Father, we do thank you for another
opportunity again to gather together around your word, around your
truth. Your word is truth, has the ability
to sanctify us, to cleanse us, to keep us, guide us, inform
us, instruct us, sanctify and save us. And so that's what we
come for, Lord, to be saved in the ultimate sense, to be brought
into your presence, accepted before you because of Jesus Christ,
made compatible to dwell in your ineffable bliss for all eternity,
experiencing the glory and pleasures of God almighty and all that
he is, and all that he is for his people. We desire to know
you more and more, to live for your honor, to tell the truth
as it is in Jesus Christ, and to simply delight in you. So we ask you, Lord, as we enter
into your word tonight, that you would grant us the grace
to focus, take our minds and bring them into captivity to
your glory. Open our ears that we can hear
you and give us hearts to be attentive to your precepts tonight. A very important issue, Lord,
that we are confronting and we want to know that we have a handle
on these things. So we ask, as we come into your
presence, that you would forgive us of our sins, not in any presumptuous
way, Lord, but on the grounds of what you have already revealed,
and that is Jesus Christ, your beloved son. His blood and his
righteousness is our only hope, Lord, and so Spirit of God, do
for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Purge our conscience,
wash us clean, give us confidence, qualify us to hear your voice.
For those that are yet coming, give them traveling mercies.
Bless this hour, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen First John
chapter 3 verse 19 is where we began to contemplate the turning
point for John's exhortation to the church He says in verse
19 of chapter 3 and This by this we know that we are of the truth
and shall assure our hearts before him and you and I began to work
through the whole issue of assurance and we're gonna do that again
tonight how important is Assurance. Well, I think that assurance
is critically important to us because of the weakness of our
nature. How many of us would like to
be made sure are given a sense of security of our destiny? How
many of us would love to know that we are on a course of prosperity
and blessing and purpose and gratification in the sense of
being able to fulfill God's calling in our life. How many of us would
love to know with a certainty that we are on the right track.
That's the whole idea of assurance. Contrary wise, to not have assurance
is for you and I to be filled with fear. filled with the fear
of the unknown, filled with the fear of not knowing where we
are going, not knowing if what we are doing is right, not knowing
if the outcome of our existence will result in something that
would be catastrophic or calamitous in nature, or that we might just
stumble on the blessing of life. In any event, as long as you
and I are not grappling with the concept of assurance, We
can be sure that we will have many, many occasions by which
fear will grip us and dominate our life. Fear will grip us and
dominate our life. And so, how does one... How does
one inoculate themselves from the fear that can dominate our
lives because of a lack of assurance? How do we overcome the dreadful
phobia that comes into our life when we are not sure? How can we overcome that? Well,
John says there are some tangible evidences, and also some resources
that God gives us by which we can obtain assurance. And assurance then is one of
the aims of God for his people. Assurance. Now, as we talk about
assurance, I want to make sure that you are not contemplating
the idea of presumption. As we talk about assurance, we're
not talking about the idea of a sort of vain hope that things
are going to work out all right. When we talk about assurance,
we're talking about legitimate criterion by which we can know
objectively and cognitively that we are on the right course. OK,
so I'm priming you now, as you know, that's why I'm here, priming
you, because I just kind of understand human thinking. It takes about
10 minutes for you actually to enter into the study. The mind
is not always present. You can act like you're here,
but you might not be here. So I'm saying words that actually
don't resonate with some of you right now. That's why I'm taking
my time working them through. Assurance is a critical concept
for any human being, let alone the believer. Innately, we all
know that we are headed towards some destiny or another, don't
we? We know from just the practical
experiences of life that we're going to live, we're going to
get old, most likely, and we're going to die. We're sure that
we're going to die as a whole, just based upon the evidence,
the empirical evidence, sociologically, one day we're going to die. With
regards to death being in view as sort of a cudgel that basically
exercises us in the realm of fear, Death then serves as a
teacher to get us about the business of obtaining assurance. Doesn't
it? Death is a teacher. When I do
funerals, one of the things I often say at funerals is that death
is one of the great teachers of humanity. Because what death
does is it corrects you on your final paper with regards to all
of the assumptions that you had gathered and collected over the
course of your life, by which you established your own false
assurance that you were all right. Death becomes the last and final
test that we take. And it proves to us that we were
either right or wrong with regards to what's behind death. Death
is the ultimate exam that everyone must face, barring the return
of Christ. And so When I'm doing funerals,
I I'm often letting people know that when you are in the realm
And I mentioned of mourning because of the death of a loved one you
are in a very good place You are in a very very good place
because as the preacher said in Ecclesiastes Chapter 7 it
is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house
of myrrh and our world is a house of myrrh Mirth is the place where
you can pretend. It's Disneyland. It's any kind
of notion of happiness and feel good that you may want to postulate,
real or unreal. That's the world we live in,
isn't it? And one of the things that age
and abet this sort of Pollyanna view of our life, this illusory
view of our life is technology. You can absorb yourself in the
technological world of internet and Facebook and television and
movies and all of these gadgets and traps and you can escape
reality for a moment or for an hour or for a day or for a week
or you can actually get locked into those matrix. and stay in
a state of illusory perception until you die. You can lock yourself
in out of fear. You can be running from reality.
