Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening and now
for today's program. Welcome to our program. I'm glad
you could join us today. And if you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'll be preaching from the book of Hebrews chapter
10, beginning in verse 32. The title of this message is
A True Believer's Confidence. A True Believer's Confidence. Now, before I get started, let
me ask you a question. Do you claim to be a Christian?
Do you claim to be a true believer? then what confidence, what is
your confidence that you are a Christian, a true believer,
and what is that confidence based on? What's the ground of your
confidence? That's what we're gonna talk
about. In this passage, it has been set forth clearly in some
of the plainest language you'll find in the Bible that Jesus
Christ, the Lord of glory, The surety and substitute of God's
chosen people is the only ground of confidence that makes any
sense, that gives any real confidence that's not fake. You know, people
in the Bible, and of course it's true of people today and in every
age, in religion, they seek refuge, refuge from the world, refuge
from troubles, refuge from the devil, refuge from themselves,
refuge from the wrath of God. What is your refuge? What is
my refuge? Is it a refuge of lies? Isaiah
spoke of that in his day when he talked about the unbelieving
Jews and their leaders. They had confidence, but their
confidence was in the wrong things. Their confidence was in their
physical connection to Abraham. They said, well, we were Abraham's
seed, that means we're children of God. Well, that's not the
case at all. They had confidence in circumcision,
the Jewish rite of circumcision that connected them back to Abraham. The males were circumcised, representing
the whole family. But that's not a good ground
of confidence, of assurance. And they had confidence in their
law keeping. They said, we kept the law of
Moses. Now, first of all, they did not keep the law of Moses.
They broke that covenant. And they had to water it down.
You know, it's like people today. They think they are working their
way to heaven or working their way to God, but they've got to
lower the standard. The standard is perfect righteousness.
That can only be found in Christ. So the writer of Hebrews here
by inspiration of the Holy Spirit had told him that, look, if your
confidence is anywhere but in Christ and what he accomplished
on Calvary to establish the only ground of salvation through his
death, his blood, and bring forth righteousness, if your confidence
is anywhere but in him and what he accomplished, his one offering,
then it's a fearful thing to fall in the hands of the living
God. If you stand before God without
Christ, you're condemned. That's what the Bible teaches.
And so look at verse 32 of Hebrews 10. He says, but call to remembrance
the former days in which after you were illuminated, you endured
a great fight of afflictions. Now he's talking about believers.
And when they had first, he called to remembrance the days when
you first heard the gospel and were brought to faith in Christ,
After you were illuminated, enlightened, you endured a great fight of
afflictions. It wasn't an easy life. It wasn't
a bed of roses. It wasn't, as one false preacher
writes today, it wasn't their best life now. Christ told his
disciples they would have trouble. He said, in the world you'll
have tribulation. But he said, here's your hope.
He said, be of good cheer for I have overcome the world. He
told them in John 15, don't be amazed if the world hate you.
It hated me before it hated you. You see, the true Christian message
is not smile God loves you. It's not smile Christ died for
you. It's not a general blanket promise
like that. It's not a feel good message
to the unregenerate, my friend. It's a message of offense to
the world. John chapter 3 talks about it.
When Christ said this is the condemnation that light has come
into the world and men love darkness and hate the light because their
deeds are evil. All who doeth evil hate the light.
They hate the gospel. And why? Because the gospel shows
the reality of God's justice and righteousness. Who God is?
God is a holy God. God must, listen to me now, God
must punish sin. God cannot look over your sin.
He cannot forget it. He cannot deny it. Somebody said,
but yes, God is mercy. But God's mercy has to be based
on God's justice satisfied. And you know what the greatest
proof of that is? Christ had to come and die on
that cross to satisfy justice. I see these signs in yards today
where it says the cross has a cross and an equal sign and the word
love. The cross equals love. Well,
the cross of Christ is the greatest expression of God's love to his
people, all who believe. But you see, most people when
they see that, they don't think of the gospel in terms of The
cross is justice satisfied. That's what the word, have you
ever heard of the word propitiation used four times and in different
other forms in the New Testament? That means a sin-bearing sacrifice
who satisfied justice as the substitute of God's elect. That's
what propitiation is. Herein is love. Not that we love
God, but that he loved us. That's talking about his people
now, his elect. He loved us and gave His Son
to be the propitiation for our sins. So the cross does equal
God's love to His people, but it's love that is based upon
justice satisfied. And we need to understand that.
