I invite you to take your Bibles
and turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter 1. 2 Timothy chapter 1. And just hold
your place there and let me say a few things by way of introduction
to the message. Nearly all of the New Testament
epistles begin with an acknowledgment of the faith and calling of those
to whom it is written, almost every one of them. All of the precious promises,
all of the comfort, the exhortation and instruction within these
precious letters are written concerning them who are the called
of God. The called of God. In Romans
chapter 1, they are identified as the called of Jesus Christ. That is who he is talking to
in the book of Romans. The called of Jesus Christ. In
1 Corinthians, they are described as the sanctified in Christ Jesus
who are called to be saints. In Ephesians, he writes to them,
and calls them saints and faithful in Christ Jesus. In Peter, he
sets them apart. This is a general epistle, the
epistle of Peter. And he sets them apart from other
men, saying, those who have like precious faith. And then in this
letter, where we'll be reading from today here in 2 Timothy,
he says that they're saved of God and called with a holy calling
not according to their works, but according to God's own purpose
and grace given them in Christ Jesus before the world began."
That's who he's talking to. That's who he's giving this instruction
and these exhortations. The Bible, I hope you'll hear
me this morning, the Bible offers nothing to those who believe
not. It offers nothing. You can read
it at funerals, all you want to. You can set it on your coffee
table and pretend like it means something to you, all you want
to. You can hold it in some kind of superstitious, traditional
thing that it's just a good thing. It's what some people call lucky
that they have a Bible in their house. You do all those things if you
want to. But the Bible offers nothing to them who believe not
except a warning that they will surely perish into everlasting
punishment." Everything good and hopeful and encouraging,
the Bible has to say or it says to those who believe. Those who
believe. It's not a flower garden through
which we walk. I've been seeing, every now and
then, I don't actually get on there and interact in it at all,
but I do read a lot that's on Facebook. I like to go in there
and see what's going on with people I know over the country.
And I see these little tidbits they
pull out and they put up on the little pictures and things that
they get out of books and different things they put up there. The
Bible is not a flower garden through which we walk and pick
what appeals to us when we choose. That's not what it is. It's not
a market through which we can stroll and find certain things
that we have an appetite for. That's what most people do. They
find one or two things in there and that's what they pick from
it. The Bible is the children's bread. The children's bread. It's their steady diet. That's
what they eat. And they eat it every day. And
every blessed promise, every word of comfort written to them,
it's designed for them, it's preserved for them. The Bible
has nothing for those who believe not. Nothing. It's nothing but
a word of warning. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned." That's a certainty, an absolute certainty. And there's
only one thing that identifies the blessed from the cursed,
the saved from the damned, the true sons from the enemies of
God, and that is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what
separates them. That's what identifies them as
sons. In John chapter 3, verse 36,
he said, "...he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. Not he that believeth not. He
that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. And he that
believeth not the Son shall not see life. He's not going to see
it. He's not going to perceive it. He's not going to understand
it. He's not going to rejoice in
it. He shall not see life. But the wrath of God abideth
on him. There's nothing more important,
more expedient and critical for fallen men than faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. You can say what you will and
argue all you want to. You can flee back to your refuges
of lies and hide in your traditions and experience. God points us
to His Word. That's where He tells us to go.
Go to His Word. He points us to His Word and
He said, this is the record. This is. This is the record that God has
given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that
hath the Son hath life. How do you get the Son? From
the record. From the record. It's the only
way you can get it. The only way you can find Him.
The only information you can get on Him in this world is from
this book. And he that hath the Son hath
life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." The
first work of faith, now listen to me, is to shut men up to the
Word of God. You're not going to learn sin
until you shut up to this book. Because this book is the only
information you've got on yourself. You're not going to find men
out here who are going to tell you how sinful you are. They'll
point out things. They'll point out little characteristics.
They'll talk about murder and adultery and all that type of
thing. But they're not going to tell you what you really are.
