Hebrews chapter 6, and let's
begin in verse 11 and read the rest of that chapter again. I
know I'm going slow through this book, and sometimes that's good
and sometimes it's not. Finding out how to get through
these epistles sometimes is very difficult, and we don't want
to get bogged down, but we don't want to go too fast either. But
let me read, beginning here in verse 11 of Hebrews chapter 6.
And we desire that every one of you show the same diligence
to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you be not
slothful. That's the same word he used
in chapter 5 verse 11 for dull. It means sluggish, sleepy. Be not sluggish, but followers,
imitators of them who through faith and patience inherit the
promises. For when God made promise to
Abraham, because he could swerve no greater, he swerved by himself,
saying, Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I
will multiply you. And so after he had patiently
endured, he obtained the promise. For men barely swerve the greater,
and that oath for confirmation is to them the end of all strife.
wherein God willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise
the immutability of His counsel, the unchangeableness of His counsel,
His purpose, confirmed it by an oath that by two immutable
things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have
a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon
the hope set before us. which hope we have as an anchor
of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that
within the veil, whether the forerunner is for us entered,
even Jesus, made an high priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek."
I want to mainly look at verses 11 and 12 this afternoon, and
I announced last week one of the things that I wanted to look
at with you. And that's found here in verse 11 and in a couple
of more places in the Scriptures. There's three places in the Scriptures
this little phrase, full assurance, is mentioned. It's mentioned
here, full assurance of hope. And in the 10th chapter we'll
look at just in a second, it's full assurance of faith. Then
Colossians chapter 2 and verse 2, it's the full assurance of
understanding. So that will keep us occupied
and hopefully a good study because I tell you, I need more assurance.
I want more assurance, and I don't know of a single person, Shannon,
that the Lord saved, but they want more assurance. More assurance. This word, assurance, it means
confidence, being persuaded, being certain, being sure. And
if we talk about full assurance, you can just put some adjectives
on those, being fully confident. being firmly persuaded, absolutely
certain, without question, freedom from doubt." Freedom from doubt. That's what full assurance is,
and it means you're free from doubt. And this is what Abraham
said about full assurance. He said, Abraham being fully
persuaded, that's the word, being fully persuaded that what God
had promised, he was able to perform. Fully assured. And Paul said, I am persuaded,
I am fully assured that neither death nor life nor angel or principalities
and all of these other things shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Wouldn't it be wonderful? I mean,
can you just imagine what it would be like to live every day
in the full assurance of your salvation. I wonder how that
would affect a man. To live in the full assurance
that the Lord has really saved me. That I'm accepted. God has accepted me. That I'm
really forgiven of all my sins. That I'm justified. that I have
this righteousness given to me, the imputed righteousness of
Christ? Wouldn't that be wonderful? To
live in the full assurance that God loves me. You know, you go
out into the world and you ask them, God love you? Everybody
believes God loves them, don't they? But can you imagine living
in the full assurance that He loves you? John said, we have
known and believed the love that God has to us. Fully persuaded. Full assurance. Well, this phrase
is mentioned in here and we'll look at it lastly, but turn with
me to the 10th chapter and let's see what we can glean from these
three places in the Scriptures where this is mentioned. In chapter
10 and verse 21, here it talks about the full assurance of faith.
Look at this. In chapter 10 and verse 21. And having an high priest over
the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold
fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for He is faithful
that promised." To have the full assurance of faith means to live
Fully persuaded that what God tells us in His Word is true. Now that's what full assurance
of faith must be. It's living with full persuasion
that what God tells us in His Word is true. We sing about that,
don't we, in that one song, How Firm a Foundation, ye Saints
of the Lord, is laid for your faith in His excellent Word. What kind of foundation is laid
in His Word? Well, it's for faith. It's a
foundation for faith. Whatever He tells us in His Word
is true. And therefore, as we believe
His Word, what does that do? It gives us confidence. It persuades
us. Full assurance. Listen to these passages now.
In John chapter 20, listen to this, truly many other signs
did Jesus in the presence of His apostles, disciples, which
were not written in this book, but these are written that you
might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believe
Him. Believe Him what? What's written? You might have life through His
name. And listen to this one, 1 John
5, verse 11. This is the record that God has given to us, eternal
life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son of
God hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. These things have I written unto
you that believe, that you may know that you have eternal life,
and that you may believe on the Son of God. How can a person
know that He has eternal life. How can you possibly know that?
The Word of God. The Word of God. It gives us
assurance. Listen, a man may have eternal
life and not have much assurance of it. I have been there and
I bet you have too. If we ever have the assurance
that we ought to have, there's one place that we'll get it.
