Then I'm about to get over it.
Austin's Chapter 2. I was telling Terry down at the
study that I may have said this a moment ago, I don't know, but
I intend to make these Wednesday night services short. And I hope
in the spirit of making them sweet. And I hope these are short
and sweet. John Calvin, of all people, John
Calvin said this, he said two most important things in preaching,
or the manner of preaching and all, is clarity. That is, being understood, clear,
to the point, and brevity. Clarity and brevity. He isn't
either one in his commentaries, but nevertheless, that's good
advice. So that's what I'm going to endeavor
to do with these Wednesday night services. Just a little short
rest time during the week for all of us. Colossians chapter
2, look at the first two verses. The Apostle Paul says, I would
that you knew what great conflict or care I have for you. And I can say the same thing. God is my witness about you people.
He said, I wish that you knew what great care I have for you,
and for them at Laodicea, and for many that have not seen my
face in the flesh. He said, this is my heart's desire,
that their hearts, that your hearts might be comforted, being
knit together in love for one another, for Christ, the gospel,
and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding and
acknowledgement of the mystery of God and of the Father and
of Christ. I want to bring this message
this evening is on things that give me assurance, things that
give me assurance. I was listening several years
ago to a message by Brother Don Bell. I was by myself, riding
in an automobile, coming home from somewhere, getting where
it was. And he was preaching along these
lines. Many of the things that I'm going
to bring out tonight, he brought out. And I was listening to that
message. Things had given me assurance,
and it was just what I needed. As a matter of fact, I had to
pull over to the side of the road. I couldn't drive. I was
just so overcome. with emotion, with joy. It's
just what I need. Just what I need at the time.
Assurance. And, you know, incidentally, I'm an emotional
person. Some of us are emotional. This world says that emotion
in a man is weakness. That it's a sign of weakness.
Well, that's true. I am weak. I am weak. That's the reason I need Christ
so much. He is my strength. I am weak. And by His grace, I hope you
will keep me weak. Because His strength is made
perfect in my weakness. So I wouldn't, Nancy and I were
talking about this, I wouldn't give you a plug nickel for somebody's
profession that has no emotion in it, no feeling, no outward,
no response to the gospel. I wouldn't give you a plug nickel
for it. Nothing to that name. I believe it's the psalmist that
prays that the Lord would strengthen the weak hands and the feeble
knees. In other words, we need to be on our knees a little more. Well, assurance. Every true believer
struggles with the same thing, the same problems of sin, of
unbelief, of self, and the world, and all these things. They beset
every true child of God on every hand. They just bombard us, trouble
us all the time. They all work together against
us to bring us almost to despair at times, the sin, self, the
world, almost to a point of despair. And they almost always bring
us to this most troubling question of all, most troubling point
of all. We're always asking ourselves, How can I be a child of God? If I... Surely a true disciple
of Christ wouldn't think the things that I think, wouldn't
do some of the things that I do. Surely other, you know, true
believers don't have these problems. Surely. You ever think that?
You ever ask yourself, surely. How can I be a Christian? How
could I dare to call myself a Christian if I have such a problem? That's
my greatest struggle. I'll be honest with you. My greatest
struggle. Assurance or lack of assurance. You're not alone. You're not alone. Look over at Psalm 77. If you'll read it, it just takes
a casual reading through the Psalms to see that David, oh,
how David struggled with this. Just Psalm after Psalm after
Psalm. Lord. Lord, how long, Lord, how
long? Have you plumb forgotten? Look
at Psalm 77, verse 7. He says, Will the Lord cast it
off forever? Will he be favorable no more?
Oh, he's been favorable to me so far, and he doesn't deserve
to do it anymore. Maybe he's quit. Maybe he's quit. I've gone too far. Maybe that's
it. We would be favorable no more.
