John chapter 17. We'll work our
way there. The title of my message is, Blessed
Assurance, Jesus is Mine. You recognize that. One of Fanny
Crosby's good old hymns, one of her many hymns. I think I
read that she wrote 6,000. Imagine that. But Blessed Assurance, Jesus
is Mine. That's the title. That's the
subject. Looked at that's the first line of course blessed
assurance is the title of her hymn the first line is that? Blessed assurance Jesus is mine
exclamation point that deserves one doesn't Jesus is mine that
deserves an exclamation point. That's a wonder indeed Is there
anything better than that? Is there anything any man or
woman this side of heaven is that they can possess, know better
than that, Jesus is mine. Everything else, every other
need, and we all have them, but everything else just fades compared
to that. That's my greatest need, to know
that Jesus is mine. You may recall that part of last
week's message from 2 Timothy 2, verse 19, included these words,
the Lord knoweth them that are his. No question about it. Today I want to consider the
other side of that coin, if you will. They that are his know
him too. He knows them, but they know
him. And that's not my word, that's
his word. That's what Jesus Christ himself
said. On more than one occasion, several
times in one chapter, John chapter 10, verse 14, he said, and he
was talking to the religious people, the Pharisees who claimed
to have a corner on God. He said, I'm the good shepherd.
I'm the good shepherd. You claim to be, but I really
am. And I know my sheep. On down in the chapter, he said,
you don't hear me. You don't believe me because you're not
my sheep. But he said, I'm the good shepherd and know my sheep. and am known of mine." It's a
mutual knowledge. I know them and they know me. If such a thing as that weren't
possible, if it wasn't true, how could we ever rejoice in
or sing or be certain of that old hymn? The truth of it, rather.
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. That's what gives us joy. That's
what gives us comfort. Jesus is mine. That's why the
sheep, our Lord said in that same passage, that's why the
sheep follow Him. They know His voice. Another
voice they won't follow. They don't recognize that voice.
They know the voice of their shepherd. They know me. They
hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. They prove they follow me. They
prove rather that they know me, that they're my sheep by following
me. Now a man can profess to know
Christ as loud as he wants to. He can shout it from the rooftops
if he wants to. But if he doesn't follow Christ,
He's deceived. He's either a deceiver or deceived
himself. It comes down to this. As our
Lord asked that man that was blind, that he healed from his
blindness, and was excommunicated by the Pharisees. Best thing
ever happened to that man. And our Lord found him. And he
said, do you believe on the Son of God? That's it, isn't it? Do I believe
on the Son of God? Do I possess true faith? Faith is the gift of God. Those verses that tell us so
plainly that that's so are probably as well known as John 3, 16.
Not understood like John 3, 16, but known. Ephesians 2, verses
8 and 9. For by grace are you saved through
faith. And that faith, and that grace,
and that salvation, that's not of yourselves. It is the gift
of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. How can faith
be my work when we read there that it's God's work? We're His
workmanship. We can't be the cause and the
effect. Philippians 1 verse 29. For unto
you it is given, given, In the behalf of Christ, not only to
believe in Him, God's given you that ability. He's given you
that gift of faith. Not only to believe on Him, but
also to suffer for His name's sake. And of course, that blessed
passage in Matthew 16, our Lord's response to Peter's confession
of faith, you're the Christ, the Son of the living God, and
I know it. Peter said, regardless of what
other people are saying, I know better. I know who you are. And
you remember what our Lord's answer to Peter was. Blessed
art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood. Now check that.
Flesh and blood have not revealed this unto thee. You mean you
can't be educated in the faith? I can't persuade someone to believe? No. No, you can't. No, you can't. You know why? Paul tells us in
1 Corinthians 2 and 15, flesh and blood have not revealed this
unto thee, the Lord told Peter, and here's the reason. The natural
man, the lost man, receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God. He just can't. It's impossible.
