Chapter 2. There are believers
who God has truly saved, but who do not realize that they have assurance. Now understand
what I said there. There are sinners who have been
truly saved by God, but they don't realize that they have
assurance. That's not how we think of assurance.
I know. We think assurance of being sure
and certain. In my heart, I know. They have
assurance, but they don't know they have assurance. But according to the Scriptures,
believers can have assurance. And we should know the assurance
of our salvation. We ought to seek it. Job knew
he had assurance. Job said, I know that my Redeemer
liveth. He said, and he shall stand at
the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I
shall see for myself. mine eyes shall behold and not
another, though my reins be consumed within me." He had assurance.
And Paul had assurance. Paul said in 2 Timothy 1.12,
I know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded that he's able
to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. That's
assurance. The apostle John had assurance,
and just like Paul, he wanted those that he preached to, to
have assurance. He said this, John said, These
things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the
Son of God, that you may know, that you may know that you have
eternal life, that you may believe on the name of the Son of God.
One of the main problems of the believer who doesn't know that
he has assurance is where he's looking for assurance. That's
one of the main problems where they're looking for assurance.
We don't ever want to look for assurance by looking at our past
experiences. People like to look back to when
they you know, had some, made some profession in religion or
something like that. That's not assurance. That's
not assurance. We shouldn't be looking to our
religious works, to baptism, or to church membership, or to
how you attend church services or something like that. That's
not what's going to give us assurance. That's the wrong place to look.
Even if we start looking to ourselves to see our fruits, and to see
how much we love our brethren. John talks about being able to
see fruits and to see the love that that we're given by the
Spirit of God toward brethren. But where are you going to see
that is you're going to see that in your brethren. You're going
to see that God working that in your brethren toward you. But when you start looking at
how much you love somebody and trying to find assurance by how
much you love and about the fruits in you, that's a good way to
become very disappointed and to not have any assurance, looking
at yourself. The problem is where they look.
We should seek assurance, but we won't ever have it if we're
looking in the wrong place. We won't have it if we're looking
in the wrong place. I want to go through three scriptures. I'm not going to do them all
three today. I'm going to go over the next couple of services. I'll go over these three scriptures.
And they all speak about full assurance. Having full assurance. We're going to take this one
verse today and look at what Paul said all around it. Get
the context and see where this assurance is. Let's begin reading
in Colossians 2 and verse 1. It's called the full assurance
of understanding. The full assurance of understanding. Colossians 2.1, I would that
you knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and
for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their
hearts might be comforted. being knit together in love,
and unto all riches, here's where these riches are, of the full
assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement, to the open
acknowledgement and confession of the mystery of God. The full
assurance of the understanding of the mystery of God and of
the Father and of Christ. And here's the first thing. Where
is this full assurance found? This full assurance of understanding,
where is it found? He says it's in the mystery.
It's in the mystery. The mystery is the gospel. It's
the gospel, the full assurance of understanding. If we're going
to have it, where we want to look is we want to look into
the gospel. We want to hear the gospel of
God, our Father, and of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where we're
going to have the assurance and find this full assurance of understanding. Paul said, I want you to have
it. I want you to have the full assurance of understanding of
the gospel of God. of the Father and of His Son
Christ Jesus. Look back up in Colossians 1
in verse 23. It says there that the Lord Jesus
is going to present His people holy, unblameable, unapprovable
in His sight if you continue in the faith grounded and settled. That's what assurance does. It
grounds you and it settles you. Grounded and settled and be not
moved away from The hope of the gospel. See, he's talking about
the gospel. From the hope of the gospel,
which you've heard, and which was preached to every creature
which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, have made a minister.
The full understanding, the full assurance of understanding is
through the preaching of the gospel. He said, which you've
heard, which was preached, whereof I made a minister. Now, it's
not just any preaching. It's a preaching where you hear
Christ preached, where you hear God preached, where you hear
the works of God declared. We're not going to find assurance,
brethren, if we have somebody telling us to look to our works
and pointing us to our works for righteousness and for sanctification
and for things that we're doing to try to give ourselves assurance. Where you find assurance is looking
at somebody else that's done the works. And that's looking
at God. Paul's labor, his conflict, was
and why he traveled and preached and and labored and prayed and
sought a message from God was that folks would have the full
assurance of understanding. I know what that's like because
you labor you hear people talk about wanting assurance and and
they don't have assurance and you labor and you try to find
a message to give them assurance. Here's where it's going to be
found what you're doing right now. You're sitting here hearing
the gospel. And the folks who don't have the assurance, guess
where they'll be? They won't be hearing the gospel.