Is his mercy clean gone forever? Does his promise fail forevermore? Maybe his promises aren't for
me. Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he, in anger, shut up his
temptations? Well, we deserve it. We deserve
it. Isaiah, he said the same thing. He said, I'm cut off. I'm undone. Jeremiah. Read this
to you, Lamentations chapter one. Lamentations chapter one,
he said, he said, my transgression is bound by his hand. They're
wreathed, he's got them. In other words, he's got a record
of them. And they've come upon my neck. And he's made my strength
fall. The Lord has delivered me into
their hands, the wicked people's hands, the wicked one. And he
says, For these things I weep, mine eye, mine eye runneth down
with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is
far, far from me. Peter one time, he said, Depart
from me, Lord, I'm a sinful man. And Paul said, The things that
I would do, I don't do. The things I would not, that's
what I do. Who's going to believe in me? And this poem, you all
know it well, one of my favorite, John Newton's. It is a point
I long to know, oft it causes me anxious thought. Do I love
the Lord, or no? Am I is, or am I not? If I love,
then why am I thus? Why this dull and lifeless frame? Hardly sure can they be worse
than never knew his name. Could my heart so hard remain
in prayer or in a task? My burden proved, and every little
drop will give me pain if I knew the Savior's love. When I turn
my eyes within, all is dark and vain and wild. I'm filled with
unbelief and sin. Can I be myself a child? If I
pray or hear or read, sin is mixed with all I do. You that
love the Lord indeed, tell me, is it thus with you? Get? I mourn my stubborn will. I find
my sin a grief. Should I grieve for what I feel
if I did not love at all? This is what we're going to deal
with tonight. Could I joy his saints to meet and choose the
way I once abhorred and find at times, maybe not all the time,
but at times the promises sweet if I did not love to love? Lord,
decide the doubtful case. doubt who are people shine upon
the work of grace if indeed. And let me love the more and
more if I love it all I pray and if I have not loved before.
Is that your that your song is my. Things that give me assurance
listen just for a little while. First of all, this gives me assurance. That the Lord knows my heart. The Lord knows my heart. That
gives me assurance. The heart is deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? God does. He knows. Scripture says all
things are naked and open under the eyes of him with whom we
have to do. He says, I, the Lord, search the heart. I try the reins.
And true grace, a true work of God in the heart. A true grace,
this is the gift of God, this is the revelation of God. True
grace brings everything before the Lord. Everything, and hides
nothing. Nothing to hide. Here am I, Lord.
It brings everything to God. Have you ever felt, have you
ever been guilty of something? I know you have been as a child,
and you just felt overcome with this guilt, this burden, and
you would never be, you'd never be rid of that burden until you
got rid of it. I mean, until you confessed it.
In other words, you'd never be totally done with
all that guilt and that burden until you finally confessed it.
Just blurted it out, you know, crying, weeping, standing up,
did this. And then he has a pat on the
back, or mom, has a pat on the back and a loving smile. Well, that's the same way in
repentance toward our Lord. That's what I'm trying to teach
Hannah. Now is to be honest with above all things, just be honest
that if you just be honest with Daddy, you'll not get in trouble. But if you lie to me now, you're
going to get in trouble. I want to deal with you. Be sure
your sins will find you. And that's us. We have to come
this way before God, open and naked. It was with everything. Oh, here I am. Here I am. Here I am. I've got nothing to
hide. Bernard used to always say, honest people won't wind
up in hell. And that's what he's talking
about. Being honest before God. Totally honest. Lord, you know
everything about me. Now, will you have me? Will you
have me? After he asked Peter, Peter,
do you love me? And Peter, in his before in his
state of unbelief he could boldly say they'll all forsake you i
won't do it now these fellas made but i'm not made i'll go
to the grave with you lord in pride and presumption that's
all that was and people say that now they're able to sing that
song oh how i love you no problem i kind of every time i sing that
song i kind of i don't know i do but then i You know, I might
not feel like it at the time, Rick. How about you? I might
not feel like singing that at the time. There's people that
say, I'm as sure for heaven as if I was already there. Well,
that's not really faith. That's pride, is all that is,
presumption and pride. Here is faith. Here is coming
before the Lord. When the Lord asks you, Lord,
when he asks you, do you love me? Then you say, Lord, thou
knowest. You know for sure. Sometimes
I just don't know. I think I do. I know I do. But I don't know. Does that make
sense? Lord, you know all things. You
know my love for you. You know my lack of love for
you. You know my sincerity, because you gave it to me. What little
bit I have, you're the one that gave it to me. You know my hypocrisy.
You know my belief. You gave that belief to me. You
know my unbelief. Help thou my unbelief. And most of the time, Lord, I
don't know, but you do, and so I'm depending on you to decide
the case. I'm just letting you do it. I can't trust and say,
I'm going to look at you. That's faith. That's the right
attitude. And through saving repentance
unto God, ask God to search me. Search me. Look at Psalm 139.
Psalm 139. This is a A blessed portion of scripture. Psalm 139. Verse 1. Psalm 139.