And what you really are is a devil. That's what you really are. What
you really are is dead. Stinking corpse. That's what
we really are. And it's the undeniable truth
of Holy Scripture that God chose a people in Christ and predestinated
them unto the adoption of children. That's what this book says. You
believe that? Then you don't believe the Gospel.
It's just that clear. That's what he says. I don't
know how language could be any more clear than what he tells
us in Ephesians chapter 1. He hath predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to
the good pleasure of his will. That's pretty clear, isn't it? And He did it for the glory of
His name, and He did it according to the good pleasure of His will.
It's the undeniable truth of the Word of God that Jesus Christ
did all that He did for the sake of God's elect. It's ridiculous
to talk about this work being applied in a universal sense
to every man, woman, and child in this world. It cannot be.
It cannot be. You run into too many problems. The first thing you run into
is a compromise of the justice of God. If Christ satisfied the justice
of God, then those people for whom He died are justified. He
can't condemn them because Christ died, but who is He that condemneth?
It's God who justified. Now, did He justify or did He
not? If He justified all men, then all men are free. All men
are justified. There'd be no judgment. It cannot
be applied in a universal sense. The love of God. What possible
efficacy could there be in the love of God if He loves men and
they perish? That's not the love of God because
the love of God, He says, cannot fail. It cannot fail. So it's the undeniable truth
of the Word of God that Jesus Christ did all that He did for
the sake of His elect. His appearing was as a representative
for them. His servitude under the law was
for them. His suffering and His death was
for them. His resurrection and ascension
to the throne was for them. And His present reign, right
now, right now, reigning at the right hand of God is for His
elect. God's people are those He chose
from the beginning. That's what Paul wrote to the
Thessalonians. He chose them from the beginning
unto salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. And therefore, they are called by the Gospel to the obtaining
of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. The question then, the
question of all questions, the question then is how do I know
if I'm among those chosen of God? How do I know that? Can
it be known? Can it be known? Can we know?
Is there some evidence? Is there a way to determine if
we are sons? Is something this critical to
be held from us? Are we to be kept guessing and
wondering till we die? Can this be known? Is it something
a man can know? Well, Peter writes and said,
make your calling and election sure, didn't he? That's the word
he used, sure. Can a man truly know and have
confidence in his election of God? Well, if you'll give me
your ear this morning, I've got three things for you concerning
this thing of assurance. I've been hearing a lot of questions
here lately. on this thing of assurance. Can
a man have assurance? Is there such a thing as assurance? And I've got several scriptures
I want you to look at this morning, but let's begin here in 2 Timothy
1, verse 12. Now Paul, having stated very
clearly the doctrine of God's sovereign purpose of grace in
Christ Jesus, he declares himself a minister of it. and an instructor
or teacher of God's saints, and one who is persecuted even now
presently as he writes this book. He's persecuted for those things
which he preaches and teaches. And he says, nevertheless, see
it there in verse 12? Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed,
I'm not embarrassed, I'm not made to feel foolish because
I'm down here in a prison cell. For I know whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto him against that day. Hold fast, hold fast the form
of sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith and love
which is in Christ Jesus. Now the first thing I want to
show you this morning is what true assurance is. We like to
debate about it. We like to argue about it. And
I use that word very loosely. I'm not talking about a fist
fight. I'm just talking about debating and going back and forth
on this thing of assurance. And these old writers talk about
assurance a lot. But I want to show you this morning
what the scripture says about assurance. I think most of the
time we enter into these discussions because we don't know what assurance
is. In Psalm 118, David says this, it's better to trust in
the Lord than to put confidence in man. He didn't say in men,
he said in man. What's he talking about? He's
talking about mankind. Mankind. Man that is born of
a woman, Job said, is of a few days and full of trouble. You
don't want to put your trust in him. What is man that he should
be clean, and he which is born of a woman that he should be
righteous? Huh? How much more abominable and
filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like water? God looked
down from heaven. You remember back in Genesis
early, we went through this and studied this. God looked down
from heaven and God saw that the wickedness of man, he's talking
about mankind, not men, mankind, was great in the earth and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. There's nowhere to put your trust
in men or in man or in this flesh concerning the salvation of your
soul The only place you can put that trust, this is what David's
talking about, is in the Lord. It's better to trust in Him than
in man. And this is what Paul's telling
us over here in 2 Timothy 1.12, I know whom I have believed. I trust Him. Why does he trust
Him? Because I'm persuaded. That's
why. How did he get persuaded? Well,
he was persuaded by what God taught him, what God the Holy
Spirit taught him concerning this man into whose hands he
put his trust. And he is able to keep that.