People don't like to hear that. The gospel tells the truth about
our sinfulness, that we're totally depraved. by nature, born dead,
we fell in Adam. Ruined by the fall, not by the
environment. Listen, the man has not, when we talk
about the environment, all right, man fell and brought this earth
under the curse. That's what happened. We ruined
it, even back then. We can't save it. We're sinners. And here's the point, let me
just give you the short of it. If God were to take the best
human being, born of Adam now, Christ is God in human flesh,
but I'm not talking about him, he's God-man, he was the perfect
son of God. But if God were to take the best
fallen human being who ever lived on this earth, and judge that
person based upon his works, his obedience, his sincerity,
his attitude, that individual would be condemned to perish
forever. That's what the Bible teaches.
You say, where does it teach that? There's none righteous,
no not one. There's none good, no not one.
For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. My friend, there's nothing you
can do Nothing you can try or attempt that will save you, keep
you saved, or bring you to glory. Now that's the long and the short
of it. That's why Christ had to come. And then salvation.
The Bible teaches that God saves whom He will and He damns whom
He will. You say that's not fair. Well
read Romans 9. God does what's right. Your responsibility
is to act upon God's revealed will by way of commandment which
says believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Whosoever calls upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. But they're going to be
saved God's way. Well that message brings great
fights of affliction from the world. And that's what these
people had endured. And look at verse 33 of Hebrews
10. He says, partly, whilst you were made a gazing stock, both
by reproaches and afflictions. See, they were publicly humiliated. That's what he's saying. You
came out for the cause of Christ against the world. And back then,
they didn't have a constitution that allowed them the liberty
to worship as God commanded. That's why we're so spoiled in
this day and age. For example, I'll tell you this
much. I believe in everyone's equal right to worship as they
desire to worship. But that doesn't mean everyone's
right. Now that's equal rights does not mean everyone is right.
You have the liberty in this country to believe a lie. And
my friend, if you believe salvation, based on anything but the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, imputed and received by God-given faith,
you're believing a lie. Now that may be offensive to
you, but I have the liberty to say that, and I thank God for
it. You have the liberty to disagree with me. But the authority is
the Bible. Now back then, they didn't have
that liberty. And so many of them were arrested. Look, he
says, and partly, became companions of them that were so used, you
lined up with those who were being persecuted. Verse 34, I
say the writer of Hebrews, a lot of scholars do not believe that
the apostle Paul was the human writer of Hebrews, I do, but
it doesn't matter, this is God's word, but here's what he says,
verse 34, for you had compassion of me in my bonds, that is when
he was in jail, for preaching the gospel. And he says, and
took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves
that you have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. In
other words, you shared your material things with him, with
Paul when he was in jail, and other believers when they were
in need. Because you know that these material things don't mean
anything. The only thing that really lasts
is the enduring substance, that's the blessings of God that believers
have in Christ. So he says in verse 35, cast
not away therefore your confidence. Don't forsake Christ. Now somebody
says, well, if there was no possibility for believers to be lost again,
then why would he have to say that? My friend, listen to me
now. That is human, faulty, sinful,
proud logic. There is no possibility that
a saved sinner could ever lose that salvation. But the purpose
of God in the salvation of a sinner is to glorify Himself. Let me say it this way. God's
purpose to save a people is not simply just to get a population
in heaven or in glory. The purpose of God in the salvation
of sinners is to glorify Himself, to honor all of His attributes,
His justice, His love, mercy and grace, His faithfulness,
His power, And it is the glory of God, not only to save a sinner,
but to keep that sinner saved. And He does it by means, and
the means is perseverance. Now, if you're a sinner saved
by grace, you're in a struggle. You're in a warfare. You might
ask the question, well, why does God leave us in this state? where
we have to battle the flesh against the spirit and the spirit against