O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know my down
city, my uprising. You understand my thought afar
off. You encompass my path, my lying down. You're acquainted
with all my ways. There's not a word in my tongue,
O Lord, thou knowest it all together. You've beset me. You've confined
me behind and before. You've laid your hand on me. And although you know all about
me, you know everything about me, yet I find in the Scriptures
that you still love me. Look at verse 6. Such knowledge
is too wonderful. It's too wonderful for me. This
is high. Although you look in my black
heart, And you still receive me as I am a wicked sinner? That's just too much, too much. And look at verse 23. And this
is what he ends up with. This is his conclusion. He says,
well, search me. Go on, search me, O God, and
know my heart. Try me, know my thoughts, and
see if there's anything else in there I don't even know about.
Presumptuous sin. private, wicked ways that I haven't
been taught yet. Search me, see if there's any
way in me, and lead me in the right way. That's true saving
grace. That's the work of God in the
heart. So the first thing that gives me assurance is that God
knows my heart. He knows all about me. And that
comforts me. In light of my sin, He still
loves me. He still loves me. We'll see
all that summed up in that in just a moment. Number two, the
second thing that gives me assurance is that I love the absolute Lordship
of Jesus Christ. I love Him. I want Him as my Lord. I do. The majority of the people
of this world, they despise the mention of the Sovereign God.
and a successful conquering Christ. Don't despise me. We will not
have this man to reign over, as most people say. It's just
not fair for God to choose some people and not others. It's just
not fair for Christ to die for some and not for others. It's
just not fair for the Holy Spirit to woo or to woo some and then
ignore others. It's just not right. It's just
not fair. I have my rights. I have my free will, they say.
But God's people say, I will be not. That's what I want, and
this is the greatest evidence of a true disciple of Christ.
A broken spirit, a contract broken heart, a submissive spirit to
the Lordship of Jesus Christ, broken in the feet, in the dust,
or in the dust at his feet, broken before the Lord You are Lord,
and that's the way I want it. You are Lord. Can you say this
in your heart? He must increase, and I must
increase. That's the true mark of a true
child of God. That's the greatest evidence.
He must... He keeps getting higher to me,
and I keep getting lower. Can you say this? Lord, I don't
want to decide my own destiny. I don't want to be... in charge
of my soul. I don't want my will to be done,
my way. I want to be in your hands. I
want your way, because I know the judge of all the earth is
going to do exactly what is right. Not me. Not me. I won't do what's right. I'll
go about my own way, that way that leads to death and destruction.
I'll fall right down in the pit unless you're loyal to me, unless
you control me, unless you're in charge of this thing. And
a true believer submits in all areas, all areas, faith, baptism,
the Lord's table, good works. We're called unto good works.
We strive to. We do strive to please our Lord. So things that give me assurance,
the Lord knows my heart. And I love His Lordship. I love Him to be Lord over me.
I hate myself. I hate myself and I hate my sin. This is what naturally follows
after seeing the Lordship of Christ. This naturally follows.
After seeing the holy, sovereign character of God Almighty, you
have to come to this conclusion. Like Job said, I heard of you
before. Oh, I heard somebody preach the
Sovereign Grace message one time. But now, I see it. Now I see
it. Wherefore, what did he say? I
hate myself. I hate myself. In light of God's
holiness, I hate myself. David said it. He said, My sin
is ever before me. Before this holy God, my sin
is ever before me. I was shapen in iniquity. I came
into this old world speaking lies. Paul said it, who shall
deliver me from me? Who's going to deliver me from
me? I'm my biggest enemy, worst enemy. And you see this mark, I hate
myself, I hate my sin. This is the gift of God. The
goodness of God leads you to repentance. The goodness of God. Repentance is a gift. If there's
no sorrow over your sin, No hatred for your sin, then there's no
forgiveness. That's true. This is true repentance,
by the way. True repentance is not just being
sorry that you got caught. How many of us husbands and wives
have said we're sorry to the other one when we really didn't
mean it? We're just trying to get the argument over with. Just
trying to make a little peace. Mindy accuses me of that all
the time. Just saying I'm sorry just so
we'll quit bickering. But true repentance is true sorrow,
godly sorrow. Coming before God and saying,
not only am I sorry about what I've done, but I hate it. I hate
myself for doing it. Not just being like Esau. Esau
was sorry for what he'd done. But more than anything, he was
sorry for getting caught. And Canaan was the same way.