That's why he's got to be born again. That's why the Lord told
Nicodemus, you must be born again. If you're not, you can't even
see. the kingdom of God. You can't perceive, you can't
understand. You must be born again. Now in
our day, as with just about every aspect of God's Word, people
teach and say, well, if you believe you'll be born again. Wrong. It's the very opposite. You must
be born again in order to believe. Then how did Peter know that
Jesus Christ was the Son of God. The rest of our Lord's answer
was this, but my Father which is in heaven. That's who taught
you this, Peter. Judas saw the same things Peter
did for the most part, except for a few times on the mount
and in the garden. But he never believed. He witnessed
the miracles. He heard our Lord's messages.
He had intimate communion with the Lord, but he never believed.
Why? Why? Well, he was because of
his own stubborn, depraved heart. But God never gave him the gift
of faith. Never gave him the gift of faith. That's why our
Lord said, Peter, you're blessed. You're blessed. Child of God,
never forget that. Never forget that. It'll comfort
you. It'll help you. Especially when days are dark. Heavy trials, fierce, fierce
temptations. Remember this, you're blessed. Nothing can change that. Nothing,
no trial, no difficulty, no heartache, not even your own doubts and
fears. Nothing can change this. You're a child of God. You're
a blessed man because God the Father has revealed unto you
his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's another verse along this
line. Galatians chapter two, verse 12, buried with him. That is Christ. Buried with him
in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith
of the operation of God. Faith, the operation of God who
raised him from the dead. My soul, it doesn't sound like,
even from those few verses, faith is God's gift. Faith is God's
doing. Faith is God's operation, whereby
by his omnipotent power, he performs this surgery. He opens a man's
heart, gives him life, and faith in his son. It's God's operation. It's not man's doing. Even in
the light of those few verses, Does it not seem sad? And does it not expose the lie that
faith is such a simple thing? It's easy. You've heard that
all of your life. Most places this morning, that's
what folks are hearing. It's easy. It's easy as ABC. Just walk up here. Repeat after
me. And don't ever doubt it now.
You're a child of God. We'll baptize you in a day or
two and put you on the list, sign you up. It's so simple. Oh no, it's not simple. It's
not simple. It requires an act of God Almighty. It requires a new birth. It requires
an operation of God. It requires the gift of God. Oh, it's not easy. These verses
don't sound ambiguous, do they? They are uncertain. They were
all matter of factly. Didn't you notice? The very definition
of faith is such a verse. Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1. Now it's not changed. It's always
true. Now faith is the substance of
things hoped for. It's the evidence of things not
seen. I can't show you my faith. I
can show you this glass of water. It's a material thing. I can
show you that. You can watch me take a drink. I can't show you my faith. It's
not a material thing. Faith is a substance. Oh, it
has substance. It's real. of things hopeful. It's the evidence of things not
seen. It's just as real, just as true,
even more so. Even more so. It will last longer
than any material thing you can put your hands on. Anything you
can see Paul says everything you see Everything you can see
everything you touch everything you think you possess He said
it's a same thing and it's temporary and because of that it's gonna
end It's gonna perish. Oh, but the unseen things the
unseen things. Those are the real things those
are the everlasting thing the things you can't see with the
natural eye and The unseen things, like Jesus Christ, I see Him
by faith. I bow to Him by faith. The unseen
things, heaven, glory, a multitude before the throne, waving the
palm leaf of victory, and all singing, worthy is the Lamb.
Oh, I see those things by faith. But I can't show you. Can't show you. That doesn't
make them any less real. You remember what he said to
Thomas? Thomas, because you've seen me, you believe. Thomas, blessed are those, does
this include you? Blessed are those who shall not
see me, and yet they shall believe. They won't need to see me. They
won't need to do as you've done, Thomas. It won't be required
of them like you wanted to touch the print of the nail and then
the spear in my side. No, they won't see. And yet they'll
believe. How so? Because God, God will
perform that blessed operation of his mighty grace. 1 Peter
1. Here's another one. Verses 7 through 9. Speaking to suffering believers
tells them that the trial of your faith being much more precious
than of gold that perishes Though it be tried with fire Might be
found in the praise and honor and glory at the appearing of
Jesus Christ whom having not seen you love in whom though
now you see him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory. I don't see him now, but I rejoice
because I know I'm going to see him. One of these days I'm going
to see him. Veil that separates the unseen
from the seen? The temporal from the eternal?