You know how a lot of people are with regards to the ultimate
reality? They have to keep noise going
on 24-7. You meet people that they can't be quiet for five
minutes because they're afraid of reality emerging and bringing
them into that space and realm of the possibility of death,
which is lurking over all of our heads or the possibility
of seeing ourselves for what we really are, whatever that
may be. So you meet people who are proverbially still stuck
in that primordial Adamic state after the fall where mankind
is covering themselves with fig leaves and hiding behind the
trees. That's why I'm talking to you
about this, because I don't want you to miss the blessing of biblical
assurance. You can ask yourself, are you
a fig leaf wearer hiding behind trees, not wanting to hear the
voice of God? If you are, then you are still
struggling through the issue of fear. It is a consequence
of the reality of death and fear as a consequence of the reality
of death means there is something absent in our life, right? something
absent. I know it may seem like I'm bantering,
but I'm going somewhere. There's a vacuum. There's something
missing when you and I are driven, compelled by, trapped by, paralyzed
by fear. There's something missing. And
as a consequence, assurance is not available for us. We don't
have that available assurance. Remember what we learned assurance
was last week? It was the quieting of the heart. The heart is made quiet. The
quieting of the heart. Assurance is the soul being at
a state of ease and comfort, not based on ignorance, but based
on certain facts. So when we talk about assurance
tonight in the biblical sense, what we're going to be talking
about is what does it take to quiet my heart before God? What does it take to quiet my
heart before God? And so the subject matter is
very personal and it's actually extremely private because only
you know within yourself right now whether or not your heart
is disturbed. whether or not you are agitated
by certain insecurities, whether or not you are still sort of
vacillating in a dimension, in a realm of experience that has
you tossed to and fro because of a lack of assurance. You know
that. So the subject matter is extremely
important. Now, I can say this. John's objective is to help the
believer settle this matter of assurance by two Criteriums one
by virtue of the resources that God gives us By which our hearts
can be made quiet One by virtue of the resources that God gives
us by which our hearts can be made quiet secondly by virtue
of our response Toward those resources by which our heart
is made quiet. So I want you to get this now
The believer has, according to the scripture, resources that
God gives us by which we can make our hearts quiet before
God. And the believer also has assignments
that God gives us by which the quietness of our hearts can be
reaffirmed. Does that make some sense to
you? OK, so we're getting ready to enter into that possible proposition
right now. John says in verse 19, and this
by this, we know that we are of the truth. So for John, what's
important is for the people of God to know that they are owned
by and have their identity. with the true. You see verse
19? By this we know that we are of
the true. To be of something is to be owned
by it. It's a genitive form which means
to be possessed by it, identified with it, like the idea of being
of a certain family or of a certain tribe or of a certain nation
or of a certain church, or being, as we are called in the opening
of 1 John 3, listen, sons of God. By this I know I am a son
of God. I am owned by God, I am identified
with God, I have my relation to God. That's the genitive form
of the word of, to be born of God. Remember how 1 John 3 opens
up? It opens up declaring the bestowment
of God's blessings upon his people by which they can know they are
sons of God. Here, John says, by this you
can know that you are of the truth, of the truth. And he's actually stating verse
17. But whosoever has this world's
good and sees his brother have need and shuts his bowels up
compassion up to him How dwelleth the love of God in him my little
children verse 18? Let us not love in word neither
in tongue, but in what deed and in what true? So what John says
is when? the truth of God enters into
our being to claim us as his own it must work itself out in
our life to evidence that we are his own and Is that making
some sense to you? So then what John says is people
who know the truth are not of the truth because they know the
truth. But people who do the truth are of the truth because
they know the truth. By this, we know we are of the
truth. Now, just a slight commentary
on that again. In the gospel sense of truth,
please understand that you and I have not arrived at the truth
merely because we are sent to certain propositions. You and
I have not arrived at the truth in terms of the truth perfecting
itself in us because we merely assent to a set of propositions. For you to hear truth and to
agree with it does not make you of the truth. It just means you
agree with the truth. Like the devil knows that there
is a God. And he also fears that God, but
it doesn't mean he is of that God. Now, biblical truth is that
which corresponds to reality and in the quintessential sense,
Christ is that truth. Biblical truth is that which
corresponds with reality and in the quintessential sense,
in the ultimate sense, Christ is that truth. Are you hearing
me? This is why he could say exclusively, bar none, I am the
way, the truth and the life. Because he corresponds to what
reality? Not only in the sense that he
says he is the truth But because he lived it Are you following
what I'm saying? Christ came not only to be and
to tell but to do the truth So for us crisis the epitome of
truth worked out Remember we are actually dealing with the
whole premise of love as we discuss this subject. I Love is really
what John is talking about. Love is what John is desiring
the people of God to be able to embrace as a commodity by
which they can enjoy the God that they have come to know.
That's what we're talking about, the love of God, really. Now,
Jesus enjoyed his father because he was of his father, and he
enjoyed his father because he did those things that his father
told him to do, right? And he was the one going around
all of Israel saying, I know I am of the father. And he could
say it very emphatically because I do those things he tells me
to do. I know I'm of the truth because I do what my father tells
me. Can you say that? He says to the rulers. And the
answer obviously is what? No, because they were not the
truth. They could not correspond to
the reality of God. Only one person can correspond
to the reality of God. And who is that? Did you guys
get that? Only one person. We're getting
into the ontological nature of God here, but I just want you
to get this because it's important. Only one person can correspond
to the nature of God precisely, and that's Jesus. Now, when men
and women become born of God, we can identify with that truth
because the same truth that is in Christ is in us. But not only
is it going to be something with which we identify on a propositional
level, but it's going to work itself out in our what? life
so that people will know that we are of the true Are you hearing
me? That's why John gave the basic
scenario of if you call yourself children of God But you have
a brother in need and you have those resources by which you
can meet your brother's need But you don't do it. You are
not of the truth for Jesus had those needs by which he could
meet his brother's needs and he came and did it and Am I making
the parallel? This is how Jesus could be seen
and observed and clearly testified to as being the truth. I had
a need. Only Jesus could meet it. That
need was the salvation that could only come from God. Because Jesus
loved me and because he was the truth, he came and met that need. Am I making some sense? I'm being
redundant because I want to make sure that you don't get trapped
by simply philosophical arguments. That where John is going, is
gonna take us to a place of conflict intentionally so that we can
realize that in this conflict are the resources necessary to
settle the heart of the person who knows God. I'll put it like
this as I get ready to work it further. I don't think, this
is my personal opinion, that you can sit around and read Bible
verses all day long and do Bible studies and exegetical labors
and expository developments of different doctrines of the scripture
And it doesn't result in the transformation of your soul so
that you live out the gospel as a witness to Jesus Christ
to others. And you have the assurance of your salvation. I don't think
you can obtain this assurance of your salvation by simply compiling
large portions of biblical truth in front of you as footnotes
in your outlines and commentaries. I believe assurance comes from
not only the blessed opportunity to acquiesce the resources that
we find in scripture, but for those resources then to take
their place in our lives as a dynamic by which assurance is established
in our soul. Remember what God is after in
the saving of his people is a relationship. This is the dynamic that's taking
place here. So I want you to stay with me
a little bit on this. The reason why the matter of
assurance is so very important is because of the issue of fear. Look at chapter four, verse 17
and 18. And actually I'm gonna start
at verse 16, then I'm gonna come back and deal with a few more
points. I'm in chapter four. Verse 16, and we have known and
believe the love that God has to us, right? He says, God is
love. And he that dwelleth in love
dwelleth in God and God in him. You see how it becomes immediately
after the proposition of love is given a relationship. Do you
see that? You see how it's relational.
