Exodus 33. I'll have mercy on whom I will, I'll be gracious to whom I will. And He said that's His glory. Now, it's not your glory, it's His glory. If you made the difference, it could be your glory. But you didn't. God did. You say, well, that's a pretty big God. I haven't even described the half of it. Big God and little us. But a continual confession of our sins. But it also is a continual confession of Christ. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. We sing a hymn that says, Jesus paid it all. And it says, all to him I owe. There's another line in there I like better. It says, Jesus paid it all, all the debt I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow. And of course, my favorite hymn, I quote all the time. My hope is built on nothing less than that I made a confession and got baptized, no, in Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame. What are the sweet frames that people trust? What they do, thinking they're doing it for the Lord. You came to church this morning, all right? I'm glad you did. And you needed to. You need to hear the Gospel. You need to hear somebody preach the Scripture. But that's not going to save you. That's not going to make you righteous. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and rice. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. Do you understand that? John over in 1 John chapter two, he talked about keeping his commandment. He says in verse three, look at John two and verse three. He says, hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments. And people look at verses like that and they say, well, I'm trying to keep the 10 commandments. But notice he didn't say. We know that we know Him if we try to keep Him. He says we keep Him. What is the keeping of the commandments there? You've got to look at that, as I said before, under the Gospel, under the New Covenant. It means looking solely to Christ for salvation and loving the brethren, loving others who look to Christ wholly for salvation. That's what He's talking about. And He says it down in 1 John 2 there. He clarifies it. John in his gospel, he clarified it. If my salvation and my assurance of salvation depends upon me keeping the Ten Commandments, I've got to be honest with you, I'm in for a rude awakening. I heard a preacher tell a story about a little girl who did something Touched something her mama told her not to touch, some kind of a vase or something like that. And the vase dropped, but it didn't break. And the mama asked the little girl, said, did you break one of the commandments? And the little girl said, well, I didn't really break it, I just bent it. No, she broke it, even though the vase didn't break. She broke the commandment. You know when she broke the commandment? When she desired to do what her mother forbade her to do, even before she touched it. That's called covetousness. You see, sin is a matter of the heart and the mind. Sin's not in a bottle or in a piece of meat. Sin, we're the problem. What did Christ teach his disciples? It's not what goes into the body that defiles you, it's what comes out of the heart. And that's why we can't cure this thing. If you could stop drinking alcohol and be saved, then that's another religion. What does that mean, I can get drunk? No, that's a sin. It's all sin. But sin is a problem you cannot handle. Now you've all known people who got cancer and died. You've all known people. I've known people. My son. Couldn't control it. That's the way sin is. You can religionize it. You can cry over it. You can crawl on your belly like a reptile. But it won't heal the problem. What will? Jesus Christ the righteous who is the propitiation for our sins. That's all. And that's enough. But you know what's wrong with people who don't believe? Christ is not enough for them. They've got to do something. Oh, I know he died for my sins, but I've got to, I've got to. You've heard it. That's a denial of Christ. The Jews said to the Gentiles, who converted to Christ. They said, oh, but you've got to be circumcised to be a real child of God. Paul comes back by the power of the Holy Spirit and he says, if you be circumcised for that reason, Christ will profit you nothing. Some of them say, well, you've got to keep a day. You've got to observe the Sabbath. Paul called that worldliness. Taste not, touch not, handle not. You can taste not, you can touch not, you can handle not, but you still got the problem of sin. What can wash away my sins? What's the next line, folks? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Does nothing mean nothing? What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. Now, you know that when a person is saved, that they still have the problem of sinful flesh. It's a struggle, it's a warfare. But Christ has already conquered the flesh, the world, the flesh, and the devil. And that'll be realized when we die and leave this world and go to be with him. Well, look back at 1 John 2. John emphasizes that these things are written, in fact, if you'll look at verse 12, he says, I write unto you, some translations put it this way, I have written unto you. Well, either way, John's writing by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And he says, I write unto you little children because your sins are forgiven you for his namesake. Do you see that? Your sins are forgiven you. Not because you've done something for the Lord. Not because you prayed through. Not because you got baptized. Your sins are forgiven you, here's the first ground of salvation, for His name's sake. Now a name in the New Testament, and in the Old Testament too, is not like names that we have. The name was an indication of the character of the person who held that name. And so it's not just a label. Believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. That means more than just hollering Jesus or saying