Oh, when that's taken down, as Spurgeon says in the article
in your bulletin, then I shall see him face to face. I shall see him. Receiving, Peter
went on, receiving the end of your faith, the consummation
of your faith, the end of the finish line, even the salvation
of your souls. The only evidence I have of my
saving interest in Christ is faith in Christ. Real faith. Faith that God's given. But as
we've already read from the Word of God, genuine faith, I repeat,
is no small thing. It's no small thing. It seems
more and more rare in our day. Decisions for Jesus they're everywhere,
but they're small things Walking down an aisle. That's a small
thing doesn't require God Repeating the sinner's prayer. That's a
small thing. That's why it's done in such
a mundane way just so lifeless, I mean Just I think it was brother
Henry. I said they walked down the aisle
and chewing their gum from one side of their mouth to the other
and don't even bother to take it out, make a decision and walk
out smacking that gum all at the same time. It doesn't amount
to nothing. Nothing. Oh, but the gift and
operation of God and giving a sinner faith in his son, the Lord Jesus
Christ, that's anything but a small thing. My soul, that's a miracle,
John. That's a miracle. That's a wondrous
thing. That's a glorious thing, is it
not? Why wouldn't it be? Because true
faith unites me to Jesus Christ, the object of faith. Faith brings
salvation, everlasting salvation into my heart and soul. Hallelujah! That's not a small thing. I'll
tell you what, I've never gotten over it yet, have you? I've not
gotten over it yet. He loved me and he called me
and God revealed his son to me, my soul. How do you get over
that? I like what Brother Don wrote
along this line. He said, when Satan accuses me,
when my own heart condemns me, when my sin torments me, when
I examine myself and I do so constantly, I find comfort, peace,
and assurance only by faith in Christ. I have no evidence of
a clear title to heaven but by faith. That's what we just read
in Hebrews 11 and 1. And Don went on the right. And
faith is evidence enough. God says it's enough. That's
what we read in Hebrews 10 and 22. The full assurance of faith. God says that's enough. And my
conscience says it's enough. If it's good enough for God,
it's good enough for me. It's enough. There are two extremes,
and you know this. There are two extremes that men,
this religious world, runs to in this matter of faith in Christ
and an assurance of that faith that brings salvation. And the
first is this. The dangerous idea that's prevalent
today, it's always been around, but so prevalent in our day,
that a true faith may be holy, that a man can possess it and
it remain dormant, inoperative. That a man can have true faith
and it gives him no living, lively hopes, produces no change in
their lives. We see it everywhere. What's
wrong with them people? Well, they're carnal Christians.
No, they're lost. They're lost. They're not Christians
at all. And what a dangerous thing that is to settle down
in. To settle down in. Just to settle
down. Oh, it's well with my soul. And
in reality, don't know God from a goose. Oh, but it's well with
my soul. Because a dead faith is not the
faith of God's elect. James talks about it. A faith
which produces no saving or powerful change in time and inspires no
good hopes for eternity. In other words, it's a mere profession
only. That's all it is. That's all
it is. And that's exactly what James says. I'm not saying this.
God's Word teaches us this. James chapter 2, you know it.
What does it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith
and have not works? Can faith save him? Can a faith
like that save him, James is asking? If a brother or sister
be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto
them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled, but you don't
give them any food or clothing, what does it profit them? Even
so, James says, Faith, if it have not works, is dead being
alone. Yes, a man may say thou has faith,
and I have works. Show me your faith without works,
and I'll show you my faith by my works. My works are the evidence
of my faith, not the cause of it, but the evidence of it, the
fruit of it. Thou believest there is one God, thou doest well.
The devils also believe, and they tremble. But wilt thou know,
O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Saving faith is
not dead." How do you square? How do you square what James
is saying here with what we read that Paul wrote in Ephesians
chapter 2? That faith is not of works, it is the gift of God.
And James comes along and says, well, show me your faith without
your works. If you have a professed faith
that doesn't produce works, James said it's not genuine, it's dead.