We're not only believing the love of God, which he has revealed
to us in the person of Christ, that's the previous verses. The
Christ-centered, cross-centered revelation of God's love to us,
but the Christ-centered, cross-centered revelation of God's love to us,
believe now enters into us by which we have communion with
God. Look at it again, verse 60. And we have known and believed
the love that God has to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth
in love dwells in God, and God in him. That's union. communion
verse 17 herein is our what That's the subject. I want you to watch
what it says now herein is our love made what now now all he's
saying here is Is something critical of which we've talked about before?
Herein is that love we claim to have in our hearts having
been poured out by the Holy Ghost Actually brought to fruition
The word perfection there is not an intrinsic, impeccable
perfection. It's talking about fulfillment
or fruition. We're talking about the seed
of truth going in and the fruit of that truth manifesting itself
in our lives, right? That's what the word perfect
mean. That word teleos simply means to come to full fruition.
So what John says is herein is the love of God planted in our
hearts, brought to full fruition that we may have boldness in
the day of what? Judgment. So he's actually Securing
us over against a future event of which the issue of fear and
death is completely relevant, isn't it? That future event is
Judgment Day. Here's what John is saying. Stay
with me now. If the love of God works itself out in your life
to where it comes to full fruition, you won't have to fear in that
day. Isn't that what he's saying? I want you to hear how John works
this through because As he is, who is that? Christ. So are we
in this world. You've got to lock that in because
what he's doing is giving us the model of Jesus as the one
who had a secure and comfortable relationship with his father
based upon those resources that his father gave him by which
he could interact with his father when he was here. Those same
resources God gives to us who are his children while we are
here so that as he was in the world, so are we in the world.
Am I making some sense? And so in the same way, Jesus
could be confident that when he returned to the father, he
would be accepted of the father. You and I can be confident that
when we return to the father, we will be accepted of the father.
There's a parallel there for our comfort. Now, some of you
might say, well, but Jesus was perfect, granted. And therefore,
everything that he did was done in a way in which there was no
struggle like you and I have with regards to our imperfections,
right? Granted. But there was something that
Jesus went through that you and I never have to go through, of
which test Jesus went through. He had to be tried as to whether
or not two things, he could rest in the resources of God's love
for him in the midst of that trial. Are you hearing me? He could rest in the resources
of God's love for him in the midst of that trial and that
he would get through that trial by the grace of God on the other
side. So he could continue to say, God loves me. There was
a period in Christ's life of which none of us can even begin
to equate with regards to the trial that he had, that struggle
that he went through. by which his own heart had to
be settled, made to rest. Resources had to be given to
him just as much as they have to be given to us. Only for him,
it was in such an exponentially far more dire circumstance than
we could ever imagine. He's standing at the brink of
hell with the conscious awareness that there's an aspect of departure
on the part of his God from him for him to go into that darkness
and damnation and curse and wrath without the presence of the approval
of his Father. The only thing that could get
him in and out was his ability to draw on the resources that
God had already given him with regards to the father never leaving
him and never forsaking him, even though in his experience
it would be that way. My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me? Is that fear? Is that anxiety? Is that struggle of heart? Are
you hearing what I'm getting at? See, so this is not like
a mere pedantic study that I'm talking about. I'm talking about
all of us having those periods in our life where we have to
be able to rely upon the faithfulness of God in other categories at
that time when the empirical evidence, the sensible evidence,
the feeling-oriented evidence is not there. There are times
when you will get no gratification out of a sense of God's presence
Are you hearing me? You will have to believe in the
resources Are you guys all following me
at this point I want you to mark the next verse then verse 18
There is no fear in what But perfect love does what? because
fear hath torment. He that is dominated by and controlled
by fear cannot be made perfect in love. Do you see it? Now watch what John says. We
love him because he what? Now watch this. If a man say,
I love God. See, that's that's the argument. Everybody love to say that. But
do you understand the implications of that proposition? The extenuating
circumstances relative to that proposition. If a man say, I
love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. Do you see? He is not telling the truth for
he that loveth not his brother whom he has seen. How can he
love God whom he hath not seen? He that loveth not his brother
whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
And this commandment have we from him that he who loveth God
loves his brother also. See it? So this is where you
and I, again, are taking back to what I was dealing with last
week. And I'm just taking my time from this because once we
pass this portion of the scripture up, that'll be there. The vertical
relationship that you and I have with God and then the horizontal
relationship that we have with one another, The vertical relationship
that we have with God is the source from which you
and I derive our identity, our purpose, our confidence, and
our hope. The vertical relationship, right?
That's the source from which we derive it. But that fact is
affirmed through a horizontal process that God demands. And
the horizontal process that God demands is, those who say they
have been connected to God in a vertical dynamic of a relationship
where you love God and God loves you and it's easy for us to see
it, also must demonstrate that on a horizontal plane. For that
is true indeed. Right? What am I talking about? the incarnation of the son of
God who loved us enough to come down here and do something about
our problem because he didn't just love us in word, he loved
us in what? Are you hearing what I'm saying?