the flesh. I'll tell you why. It glorifies and honors Him as
we are continually exhorted and encouraged to look to Him, to
fight the flesh, to endure, to hold fast, cling to Christ as
witnesses to the lost in this world. And that's what this is
all about. So he encourages his people,
knowing full well that they will not forsake Christ totally, but
they will struggle and they will stumble, but he always picks
them up. So it's his glory to command
his people to cast not away therefore their confidence, which hath
great recompense of reward. Now that reward is not a mercenary
reward. You know, some people say, well,
I'm not working to be saved, but I'm working to gain my rewards,
plural. That's not scriptural. You can't
earn anything from God. Mark it down. Anything you have
from God is a, listen, I'm talking to believers now. Anything you
have from God is a product of his grace. Anything that the
non-elect has from God is a product of his forbearance. The next
breath you take is a gift from God. Did you know that? You didn't
earn it and you don't deserve it. So the reward here is the
reward of grace. The apostle Paul spoke of that
in Romans chapter four when he was using Abraham. He's talking
about if the fact that Abraham was justified was based on his
works, it's not of grace but a debt. So it's the reward of
grace. There is a reward. but it's a
reward that Christ earned for his people. And then look at
verse 36, he says, for you have need of patience, that's endurance.
We endure because of the preserving grace of God, that after you
have done the will of God, you might receive the promise, and
that's the promise of eternal life. after we've done the will
of God. And what's the will of God? Somebody
says, well, I'm doing the will of God. I'm working hard to get
to heaven. That's not the will of God, my
friend. He's talking about the will of God revealed in the gospel,
the reveal command. God commands us not to try to
work our way into heaven. He commands us to cling to Christ
who did all the work. And we work to glorify him. That's
what he commands. That's the will of God. And those
who do that receive the promise. This is the evidence that they're
saved. And so he says in verse 37, for
yet a little while, and he that shall come will come and will
not tarry. Christ is coming again. Now, they said it back in these
days, almost 2,000 years ago. And we know he's coming. Believers,
we don't, we who are believers, we don't know the day of his
coming. We don't know the hour. We look at signs as the Bible
gives us, but we can't pinpoint, but we know he's coming and it
could be any day. He'll come as a thief in the night. That
is, he will come in a day that we don't know, but he will not
overtake his people as a thief because we expect him to come.
So look at the conclusion here in verses 38 and 39. He says,
now the just shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, that
he is apostatized. Those who profess to be faithful,
those who profess to believe in Christ, but then they forsake
him. If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in
him. Look at verse 39. But we are not of them who draw
back unto perdition, that is damnation, but of them that believe
to the saving of the soul. Now let me unpack that a little
bit for you. And I want you to think, and you check me out,
test this. He says, the just shall live
by faith. Who are the just? That's the
justified. In the New Testament, the word
just is often translated righteous. The righteous shall live by faith.
They're the same thing. Now the Bible teaches that among
men fallen and born in Adam, there's none righteous, no, not
one. So when he speaks of the just or the righteous, who's
he talking about? He's talking about sinners saved
by the grace of God through the Lord Jesus Christ and who stand
before God having Christ's righteousness charged, accounted, imputed to
them. They are justified before God. To be justified means to
be not guilty. Now, it doesn't mean that we
didn't commit the acts of sin. We fell in Adam, we're born dead
in trespasses and sins, and we sin. And nothing we do, even
as believers, comes up to the perfect righteousness that's
only found in Christ. But here's the point. God does
not charge his people with their sins so as to condemn them. Over in Hebrews 10, in verse
17, that's what he said. and their sins and iniquities
will I remember no more." That means God will not bring an account
of them or bring up a record of them so as to condemn. Romans
chapter 8 says it. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. It's
God who declared me not guilty. And to be justified means to
be declared by God righteous in His sight, not based upon
my works or anything that I've done or anything I've decided,
but based upon the one death of the Lord Jesus Christ. For
by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.
