Look, if you will, back in Romans
4 at verse 21. This is our text. Three Ps there, if you will. You see persuasion and a good
reason for it. being fully persuaded that what
he, that is God, had promised, he was able also to perform. The title of my message is Blessed
Assurance. Blessed Assurance. Considering
what we're talking about, the salvation of our immortal souls,
how that's accomplished, Considering that great blessedness described
in verses 7 and 8, of iniquities forgiven, sins being covered,
put away, put away forever, and sin never being imputed to the
child of God, considering the magnitude of that and the importance
of it, indeed is it not a blessing to have assurance of that fact?
"'Tis so sweet,' another hymn puts it, "'tis so sweet to trust
in Jesus, "'just to take him at his word, "'just to rest upon
his promise, "'just to know, thus saith the Lord.'" Abraham
found that sweet, blessed assurance, did he not? What a comfort must
it have been for his soul. that man of whom we read in Romans
11, by faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place
which he should afterward receive for an inheritance, this is verse
8 of Hebrews 11, he obeyed, he obeyed, and he went out, knowing
exactly where he was going, no, having a road map, No. Knowing what exit to take. No,
no. Not knowing whether he went. He didn't know exactly where
he was going, but his assurance didn't rest there. It rested
upon the one who sent him, the one who called him. He didn't
know exactly when he first went out where he was going, but he
knew who told him to go. Now that's the difference. That's
the foundation of the comfort of a believer. As we all have
heard, but it's so hard to put into practice and to rest in
it, we don't know what tomorrow holds. how quickly that can be
proven to us, just in a matter of minutes. We just don't know
what a day may bring forth. But comfort doesn't lie in whether
we know that or not, it lies here. We don't know what tomorrow
holds, just as Abraham, but we know who holds tomorrow. Who holds tomorrow? All of our
tomorrows, whatever time we have left in this world, whatever
days God has allotted us, they're all in His hands. He holds them
all in His hands. By faith, Abraham sojourned in
the land of promise. as in a strange country, dwelling
in tabernacles, tents, just temporary dwelling places, just like us,
with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise,
for they looked for a city which had foundations, whose builder
and maker is God." Then down in verse 17, it speaks of that
great trial. Oh, what a trial of Abraham's
faith this was when God said, take your son, your only son,
and offer him to me, verse 17. By faith Abraham, when he was
tried, offered up Isaac. And he that had received the
promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was
said, and God said this, that in Isaac shall thy seed be called. Accounting, accounting. that
God was able, this is how Abraham looked at it, accounting that
God was able to raise him up. Because when it was time, when
God told Abraham, rather, to sacrifice his son Isaac, that
promise made concerning Isaac was not yet fulfilled. And Abraham
thought, well, God must, must plan, purpose, to raise my son
from the dead. He didn't doubt his God, did
he? Accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the
dead, from whence also he received him in a figure. Yes, what sweet
comfort. Indeed. Indeed, faith in our
God, looking to our great God and Savior, gives us green pastures,
doesn't it, to lie down in. These are those calm still waters
where we can rest our weary souls. Just to rest upon the promise. Just fall down upon what thus
saith the Lord. There's a brief article in today's
bulletin, our church bulletin, by Brother Maurice Montgomery. I trust you've read it, but I
thought it would be good to look at it again. He wrote this. He
said, trust is a wonderful thing, and sweet is a good word to describe
it. Whether between spouses, parents
and children, friends, or whoever, trust is sweet. The word implies
faith and confidence and reliance, but that's not all. There is
also a wonderful rest and repose in trust. He maketh me to lie
down. Not to fret, not to walk the
floors, not to pace, but to lie down. There is a wonderful rest
and repose in trust. A freedom from doubts and suspicion
and anxiety and fearful apprehension. Trust is calm, peaceful and assured. It is so sweet. When guilty sinners
can trust in Jesus. And it is. And it is. And that's what Abraham by God's
grace did. He trusted in his God by faith
given to him by grace. Look at verse 16. Therefore,
it is a faith that it might be by grace because faith itself
is a gift of God's grace. It's not something we muster
up. It's certainly nothing that we