How are you going to have it if you don't look where it's
to be found? It's to be found in the Word. So the first thing
we're going to have to do is seek assurance, not by looking
at our attendance, not by looking at the fact we went to hear,
but actually coming with an open ear, trying to hear the Word,
listening, looking up the Scriptures, hearing the Gospel. That's where
you're going to find this full assurance of understanding. All
right, then notice this. He called the Gospel a mystery.
He said it was a mystery. And the reason he calls it a
mystery is because it's been hidden. God has hidden it for
ages. He's hidden it. And He's hidden
it from generations. That means from generations of
people. From the wise and the prudent. The man who comes to God thinking
he's wise and he knows all about God and you can't teach him anything,
he's prudent, he's done all his studying, got all his system
of doctrine down and he knows everything there is to know.
That man's not going to be taught anything. God speaks of coming
to him like a little child. Not coming opposing, not coming
disputing, not coming just to listen so we can rebut
what was said and come back with what we're thinking of the whole
time that we're sitting there listening. It's to come and listen
to what God says. You see, it's hidden by God.
And if it's going to be revealed, it's going to have to be revealed
by God. Look up there, Colossians 1.26. He says, he's speaking
there of the gospel, he says, this is the mystery which has
been hidden from ages and from generations. The ages there means
it's been hidden over time, a long time, and the generations means
generations of folks, people. God's hidden it. But now it's
made manifest to who? To those God sanctified. To those
He's given a heart to believe. To those He's called. That's
who the saints are. It's manifest to His saints.
To whom God will make known what is the riches of the glory of
this mystery among the Gentiles. You remember when the Lord Jesus
went, He was talking to the Pharisees. The Pharisees were religious
folks. And John came preaching to them, and they said, oh, he's
just, he's a centric, he's out there in the wilderness, he's
a, you don't want him to go listen to that man. Christ came, there
walking amongst them, dressed normally, preaching amongst them,
and he said, he said, you're like children playing in the
marketplace. We pipe to you, you won't dance, we mourn, you
won't cry. There's no response from you. They knew everything. And Christ,
walking along, said, Father, I thank you. Thank you that you've
hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed
them unto babes. Come to God like a baby. Come
to God like a child. Come to God open and ready to understand
and to hear and to receive the word. Come to God that way. He'll have to make you that way.
But come to him. Come. Just approach the word
like you've never heard the truth. You don't understand the truth.
Be honest and come to God. Say I want to be taught of God.
You got to go to where full assurance of understanding can be found.
And God is the one who reveals it. So he says, come to me, come
to God. All right, here, now look at
this next thing. Notice this, notice that the
gospel is not a what. The gospel's a whom. Look there,
Colossians 1, 27. He spoke there of the hope of
the gospel. And at the end of verse 27, he says, and that hope
is Christ in you, the hope of glory. That means a couple of
things. That means where the gospel is
preached, where Christ has sent it, where he sent his preacher
to preach, Christ is in your midst preaching the gospel. That's who's going to make the
word effectual. Christ, through the Spirit of God, is going to
make it effectual. And it also means Christ enters
into the heart of his people, and he's actually in his people.
And that's where we have this hope of glory is because we have
the revelation of Christ. Christ's been formed in us so
that we hear the gospel. Look here now, verse 28. Whom
we preach. You see that? Christ in you,
the hope of glory. Whom we preach. Do you get tired
of hearing me preach about Christ? I know you who find your assurance
in and knowing Christ, you don't get tired of hearing Christ preach.
But those that are looking for assurance somewhere else, they
get tired of hearing Christ preach. But this is who we preach. We
preach Christ, warning every man and teaching every man in
all wisdom that we may present every man perfect, mature, righteous,
holy, sanctified, where? In Christ Jesus. in Christ Jesus,
whereunto I also labor, striving according to His working, Christ
in you, the hope of glory. His working, His being in me,
His being with me, His being going forth in the Word, it's
by His working which worketh in me mightily. The full assurance
of understanding. Now listen to this. This is what
I mean by there's believers truly saved who have assurance and
don't realize they have assurance. Because the assurance of understanding,
the full assurance of understanding is Christ. Christ is the assurance
of understanding. He's the assurance, Christ himself. That's what you're taught when
you are given an understanding. Christ is our assurance. Look
down at Colossians 2 and verse 3. Where do I find this assurance
of understanding? In whom? In Christ are hidden
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Christ himself is
the highest wisdom and the highest knowledge a man can ever find.
Christ Himself, to know Christ Himself. That's the highest wisdom,
the highest knowledge we can ever get on this earth. Because
Scripture says, whom to know is life eternal, if you know
Him. This understanding is not how
much you know, it's not in what great system you know, it's in
knowing Christ Himself. He's the assurance. Look down
at verse 4. And why does Paul tell us this?