This is so critical. And John is making a delineation
between religious people who have all kinds of ideas about
God, whose ideas do not correspond to a conda consistent with those
ideas. And what John is saying is, little
children, this is how you will know you are of the truth. Now,
if John tells us how we can know we are of the truth and he gives
us the formula, the data, the information, don't you think
it's wise for us to gather that data? I've been in ministry for
almost 30 years, pastoring for 20 years, being in parts of all
kinds of churches for many, many years. And the one thing I know
is this, that people play games with God and whole churches play
games with God and whole denominations play games with God. And people
will work on ideologies and intellectual and theological constructs that
will make it safe for them to hide in their doctrine and not
live out the gospel. Are you hearing me? And all they're
doing is deluding themselves. because the nature of the gospel
is designed to draw you and I out of false securities of a relationship
with God based merely on doctrinal propositions and demands that
we walk this thing out as his witnesses. Are you hearing me? Are you hearing me? You know,
I just want to make sure this comes home to us as saints, because
otherwise we're not going to be able to enjoy what God does
to quiet our hearts. So I want to get back to the
quieting of our hearts, the quieting of our hearts. I need my heart
quieted. You need your heart quieted.
Well, the way our hearts are quieted is not by us hiding in
the library. The way our hearts are quieted
is by us drawing the resources that God gives us by which assurance
can be established in the process of doing what God has called
us to do. Did you guys get that in the process? So in your outline,
here we go. This is going to work it through
in your outline. I'm at, uh, I'm at the top of the outline.
I shared with you last week, uh, four categories of assurance. I'm not going to go over those
again. If you weren't here, you can get the tape. The first one
was in Hebrews chapter 10, 19 through 23, and it's called the
assurance of faith. God gives us as a resource, the
assurance of faith based upon the fact that Christ is our high
priest and he has made a way for us to enter into the presence
of God, into the holiest of all by the sacrifice of himself.
That's Hebrews 10, 19 through 23. We having the assurance of
faith are told to draw near to God with a true heart. You guys
remember that? We having the assurance of faith
pastor. What is the assurance of faith?
Every doctrinal truth in the scripture that tells you what
god did to make it possible for you to come into his presence
Every biblical truth that god revealed to us Wherein he has
done what is necessary for you and I to come into his presence
and never be disqualified This is an objective truth that gives
us a basis of faith by which we can draw near to God. You
guys get that? See, so now watch this. If God tells me forever
and a day that he loved me, he gave Christ for me, he gave the
Holy Ghost to me, he dealt with my sins, he established my grounds
of fellowship with him, he has secured my eternity, he has also
dealt with my intrinsic infirmities, There's nothing about you Jesse
of which I have not already foreseen and dealt with by which you could
ever be Rejected from my presence again now watch this so therefore
come You get that you get that so
if I don't come If I don't come Fear has so dominated me that
it yields the reality that my heart is absent. There's a vacuum
of love. Am I making some sense? Because
faith only works by us all. Taking a step towards God in
faith requires the love of God shed abroad in your heart by
which you say, he loves me. He loves me. He loves me. because
he showed me that he loves me. Am I making some sense? That's
the only way you're going to step towards this holy, infinitely
holy, holy, holy, righteous, impeccable, gloriously awe-inspiring,
consuming fire. It's by the love of God. By the
love of God. Am I making some sense? The next
one was hope. That's Hebrews chapter 6. He
says we are to be consoled in the full assurance of hope Because
now hope is that which we aspire to our desire or anticipate as
something that will be realized in the future, right? And what
the Hebrew writer said was you can be assured that God is not
unrighteous to reward your labor of love and your work of faith
that you have shown to all the saints as Hebrew six, right?
Now watch this. A lot of us have gotten this
years ago. This is why we serve God with with with all the desire
and passion that we can muster up because he's told us That
he is not unrighteous to reward The labors of love and work of
faith that we do toward the Saints in his name Did you guys get
that? And this is how he rewards those
labors in the process of us serving God He reminds us of the blessings
and benefits and resources of grace that's necessary for us
to serve God and what the net result will be at the end of
our tenure or our service. In other words, for those who
have learned what it means to serve God, we have a secret. And that secret is this, that
God is working in our service to give us assurance day after
day after day of the fact that our service and our labors will
not be in vain and that they are part of God's design and
purpose by which he is glorified. Now watch this, and his people
are saved and his people are edified and his people are built
up and that God will, and this is what he says, he will reward
those labors of love and faith in that day in such a way, watch
this, that all the troubles that you go through and your labor
and service for the Lord will be completely wiped out compared
to the blessing that will come to you as a consequence of your
serving the Lord. Now, the reason why you need
to hear that is because otherwise Hebrews 11 makes no sense to
you. Now, Hebrews 11 tells us of the
journey of the believer from the call of God to the time that
they die and how they lived. They live you guys remember Hebrews
11 and I've said this before there's not listen. There's what
there's not one doctrinal statement concerning salvation in the book
of Hebrews 11 Hebrews 11 is not about the doctrine of faith.
It's about the life of faith Did you get that is about how
people lived once God revealed his glory to him? It's about
how the love of God shared and brought in their hearts impacted
them in such a way as they got up and start walking towards
God as he called them to draw near. Abraham, I am your shield
and your exceeding great reward. Get up from your kindred and
your people and go to a land that I will show you. You tell
me that Abraham did not exercise that great gift of faith When
he sold all that he had or got rid of all that he had and he
got on his camels with his family and children And all that he
had whatever he had and left to go to the promised land. Don't
tell me that that was not a profound Response of love and faith to
the proposition of god it was And so you read all the way through
the hebrews chapter 11 acts of faith in the life of people who
were of the truth, right? You read it, don't you? Hebrews
11. Now watch this. When you go back to the historical
account, you see that they were people very much like ourselves
with all kinds of struggles, with all kinds of challenges,
with all kinds of fears, with all kinds of anxieties, right?
