Here's all I've got to say. Let's take our Bibles and turn
to the book of Romans, chapter 5, and we'll take our
reading. Now, my subject this morning
is assurance. Assurance. The title is The Blessing of
Assurance. Believers, myself included, often
forth it many blessings. In God's gracious love for sinners
in Christ, He has not only saved us, given His Spirit to inhabit
us, but He's blessed us with the knowledge of what has transpired,
and that ought to give a believer tremendous assurance. Now, some
people have assurance that have no reason to have any, because
they don't know God in Jesus Christ. So let's read these first
11 verses in Romans chapter 5. And we'll go from there, and
we'll do a bit of turning this morning, which you may or may
not wish to follow. That's all right with me. So
let's bow for prayer together. Lord, how wonderful it is to be in this place this morning. I would seek the deepest depths
of thankfulness that exist in my soul for letting me be here. Lord, I count myself to be a poor, backward preacher of your
gospel. But in this place, I have found a gracious welcome that I have not found any place
else. Thank you. We bless your name. We give you
all the praise and all the glory. But Lord, to stand behind this
desk is the same as it has always
been. a difficult thing at best. We beg for your help and your
aid both in the words that fall from my lips as well as in the
hearts of each of us as we hear these words. For everyone that is truly a
child of God We pray that you would bless
these words concerning assurance to them. We call on your name through
our precious Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. Romans chapter 5, beginning at
verse 1. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein
we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not
only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation
works or produces patience, and everybody has all the patience
they need until they need it. And then it just flies away. And patience, experience, and
experience, hope. And hope make not ashamed, because
the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost,
or the Holy Spirit, who is given unto us. For when we were yet
without strength, when we were still without any strength in
our soul, in our heart, in regard to God, In due time, Christ died
for whom? The ungodly. Now there's a whole bunch of
people in this world who call themselves Christians who ain't
ever been ungodly. That's tragic. That is tragedy. We've never been ungodly, then
we ain't godly. In due time, Christ died for
the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet peradventure, perhaps for a good man, some
would even dare to die. But Christ died for the ungodly. He died for the bad, not the
good. But God commends his love toward
us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us,
much more than being now justified by his blood We shall be saved
from wrath through him. Not one iota of God's wrath can
remain on us if we belong to Christ, for Christ bore it all
for us. Satisfied the justice, the holiness,
the whole character of God. Verse 10, For if, when we were
enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son,
much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only so, but we also
joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received
the atonement. Atonement. This atonement is
a sacrifice for sin that causes us to be at one with God. Whatever differences there had
been before, there is none now for those for whom Christ suffered
that death on the cross and made atonement for our souls. Alright, let's take this subject
of assurance, and to begin with, to establish
this point primarily this morning. There are three essentials to
being saved, or to knowing God, or to having a saving interest
in Christ. Three things are essential. They're
absolutely necessary. And here's the first one. We
must have, if we are to be reconciled to God, we must have A nature
that we did not receive from Adam. Namely, a spiritual nature. We were born as infants, already
dead in trespasses and sins. We were already spiritually dead
from our first breath until God changed us in the gospel of his
Son. Let's just flip back to John
chapter 3. In the subject of the new birth, there is no plainer passage that
I can recollect in our Bibles More so than John chapter 3 when
our Lord is talking with a Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin, a
fellow by the name of Nicodemus. Now this man was considered on
a national scale as being a prominent teacher of the Bible. Now, only
the Old Testament existed at this time. So let's look at this man in
regard to this nature. The most fundamental and briefest
statement that I can make that Christ said to Nicodemus is this,
you must be born again. You must have a new nature. And it comes to us in what is
called the new birth. And without it, we cannot have
assurance. We cannot be saved without being
born again. We can't even know God without
being born again. It's quite essential. Now, look
back in chapter 1 of John's Gospel. And here's why we must be born
again. Verses 12 and 13 in John chapter
1. Speaking of Christ, he came unto
his own, his own people, his own nationality. And his own
received him not. And he wasn't just the Jews.