found in us before God saved us. Oh no, he granted us that
gift and it's he that keeps it alive. Faith cannot be destroyed. It cannot perish. You've heard
me say it again and again but Peter even in the very teeth
of denying his lord even while he was doing that while he was
cursing and calling down curses from heaven on his own head to
convince those enemies of our Lord, that he certainly wasn't
a disciple of Jesus of Nazareth, he never quit believing. He never
quit believing. He couldn't. Because this faith
that God gives, he never takes back. This precious gift of God's
grace. And that's the foundation to
rest on. That's the pillow to lay your
head upon. And it's upon this pillow. of
confident assurance in God, just believing Him, this pillow in
which He gives His beloved sleep. Peter wrote both of his epistles
actually, were written to people who at the time were enduring
severe persecution, who were being murdered for the testimony
of the Lord Jesus Christ. When Peter wrote the second one
to them, he said this, Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle
of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith. Nothing we have in this world
is as precious as that. Nothing we have that we should
be more thankful for than that because faith enabled us to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith brought us to Him. Faith, that God-given grace,
that gift of God's grace enabled us to do what we would otherwise
never have been able to do. which was impossible to us if
left alone. It enabled us, opening our blinded
eyes, we beheld the Lamb of God. Remember? Remember? Oh, precious, precious faith. To those who have obtained like
precious faith with us, through the righteousness of God and
our Savior, Jesus Christ, grace and peace be multiplied unto
you. Be multiplied unto you through
the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Multiplied. To multiplied sorrows, he giveth
multiplied grace. never divided, but multiplied. Is there any other explanation
for the salvation of a sinner other than grace? Can you find any other reason,
any other explanation why God should save a sinner like you
and like me other than grace, His amazing grace? And the very
fact that once God saves us by His grace, He continues that
good work in us. The fact that there is in this
world, in this ungodly world, a church yet, is a standing miracle
to the power of God's grace. Verse 21 again, we have persuasion. based upon the promise and God's
performance of it. First, the believer's persuasion.
It rests not on his faith. Oh, let me be clear about that.
I would misdirect you if I said that. No, it doesn't rest on
his faith, precious gift as it is, but upon the object of his
faith, the promise of our God. This is what we read in this
chapter, is it not? God said to Abraham, God promised
Abraham, God would perform the promise. The latter part of verse
17, even God, God, Abraham was beholding Him. Faith's foundation
rests upon its object, God Almighty, the triune God. And compared
to His God, Abraham didn't even consider other things. Did you
notice that in the reading? Isn't that a blessing? Abraham
didn't even consider anything else to be a reason, to be reason
enough to doubt the fulfillment of what God had promised him.
He considered it like you would set out a set of scales. In this side, looking at the
scene, there's Abraham 100 years old. And God said, you're going
to have a son. Your wife Sarah is going to have
a son. She's 90 years old. Abraham,
in verse 19 we're told, he considered not these things. They didn't
even enter into the equation. But what he did consider was
this, even God. What God had promised he was
able to perform. Look what it says in verse 20,
he staggered not. Isn't that... Oh, how often I
stagger under far less trials than Abraham went through. Oh,
but look at this man of God. Look at this believing sinner. He staggered not at the promise
of God. He wasn't overwhelmed. He didn't
fret. He didn't doubt. He staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith,
and look at these words, giving glory to God. What a statement. What a statement. How can a man
give glory to God? How can a man do that? Just like
Abraham did. simply by believing God, trusting
God. Faith honors God. Faith honors
God, and God honors faith. We all remember as children lying
in bed at night. I dare say none of us here ever
spent a night under our parents' roof wearing, wondering, fretting,
whether or not there would be food on the table the next day.
Whether or not there would be clothes on my back the next day. Whether or not this roof would
hit me over my head come tomorrow. We never had such thoughts as
that, did we? We trusted our mothers and our
fathers. They took care of those things.