He was sorry he got caught. He wasn't really, he wasn't really
godly sorrow or repentance for doing the thing that he did,
but it just kept him caught. The consequences he was going
to have to bear upon him. Everybody in hell is eventually
going to be sorry, aren't they? That rich man, he was sorry he
was down there. But I don't hear him saying,
oh, let the blood be propitiation for my soul. All I hear him say
is, I need a little water, need something to drink. I'm being
tortured now. See, hypocrites don't have struggles.
Look at Psalm 55. A real hypocrite doesn't have
these struggles that a believer has. Psalm 55, verse 19. Look at this. You may want to
mark this. Look at the last part of verse 19, Psalm 55. He says,
because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.
Does that make sense? David said over in Psalm 73,
turn over there. He said, because they have no
changes, they don't fear God. I think people, these religious
people, Nancy, these religious people you run into, they don't
seem to have apostasy, do they? I don't hear them talking about
sin. I don't hear him struggling with anything. Why, they're just
happy all the time. Brother, praise the Lord. Brother,
hallelujah. Hey, it's a good day, isn't it?
But sometimes we drag in and say, oh my goodness. I'm undone,
you know. And that's what David said. It
don't change. Happy all the time. Everybody's happy. Raise your
hand. And look at Psalm 73. It said here in verse 3. I was
envious at the foolish. I was envious at them when I
saw the prosperity of the wicked. There are no bans, no problems
in their death. Their strength is spurned, their
confidence. They're not in trouble as other
men. Neither are they plagued like
other men, like God's people. And pride encompasses them about.
And look at verse 2. He says that for me, I was almost
gone. It's one night gone. My steps
had well and I slipped. He said that time and time again,
Lord, if you don't do something for me, I'm going down. I'm going
down. I don't see this in the hypocrite,
in these other people. They hate sin, all right. They
hate it in other people. Like that Pharisee in the temple. Oh, Lord, I thank you. I'm not
like that. Oh, thank you. And there's a
lot of people going to say we did this and did that. They hate
sinning other people, but the true workings of God in a man's
heart, a woman's heart is a hatred for sin in himself. To this man
will I look God's sake. Even to him that is poor, that
is, I don't, Lord, I don't have any good to say. I just don't
have anything to recommend myself to you. I haven't done anything
worthy of nothing. I have no righteousness. I'm
poor. I'm poor in spirit. I have no
righteousness of my own. What I have are filthy rags,
and you don't want that. He says to that man, I'll look.
And to him that's poor and of a contrite spirit, in the dust,
Lord save me or I perish. And trembles at my word. Trembles
at it. Every bit of it. The soul that's
in it, it must surely die. That's me. Now, I don't know
about you, but I have a real problem with sin. I know some of you do. A real
struggle. But though it plagues me and
I hate myself, I know this. I know that God
is not going to give something. He's not going to accept it. That is repentance. He's not going to give something.
True godly sorrow and repentance. He's not going to give that,
Rick. He's not going to begin something and not finish it. I'm confident with Paul, being
confident of this very thing, that he has begun a good work
in you. He'll finish it. He'll perform
it until the day of Christ. And what is the beginnings of
that good work? broken in the. You may feel like that's as far
as you can, but that's a start. And it's God's work. Be assured
of that. Repentance toward God, God won't
accept something he or God won't deny something that he did. He
didn't give what he doesn't accept, and that is repentance toward
God and faith in Christ Jesus, and that's my next point. The
fourth thing gives me assurance. I see in the gospel, I see the
character of God, I see the wisdom of God, I see the power of God,
and I see Jesus Christ as my only hope. I see the righteousness of God
in Christ Jesus in the gospel. How can God be just and justify
enough God in a person like that. Do you know the answer to that
question? Do you? How can he be clean this morning
of the world? The question of all questions. Do you know the
answer? Very few people do. Very few people do. Very, very
few people even heard the question. Have you ever heard anybody deal
with that question on TV or radio or preacher? Have you? Anybody? I mean, really. How can God be
just and justify the Some fella may have slipped up and read
across it, but he didn't deal with it. To most people, the
story of Jesus Christ is a sentimental love story, that's all. A story
of a poor martyr, an admirable tale of a good man. To some,
some believe that Christ did die for sins, die for our sins,
but they don't know why. They don't know why he had to.
They think he's just an example or something. They sure don't
believe this. They sure don't believe that
he put them away. No, they leave that to our faith,
don't they? They say your faith appropriates the blood of Christ.