And that's believing what God said in His Word. It seems so
simple, doesn't it? These things are written that
you might believe. And believing, you might have
life. I write unto you that believe
that you may know. How do we know? Because it's written. I believe
on the Son of God. I believe on Him. I don't feel. But I believe. The only way to have full assurance
is by believing what God says in His Word. How does one gain
the full assurance of faith? It can't be by feelings, because
our feelings change. Sometimes, and this may sound
silly, This has really happened to me and I bet it's happened
to other people as well. Sometimes something as simple
as indigestion will change your feelings about whether you're
saved or not, if you're trusting to your feelings. If you're sick
and you're trusting to your feelings, what does that mean? You have
no assurance. You can't trust your circumstances. Well, things are good. Man, things
are going good. I must be saved. Then what happens
when things turn bad? Where do we get our full assurance? By believing God's Word. It is written. It's the foundation of our faith. John Calvin said this about assurance. He said, when a godly mind settles
it with itself, that it is not right to call in question what
God, who cannot deceive or lie, has spoken. I'll go one further
than that. Not just when the godly mind,
but when the guilty mind settles. When the tormented mind When
the confused mind settles it with itself that God cannot lie
and cannot deceive, then there will be no room for doubt. When
we believe the Word of God to the point that faith in His Word
fills the heart, fills the mind, that it pushes all doubt out,
then that is when we have full assurance. I probably count on my hand one
or two times that I've had full assurance in my life. Always
something there, isn't it? Always something there. Leaning
on feelings or something. Then the mind is fully assured. Will you go away, the Lord Jesus
said? What was the reply? Lord, to
whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that you are the Christ,
the Son of God. Now listen, they did not say
we are sure and therefore we believe. It never comes that
way. Assurance only comes first and
foremost by believing. We believe and are sure that
you are the Christ. Everything else has to follow
believing. We live by faith. By faith. By faith in what? The Word. The Word of God. You know something?
I came to this conclusion. I heard Todd Maverick preach
a message years ago and he emphasized that nobody, nobody but believers
believe God's Word. Nobody but Christians believes
God's Word. That's just true. That's so.
John makes these simple statements. He that believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God." You go out in the world and you
say, of course, everybody believes that. No, they don't. They just
don't. If you believe that Jesus is
the Christ according to the Word, the Christ that's revealed in
the Word, you're born of God. You're born of God. Assurance comes by believing
God's Word, and full assurance comes by giving such credit to
the truth of God that all doubt is forced out. That's the way
full assurance comes. It's giving credit. Giving credit. It's giving credit to God's Word. Do you believe that Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, died and rose again and ascended on the right
hand of God? And He is there as your High
Priest? Do you believe that? Then the Bible says right there
in the verse, draw near. Draw near. If you believe, then
draw near. Draw near to Him in prayer. Draw
near to Him in your thoughts, in your affections, in your memory.
Draw near in full assurance of faith. God's Word tells us who Christ
is. It tells us what Christ has done.
It tells us where He is. And it tells us what He's doing.
And the only way to live in the faith of these things is to believe
these things. To believe. We can't depend upon
our feeling. We can't depend upon our senses. They'll deceive us every time. Poor old Isaac, he was blind,
and his son Jacob stood before him, and he'd put Esau's clothes
on, and he'd put goat hair on his arms, and Isaac said, come
and let me smell you, son. You smell like Esau. Let me feel
you, son. You feel like Esau. And he blessed
him. But he wasn't Esau. That was
Jacob. That was the deceiver. And he
deceived his daddy. He deceived his feelings. And
we get our feelings deceived, don't we? I come here tonight,
and we come here a lot, and you know something? I can't sense
that Jesus Christ is here. I don't leave here every night
and say, boy, I had such a sense of His presence. Do you? I wish
every time we gathered I could leave here saying, man, I just
knew He was here. But you know something I know
He's here? I know He's here. There's no doubt in my mind that
Jesus Christ is here in spirit tonight. You know why I don't
have any doubt about that? He said so. Where two or three
are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them. And
you know something? If everybody that attends our
little services, if everybody believed that, everybody would
be here tonight. Nothing would keep you from being
here if you believed that Christ was here in our midst. Sometimes
we have unbelief and we don't know it, do we? We just don't
know it. Full assurance means that we
take God at His Word to the point that all doubt is pushed with
outside arms. The Lord came to the children
of Israel one time, and He was talking to them, and boy, they
were so upset. He said, If you don't believe
what I'm saying through My prophets, you shall not be established. If you don't believe what I'm
saying by My prophets, you shall not be established. What is it
to be fully assured? It's to believe His Word. Simply
believe the naked Word of God. Strip it of everything. Take
all the clothes off of it. All that we've dressed it up
with. The feelings of it. Take it all off and leave nothing
but the naked Word of God and then believe it in your heart. And you'll find all kinds of
emotions being conjured up. Emotions of, I've got to feel
something. Except you believe, you shall
not be saved. And we know of a fellow that
said, I won't believe. Remember Thomas? When the Lord
Jesus was raised from the dead and they said, Thomas, we saw
it. We saw it. And he said, except I see the
prince in his hands. And except I put my finger in
the prince of those nails and thrust my hand into his side,
except I see and feel I will not believe. Ain't that what
he was saying? I've got to see something and
I've got to feel something. And the Lord Jesus appeared to
him and said, Thomas, go ahead and reach your fingers and put
them in the Prince. Thrust your hand into my side and be not
faithless, but believe. And he said, My Lord and my God.