Why is he saying to us that I want you to have the full assurance
of understanding? I want you to hear the Gospel.
I want you to come to God who reveals it. And I want you to
know that that God who reveals it, who we preach, is the Lord
Jesus Christ. Why is he telling us this? Verse
4, And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing
words. What are these? Who's these any
man he's talking about? He's talking about preachers.
Are you talking about preachers? There's a whole lot of preachers
who preach things that will be much more enticing to a natural
man. A naturally religious man. Much
more enticing to you than what I'm preaching to you. I realize
that. The way they preach, the methods
they use, the music they play, the programs they got, and the
message they preach. It's all a lot more enticing
to you. To a natural man. But look at
this, Paul says, But though I be absent in the flesh, yet I am
with you in the Spirit, joying and beholding your order, and
the steadfastness, being settled and grounded, being steadfast,
I behold this, it's of your faith in Christ. You see that? They believed in Christ. And
he said, as you therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord. These
were folks who God had given them a heart, God had given them
a willingness, God had revealed Christ in them. They had heard
the Gospel and He had revealed the Gospel, that it's Christ,
and they believed on Christ. They had received Christ, the
gift of God given to them into their hearts irresistibly. They
had received Him. And He said, And I behold your
steadfastness, that you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He
says, now, if you want full assurance of understanding, don't let these
fellows coming down the pike take you off somewhere else and
say, now this is where you're going to grow and get a lot more
understanding. He says, as you therefore receive
Christ the Lord, so walk in Him. Walk ye in Him. When God reveals
Christ to us and makes us to know Christ, this is what the
world teaches. They say this, but they don't
do this. They say, you know, once in a blue moon they might
preach a message that has a little bit to do with Christ. And then
they say, but once you get the foundation and you understand
Christ and you've repented from false works and this and that,
then you move on past Christ. You've got to go on to other
things to get more understanding and how to walk in this life
and how to get by in this life and how to treat one another
and all that. Brethren, everything we learn, we learn looking to
Christ. Everything. And so he says, the
same way that you started with Christ, you started there resting
your hope in Him, trusting that He had redeemed you and put away
your sin and that He was going to present you to God, you keep
on going in Him, learning more of Him. Watch this now. He says,
rooted and built up in Him, Rooted. There's where you start, isn't
it? That's where how the plant starts, in the ground, rooted.
And then it grows up. Well, he says you start out rooted
in him, and you grow up in him. You don't move from him. Look.
Established in the faith, that is in Christ himself. As you've
been taught, abounding therein. Where? In Christ. Abounding in
Christ with thanksgiving. Beware. Beware, lest any man
spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions
of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Paul sounded like a preacher
that just preached Christ all the time, don't he? That's what
he told the Corinthians. I was determined to know nothing
among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Look, for in Him
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." Men will
say, oh, we want to learn about God. We want to know about God
the Father. God the Father says, look at
my son. We want to know about God the Holy Spirit. The Holy
Spirit was sent to bear witness to Christ. Christ said when he
comes, he's not going to speak of himself, he's going to speak
of me. In Christ is all the fullness
of God. Anything you're going to learn
about God is in Christ. That's where it's to be found.
Everything you learn about how to walk in this world, our next
message is going to be about a wife submitting to her husband.
Where are we going to look to figure out how to do that? We're
going to look to Christ. We're going to look to Christ.
Alright, look here. Now, here's the next thing. This
full assurance of understanding is to hear Christ teach us in
the gospel what He has accomplished for us. It's to know Him and
to hear Him teach us what He's accomplished for us. He doesn't
expect... Faith's not blind. He doesn't
expect you to believe Him without giving you an understanding of
what He's done for you. So He's going to teach His people
what He's done for His people. Now look at this. First of all,
verse 10, here's where it begins. This is the summation of everything
right here that you're going to learn about Christ Jesus. If He's drawn you and taught
you and given you faith to believe Him, this is what you're going
to learn. In every other detail you look at, this is the central
thing you're learning about. Verse 10, you're complete in
Him. You're complete in Him. The word complete and that word
fullness of the Godhead bodily, they're the same word. As fully
as Christ is the fullness of the Godhead bodily, that's how
complete the believer is in Christ, which is the head of all principality
of power. We have assurance when we understand
that we're complete in Christ. I got everything God needs, God
requires in Christ. That's what I am in Christ. That's
assurance. That's my assurance. All right,
look at this. I have full assurance when I
understand that the body of my sins, of my flesh, was put off
by Christ, not by my hands. Look, verse 11. In whom also
you're circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, and putting
off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of
Christ. That's what he did on the cross. See, he's talking
to believers who have professed to believe in Christ. That's
why he can say this with assurity. Christ did this for you. He's
not just speaking to everybody randomly that don't believe.