With all kinds of mishaps, with all kinds of hiccups, with all
kinds of deviations, Remember what we learn once the Spirit
of God enters into us that one-way clutch of sin is broken and we're
headed in the right direction But sometimes it's a little herky
and jerky, but we're still headed in the right direction. That's
the Hebrews chapter 11 account You guys got that and what's
profound about Hebrews 11 is Hebrews 11 is the people of God
from God's point of view and from God's point of view They
are a people of faith God is not getting into the particulars
of their weaknesses or their particular faults and sins that
they engaged in from time to time, which was not the tenor
of their life, but it certainly was evident in scripture that
they had their infirmities. Isn't that right? But Hebrews
11 views the people of God through the prism of faith, because without
faith, it's impossible to please God. You guys get that without
faith. It's impossible to put one foot
in front of the other and say I'm going to do this simply because
God says so So in your outline you had four categories the assurance
of faith the assurance of hope The last one we looked at was
the assurance of understanding Colossians 2 to the other one
first Thessalonians chapter 1 5 is what we call the assurance of
the spirit I won't go there The word I want to deal with now
in 1st John chapter 4 verse 19, and it's in your outline, is
point number 2. Tepharethia. Do you see that
in your outline? Tepharethia under point number
2. And that is the word that John uses in 1st John chapter
2 verse 19. So the other terms for assurance
In those previous accounts, the book of Hebrews, the book of
Thessalonians, the book of Colossians, were terms that described the
resources of grace that God gives us by which we can be made assured. You guys got that? That's what
I said in the opening statement. What God does is gives you the resources.
Thessalonians gave you a resource. Hebrews gave you a resource.
Colossians gave you a resource. The word that you and I are dealing
with now is not the resource, but the response is not the resource. We already looked at those, but
it is the response to those resources. What is the people of God going
to do? They pursue the ethical call to love God and love their
neighbor according to verse 16 and 17 Verses 7 17 and 18 the
first jump for what are we going to do with the ethical call to
love God and love our neighbor? When we are straddled with so
many infirmities Well, we're going to ask God to give us the
resources the supply of grace necessary to do it, right? I
Now, when he gives us that supply of grace necessary to do it,
here's what you and I are called upon to be sure will occur. I want you to get this. Now,
if if you and I are given the grace to receive God's word of
promise. Here's what he says it will result
in. Are you ready? It will result
in you being able to persuade your heart to rest before God. Are you hearing me? I can say that all of these categories
of assurance, the assurance of faith, the assurance of hope,
the assurance of the spirit, the assurance of understanding
can fall under one rubric. Are you ready? The gospel, the
gospel, the good news of God in Jesus Christ. Tailor-made
for his elect to secure them in their call and in their service
and in their journey and in their final destiny Can I say that
that the gospel is the thing that gives my heart what assurance
is that true? It better be It better be It
better be now watch this. So then what John says is allow
the resources of biblical truth the gospel To quiet your heart
So look at verse 19 again look at it again and hereby we know
that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts see that
phrase shall assure our hearts that's a personal responsibility
on your part and shall assure our heart we already have what
the resources We got the resources, right? We've got the promises
of God. We've got the word of God, right? We've got the spirit
of God. We've got the testimony of Christ, don't we? We have
everything necessary for life and godliness through a knowledge
of him. We got the resources, right? I'm not, I'm not, I'm
gonna stay on this until I'm sure you got it. I can't go to
the next point until I know that your brain is clear on this.
God never tells us to take a disposition of soul in a way of agreement
with him without him giving us the resources by which our soul
can be in agreement with him. God doesn't tell you to be comforted
without a cause. He doesn't tell you to simply
not fear. You know how we fear? And he
says, fear not. But he never just says, fear
not. He always says, because I am the alpha and the omega,
the first and the last, he that was and is, and is to come. That's the reason why you don't
fear. You see what I'm getting at now? Here's the reason why
you don't fear. Here's the reason why now you
can assure your hearts before him. And the word very much means,
I want you to see that in your outline, point number two, pep
partia, it means to persuade your heart. It means to bring your heart
to a point of trusting God. All of the resources of assurance,
faith, hope, the spirit, and understanding, and all those
categories are designed for me to persuade my heart, to bring
my heart to trust God, to bring my heart to a place of having
confidence before God. It's to bring my heart to a place
of yielding before God. In fact, in your outline, it
really can be summed up in one word. Are you ready? Believe. Do you see it in your outline?
Don't look at me, it's in your outline. Look in your outline. I did a lot of work setting that
outline up and cutting out all the fat for you. Here's what
I'm getting at. You do have to think through
terms because to the degree that you and I don't think through
terms, To that degree, we will have a shallow understanding
of those terms and a shallow understanding of those terms
will not merit us according to the severity of our need. I need
to understand that in this context, what God is really saying to
me when he says, Jesse, here is how you will persuade your
heart. You will settle your heart before
me. You will rest your heart before me. I know what God really
is saying is this. Here's how you will find that
you can believe me. Because when you believe God,
you settle down. When you trust God, you settle
down. When you rest in God, you settle
down. When you yield to God, you settle down. Are you hearing
what I'm saying? When you get to a place of saying,
Father, I'm just trusting you, you settle down. The soul settles
down. And here's what John says. And
it's in what is called the future tense. So John is actually speaking
of the future. Coram Deo is a present reality
of which you and I have to struggle with. We are in the presence
of God. Coram, forum, presence, hearing. Deo, God. You and I are presently in the
presence of God. But we are not always conscious of that. And
we certainly don't always act like that. And there are times
when Coram Deo is a struggle for us. Is that true? And therefore we would often
hide behind the trees or cover ourselves. I'm talking to honest
people. I'm not talking to religious folk. I'm talking to honest people
who understand the struggle. And when as a believer, a son
or daughter of God adopted in the beloved, I'm getting ready
to get into some categories here in a moment. We are acting as if
we are aliens and foreigners and strangers, yea even enemies
of our God. We have failed to appropriate
the resources of assurance. Am I making some sense? When
I act like God's my enemy and I'm God's enemy, I have failed
to implement the resources of assurance. Are you hearing what
I'm saying? I have rejected the resources.