They sure don't believe that, but the true believer, the true
believer, God's chosen people, sees in the gospel the wisest
plan ever devised. The wisdom of God and the power
of God. How God indeed can be just, holy. That this holy God cannot tolerate
imperfection. So he sent his son down here.
He sent his son down here to live perfectly as a man. And
then establish this righteousness. And then give this perfect standing
as a man to passive people. People who are just sitting back. Without works. Without doing
anything. Just passive in this whole thing.
Some of them weren't even born. We weren't even born when this
thing took place. Yet Christ, yet God imputed it to us. Passive
in this whole thing. And then God imputed their sin,
took their sin, and put it on his son, and punished his son
in their stead. Substitution. That's the heart
of the gospel. That is the gospel. Then he raised
his son up, finally, without our sins, and put him at the
right hand of God, put him at his right hand to make sure that
will of the testament is carried out. that one he made with the
Father, making sure every single one that he died for comes in.
There are. Yeah, there's one. Yeah, he's
coming. They're all here. Here they are,
Father, every one that I died for. All the children of the
house of Jesus, they're all here. And the true believer, the blessed
man or woman, the one that God has chosen, the one God has revealed
Christ to, he sees that he has nothing. Is nothing, can do nothing
in this matter of salvation, that his only hope, his only
acceptance, his only righteousness with God is in Jesus Christ. You see that? You believe that?
You're blessed. You're blessed. Do you find comfort
in the righteousness of Christ, imputed righteousness of Christ? Do you find comfort in that?
Oh, Terry, that's my only source of comfort. Really, only source
of comfort. When I look like, like Lucan
said, when I look within, all is vain and dark and wild. But when I look at him, oh my,
he's the wisdom of God, the power of God, the glory of God, he's
made of me, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption. He's
light, I'm dark, he's light. I'm weak, he's strong. Fifthly,
and lastly, this thing, the thing that gives me assurance, is I desire more than anything
to be just like Christ. I have more than anything I desire.
How about you? This is the final and greatest
working of God Almighty in the heart and life of a true child.
The final work. The scripture says God has predestinated
all His children, predestinated all His people to be conformed
to the image of his son. And all those that God has begun
this work in, he'll create this desire. You see, will you? David
prayed it. Listen to the example. David
prayed it. Lord, create in me a clean heart,
a Christ-like heart. Lord, create in me a clean heart.
Renew or regenerate a right spirit in me. Get rid of this old one. Give me a new one. Give me your
holy one. Take not thy holy spirit from me. He said in this place,
I'll be satisfied when I awake with his light. Solemn, even
though solemn. That guy was an enigma wasn't
he? But even he said, let me see his countenance. Let me hear
his voice. For sweet is his voice. And his
countenance is coming. And Paul said this over Philippians
chapter three. He said this. He said, What things
were gained to me, I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless
I count all things but loss. For the excellency of the knowledge,
just to know Jesus Christ my Lord. And I count all these things
cow manure, that I may win Christ to be found in him. Oh, that
I may know and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship
of his suffering be made conformable unto his death. Once you've seen
him, you want to be like him. Oh, yes. It's like every little
child idolizes its parents and wants to look just like them,
act like them, walk like them, talk like them. They do. You
watch them. You watch my little daughter,
young as she is, she's picked up so many traits of ours. I
look at her sometimes and it's scary. It's scary. I mean, it's
like looking at a little mini at times. Everything she does,
I mean, it's scary. I'm glad. But it is. I mean, it's so, it's
so, it's just incredible how that young has picked up so many
things. What it is, is that they idolize
the parable. And they're looking at everything
they do, and they want to do everything. They want to talk
like them. They want to walk like them. And that's like, I've
used it before, and I love it. I'm going to use it again. Bunyan's holy war, when Emmanuel
came in the town of Mansoul and conquered that town, got it back
from the devil, who had conquered it before, and set up his rule. Well, Emmanuel came into that
town, a man's soul, and chained up the devil and paraded him
out of town. And then when he came marching
in, he was going to set up his kingdom in the heart, in the
castle in the middle of town. He was walking down through town,
and everybody was so glad to see him. They were so thankful
for what he'd done, for his salvation. And they were so enamored with
him, so taken up with this glorious king of heaven, that they all
got in line behind him. And they tried to step behind
him, in his step. Tried to walk like him. Tried
to look like him. They loved him that way. And
I ask you, do you want to be made like Christ? That's a good
evidence, a good mark. I do. I do. For many reasons. For my sake,
I do. I want to be made like Christ
because I know, Rick, only those that would be just like Christ
are going to get in heaven. So I'm selfish in this thing.