In Proverbs 3, verse 26, the wise man of God said, The Lord
shall be thy confidence. You want to talk about assurance,
here is where it is. It is in the Lord. It is in the
Lord. The Lord shall be thy confidence,
and shall keep thy foot from being taken." Confidence and
assurance is in Him. It's not in you. And having warned
us of the deceit of Satan and his false prophets and their
subtle ways, Jude says now, unto Him that's able to keep you from
falling. He didn't say unto you who are
able to keep themselves from falling, did he? No. Unto Him
who's able. to keep you from following. What
is assurance? What exactly is assurance? Every
believer has assurance, but he don't know what assurance is.
That's right. He don't know what it is. So
he's constantly seeking for it. He's constantly hunting for it.
You can't be a believer and not have assurance. Abraham was fully
persuaded, wasn't he? Huh? Now wait a minute, we're
talking about a heathen idolater. Worked in his daddy's stone shop
or carpenter shop while we were making idols and mess of attainment.
And the Lord called him out and taught him something of the ways
of God. And he was fully persuaded. He
said, that's our example. That's our example. That's what
faith is, right there. That's what faith is. It wasn't written for his sake
alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also, to whom
it shall be. If we believe on him, believe
how? Exactly the same way Abraham did. How did Abraham believe? He fully persuaded. Ain't that
what it says? Fully persuaded. What is assurance? It is a deep and continual confidence
in the sufficiency and willingness of Christ to save our sinful
souls. That's what it is. To believe
on Him is to rest in Him. It is to bear the weight of your
soul on Him. That's what it means to believe.
You can't believe until you've rested your soul on Him. That's
what believing is. That's what believing is. All
right. Second, let me counsel you just
a little bit this morning from the Scriptures as to what assurance
is not. Assurance is not Self-confidence. Now that's where we get in trouble,
ain't it? I just had my doubts. Where's those doubts arising
from? They arising from yourself. You
doubt yourself. You doubt your willingness. You
doubt yourself. You doubt your sincerity. You
doubt your experience. You doubt all those things. Where's
all those things? That's you. You, you, you, you. Do you doubt the sufficiency
of Christ's blood to atone for sin? Huh? You don't, do you? No believer does. No believer
does. He wouldn't commit himself into
his hands if he did. Do you doubt the sufficiency
of His obedience as a perfect righteousness? You don't, do
you? You can't. You can't. You can't
find a flaw in it. You can't find a glitch in it.
It's perfect. It's pristine. It's holy. Unblameable. That's how He presents you before
God. Not anything to do with you. Ain't that what Paul said
here before he said these words in 1 Timothy? He called you with
a holy calling, not according to your works, but according
to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ
Jesus before the foundation of the world. Now that's where assurance
is. It's in Him. It's in Him. It's not self-confidence. Turn
with me to Philippians chapter 3. You'll never find assurance
in your assurance. I'll tell you why. Because man
at his best stage is altogether vanity. You're going to doubt
on your best day. On your best day, you're going
to doubt. Lord, we believe. We're talking about men, Winston
who walked with him, held his hand, laid their head on his
breast, learned from him 24-7. Not some ignorant preacher, but
we're talking about the Son of God taught them. And they said,
Lord, we believe. Help thou our unbelief. On your
best day, you're full of doubt. Christ proved that to Peter.