I have neglected the resources. I've let fear creep in, which
has obscured the love of God in my heart, which has blinded
me to not only his glory, which is the most compelling reality
anybody could have. If you ever get Glimpse of the
glory of God in your soul. It's going to propel you towards
him When you understand that that revelation is based upon
What Christ has done for you? Are you hearing me? And so you
and I need that We need the revelation of God. We need God to impact
our mind. We need God to obliterate the
darkness. We need God to apprehend us and
bring us into the clarity of biblical truth so that we can,
as it were, see God. We need that revelation. We need
to behold His glory. We need that revelation because
that's going to assuage and set aside those natural endemic maladies
that rise up in us that creates insecurity and creates doubt
and creates fear and then causes us to return to our Adamic principle
of hiding from God I'm making some sense, huh? I want this
to be so absolutely clear. And so what John is making sure
that we understand is the way you successfully negotiate your
walk with God on the horizontal plane is to make sure that you
use those resources to settle your heart. Use the resources
of grace to settle your heart. You can't settle your heart by
your own counsel. You can't settle your heart by
your own words. Mind over matter doesn't work
in spiritual realms. Am I making some sense? See,
again, we're not talking about illusory things. We're talking
about God's Word being able to have the kind of impact on us.
Now watch this. I'm going to show you this in
our text. I got a good 10 minutes and I'm going to show you how
believers, I want you to get this now, how believers took
the resources that I'm talking about in the midst of their troubles
and said, I remember what God said. And all that matters is
what he said. and shook themselves out of the
fear, out of the threat, out of the unbelief, out of the darkness,
and found themselves resolved to trust God, even though the
circumstances had not changed. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
Let me go on, show you what I'm talking about. In your outline
then, under point number two, verse 19, draw your assurance
From what? The love of God. Draw your assurance
from the love of God. Now, when I use that phrase,
I'm not just talking about a gooey sentimentality. I'm talking about
the full plethora of all that God has said he has done in Christ
for you. You guys got that? The full plethora. That means you got a lot of work
to do to reach out and grasp those different categories of
the work of God in your behalf. I've outlined some of them. verse 19 part B draw your assurance
from the love of God part B receive it you guys got it receive it
do what else walk in it what else appropriate its benefits
you guys see that so now let me tell you what I'm talking
about I'm just gonna jump you can read the verses in your own
time to be before him which is Coram Dale is for God to give
us the privilege to walk in the light. Even as he is the light. Stay
with me now. See, all John is talking about
is the opening verses of his letter. He said, and we have
fellowship with the Father and with the Son, Jesus Christ, and
with one another, because the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses
us from all sins. Walk in the light. Are you hearing me now? Now watch
this. So to walk in the light is to walk in the presence of
God. God is what? Light. To walk in the light is
to walk in the person of Christ. Christ is the what? Light. To
walk in the light is to walk in the knowledge of Christ. Thy
word is a what? Light. So what the word teaches
me, I must walk in if I'm gonna have a relationship with God
in the light. Are you following me? Now, you
know what the word teaches me according to 1 John chapter 1?
If I confess my sin, He is just and faithful to cleanse me of
my sin, of all my sin, cleanse me of all unrighteousness, and
make sure that I have everything necessary to continue my journey
with him. Now watch this. This is called
walking in the light. Coram Deo is not just standing
before God, Coram Deo is standing before God in the person of Christ,
according to his word, appropriating his word, because God has told
us what it takes for us to continue in fellowship with the ineffable
bliss. Are you hearing me? What does it take for me to continue
in fellowship with the ineffable bliss? It takes me recognizing
that Christ shed his blood for my sin, and that if I'm gonna
walk with God, I gotta be ready to acknowledge my sin before
him, Coram Deo. and to appropriate the blood
atoning work of Jesus Christ every day in my life. And thus
the benefits that come from Calvary. Are you guys hearing what I'm
saying? If I'm going to walk in the light and if I'm going
to assure my heart before him, see the walk in the light is
to walk in the truth. You know what that means, brother Mario?
That means I'm going to agree with God about the nature of
man. I'm going to agree with God about
the nature of my Adamic state. I'm going to agree with God about
my weaknesses, about my fears, about my needs. I'm going to
agree with God. Are you hearing what I'm saying? I'm not going
to walk with God and then not agree with him. How can two walk
together except they be agreed? So then not only does God allow
me to walk with him, but he gives me the resources by which it
is done. The first big and essential and primary resource is a bathtub
full of blood into which I am to immerse myself. Theologically
so that my mind and soul are washed into the reality that
the grounds upon which God Can only have fellowship with me
is the love of God Remember, this is what we learned ladies
last night The death of Christ is the same as the love of God
The death of Christ is the same as the love of God above God
The death of Christ is the same as the love of God. If I'm gonna
walk in the love of God, I'm gonna walk in the death of Christ.
His blood is going to be the grounds and basis for which my
fellowship with the Father is sustained. But the moment that
I stop walking in the light, guess what I'm doing? I'm going
to no longer avail myself to the blood because I'm going to
be under the illusion that I don't need it. And now I'm walking
in darkness. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
But the blood, which points to the crucifixion of Christ, avails
to me many other benefits other than just cleansing. I want you
to see these. Here are the components to this
assurance of faith and assurance of hope and assurance of the
spirit and the assurance of understanding in your outline under Coram Deo.
Do you see Coram Deo? Before him, Coram Deo in the
light. Then I have a category of terms, right? The first one
is what? Adoption. Is adoption a glorious
concept by which the believer can reassure himself that he
is God's and God's is his? Adoption for me becomes one of
those resources of assurance. Can I tell you why? Because adoption
means that God elected me. I didn't elect God. I didn't
go hunt God down in the orphanage. He hunted me down and he chose
me and he adopted me in the beloved. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
God looked at all the orphans in the world from the beginning
of time until the last human being was born and he, he adopted
me. I'm sitting there. in an orphan
state without a God, without a father as a childless soul.
And God elected me. When I remember that it produces
assurance. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
Because God chose me. I didn't choose him. I didn't
put myself in this situation. So I don't have to be insecure
about being out of it because I didn't choose God in the first
place. He chose me. I'm his son. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
He elected me. That's the word that goes on
top of a doctrine. The next word is what? Justification. What a God. What did he do for
me? He justified me so that I am
legitimately his son. No devil, no angel, no human,
no church, no denomination, no institution could deny my legal
right to be a son of God because he justified me. I'm justified
by virtue of imputation. That's the next word. He imputed
to me his righteousness. You got that? He not only elected
me and made me an adopted child, he imputed his righteousness
to me by which I am justified. Do you know what that means?