The Gentiles were just as bad, if not worse. But verse 12 tells us about these
people whom God, through a miracle of grace, births us anew. But as many as received Him,
as many as received Christ, to them gave He power or authority
to become the sons of God, Even to them that believe on His name."
Now, if you'll look back for a moment to verse 10, and it
joins to verse 11, which is specifically speaking about the Jews, but
verse 10 tells us, Christ was in the world and the world was
made by Him, and the world didn't know Him. Now, that's all of
us. That's the whole human race.
We are born not knowing God and not knowing Christ. But verse
13 tells us why it is that some people received Him even in the
New Testament, while others did not. Verse 13, people who are
born again, which were born, I prefer the word who, who were
born not of blood. It's got nothing to do with our
family tree. God doesn't save sinners on some
good that your grandma and grandpa might have done. But we're born believing that
God rewards us. Oh no! In this matter, he's rewarding
his Son who enables us to be born again. Now, who are these people that are
said to be born again in verse 13? They are persons who by the
grace of God received Christ Jesus. Alright? Alright, let's look
at this. The first one, our bloodline
doesn't work here. It might get you in to see the
governor if you want to see him, but it doesn't cut any ice with
God at all. Secondly, it is not of the will
of the flesh. There's nothing in a dead sinner
that can cause him to want to be born again and to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. And the third one is, nor of
the will of man. Other people cannot will this
for you. It doesn't matter if you've got
a thousand people praying for you. I call that ganging up on
God. You let one Poor believing sinner. Call on His name. You can fill
whatever cathedral or stadium in this nation and set them to
praying for one thing, and it ain't worth a hill of beans.
It's just pure mockery. Trying to twist God's arm so
He'll do something that otherwise He wouldn't do. God doesn't do
anything otherwise that He wouldn't do. Now take the first three words
and the last three words of verse 13 of John chapter 1, and it
says, who were born but of God. This is God's doing. We are the
receivers, the beneficiaries. So number one, this new nature
tells us we must be born of God. Then in this same third chapter
where we were just a moment ago, in verse 6 I believe it is, we
find out another aspect of the new birth. John 3, 6, that which
is born of the flesh is flesh. That's why false religion cannot
produce Christians. It can't do it. Death does not give us life.
Dead preachers who don't know God in Christ cannot help you,
not one little bit. They'll promise you the moon,
but they can't give you anything. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, and that which is born of the Holy Spirit is spirit. That, my friend, is that new
birth that we were talking about. We'll not turn to this one, but
I think if it doesn't leave me before I get a chance to say
it, The third thing is, we must be born of the Word of God. James
1.18 says, "...of God's own will begat," or birth, "...he us with
the word of truth." My soul, one of the names of
our precious Lord Jesus Christ is truth. People who are born
again have the truth revealed to them. without which they cannot
be said to be born again. Alright, fourthly, this new birth is not a religious
profession, it's not a doctrine, it's not a decision, it's not
walking a church aisle. It's all the operation of God,
the triune God, in giving us this new life, a new nature,
and a new heart, and a saving interest in God. All right, now
for the second passage that I'd like for you to... Edward, you left that throat
thing up here when you were up here. Romans chapter 10. If you held on to Romans 5, you're
ahead of me, because I let mine slip somehow or another. Romans
chapter 10. And I'm going to start at the very beginning of
the chapter. Just the first four verses in Romans chapter 10. The second thing that is absolutely
necessary to being born again is we must be given by God a
perfect righteousness. A perfect righteousness. God can receive nothing less
than himself. Therefore, the sinner must be
made righteous. Alright, let's look at this language
that Paul begins in. I'm just going to do the first
four verses, Romans 10. Now, he's writing here to Roman
believers. Brethren, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. He still
prays frequently, evidently, based upon chapter 9 and chapter
11 in the book of Romans and the opening remarks in those
places, that Paul was ever desirous of his fellow Jews to come to
know Christ and to know God in Christ. My heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear
them record that they have a zeal of God, But it's not according
to knowledge. What kind of zeal is that? It's
an ignorant zeal. For they, the Jews, for this
matter you can say the same about Gentiles, for they being ignorant
of God's righteousness, that's the essential holiness and righteousness
of the triune God, they being ignorant of God's righteousness,
and going about to establish their own righteousness, which
ain't no righteousness at all. It's absolute unrighteousness
when we decide we can do this ourselves. Now, there's a third
thing here in verse 3. Ignorant of God's righteousness,
going about to establish their own righteousness. And here's
what that leads to. Spiritual ignorance, the attempt
to get God to accept what we think is our own goodness. It
causes us to refuse to submit ourselves to the righteousness
of God in Christ. The perfect obedience that Christ
rendered to God his Father. is for every believer to have
this righteousness imputed to them. So these Jews that Paul was praying
so earnestly for, refused to submit themselves to the righteousness
of God. Now verse 4, For Christ is the
end the end, the period of the law for righteousness. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to how many people? To everyone that believes. To every believer. No exception. You cannot be a believer and
not have the imputed righteousness of Christ. That's not to say that the believer
doesn't have some good works, though for the most part we're
ashamed to even call them good. But this righteousness is imputed. Romans chapter 4 covers the subject
of imputation. So a perfect righteousness is
what? The imputed righteousness of
Christ. Here's the third essential. Turning
back to Romans 5. Verse 11, what is the third thing absolutely
necessary in order to be saved, in order to know God, or to have
a saving interest in Christ? It is simply this, an atonement
for our sins. Sin must be atoned for. We cannot put our own sin away,
nor can we put away the sins of other human beings like ourselves.
This is God's work, and Christ is that atonement. Let me read that again. And not
only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom we have now received The one and only. There ain't
another one. This one took place over 2,000
years ago. There were plenty of times in
the Old Testament when there were things brought before the
Israelites, especially in the wilderness, to picture this coming
Redeemer that would make this atonement. But they had to settle
for a sacrifice that pictured our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received
the atonement. Now, let me check my time. Oh, I'm doing pretty good on
time. How about turning to Psalm 24? Sometimes in a passage in the
Old Testament, even plainer than in the New, though most of the
time it's the other way around. Now, these three things that
we call essentials to our salvation, being saved, knowing God, and
having a saving interest in Christ, these three things are not just
some whim of a preacher. that he just thinks these things
make it up, but that these things are said in plain English in
our Bibles as we've already proved ourselves that to be. It's not because we love a particular
doctrine or creed, but the very character of God demands these
three essentials. Can't do without it. the new
birth, imputed righteousness, and then an atonement for sin.
Alright, did you find Psalm 24? We take verses 3 and 4. Now this whole psalm is about
the ascension of Christ and the gates of heaven flinging wide
open to receive him. But the part that concerns us
in our subject this morning of assurance is in the third and
fourth verses. Who shall ascend into the hill
of the Lord? Who can ascend into heaven? Or who shall stand in the Lord's
holy place? Here's the answer. God will accept no less. And
it's all the gift of his grace. It's not of works, lest any man
should boast. Verse 4, He that has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul
to vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. Well, preacher, I think I can
do that. Well, I hate to tell you, but
you're on your way in the opposite direction. Headed straight for
hell. Oh, preacher, God doesn't send
religious people to hell. Well, try reading Matthew 7,
21 through 23. These people call Christ Lord,
Lord. Look what we've done in your
name. And the closing statement in verse 23 is, Depart from me,
you workers of iniquity. You claim to know me, but I never
knew you. Now, I'm borrowing a little bit
from the first sentences to add to that last one, so you couldn't
possibly squeeze out the corner. You understand what I said? They said, Lord, Lord, we've
done this, that, and the other in your name. Alright, we go now to the book
of Galatians. Well, it's in here somewhere.