Paul says that faith alone saves. But James is telling us that
the faith that saves is never alone. It always has works as
the evidence, not the cause, but the evidence of true faith.
The other extreme is this. It tells us that an assurance
of our personal interest in Christ is not possible in this life.
Anybody ever told you that? People say, you just can't have
such an assurance as that, and if you do, you're just being
presumptuous. Well, if that's true, all those
verses we just read, and we could read many, many more, are a lie,
if that's not so. It speaks of full assurance of
faith, and that also Is that just as unscriptural as the other? I remember years ago. I thought
about this the other day. I remember distinctly Brother Henry
preaching it. And what he said, I've never
heard this before. I don't remember where it was
at. That doesn't matter. On the downhill
slide, don't remember that. But Brother Henry was preaching
and he said, years ago, He said, when someone would hear that
someone else they knew was saved, that made a profession of faith,
the question would be asked, are they well saved? You don't
hear that anymore. I don't ever remember hearing
that. I don't know how far back Henry was referring to, but he
said they would ask, is he well saved? You know what he meant. He told us what he meant. It
means, does there seem to be a real work of God in their heart
and life, or did they just have a religious spasm? Spasm, that's a good word, isn't
it? That's a good way to describe
a mere profession without the possession of God's grace. It's just a spasm. Our Lord taught
that. Remember when he talked about
the stony ground hearers? He said that they hear the Word
of God and immediately, with joy, they receive it. And then
in a little while, because of trials and things, because of
their profession, they just as immediately cast it aside. Just had a religious spasm. I
worked with a fellow back in West Virginia years ago. He was
older than me. He was older than everybody in
the shop. We called him Pops. He was a Pentecostal. Just about
every Monday morning, he would ask me, Larry, how was your service
yesterday? I would tell him, well, I preached
the gospel, or I was privileged to sit under the gospel, and
he would just wave it off. Well, big deal. And then he would tell me about
his service. I didn't want to hear it, but he told me anyway.
Oh, Larry, you should have been in our service. You know, he
thought ours was just dead and dry. You mean all you do is preach
the gospel? Yeah, that's it. Well, my soul. But he would say, man, we spoke
in tongues. Women did back flips over the
pew. Men ran around waving their hands in the air and rolling
their eyes. He said, man, we had a good time.
Say, Papa was a priest. Oh, he didn't get to preach.
We shouted him down. Religious spasms. I would see
him Tuesday or Wednesday, and he'd be like this. What's the
matter, Pop, what are you dragging around for? Oh, there's that
woman I live with. She's killing me. Two days before, just a spasm,
just a spasm. Now, let's read, and I won't
be long. Let's read a few places that speak of faith and the assurance
of it. These verses, I think, contain
both. First here in John chapter 17. Are you there with me? John
chapter 17. The first three verses, oh, this
is holy ground. I think J.C. Rowe, in his commentary
on John, concerning this passage, John 17, our Lord's high priestly
prayer, as we call it, before he went back to the Father, J.C. Rowe said, there are things in
this, he said, he knew that had never been understood yet. Just too deep. Just too deep. Oh, yeah, this is holy ground.