First of all, now I have to admit, I don't know if this is right
or not, but it's for my sake. I want to be like Christ for
my sake. Because I'm tired of me. I want to be like Him. And, but I do want to be made
like Christ for the truth's sake. Because God says to adorn the
doctrine of Christ our Savior. So I want to do that. He says
to, I want to do it. It's glorifying to God. And for
Christ's sake, because we're bought with a great price, it
cost Him so much, now I want to be dead to sin and alive unto
God. I want to serve Him because of
what He's done for me, not myself now. Oh no, I've got a new master
now that I want to serve, and I want to be just like Him. And
for the lost sake, for this world's sake, I want to be like Christ.
He said, let this mind be in you. And I want to love one another
for Christ's sake. Do you feel these things within
you? We're not to trust feelings.
We're not to look to feelings, but to trust Christ. The poem
says, feelings come. Martin Luther wrote, feelings
come and feelings go. Feelings are deceiving. They
are. One day you'll feel good about
yourself. And you'll feel some of these workings within yourself.
And the next day you won't feel so hot. So you don't have to
trust feelings. Feelings come and feelings go.
Feelings are the secret. Our trust, our hope, our confidence,
our faith should be in the Son of God. No one else can work
for me. But if Christ is in you, Paul
said, know you're not your own selves. If Christ be in you,
except you be reprobate, don't you know, don't you feel? Yeah,
you got to, man. It's like the little girl, you've
heard this too, you've heard all of that stuff. But the little
girl said to her daddy, Daddy, how big is Christ? And he said,
well, I guess he was about, as a man, he was about, oh, maybe
5'10 or so, 160 pounds. She said, well, if he was in
me, he'd stick out, wouldn't he? Yes, yes, honey, he would.
And if Christ is in you, If Christ be in you, he'll stick out. He'll
make his presence known. You ask me how I know he lives?
The song says he lives within my heart. Don't you know that?
That's what Paul asked. Know you not your own self? How
did Christ be in you? And these are the workings of
Christ. It's what I'm trying to comfort you with. Comfort
you with God knowing your heart, with believing, trusting in Loving
the Lordship of Christ. Hating yourself. Hating yourself. Seeing that Christ is your only
hope, your only righteousness. Desiring more than anything to
be made just like Christ. You feel these things? You got
a good hope. Because God brought these feelings. And God's the one that did this.
These feelings are of God. All of these things are the certain
workings of the Holy Spirit of God. Why? Because they're totally
contrary to our nature. Aren't they? They're totally
contrary. The world can't produce these things. They don't feel
like this. They're totally contrary. These things are totally averse
to our nature. Honesty before God? Oh, no. Hypocrisy is the name. You don't
dare let anybody think you have little of belief. That's what
these hypocrites say. Don't dare let them see you sweat,
you know. Don't dare let, don't dare talk
about unbelief. Honesty before God. Submission
to the Lordship of Christ. Oh no, the world, hypocrites,
they don't want to be under His solemn rule. They want their
will to be, their own will to be done. Hatred of sin and self. I said it before, they hate sin
and others. They're indignant, righteously
indignant about abortion and all these things, but not this. See, there's the workings of
the Holy Spirit. And to trust Christ alone and His imputed
righteousness? Forget it. For the hypocrite,
they don't have. They don't trust Christ's imputed
righteousness. They're not trusting Christ alone. They're trusting
their faith. Ask them, why are you a believer? How did you get saved? Well,
I decided for Jesus. I made my decision. I made a
confession when I was twelve years old. I signed, I believed
on Christ. and a real desire to be like
Christ. The religious people want to kill him. They hate him
as it was. They hate him because he looked
in their hearts, didn't he? Well, all of these workings,
too, you can see, all of these workings are are the work of
the Holy Spirit, undeniable, the work of God, God alone. You
can't produce these things. You can't fake these things.
God has to do it. And all of these things, did
you notice the tenor of all of them, Terry, the tenor of everything?
It's toward Him. It's looking to Him. It's trusting
in Him. That's the tenor of all these
workings in the heart. It's, I am nothing. I am nothing. The Lord knows my heart. So I
trust in the Lordship of Christ. And I hate my sin, but Christ
is my only hope. And I want to be just like Him
someday, I will. See, it's all looking to Him,
looking unto Him to be saved. Terry, come on up and lead us
in one more song. Terry, number 255, Blessed assurance. I hope that's a help to you.