There it is. Galatians chapter 3 Galatians chapter 3, verses 10 and 11. This has to do with the unchanging,
holy law of God, which requires these three essentials that we
have been looking at. So here is a summation in verses
10 and 11 of Galatians chapter 3. For as many as are of the
works of the law, the Ten Commandments or the ceremonial law or whatever
other law there is in religion, as many as are of the works of
the law are under the curse. People who claim to keep the
Ten Commandments are damned. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that continues not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified,
by the way, no man or woman, or young lady or young men, no
person, no human being is justified by the law in the sight of God,
it is evident. For the just, the righteous,
the holy shall live by faith, that is, by Christ, by His obedience,
His righteousness, His atonement. And then verse 12 adds to it.
I'll tack that one on. And the law is not of faith,
but the man that does them shall live in them, and if he remains in them, he shall
die in that broken law without any
relief, without any hope, Romans chapter 8 The holy justice of God demands
to be honored and satisfied. Romans 8.1. Now, there's something
you should know about Romans 8.1, and there are some other
places in our Bible that the same is true. Romans 8-1 ends after the word
Christ Jesus. This phrase, who walk not after
the flesh, but after the Spirit, they think if you tell people
what I'm about to tell you, there is therefore now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ Jesus, period. Now, some of you know,
I'm sure, maybe not everybody, but the Bible, for many centuries,
was copied by hand. And I don't know exactly all the reasons
for it, but I'm persuaded that this book
is written in such a way If a man hates God and he demands to see
God on his own behalf by virtue of what he's done, there are
plenty of places in this Bible that this fellow can just go
right ahead and hang himself. And here's one of them. This
extra phrase at the end of verse 8 is called a watchdog. In other words, people are afraid
if grace is too rich, If it's too free, if it's too good, people
will misuse it. My soul will misuse anything. You might as well outlaw ropes,
for plenty of people hang themselves with them. Or guns, because people
kill each other with them. For that matter, you just as
well get rid of food, because some of us will kill ourselves
with food. I mean, there's nothing in this world that cannot be
turned to evil purpose. Now let's read that sentence
again, and we'll stop at the end of Christ Jesus. There is
therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. Now you can speak hallelujah.
Praise his name. That's the kind of grace a sinner
needs. An absolute statement. There
is therefore now no condemnation if you're in Christ. If you're
in Christ, you're in Christ forever. You didn't do anything to get
there and you can't do anything to get out of there. It's done. Done forever. One sacrifice,
one offering for sin forever, forever. So all of these essentials are
fully met in Christ. The Lord Jesus is our spiritual
life. Colossians 3 verse 4 says, Christ
who is our life shall appear. Colossians 1, verse 27 says,
Christ in you, the hope of glory. But what about good works in
me? They don't count. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Preachers, you're trying to make
these sinners just dive head over heels in sin. They're already
that way. That's like somebody told Scott
that his preaching confused people. He said, they're born confused.
And so we are. Apart from grace, you and I could
be the worst person ever to live on this planet. Christ is our spiritual life.
He's our righteousness. Now I want you to look at one
scripture here in regard to Christ as our sin offering. Hebrews, thought you could read
mine, Hebrews chapter 10 We're going to take one verse
out of Hebrews chapter 10. This is a beautiful passage of
Scripture, and it covers a lot of different ground. But verse
14, speaking about this atonement, here's that sin offering. Four
by one offering. One offering, one time forever. He, Christ, has perfected forever
them that are sanctified. And Christ is also our sanctification. Now that's pretty permanent. For by one offering, Christ has
perfected forever them that are sanctified. My, my, my. If you put all these verses side
by side, you'd say, well, that ought to have some effect
on me in regard to assurance. A new nature, a perfect righteousness,
an atonement for sin.