And the Lord Jesus Christ said to his disciples, take no thought
of tomorrow. What you're going to eat, What
you gonna drink? Wherewithal shall ye be clothed? And you remember the reason he
gave for that in Matthew 6, the Sermon on the Mount? This was
the reason he gave. Don't worry, don't fret. Your
heavenly Father knoweth. That's a good message, isn't
it? Your heavenly Father knoweth. Your Father. Not your earthly
father. Oh, no, no. Your heavenly father
that loves you much more than any earthly father could ever
do. that's done more for you than any earthly father could
possibly do, who's loved you with not the love of a fleshly
man, but has loved you with an immutable love, has loved you
with an everlasting love, has loved you from eternity, has
never been a time that He didn't love you. That's your Father
I'm speaking of. Your Heavenly Father knows. Oh, how He knows what you have
need of. Your heavenly Father, unlike
your earthly one, would never be taken by surprise, would never
be caught off guard, would never be unprepared. Like when the Lord Jesus asked
Philip concerning that multitude, 5,000 was it? Philip, where shall
we buy bread that these may eat? And this we're told, he said
to try him, for Jesus knew what he would do. That's another sweet pillow,
isn't it? Oh, for grace to trust him more. My heavenly father
knoweth, and my elder brother, my redeemer. Jesus knows what
he will do. Oh, for grace, again, to trust
him more. Fix your faith right there. This is faith's resting place. Faith's God. Look to yourself,
and you know it's true. We're painfully aware of it. Look to self, and it won't be
long. You'll be cast down. You'll be
discouraged. It'll be, woe is me, woe is me. And it's not surprising. It's
not surprising looking at self. Oh, but look out of self. Look out of self. Look up. Look up. Look up to your Heavenly
Father that knoweth. Look up to Him who saideth, King
forever. Oh, this is the blessed assurance
of faith. In Psalms 29, one of David's
many psalms, we read this. Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty.
Give unto the Lord the glory and strength. Give unto the Lord
the glory due unto His name. Praise Him. Trust Him. Rely on Him. Honor Him. Glorify
God in that way. Worship the Lord in the beauty
of holiness. The voice of the Lord is upon
the waters. The God of glory thundereth.
The God, the Lord rather, is upon many waters. The voice of
the Lord is powerful. Powerful. How powerful is the
voice of God. Let there be light. and light
is. Lazarus come forth and he that
was dead came forth. Never a man spake like this man,
not like the God-man. The voice of the Lord is powerful. Oh, the voice of the Lord is
full of majesty. How majestic is the voice of
our powerful God when He comes to us and does for us what we
couldn't do for ourselves. We tried. We tried. Couldn't do it. Couldn't do it.
Tried to muster up a peace, but couldn't do it. Others came to
us and tried to speak peace to comfort us. Oh, but when He comes,
here comes the Prince of Peace with healing in His wings. And
just one word One blessed promise, one word, one verse. From His
word, He drops it into our heart like living fire and all the
comfort, the peace that it brings. A word like this. You feel alone, but you're not
alone. You're not alone because I'm
with you always. I'll never leave you, and I'll
never forsake you. The Lord said it, the psalmist
went on the right. The Lord said it upon the flood.
Above it. Above it. It's his flood. Yea,
the Lord said it's king some of the time. No. The Lord said
it's king forever. Forever. And everything, everything
is beneath him. Everything is under His feet.