He's speaking to believers. And he said, Christ did this
already. Not by your hands, by His hands.
Look, we have full assurance when we understand that Christ
accomplished this for us when our old man was buried in Christ. in the judgment and justice of
God unto death, baptized in that fury of God's wrath and judgment
and justice in death when Christ was baptized on the cross in
that baptism. Look, buried with Him in baptism. That's not talking about water
baptism. That's when I was buried with Him in the judgment of God. He said, I have a baptism to
be baptized with and how I'm straight until it be accomplished.
That baptism. Look, This is assurance to know
that my new man arose with Christ when Christ arose when God raised
him from the dead. Verse 12, wherein also, in Christ,
you're risen with him through the faith of the operation of
God who's raised him from the dead. That's assurance. Here's
assurance to know that while we were dead in our sins, couldn't
do a thing, God quickened us together with Christ raised us
up together with Him, forgave us of all our trespasses, erased
every charge that was against us, and even took that law that
was barricading and blocking our way and our access to God,
He took that out of the way, not abolishing it, not doing
away with it, fulfilling it, nailing it to His cross. He fulfilled
it. Verse 13, You, being dead in your sins, the uncircumcision
of your flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven
you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out
of the way, nailing it to His cross. Do you see this? Here's
assurance. This is full assurance of understanding. Number one, I don't look to myself. I don't listen to men who try
to point me to the law. I don't listen to men who are
trying to point me away from Christ. Full assurance of understanding
is to hear the truth preached in the gospel. That's where you're
going to hear it. Please God to save by the foolishness of
preaching from the beginning to the end. That's how he's saving
us. Keeps on teaching us this and giving us this understanding
in our heart. Number two is to go to Christ,
is to ask Christ, is to go to Him asking for the understanding
because it's God that reveals Christ, and He's God. Then number
three is to believe Him when He declares to me what He's done
for me, that I'm complete in Him. I'm complete in Him. I'm complete in Him. This, when
He's your assurance, when you know Him, Know Christ and Him
crucified. Know Him, know what He's done
for you. It'll root you and settle you and ground you to where you
can't be moved away. You cannot, these men can come
talking all they want to talk about their philosophy and their
traditions and their works and they touch not, taste not, handle
not. I ain't hearing it. I found the pearl of great price.
I found the one thing needful. And I'm not, I've got full assurance
in Christ my Lord. All right, now, we know this
when we believe him. He said, I want you to know this
to the acknowledgement. You know, there's some folks
who, they're waiting, they're trying to have some kind of climactic
experience or to have some great notion and some be filled with
some kind of great feeling and say that I got assurance now.
What happens when that leaves? Then your assurance will be gone.
But if your assurance is Christ, this one who's done it, this
one who's revealing it to you, this one who's keeping you not
knowing and teaching you through the word, now you've got full
assurance. Now you've got lasting assurance.
Now you've got assurance that can't be taken away. I want to
show you some place this word is used. Turn to Luke 1. This
will help us to understand. I'll show you how it's used as
a verb. Luke 1. Christ is the one that gives
this to us. Remember, John said, we know that the Son of God has
come and hath given us an understanding. The Son of God has come and given
us an understanding that we may know Him that is true. And we're
in Him that is true. Even in his son Jesus Christ,
this is the true God. This is eternal life. That's
how we know. Christ revealed. Now look. Look
how Luke used this same word, full assurance of understanding,
and he used it as a verb. Verse 1. For as much as many
have taken in their hand to set forth in order a declaration
of those things which are, here's the word, most surely believed
among us. That's the same word as full
assurance of understanding. Most surely believed. This is
what I'm talking about. Do you believe God? Do you believe
the gospel? Do you believe what you're hearing?
Do you believe that Christ is salvation? Do you believe Christ
is the one who's done all this, just as he says he's done, and
that he's life eternal? When He gives you this assurance
of understanding, you most surely believe. And you believe it as
the declaration that's declared in the whole Scripture by all
His witnesses that are declaring it to it according to the Scriptures.
I'll show you another place. Look at Romans 4 and look at
verse 20. I'm going to be done. I just want you to see this.
Romans 4, 20. This will help you understand
the Word too. Romans 4, verse 20. This is speaking about Abraham. When God came to Abraham, told
Abraham that he was going to save him by grace through a seed
that was a child that would be born through Abraham. Look, verse
20 says, He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief,
but was strong in faith, giving glory to God Here's the word
being fully persuaded. That's that's translated from
the same word. Full assurance of understanding.