Now, how do I know if I'm a justified person or not? Well, here it
is. Verse 38, the just, the justified
shall live by faith. What does that mean? Well, he
just believes hard or sincere. No, he lives his life depending
upon in submission to the Lord Jesus Christ as our only hope,
our only confidence, our only way of salvation. You see, this
is the believers, the true believers confidence. My life, My salvation,
all the blessings are due to what Christ accomplished and
finished on Calvary. I'm in Him. He is God manifest
in the flesh. Can I doubt that He's able to
save me and to save me to the uttermost? He is my forgiveness. He was manifested to take away
my sins. How did He take them away? He
died in my place and satisfied the justice of God. All the wrath
that God had for me as far as my sins, the wrath that I earned,
the wrath that I deserve, Christ stood in my place as my surety
and substitute, suffered, bled and died, was buried and rose
again for my justification. He drank damnation dry for me. How do I know He did it for me?
I look to Him. I rest in Him. I believe in Him. I have no other hope but Him.
I forsake everything else. Anyone else? All else? My friend,
I forsake it all. That's repentance. To believe
in Christ and forsake all, knowing that He's the only hope. He's
my only righteousness. Now, anybody who claims that,
but then draws back unto perdition, in other words, like it was explained
over here in verse 26, for if we sin willfully, after that
we receive the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more
sacrifice for sin. In other words, they reject him.
They never were saved to begin with. Paul writes that in verse
39. We are not of them who draw back
unto perdition. True believers, Truly justified
persons, my friend, they are not of them who draw back from
the gospel they profess unto perdition. Those who draw back
from what they profess, draw back unto perdition, were never
saved to begin with. They were just false professors.
But true believers, the justified, living by faith, God-given faith,
are of them that believe to the saving of the soul. That is,
what's he talking about? He's talking about salvation
in all of its realms. The eternal realm of salvation,
the legal realm of salvation, the spiritual realm of salvation,
the glorified realm of salvation. Salvation and everything that
it is from beginning to glory. That's what happens. And it's
all the gift of God. Not just part gift and part earned. It's all of grace. Salvation
is all of grace. And that's our confidence. The
true believer's confidence is not in themselves or in their
profession or in their experiences. You know, you ask a lot of people
today, are you saved? What do they do? They go back
to some experience they had in their youth or in their teenage
years, where they say they gave their heart to Christ and all.
That's not the confidence of a true believer. The confidence
of a true believer is looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith today and every day. That's the hope. Nothing can
wash away my sins, but the blood of Jesus Christ. And nothing
can make me whole again, but the blood of Jesus Christ. Nothing
but the blood. My experiences, whatever. I have
to put my experiences on the witness stand and judge them
by the word of God. And my friend, any experience
that I've had, that doesn't lead me ultimately to have confidence
in Christ and Him alone is an evil experience. Somebody says,
well, how do you know if the Holy Spirit's working on a person?
Well, I'll tell you exactly how you can know. Where do they end
up? Where do they find relief? You know, a person who feels
guilty, that's a sad thing, isn't it? Where do you find relief
from that guilt? person who feels sorrow, person
who feels like they're not worthy. Where do you ultimately find
worthiness? The Bible teaches that worthy
is the lamb that was slain. There's the confidence of a true
believer. Somebody says, well, I'm going
to do my best to be a righteous person. Well, first of all, you're going to fail because
righteousness in God's in God's judgment is measured by the Lord
Jesus Christ. I heard of a man who told a preacher
one time, he says, I know I'm saved because I love everybody. Well, we ought to love everybody. We ought to do our best to love
everybody. But our best efforts to love
anybody will not save us or make us righteous. You see, that's
not our confidence. You say, I'm trying to do this,
or I'm trying to do that. Well, if it's according to God's
word, that's okay. But let me tell you something,
if that's your confidence, you're sadly in a refuge of lies. My
friend, our confidence is in Christ, the God-man mediator. God manifest in the flesh, who
came to this earth for His people, His sheep, His church, God's
elect, and established in His obedience unto death the only
righteousness by which a holy God can justify us in mercy and
love and grace. Hope you'll join us next week
for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, Write us
at 1-1-0-2 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia 3-1-7-0-7. Contact us
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today and may the Lord be with you.