The Lord will give strength unto His people. The Lord will bless
His people with peace. How does God describe Himself? Whatever God says concerning
Himself, that must be accurate. It must be an accurate description
because He cannot lie. He cannot lie. He alone has the
purest, truest motive in ascribing greatness to himself, unlike
you and I. Now we tend, we tend to exaggerate. Like when I look in the mirror
and think, I'm getting better looking every day. My soul, what
an exaggeration. We tend to make ourselves look,
look good. Oh, but what God says about himself
is so. Turn, if you will, to Isaiah
chapter 40. This, or rather he, he is the
object of faith. And this is why Abraham was so
persuaded, so confident, because his eyes was not fixed upon himself
or upon Sarah. His eyes was fixed upon his God. And Abraham thought, there's
nothing he can't do. I mean, if he if he commands
me to slay my son, then he must intend to raise my son from the
dead to fulfill his promise to me because he cannot break his
word. He cannot do it. He's god. That's the object of Verse 9, 9, O Zion, O Zion, O
church of God, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into
the high mountain. O Jerusalem, that bringest good
tidings, lift up thy voice with strength, lift it up. Be not
afraid, be not afraid. Say unto the cities of Judah,
Behold your God. Don't be afraid. Why? How? Behold your God. Behold the Lord
God will come with a strong hand and His arms shall rule for Him.
Behold, His reward is with Him and His work before Him. He shall
feed His flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with
His arm and carry them in His bosom and shall gently lead those
that are with young. Who had measured the waters in
the hollow of His hand, and meted out the heaven with the span,
and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed
the mountains in a scale, and the hills in a balance? Who had
directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being His counselor, hath
taught Him? With whom took ye counsel? and
who instructed him and taught him in the path of judgment and
taught him knowledge and showed to him the way of understanding. Behold, the nations are as a
drop of a bucket. and are counted as a small dust
of the balance. Behold, he taketh up the owls
as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient
to burn for the beast thereof, sufficient for the burnt offering. All nations before him are as
is nothing, and they are counted to him less than nothing. To whom then will ye liken God?" What can you compare him to?
Or what likeness will you compare unto Him? Look down at verse
21. Have ye not known? Have ye not
heard? Have it not been told you from
the beginning? Have ye not understood from the
foundation of the earth? It is He that setteth upon the
circle of the earth. And the inhabitants thereof are
as grasshoppers. that stretcheth out the heavens
as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in, that
bringeth the princes to nothing, and maketh the judges of the
earth as vanity. Verse 25, to whom then will ye
liken me? Or shall I be equal, saith the
Holy One? Lift up your eyes on high. Lift
up your eyes and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth
out their host by number. He calleth them all by names,
by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power,
not one. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and
speakest, O Israel, my way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment
is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known? Hast thou
not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of
the ends of the earth, fainteth not? Neither is weary. There is no searching of his
understanding. He giveth power to the faint.
And to them that have no might, he increases strength. Even the
youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly
fall. But they that wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings
as eagles. They shall run and not be weary,
and they shall walk and not faint. Behold, behold your God. Behold your God the answer to
creation the answer to Providence the answer to salvation is all
the same God the triune God That was The source the reason The object
of Abraham's faith. Now let's consider the promise. The grounds of Abraham's
persuasion was his God. And it follows, it follows and
it's fitting that he believes in the performance of God's promise. That God would do exactly what
he said he would do. Was it unreasonable for Abraham
to believe that? Was it unreasonable? Would it
not have been the height of folly for Abraham and for me and for
you not to believe God? Not to believe God? God doing
what He said He would do, anything more reasonable than to take
God at His word? To lie down and sleep knowing
that my Heavenly Father is still on board the vessel? of salvation. He's still steering the ship
with an arm of absolute omnipotence and with unfailing, absolute
perfect wisdom. He make it no mistake, he do
it all things well. That what he promised, no matter
what it is, he'll perform. You remember when it was not
uncommon as it is today for a man's word to be his bond. Lester,
that was all that was necessary. You do business with someone,
someone you knew, they give you their word, that's enough. You
didn't ask that it be put in writing. You didn't go to pay
a lawyer to draw up a contract. That man gave me his word. I
know him. His word is his bond. I can trust
him. My soul, how much more should
we trust our God who says, I have magnified my word above everything. And surely whatever he has promised,
he'll bring it to pass. Jeremiah, he said, God asked
Jeremiah, is anything too hard for me? Jeremiah, is anything
too hard for God? Gabriel took the message to Mary
concerning her being the virgin through whose womb the Lord of
glory, the God-man would come into this world. And she said,
how can this be? I don't know, man. You remember
what Gabriel said to her? With God nothing shall be impossible. It would be of little comfort
otherwise. God help me not to be in my thinking
like the unbelievers that we read of in Psalm 50 where God
said, Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself. Don't allow me to measure God's
faithfulness by my Mine, no wonder if I do that I'm cast down. Oh
no, as the psalmist David said in Psalm 115, when in mockery
he was asked, where is now your God? You remember what he said?