Peter said, they might leave you, but I'm not. Oh, yeah, you
will. Yeah, you will. I'm going to
prove it to you, Peter. You can't find assurance in your
assurance. In Job 15.15, he said, he putteth
no trust in his saints. Now, if God's not going to put
any trust in his saints, are you? Huh? Philippians 3.3, for we are the
circumcision which worship God in spirit, rejoice in Christ
Jesus. Now listen, have no confidence
in the flesh. None. None. The minute you take that confidence
away from Christ and put it on you, you begin to doubt. You
begin to doubt. The minute you begin to look
within, what do you find? You find what's in there. Nothing.
You find darkness, ignorance, rebellion, doubt, all of the
pride. You find all those things in
there. Boy. To look to this flesh for anything, anything at all to aid the salvation
of our souls is to look into an empty box. Salvation is of
the Lord, and if it is by grace, then it is no more, no more of
works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace.
So assurance is not in self-confidence, and secondly, assurance is not
found in our good works. These Pharisees, don't you listen
to me, these Pharisees did everything that this religious world looks
to and is convinced is an evidence of faith. They did everything
that they say that a man needs to do to prove himself to be
a Christian and they didn't know Christ and didn't know his father
and followed their father who is the devil. That's what the
Lord said. They searched the scriptures,
they kept the Sabbaths, they gazed. They gave. They tithed. They fasted. They gave alms to
the poor. They observed all the ordinances.
They did many wonderful works. And He said, depart from Me,
I never knew you. That's no evidence. That's no
assurance. That's no assurance. It's not
by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to
His mercy He saved us. Ain't that what it says? And
at the end of Paul's definition in Philippians 3 of what assurance
is not, he says this about what this assurance really is. He
said, oh, that I might win Christ and be found in Him, not having
my own righteousness, but the righteousness which is of the
law. not having my own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." Now let
me ask you something this morning. What's your hope? What is your
hope? If you died right now, right
now, and stood before God, what's your hope? Do you hope in an experience?
Is that what you're going to tell God? You get up there and
you face Him and you start telling Him about that old altar you
knelt down with or that bedroom you prayed. Is that where you're
going to go? Before God who can read your heart, who knows every
motive, knows every thought. Is that what you're going to
tell Him? Where are you going to go with this thing before God? What's
your hope? Standing before an all-seeing, all-knowing God who
knows you better than you know yourself. What are you going
to tell Him? What's your hope? What's your hope? Is it in the
doing of duties? Is it in the keeping of days
and ordinances? Is it in some experience or profession,
some decision, some point of doctrine? What's your hope? What's
your hope? What is our hope as we approach
that great day of the Lord? Well, Paul said he committed
everything concerning that day into the hands of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He said, Christ is my hope. That's
my hope. I don't have any other hope. I don't have any other hope.
All right, thirdly, how do God's people acquire this assurance? Let me give you five things.
First of all, assurance is the gift of God. And he told those
Jews, he said, you search the scriptures, because in them you
think you have eternal life. And they are they that testify
of me. But you won't come to me that
you might have life. Who's going to come to him? All
that cometh to him, he said, he would in no wise cast out.
He raised him up at the last day. And those Jews started to
murmur, and he said, don't murmur. No man can come unto me except
the Father which sent me draw him. It's the gift of God. Assurance is the gift of God.
And most people who seek assurance can't find it because they don't
know where to look for it. Assurance is confidence in God
and in Christ who has declared His name. It's not being confident
in yourself or confident in your commitment or confident in your
determination. It's confidence in God. In God. Philippians 1, 3, he said, I
thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer
of mine for you, for you all making requests with joy for
your fellowship in the gospel from the first day unto now.
being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun..."
Oh, that's where his confidence was. "...he which hath begun
a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ."