And what did the Lord say to him? Because you have seen me,
you believe. But now listen, here is the source
of our not only assurance, but full assurance. Blessed is that
man who has not seen and yet he believes. What does he believe? The Word. The Word that says,
I died. I died for your sins. I was buried
and rose again and ascended to heaven. He believes the Word
and he's blessed. And he's blessed. That's where
he goes right on to say these things were written. that you
might believe that Jesus is the Christ. So, full assurance, what
is it? It's giving credit to God that
His Word is true. His Word is true. And boy, when
you get in there and you get that in your heart, that God
is credible in His Word. He cannot lie. He will not deceive
in His Word. And you believe that, it's just
life changing. It's life changing, isn't it?
Full assurance of faith. Look at the second thing over
in Colossians chapter 2, the full assurance of understanding.
Look at this. Colossians chapter 2 and look
in verse 1. Colossians chapter 2 verse 1,
For I would that you knew what great conflict I have for you
and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen
my face in the flesh, that their hearts might be comforted, being
knit together, united, bound together in love, and unto all
riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement,
to the full discernment of the mystery of God, and of the Father,
and of Christ, to the full mystery of the gospel, of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Understanding has a great deal
to do with our assurance. If you have full assurance, it
has to be not only full assurance of faith, but full assurance
of understanding. Why were the disciples of our
Lord often so sad and doubtful and even fearful? Do you know
why they were that way? They did not understand the Scripture.
How many times do we read about them where the Lord said such
things unto them as, we go up to Jerusalem, I'm going to be
betrayed into the hands of men, they're going to beat me, they're
going to kill me, crucify me, slay me, and I'm going to raise
the third day. And it was said of them that
they got so confused and scared and baffled because they knew
not When He was raised from the dead,
they had so much trouble believing it. This is one of the most amazing
things. I think it may be in the book
of Mark. You'll have to check this out. It may be in Matthew,
but I think it's Mark. Do you remember when He gathered
them together after His resurrection and they were with Him? It said
they were with Him as He was teaching them after His resurrection
and some doubted Isn't that amazing? If you were
sitting there and He was sitting with you, all of you were standing
around Him, looking at Him, listening to Him teach, would you doubt
that He was raised from the dead? It said some doubt it. And really,
I guess if anything, that goes to show us to some extent that,
boy, we get the assurance that we have not from our eyesight.
Not even from hearing with an actual ear. You know where we
get full assurance? Understanding the Scriptures. It's understanding the Scriptures.
The full assurance of understanding. This is why the Gospel needs
to be taught plainly so we can understand its meaning. If we
don't understand the gospel, that's the mystery he was talking
about in verse 2, how can we have the full assurance of understanding? The disciples never did get the
assurance that they were wanting. They never did dispel themselves
of their doubts and their fears until it was said that he opened
their understanding that they might understand the scriptures. Not until then did they rid themselves
of their doubt. Lydia, bless her heart, she was
in the dark in regards to her assurance of salvation until
the Bible said the Lord opened her heart and she attained unto
the words that the Apostle Paul was preaching. And what was he
preaching? Christ and Him crucified. And the Lord opened her understanding
and gave her assurance of her salvation. The gospel is good news, but
you know something? Only when we understand it. Ain't that true? It's only good
news if we understand it. That seed that was sown on good
ground is the heart that heard the Word and what? Understood
it. Understood it. full assurance
come from. How can a sinner savingly call
on the Lord Jesus Christ if he don't understand what Christ
has done on behalf of poor sinners? I spent so many years, I spent
so many years struggling with fears and doubt and a guilty
conscience trying to figure out some way or another to make peace
with God. I mean, I did some things. I did some wonderful things in
my own eyes trying to gain peace with God. Generally trying to
figure out, how can I have peace with God? And here's what I was
ignorant of. Peace had already been made at
a great cost to Jesus Christ. I didn't know the price God demanded.