Oh and how true it is, how true it is. My God is in the heavens,
and He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased. He always does. He always does. Isn't that comforting? In Isaiah 46, just let me read
these two verses to you. Remember the former things, God
says. Remember the former things of
old, for I am God, and there's none else. I am God, and there's
none like me, declaring the end from the beginning. And from
ancient times, the things that are not yet done, saying, my
counsel shall stand and I will do. This is what Abraham believed. Just what God said. My counsel
shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. Oh, the more God
enables us to believe that, the more we can just cast our all
upon that. The more we'll be enabled to
sing, then it is well. It is well with my soul. I shall do all my pleasure. What
he promised, he's able also to perform. His pleasure, that is
his purpose, his will. And none can stay his hand, ask
Nebuchadnezzar. Ask him. Nebuchadnezzar said,
oh, None can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou?
He learned that lesson. Ask Job. Ask Job. When God appeared on the scene,
Job said, I know. I know you can do everything. Ask Isaiah. Does God perform
His will? Does God have His way? In the
year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord. Where did you
see Him, Isaiah? Where was He? Sitting upon a
throne, high and lifted up. where he always earthly kings
come and go. Oh, but our God lives forever
upon his throne, if for one moment, one moment in time or from eternity,
God was not on his throne, meaning that he wasn't in absolute control
just for one minute. You know what that would mean?
It would be chaos, hopelessness, failure. It would be that God
would cease to be God. If He ceases the rule, He ceases
to be God. And that cannot be. That can
never be. It never has been. It never has
been. And it never will be. The Lord God, they sing in Revelation
19. John said he heard the voice
of much people, much people. And they sang, hallelujah, the
Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Oh, he must, or they would have
never been there. God brought them there by his
power and his grace. Now, last of all, what he has
promised God He was able also to perform what has he promised. What has he promised? All the
promises of God are yay and amen in our Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah
again, chapter 51. Hearken unto me, my people. Isaiah
51, verse 4. Here's one of the promises of
our great God whose word cannot be broken. He's speaking to you,
child of God. Hearken unto me, my people, and
give ear unto me, O my nation, for a law shall proceed for me,
and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.
My righteousness is near, my salvation has gone forth, and
mine arm shall judge the people, the owl shall wait upon me, and
on mine arm shall they trust. On my arm, can it bear me up? The arm of God? The arm of omnipotence? Oh yes, I think you will bear
me up. Lift up your eyes to the heavens
and look upon the earth beneath. For the heavens shall vanish
away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment,
and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner. But my salvation
shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. Hearken
unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is
my law. Fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be afraid of
their revilings." Oh, what has God promised? As Joshua said
when he came down to die and called the elders of Israel around
and said, Behold, I go the way of all the earth. And I take
you to record this day. You know that everything that
the Lord God promised us, not one word has failed. Not one
word has failed. But all has come to pass this
day. He brought us out of Egypt. He
brought us through the wilderness. He brought us into the promised
land. And not one word has failed.
And I'll tell you what. Our Joshua, our Joshua in that
day when he gathers us around the throne of our Heavenly Father,
that will be his claim as well. Not one word, not one word is
failed of all that he has promised us. He has given and given and
given this sinner grace upon grace upon grace. And he says, I'm not through. I'm going to give you glory too.
He'll give grace and glory all the way my Savior leads me. That's a happy note to lie down
and sleep with, isn't it? that what he has promised he
is able also to perform. God bless you. Amen.