That's his confidence. Confidence is in God. And then
secondly, true assurance comes through the preaching of the
gospel. All true preaching sits before
men, the person and work of Christ. He just keeps pointing men to
Christ. It points them away from experience and away from these
things. And it points them to Christ. Salvation is in Him. I am the way. That's what He
told them. Anybody here thirsty? Come over here and drink. Anybody
hungry? Come over here and eat. Anybody
weary and heavy laden? Come over here and rest. You're
not going to find these things anywhere except in Christ. They're
all in Christ. And all true preaching sits before
men the person and work of Christ. And it's in gospel preaching
that men become acquainted with themselves, come to see themselves
for what they are. It's in the gospel that God's
purpose of grace and mercy for sinners is learned. You're not
even going to seek it until you find out what you are and who
you are and how you are. Then you're going to seek it,
and those that seek will find. Ain't that what he said? It is
by way of the Gospel that God's love and good will toward sinners
is seen. Repentance and faith come by
way of Gospel preaching. It don't just suddenly come to
you in the night, come to you over on the river bank, you're
walking down there and all of a sudden you're slain in the
Spirit. People talk about being slain in the Spirit. You're not
going to be slain until you hear the truth. If you open your ears
to hear the truth, I guarantee you, you'll be slain. You'll
understand what that word means. You don't just suddenly come
to. You don't come in the night vision or in the operating room
or wounded out on the battlefield. It comes from hearing. Faith
cometh by hearing. Now you read the first part of
that and you'll find out that it comes through preaching. That's
what you hear. How shall you hear without a
preacher? How shall he preach except he be sent? As it is written,
how beautiful are the feet of them that come and proclaim the
good tidings of the gospel. Therefore, he said, faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Listen to what Paul tells the
church at Thessalonica. He said, I know your election
of God. Ooh, what a statement. Huh? What a statement. Now, I've had
a lot of questions. How do you know you're God's
elect? I've had a lot of accusations. Those people over there think
they're the only ones who know God. Paul said he knew their
election of God. That's what he said. Boy, I'd
like to know how he knew that. If I could know how he knew that,
I might know something about my own election. I know your
election of God, for our gospel came not unto you in word only,
but also in power and in the Holy Ghost, now listen, and in
much assurance. Ain't that what he said? Hmm. Much assurance. Preacher, how
do you know when the Gospel is heard in word only or in the
power of God? How do you know that? Well, in
word only, folks shrug their shoulders after they hear it
and go on about their business. That's word only. That's word
only. They go on as they went the day
before and the day before that. Word only is when men and women
hear the glorious Gospel of Christ and go away in indifference.
Go away undisturbed. Go away unconvicted and unconcerned. Hearing in the power of God's
Spirit is when you can't go on. You can't go another step. You
can't go another day. All of a sudden, it becomes critical. It becomes life or death. It
becomes eternity. It becomes heaven or hell. You
can't go on when you hear this thing in power. You're slain
by it. I'm a sinner before God. I have
no ability to know. I have no ability to understand.
I'm totally, 100%, at the mercy of God. He has every right to
condemn me. All of a sudden, you get on God's
side in the condemnation of your own self. And that's what David
said. He cried. He cried. He confessed who he was. Why
would anybody confess such a thing? that thou mightest be clear when
I speakest." That's why he justified God. He got on God's side in
his own condemnation. When you can't go on, he finds
in himself no excuse. He finds no way out. He finds
no hope, no reason to hope. He finds himself agreeing with
God. Listen to David as he prays in
Psalm 51. He said, I acknowledge my transgressions
and my sin as ever before me, against thee and thee only have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. Why would any man
pray such a prayer? He just, he prays to God condemning
his own soul. And he said that thou mightest
be justified when thou speakest in clear. That is clear of all
wrongdoing when thou judgest. And then that same Spirit that
convinces us of our identification with Adam and his sin convinces
us of our identification with Christ and His righteousness,
His atonement, and His intercession. All believers have assurance
they all rest in Christ. Abraham was fully persuaded. That's what it says. Paul said
he was wholly persuaded. And assurance, my friend, is
given by the sovereign Spirit of grace. He alone convinces
and convicts. And then fourthly, assurance
is the very heart of faith. It's the very heart of faith.