praise the Lord. It means his character, his nature, his work. the name of Jesus. The name Jesus literally means God our salvation. That's what it means. So if you believe in a Jesus who failed to save his people from their sins, that's not the name of the Jesus I bow to. You see that? His name is wonderful. In fact, when the angel told Joseph to give him that name in Matthew 1.21, It says that his name shall be called Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Not that he might, not that he would make salvation available. No, he shall save them, every one of them. Is he able to do it? Well, he's given another name, Matthew 1.23. His name shall be called Emmanuel, which being interpreted, God with us. Yes, he's able, he's God manifest in the flesh. The word made flesh. John's writing this when he says little children, he's not talking about babes here or babes in Christ. He's talking about all the children of God. You may be 90 years old. If you're a believer, you're still a child of God. You may be newly converted. If you're a believer, you're a child of God. The word could be translated this way, literally, I've written unto you begotten ones. Born again, people. Born again by the Spirit. Evidenced by their faith in Christ. Who are you looking to? Who are you resting in? Who are you following? Christ, the author and finisher of my faith. What is your hope of salvation? What is your ground of assurance? Christ. who is the author and finisher of my faith. That's the evidence of being born again. That's the evidence of being a child of God. Now somebody might say, they might argue, say, well, that's all you have to do. Then I'll just go out and sin as much as I want to. Well, go ahead. All that tells us about you is you really don't believe in Christ. You're just claiming to. You're just making a profession that is empty. Because when God imprints the grace of God, His grace in Christ upon your heart and your mind, He gives us a desire to follow Him and fight the flesh, fight sin, realizing that He's already won the battle. Isn't that something? It's kind of like a prize fighter who goes into a fight knowing who's going to win. It's still a struggle. God didn't cheat to do it. He sent His Son to do for us what we could not and cannot do for ourselves. Your sins are forgiven. Think about that. How are they forgiven? Well, David said it this way in Psalm 32 and Paul recorded it in Romans 4. He says, blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered, now that doesn't mean covered over from sight, it means you're covered by the blood of the Lamb of God, satisfied, justice satisfied, blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth, chargeth, not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. What he's talking about is when the Holy Spirit brings us to see our sins and see Christ, we don't have to be dishonest with ourselves anymore. I don't have to stand up here and brag on myself and put it as if I'm the great example for everybody. I'm a preacher. I can't be touched. I've got to be pristine. I don't have to lie to you. I'm a sinner. That's what I am. I don't want to be, and I hate it, and you know why I hate it? Because look what it's done to me. Look what it's done to you. That's why you hate it. I heard a preacher say, I just hate sin because it's sin. I thought, he's lying. There's too many times when sin seems pleasing to us. And that's sad. And it's bad. But I'll tell you what, when you get sick, or when you get old, you really begin to hate sin. Because you see what it's done to these bodies. And that's God weaning his children away from this world, causing them to desire more and more to go on and be with Christ. This old corruption has got to put on incorruption. You see? Little children. Why does he cause little children? Because just as a little child is totally dependent upon its parents for its physical and mental well-being. That's the way children of God. We may be 90 years old, as I said, but you're still just as dependent upon God's grace and power and goodness as you ever were. Like a little child. God's grace and power saves us. God's grace and power keeps us. And God's grace and power will bring us into glory. And there's not one second of our life that that glory is dependent upon what we do or don't do. Paul quoted that passage that I quoted out of Psalm 32 that David wrote, blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputed not iniquity. And he penned it this way in Romans 4, 6. He described the blessedness of the man to whom the Lord imputeth, chargeth righteousness without works. Without our works. Whose righteousness does God charge to my account? Christ. The Bible says in Romans 8, 33, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who can condemn us? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather He's risen again, seated at the right hand of the Father, ever living to make intercession for us. Now is there anything in there that's dependent upon what you and I do? And the answer is no. It's all of God. So there's the first Ground of assurance, threefold assurance. Look at the second one, look at verse 13 of 1 John 2. He said, I write unto you fathers. Now the fathers there would be elders in the faith, those who are elders in the faith. I write unto you fathers because you have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, and then he mentions young men, He says, because you have overcome the wicked one, I write unto you little children, because you have known the Father. Little children, there's a different word than children up in verse 12. So he's probably talking about those who are newly born. Fathers, young men, and children. And he says, first of all, he says, you have known him that is from the beginning. Who's that talking about? It's talking about Christ. Look at 1 John 1, verse 1. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word of life, who is that? That's Christ. Remember John 1 and verse 1, in beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God, that's Christ. You've known him. Somebody says, do we know ourselves? Well, when the spirit reveals our sinfulness, we've come to know ourselves. But we're learning every day on that one. You've known him that is from the beginning. And you continue to know, that's the sense of it. You continue to know him. And this knowledge is an intimate knowledge of God as our heavenly father. And how does that come about? I want you to see this one now. Turn to John chapter six. Now, everybody calls God their father. And the only way that you can say God is universally everyone's father is by creation. But not by salvation. He is the father of his children alone, saved by the grace of God. Look at John 6 and verse 44. He says, no man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him. That's the drawing by the Holy Spirit under the gospel. And I will raise him up at the last day. That's a sure salvation. Now how does the Father draw his people to him? Look at verse 45. It is written in the prophets, they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard Now that's the hearing, spiritual hearing given in the new birth. Remember Christ told the disciples, blessed are your ears for they hear, your eyes for they see. So he says, every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, learned by revelation through the gospel, wherein Christ is revealed as the Savior, cometh unto me. You see that? And then one more verse I'll have you turn to, I won't have you turn to any more, but look at Galatians chapter four. And look at verse four. He says, but when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his son made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Now when did that adoption take place? Before the world began. Read it in Ephesians chapter one. Adopted by God's grace in Christ, and we receive that spirit, look at that verse six, and because you are sons, you see that? Not in order to become sons, But because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. That's when you know him who's from the beginning. That's when you know God as your spiritual father, the father of all grace and mercy and love in salvation. Abba, Abba, that's a special, we really don't have an English translation for that. It's a special relationship with God as our Heavenly Father through Christ, revealed to us by the Spirit. So that's, you've known Him who is from the beginning. You've known Christ. And go back to 1 John 2 and I'll finish in verse 14. I've written unto you fathers, because you've known him that is from the beginning. I've written unto you young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and you've overcome the wicked one." There's threefold assurance. Your sins are forgiven for his namesake. You've known him who is from the beginning with that intimate saving knowledge. And now he says, you're strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and you've overcome Satan. Strong. Where is my strength? It's not in me, it's in God. Paul said, when I'm weak, I'm what? I'm strong. What does he mean by that? Are you just talking in riddles? No. When I'm at my weakest, that's when I look to Christ even more. I had a gentleman tell me one time, he said, the only time he prays is when he's in trouble. I told him, I said, well that's not good. I said, it's good for you to pray when you're in trouble, but that's not good that that's the only time. You know, prayer should be thanksgiving too, you know that. So don't wait always till you get in trouble, because our strength is in the Lord. Christ is our strength. And that's what he means here, you're strong. Strong in faith, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith. And the Word of God abides in you. It stays with you. It's written on your heart. You can't get away from it. John writes a lot about that over in 1 John, later on in 1 John 2 and then 1 John 3. That Word, it's become part of you. It's part of your heart, your psyche. Written on the heart. It's not just an outward profession that you can take or leave. And then you've overcome the evil one, the wicked one. How do we overcome Satan? I said I wasn't gonna have you turn to another verse, but I do want you to end it with this, Revelation 12. Revelation 12, and then I'll conclude with this. How did Christ overcome Satan when he was tempted on the Mount, the Mount of Temptation? How did he overcome him? It is written. Remember he said man does not live by bread alone but by the Word of God. It is written. That's how he overcame. How do you overcome Satan? It is written, the Word of God. Look at verse 9 of Revelation 12. The great dragon was cast out. That old serpent called the devil. He was cast out when Christ died on the cross. He's called Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. He was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now has come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ. For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. Remember when he accused Job? He's been cast down. He accuses. What did He accuse me of? What does He accuse you of? You're a sinner. You deserve hell. How do we overcome it? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who can condemn us? It's Christ that died. So look at verse 11. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. No, Satan, you don't have anything against me. I gave my heart to Jesus. That's not what he says, is it? They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they loved not their lives unto dead. There's the third one. The word of their testimony, the word of God. That's what our assurance is based upon, what God says. Not what we say, but what God says. All right.