As I walk daily and have to deal with the carping accusations
of men and women and people and persons and institutions and
the world that does not understand who I am, My soul can be made
to rest because God has imputed to me his righteousness and he
has established a basis of justification by which I can say, I am the
son of God. I may not look like it. I may
not act like it, but I do know that God has imputed to me his
righteousness by which I am everlastingly justified. his presence now that's
an imputation based upon a legal legal transaction which my father
did because he adopted me now the third one is what what's
the word I know we come from a government school but you can
say four syllable words regeneration what is that that is that invasive
work of the Spirit of God by which after he has adopted you
in the beloved legally justified you based upon the righteousness
of the beloved. He now invades your life to give
you his nature so that you can actually have a dynamic relationship
with him as your father. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
In other words, it could be possible, but God forbid that an individual
could be adopted that is elected could be made righteous, that
is justified, but because he has not experienced regeneration,
he can still feel internally as if he's an enemy of God. Regeneration
is designed to take the love of God objectively in Jesus Christ
and bring it on the inside so that you can actually have authentic
fellowship with your Father. The spirit of adoption which
cries, Abba Father. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
These are the objective assurances that God brings to us to let
us know that we are, are you following me so far? Regeneration
then is the penetrating work of the divine nature into the
soul of a human being who has been elected and made righteous
on the basis of Christ's crossword so that he or she can know intuitively
that they are son or daughter of God. See, when you're born
of God, you believe God. When you're born of God, you
believe God. Now the work starts. Are you
ready? Because regeneration necessitates a process called what? Sanctification. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
Regeneration necessitates a process called sanctification. Sanctification
is simply you walking with your God. Did you get that? That's all that is. is you walking
with your God predicated upon all the prerequisites we've already
dealt with. Adoption based on election, justification based
on righteousness, regeneration based on the impartation of the
Spirit. Now God can take you by the hand as a son or a daughter
and walk with you through this journey. Am I making some sense
now? And what does the spirit of God now that he has regenerated
us do in the realm of sanctification? He brings us into a more effectual
knowledge of our God. He brings us into a more steady
understanding of what God has done for us in Christ. He begins
to transform our minds by the renewing power of the spirit
of God. He plants faith in us. He bolsters our faith. He conforms
us to the image of Christ because that's what it means for God
to get a hold of you. If God gets a hold of you in a saving
way, he already has a mold called the Son of God into which he
is pouring you. And the process of sanctification
is designed to conform you to the image of what? His Son. If
you understand that you are called into that mold, then you are
going to accept everything that the mold brings to the table.
are you hearing what i'm saying so now what i'm talking about
in the realm of sanctification is the specific work of the spirit
of god which is designed to make you like christ right whom he
did for no Then he also did predestinate whom he also predestinated. Then
he also called. Then he also called. Then he also justified. Then he justified. He also glorified. He has called you and I to a
process of conformity to Christ. Now, here's the area that becomes
tricky because conformity to Christ to you may not be the
same as conformity to Christ to God. But in a very simple
way, I want to put it like this. When you think about conformity
to Christ, as a work of the stewardship of the spirit of God who is just
as in love with Jesus as the father is in love with Jesus.
And Jesus is the archetype of everything that the father has
made by which the father is glorified. Are you hearing me? Watch it.
So then you and I need to accept those necessary constituents
and components that go into being conformed to his image. So my
heart is going to be comforted when I realize that suffering
is designed to conform me to the image of Christ. My heart
is going to be comforted when I realize that patience is designed
to conform me to Christ. My heart is going to be comforted
when humility is what God is using to conform me to Christ. I am going to be comforted when
I understand that what God is doing by way of bringing me low
is the way of Christ. I'm going to be comforted when
I realize that when God is taking things away from me, well, he
took them away from his son. He's conforming me to Christ.
I'm going to be comforted when I am able to relate the experiences
that can be difficult in my life to the redemptive purposes of
God to bring me into the likeness of Christ. Are you hearing what
I'm saying now? I'm going to be comforted in
my troubles. I'm going to share one example with you and this
will come home. I'm going to share example with
you. That's in your outline. You can read it. I can get you.
I can give you many. I can give you many examples, but I want
you to think about this one. Let this one catapult you into
all the other ones. Because what I'm talking to you
tonight about, ladies and gentlemen, is merely the way of grace in
the life of the believer from the beginning of time to the
end of time, because this is the way God has set it up. How
does a believer bring his heart to rest in the presence of God? He brings his heart to rest by
remembering what God has said. He has done for him. Job went through hell. There's no rational, logical
reason for what he lost in one day. Nothing. There is no human logical reason
for losing a business, losing your home, losing your livestock,
losing your whole family. in one day. Are you hearing me? Such a tragedy would be so amazing
an impact on my soul that it would level me and have me discombobulated
from one end of my brain to the other end of my brain wondering
what is going on. I'm telling you the truth. I
would be devastated humanly speaking if I got a call right now of
the loss of every one of my children. Are you hearing me? I would be
laid so low there would be nothing in me that could reach up for
and find comfort in the providence of God. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. And yet God gave grace
to Job. He gave grace to him. You know
what he did? Job reached up and realized that
he had a covenant God. Are you hearing me? And you know
what happened? He comforted his heart before
God at the close of chapter one and said this, the Lord gives
and the Lord takes away. That wasn't intrinsic to Job.