Verse 1, these words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven
and said, Father, the hour is come. Oh my, so we could pitch
tent there for a while, couldn't we? The hour is come. This hour for which God created
the world. Never would be another hour like
this. Never has been, never had been,
and never will be again. The hour has come. Glorify thy
son, that thy son also may glorify thee, as thou has given him power
over all flesh. Oh, I love to hear my great God
and Savior speak. Power over all flesh, that he
should give eternal life to as many, every one, as many as thou
has given him. And here it is, this is life
eternal, that they might know thee, that they might know thee,
the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent, that they
might know, not guess, not wish, not question, not pout, not doubt,
but that they may know you, God, and your Son. The Lord Jesus
Christ, that's what real faith does, doesn't it? It reveals
God to us and in us through the person of his son. Is that right,
Billy? If you've seen me, was it the
Thomas he said those words or Philip? If you've seen me, you've
seen the Father. What do you mean, show us the
Father? You've seen the Father. I and the Father are one, the
only Savior. The only door, the only way,
the essence of eternal life, as our Lord says here, is knowing
Him and knowing God. Because I live, He told His disciples
this same night. Because I live, you shall live
also. Faith is to know the Son of God. It's not to know just bare, lifeless,
dusty, dry doctrine. My son wanted me to listen to
a fellow. A while back, I said, well, I
get the time I listen. It was recorded. He said, what
did you think? I said, I thought it was pretty
dry. Pretty dry. No. These doctrines that were referred
to as the doctrines of grace, they received their beauty. from
Jesus Christ. They don't have any inherent
beauty of their own. They're like that dress hanging
in the closet. That's your favorite. One of
your wife's dresses, that's your favorite. You see it hanging
there, not much. Oh, but when she puts it on,
oh, now. And if you're wise, John, you'll
tell her, oh, you look good. Because she gives the beauty
to it. gives beauty to these glorious
truths. For example, take Christ out of election, and the truth
is there wouldn't be an election without Christ, but without Him,
it loses its beauty. The beauty of election is God
chose me in Him. Christ stands for me before the
foundation of the world, and God gave me to His Son. Oh, is
that not glorious? And the same thing is true of
every other blessed truth of God's Word, like redemption and
calling and heaven. Christ is all. Before we go any
further, and we're moving along, remember this. Assurance of our
salvation is obtained in the same way is obtained in the same
way that salvation itself is experienced. By looking unto
Jesus Christ alone. Don't forget that now, that might
help you on down the road. You have a bout of doubt? You lack assurance? And you're
looking for it in yourself? Oh no, no. You look to the object
of faith. The object, the one that you
look to when you were saved. You weren't looking to yourself.
And you won't find assurance looking to yourself. You look
to Jesus Christ alone. For assurance, you do the same
thing that God said to do for salvation. Look unto me. Look
unto me and be ye saved. Behold, as John said, the Lamb
of God. Oh, John was a good preacher,
wasn't he? They said, are you the Messiah? Are you the one
we read about in Old Testament? John said, no, no, no. How many
times I got to tell you people? I'm not the Messiah. He's coming
after me. And when he came, John said,
behold the Lamb of God. Don't look at me. Don't look
at me. Look at the one I'm pointing to. That's what a preacher does.
Behold the Lamb of God. That's exactly what the Lord
told Nicodemus. Moses would do, that Moses did.
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have eternal life. When Moses, as God commanded,
fastened that brazen serpent to the pole, he didn't just walk
through the camp of those dying, bitten Israelites, and do nothing
else, did he? I had a fellow tell me, don't
exhort people to believe, because they can't. No, they can't unless God gives
them faith, but God commands them to believe. Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, Paul told the Philippian jailer, and thou
shalt be saved. No, Moses didn't walk through
the camp with that brazen serpent uplifted on a pole and say, mum's
the word. He said, look, look, Look and
live, you over there. You're gasping for your last
breath, but if you look, you'll live. And that's what we do in
the gospel. We preach the gospel with this
blessed, blessed promise, whosoever believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ
shall be saved. Look, look, look. The vilest
offender that truly believes that moment from Jesus a pardon
receives. In Philippians chapter 3, here's
the second one. Philippians chapter 3, Paul says,
What things were gained of me, those I count a loss for Christ.
Yea, doubtless I count all things but loss. For the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered
the loss of all things, and do count them but done, that I may
win Christ. The knowledge Paul wanted more
than anything else was knowing Jesus Christ. What else matters? What else matters? Does anything
matter to you more than that? Are you content not to know him?
What else matters? I'm looking now where Louise
used to sit, but she's gone. Back there where Brother Lowell
used to sit, he's gone. Where Bess used to sit, these
are folks that have gone since I've been your pastor. where
Louie used to sit. And then there were others I
knew before I became your pastor. Herman, Bill and Doc, Wallace,
Tommy, they're all gone. Who's next? It might not be Kenny,
it might be you. Who's next? It might be me. But
each of those that I mentioned know now better than they did
before. The saving knowledge of Jesus
Christ was more excellent, as Paul said, than anything else
they could ever know. Oh, that I might know Him. That's all that matters. I know
folks. Oh, and it's sad. It troubles
me, I'll be honest with you. I know folks who say they know
Christ, profess to know Christ, and I've never heard them say
one thing about Him, not one time." That concerns me. It should concern
them. Here's one last text, 2 Timothy
1. Whereunto I'm appointed a preacher
and an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles, for which cause
I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed. Why, Paul? For I know whom I
have believed. There's faith. And here's the
assurance of it. And being persuaded that he's able to keep that which
I've committed unto him against that day. I know Christ. And viewing Christ gives me the
persuasion, the conviction, the certainty. he can do anything.