Listen to this, Colossians 2.2. He said that your hearts might
be comforted being knit together in love unto all riches, now
listen, of the full assurance of understanding to the acknowledgement
of the mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ in whom
are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. There's
assurance in that understanding, John. If you understand who He
is, then you'll understand something of His willingness, something
of His sufficiency to save your soul, something of the eternal
counsels and mysteries. All of these things are hid in
Him. They're hid in Him. And assurance
comes by way of the head, but it's embraced in the heart. Well,
how does one know if he's embraced Christ in the heart? Hebrews
chapter 4 verse 3. For we which have believed do
enter into rest. Those who believe rest. Every last one of them. Every
last one of them. Listen to this. Hebrews 4 verse
10. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased
from his own works, as God did from his." Now, how did God cease
from His works? He ceased from His works, seeing
all things complete, all things perfect, all things in order. Yeah, but you say there was a
fall to come. What about man's wickedness and
man's Inability to seek God. Nothing in him. None that seeketh
after God. What about all them things? How
could God read? Because he trusted in the Savior. That's exactly right. He trusted
all things, having created this world, into the hands of Christ.
And in Ephesians 1, what's it say right after that? In whom
you also trusted. Soon as you find out This one
into whose hand God has trusted all things, you'll trust Him.
You'll trust Him. You'll trust Him. And you'll
cease from your own work. Everything God purposed to do
in eternity, knowing the fall of Satan and his angels, and
knowing all those things, He rested in the Mediator. And then finally, I'll give you
this. Assurance is that which marks the perseverance of the
saints. They persevere, the scripture
said, in faith. In faith. And what is faith but
the confident assurance in the sufficiency and willingness of
Christ to save yourself. You're not going to rest until
you believe that. When you believe that, you'll
rest. You'll rest. You'll rest. You'll just flat
out cross your arms, and lay back and rest. Rest. You don't want that keeping in
your own hands. You don't want that confidence
in your own hands. You want it in His. In His. That's where God put it. That's
where He brings you to see it. And that's where He brings you
to willingly commit it. Now ain't that what Paul said?
I am persuaded. Fully persuaded. that he's able
to keep that which I committed unto him." What did you commit
unto him? Your standing before God? Huh? The eternal destiny of your soul?
The providence that attends your way from here to eternity? All
those things, Paul committed them right into his hands and
rested. Rested. He quit trying to arrange
it, didn't he? God'll take care of it. He rested. That's what assurance is. Assurance
is confidence in Christ. Now, you're going to have confidence
in Christ or you can't be saved. That's what faith is. When you
say, I don't have as much confidence as He does, it's not counted
that way. Not counted that way. And it's
a continual thing. We grow in grace and knowledge
of Him. As you grow in grace and knowledge
of Him, you'll grow and rest. You'll be assured. That's what
He says. He's going to establish us. Isn't
that what it says in Colossians chapter 2? Who's able to establish
you in the faith. And He does. But our assurance
is not in ourselves, my friend. If you keep looking to yourself,
and then you look around and you say, well, I don't have assurance. You do if you believe on Him.
But you're looking in here. You're looking in here trying
to find it. And you can't find it. Or you can find doubts, fears,
awe. But rest in Him. Find it in Him. And you can have assurance in
anything. Our Father, I pray that You'll
take these words and take the Scriptures that
I've read this morning and convince the hearts of every
soul here this morning to rest in Him. Rest in Him. Find rest. Find confidence. Find assurance in Christ. Be
persuaded of His sufficiency, of His holiness, His righteousness,
His willingness, His love. How can we doubt it? Bless all that was done here
this morning for thy name's honor and glory. We ask it for Christ's
sake. Amen.