He had a full assurance of understanding. Here's what here's where his
assurance was. Now watch this that what God had promised God
was able also to perform. You see that? That's why he didn't
stagger. He didn't oppose it. He didn't back away from it.
He didn't waver between two opinions. It's because he wasn't looking
to himself. He was half-dead and Sarah was
half-dead. He wasn't looking to himself. He was fully persuaded
that whatever God promised, God was able to do it. That's the
full assurance of understanding. You see, to have the full assurance
of understanding is to be persuaded what God's promised. that God's
able to perform it. What I'm trying to point I'm
trying to make to you is it's not assurance in our understanding. You understand that I'm not just
splitting hairs. Some people are looking thinking
I do. I don't know if I know enough
yet. Well you're never going to know enough. We see through
a glass dimly. We don't. If you look to how
much you know you're going to be disappointed and you're not
going to have an issue. You just won't. Any place you
look other than Christ, you're not going to find assurance.
That's just plain and simple. Assurance is knowing God in Christ
Jesus and believing that we're complete in Him. Paul said, I
know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded he's able to
keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. Now,
let me say this before I'm done. This is important to remember.
I said to you in the beginning, a man can believe God and really
believe God, be saved by God, and have this assurance. It's
not how much faith you have. It's not the strength of your
faith or the weakness of your faith. It's Christ who's the
object of your faith. He is our assurance. Let me illustrate
that for you. How that a man can have this
assurance and not realize he's got it. Because he don't feel
something and don't feel assured in himself. Usually you feel
assured. I feel pretty sure about it,
but I'm not looking at my feelings. I'm trusting that Him you get
what I'm saying, but let me illustrate it You did you see a couple weeks
ago in the news where this is I could I laid down and got thinking
about this And I got about panic got had a panic attack just thinking
about it I'm scared of heights, but some fellows was on that
new World Trade Center about eight floors from the top cleaning
the windows And they were on one of those platform deals that
lets down, you know, the brakes on it. You can let it down on
the chains that hang down. And the brake broke. And that
one end of that thing just went straight down. And they slid
all the way down to the end of it. And they're hanging there.
Eight floors from the top. I don't know how tall that thing
is, but it's tall. That's way up there. Well, the
firefighters said they came there, and the first thing the firefighters
did was they stabilized that platform they were on, that scaffolding
they were on. They stabilized that with their
own cables, so there wasn't any way that thing could fall. Well,
their assurance that that thing wasn't going to fall was those
cables that those firefighters put on there and secured on there
so that they knew it's not falling. But do you think that those fellas
in that platform had full assurance? They knew it was secured. The
firefighters said it's secured. But do you think they had full
assurance that I'm not going to fall, this thing's not going
to fall? No. Would you? I wouldn't have. But
even though they didn't have full assurance, that wasn't their
assurance they weren't gonna fall. Those cables were their
assurance they weren't gonna fall. And then the firefighters,
they went to those new windows, you can't open those windows
up, so they just cut out a big hole in one of those windows,
right there level with them. And the first thing they did
was they reached out there and gave them harnesses and had both
those fellas put those harnesses on and they had those harnesses
fastened inside. There's no way they're fastened,
their platform's secured now, and they're secure with those
harnesses on, tethered to something inside. There's no way they're
gonna fall. You think they got assurance yet? They're still
out there dangling on that platform. But whether they felt like they
had assurance or they didn't, that wasn't their assurance.
Their assurance was that harness that was holding them. But when
they had assurance was when they got inside there and realized,
it's done. I'm off of that little dangling
ledge out there now. I'm in here safe on the ground.
We're gonna have full assurance when we get into glory with him.
But right now, even though we don't feel it or don't know it,
or whether we sometimes do know it. That's not our assurance,
brethren. Christ, who's got us secure,
He's our assurance. Do you understand? So a man can
be saved, and I realize that his assurance is not anywhere
else but Christ. And he'd be looking in the wrong
place and trying to look at a feeling, and yet, God saved him. He just
don't see very clearly, don't see very fully. So you don't
try to Make somebody that's already
weak, weaker by saying, well, you don't know the Lord. They
might. They might. But their assurance is Him anyway.
And the Lord will teach them that. All right, let's stand
together. Father, we thank You for Your
Word. We pray now that You will, by Your grace, give us that assurance
to know, to know that Christ in Him alone is our security
and our safety and our full assurance. Make us to know Him. Make us
to walk in Him, look to Him, not look anywhere else. Lord,
we ask it in Christ's name for Your honor and glory. Amen.