Just keep your eyes upon the object and you'll be more and
more assured that he can do anything. Paul says, I know whom he's worth
it. He's worth everything I cast
aside in the pursuit of knowing him. Let me wrap this up. The other, last Sunday as a matter
of fact, Delilah gave me a report. It was the yearly, bi-yearly
report of Grace Abounding Bible Ministries. That's a ministry
of Pastor Jim Gables and some others. But he shared a story
in it, and it was good. I read it, read it several times,
to illustrate how useful messages can be that are put on sermon
audio like those here on Free Grace. But there was a man that
had read, or rather had heard one of the messages, a man named
Joe. And he'd been diagnosed with cancer just a few months,
and had been given only a few months to live. It ended up being
only a few weeks. And he'd heard one of Jim's messages,
and he wanted to talk with him. So he called him. And this man
was troubled because of a lack of assurance of his salvation.
And Jim said, why don't you write me and tell me about your conversion
experience." When people come to me and say, Larry, I'm doubting
my salvation, I ask them, what reason did you ever have to think
that you were saved? Let me hear that. But Joe was
concerned, and this is what he wrote, because he hadn't witnessed
enough. He hadn't prayed enough like
he knew he should. He hadn't read his Bible enough.
Jim read his letter, then he called him. The man was talking
along that same line, and Jim stopped him, interrupted him,
and said, Enough! Enough! Enough! He said, Enough
of that, Joe! Trying to do enough to appease
God just about drove Martin Luther crazy. Joe, you're not saved
by your works and you'll not have assurance restored by your
works. You must look to Christ afresh
and see what he did on your behalf. That's enough. That's enough. That's a very good answer, is
it not? When I was visiting Brother Candy
Wednesday night, he expressed the same concern. He said, Larry,
talk to me about assurance. said, I need more assurance. And I said, Kenny, when God saved
you, to whom were you looking when
you were saved? He said, I was looking to Jesus
Christ. And I said, Kenny, don't look anywhere else now. On more
than one occasion, Kenny would call me I guess it's okay to
share this with you now." And he would say, Larry, I don't
know why I've had the struggles in my life that I've had. I don't,
I sometimes wonder why I'm, why I'm, why I'm the way I am. Why my life's turned out like
it has. I said, Kenny, I don't know why
you're there. I can't tell you that. Why you've
had the struggles in your mind, your body. But I can tell you
this, Kenny. They're not going to last forever.
They're not going to be much longer. You won't always be this
way. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians
15, we shall be changed. God will wipe away every tear,
I told him, from your eyes. And you'll never have a reason
to ever cry again. And he said, oh, that's good
to know. I'll be glad when that happens.
And I will, too. The Song of Solomon, chapter
2, verse 16. We read, my beloved is mine,
and I am his. Oh, isn't that sweet to know?
Like Baba used to sing, that song, I am his and he is mine. Loved with an everlasting love,
led by grace that love to know, gracious spirit from above, you
have taught me it is so. Oh, this full and perfect peace.
Oh, this transport all divine in a love which cannot cease.
I am his and he is mine. Things that once were wild alarms
cannot now disturb my rest. Closed in everlasting arms, pillowed
on his loving breast. Oh, to lie forever here, doubt
and care and self-resign while he whispers in my ear, I am his and he is mine. He forever only He is, who the
Lord in me shall part. Ah, with what a rest of bliss
Christ can fill the loving heart. Heaven and earth may fade and
flee. Firstborn light and gloom decline. But while God and I shall be,
I am His, and He is mine. Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable
gift. Thank you for your attention.