That was the fruit of assurance given to Job based upon the word
of God coming to Job, telling Job that God doesn't ever do
anything wrong. Are you hearing me? And then
when the devil comes back and says, let me get out that man's
flesh, that's chapter two. And he penetrates Job's flesh
and lays Job low with sicknesses and boils. Put your feet in Job's
shoes now, you strong Christian. And tell me, won't you be devastated
too? Won't you be discombobulated
in your mind too? Won't you be at a point where
you put your hand over your mouth too and say I don't know what
God is doing. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
And yet, over time, do you know what Job was able to do after
he, by the grace of God, reached up and got an assurance of faith,
an assurance of hope, an assurance of the spirit, an assurance of
understanding? You know what he said? My God
knows which way I take. And when he is done with me,
I will be just like fine gold. Do you see what he did? He recovered
in the presence of God, resting his heart on the assurance of
faith. Do you remember that? And they kept coming after Job,
his friends, his conscience, the devil, and laid Job low. But joel by the grace of god
once again reached up and got some of that assurance of faith
and hope And spirit and understanding and you know what he said I know
See it is I know that my redeemer lives And I shall see him in
the last day Even though my flesh is eaten up with worms in this
body Will I see God with my own eyes? See what I'm talking about
Do you see what I'm talking about? Now see this is why in our theology
We don't play this game that the Old Testament Saints didn't
have the spirit in the New Testament Saints Do are you kidding? Do
you know how much spirit you got to have to respond like Job
did in the midst of those troubles? I Are you hearing what I'm saying? Brethren, are you hearing what
I'm saying? You hear what I'm saying? This is what I'm talking
about. See, the Lord pours out the love of Christ in the heart
and it inflames our faith and it overcomes our weakness and
it raises us up out of our situation to see our God so that our mouths
say the truth as it is in Christ in spite of our circumstance.
Are you hearing what I'm saying? Very important. This is very
important. Very important. Very important.
Very important. And I haven't even gotten to
the next point. So I'm just going to read it because I know we
got to deal with it. It's in your outline. I mean,
if you could, if you could follow logically the outline, you can
get the answer for yourself. Verse number 20 in our outline,
it says, what do we have with a condemned heart? What's taking
place when our heart condemns us? Look at verse 20, for if
our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and he
knows everything. What's happening when our heart
condemns us? Well, what's happening is our faith is weak. You got that? Just write it down. Write it down. When our heart
condemns us, it's because our faith is weak. Go back to the
book of Job. Job indicted himself over and
over and over and over and over and over again. He indicted himself.
I know my sin is with me. I wish I had never been born.
I wish it had never been said this day, a man child is brought
into the world. Why is why is light given to
a man filled with misery? See, my iniquities are ever before
me. My sins and transgressions are
infinite. That's what Joseph says. God
is like a giant about to take me and hurl me into the universe. Heart condemning him. Got it? Heart condemning him. See, because
your trials would throw you down and put a mirror up to you and
cause you to see you and you don't look good. What's happening
in the day? My heart is condemning me. Weak
faith. Weak faith. Am I telling the
truth? My faith is weak. My faith is
weak. My faith is weak. And when my
faith is weak, I can't reach up to the promises. I can't get
to them. I can't even look up. I can't
find them. I don't know where they are.
I don't remember them. They don't echo in my ear. They
don't echo in my soul. I'm just left to myself. Does
anyone understand what I'm talking about? I'm just left to myself.
And at that point, the only thing I can do is hoping God. Hope in God. Hope in God. Hope in God. So when our heart
condemns us, it's simply the weakness of our faith accommodating
the reality of who we are in ourselves. That's all. But you know what the last line
of verse 20 said? Are you ready? Watch this. God
is greater than my heart. That's how Job overcame. Do you understand the reason
why you get up from your sin in a resolve to love God and
serve God and obey God? It's because God is greater than
your heart. Am I making some sense? He's
greater than your heart. But you know what I love about
verse 20? I'm done right here. When your heart is condemning
you, it means you are still walking in the light. You're still walking in the light.
You're not a sociopath. You're not a psychopath. Your
heart hasn't been so hardened that you can lie to God. Are
you hearing what I'm saying? When the heart is, whoa, see
Peter, that last time out on the boat, he got everybody to
apostatize with him. Remember that? Man, I'm going
fishing. If that ain't apostasy, I don't know what is. I'm going
and didn't all the rest of them got hood week. We going with
you They get out on the boat hang out all night long trying
to fish didn't catch a thing right remember that John 20 21
and the Lord Jesus come cast that net on the right side you
got a great drill John said it's the Lord remember that Peter
jumped in the water said Lord don't don't don't even I'm a
sinful creature I'm a sinful creature Heart condemned because
he had just crucified. He had just lied on Jesus He
had just denied him. Now watch this now, this is why
I'm saying what we're talking about is the love of God. The
Lord Jesus fed him fried catfish that morning and cornbread, remember? He fixed it, he had it all fixed
on the side. And then he took Peter to the side and he said,
Peter, this is the only thing I want to know. Do you love me? Got it? That's all he asked him.
He said, Peter, all I need to know is do you love me? Are you
hearing me? Now, watch this. Peter said,
you know, I love you, Lord. He said, Peter, do you love me? Peter said, Lord, you know I
love you. Peter, do you love me? You know what Peter said? I want you to hear this. Lord,
you know all things. You know all things. You are
omniscient. Your knowledge goes where my
knowledge does not go. The other day, I thought I knew
you and loved you and you showed me that I didn't love you as
much as I should love you. But I'm not omniscient, you are.
So I'm appealing to your omniscience. And I'm still saying. I love
you. Got it. Got it. That's how God
deals with us. Let's stand in prayer. Father, thank you for this time.
Thank you for your word. Thank you for the study of your word.
Thank you for John who lay his bosom on the heart of Christ. And it's called the beloved and
know something about walking in love. Help us to be able to
do that with you and with one another. You are a God of love.
You are lovely altogether. Lovely, wonderful. And your dealings
with your people help us in our trials, help us in our afflictions,
help us in our troubles. Help us to know how to embrace
it, walk in and believe in it. Appropriate the assurances of
faith, hope and the spirit and understanding so that we can
remember what you did for us and be able to settle our hearts
before you. Not only today and tomorrow,
but when we stand before you on that last day so we can be
confident, you will say to us, not based on anything that we
are, but all that you have done. Well done, thou good and faithful
servant. We ask for traveling mercy to prepare our hearts to
worship you on Sunday. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.