I really didn't. That's why I kept thinking I
could pay it. I just needed to do more, need more, need more.
I had no idea the price God demanded only Jesus could pay and that
He had already paid 2,000 years ago on a cross outside the city
of Jerusalem. That's what He told us here in
chapter 1 in verse 20, having made peace through the blood
of His cross. And you know something, as soon
as I understood that, I mean as soon as that came to my heart,
I'm telling you, my guilt was gone. My fears were gone. My doubts were gone. My ignorance
was gone. And I had peace. Not what I had
done, but upon what Christ had done for poor sinners upon His
cross. And you know what? When I understood
that, I became so rich. Rich in assurance. Rich in assurance. And as you gain understanding
through the Word, you get richer in assurance. If you want assurance,
go to the Bible. That's the best place in the
world to get assurance. It was a while before I learned
some things and came to understand some things. And you know, I'm
still understanding stuff. I saw something yesterday, I
was coming back home, Tuesday, and Don Porton had given me one
of these little zip drives and I plugged it into my radio and
I was listening to Alexander Scorby read the Scriptures. And
he read something and man, it went home to my heart and I thought,
I've never seen that. And I flipped it back over and
he played it again, flipped it back over and played it again.
And it was out of this book of Hebrews I was listening to. I'll
tell you about it when I get over there. We're still learning. We're still understanding. And
as we do, that's where we gain assurance. You know, I didn't
know when the Lord first saved me. All I knew, brothers and
sisters, was this, that Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, had
washed me. He had saved me. But you know
something? I kept reading until I come to
understand that I was complete in Him. I started right back that old
self-righteous legalistic stuff. I've got to do this. I've got
to do this to stay accepted. I've got to do this so I'll be
complete. Got to do this and got to do
that. Like those poor ignorant Galatians. Then I read here in
the second chapter in verse 9 and 10, In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him. And I got richer. I got richer. Richer assurance. And if you're
struggling about fears of death and how it's going to be at the
resurrection and all of that, I'll tell you something, if you're
a child of God, if you're a believer, I'll tell you something that
will give you some assurance about that. It's in chapter 1 and verse
21. You that were sometimes alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now have thee reconciled
in the body of His flesh through death. Look at this. To present
you wholly unblameable and unreprovable in His sight. That's what He's
going to do by His own merit and power and grace. You'll have
absolutely nothing to do to present yourself to Him. You cannot present
yourself before Him. You can't do it. But the Bible
says that He will. Shannon, unreprovable. You won't
be rebuked. None of your sins will be brought
up. Unreprovable, unblameable, and holy in His sight. In His sight. That's amazing, isn't it? But
that's the full assurance of understanding. Rich, the richest
of the full assurance of His understanding. You have believers who are in
great trials I was talking to Brother Larry Chris today, and
bless his heart, I hadn't talked to him just a thought, just a
thought. And boy, his heart went right
to the Lord. He started talking about the Lord. Just wonderful
things, talking about it. Sick, drugged up, got sores on
half of his body. Going on his third week now in
the hospital, he can't find out what's wrong with him. And you
know what he's doing, laying there on that sickbed with assurance
in his heart. Do you know what believers know?
They know some things. They understand some things.
They have assurance about some things. They know the Bible says
this, right in the midst of their trials and heartaches, many are
the afflictions of the righteous. They know that. They know that. They don't pay attention to these
guys who say, if you're sick, it's not God's will. They don't
pay attention to those guys. Think it not strange concerning
the fiery trial, which is to try you." They know that. They
understand that. In this life, you shall have
tribulations. We must, through much tribulation,
enter into the kingdom of God. They understand that. And they
understand this also. God knows the way they take. And when He's tried them, they'll
come forth as gold. Though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with
me." They understand that. Wherever they go, through these
dark valleys and up these difficult hills, the Lord is with them. They fear no evil. They understand
this. They understand this. They don't
just believe this. They understand this. All things
work together for good to them that love God. to them who are
called according to His purpose. You understand that, don't you? If I say to you, you know this
is working for your good, you know what you say? I understand
that. I understand that. I didn't say you could explain
it, but you understand it, don't you? And you get assurance from
that. Let your conversation be without
covetousness, and be content with such things as you have.
For He hath said, I will never leave you nor forsake you, so
that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I'll not fear
what man can do unto me." Through every aspect of your Christian
life, no matter what you're going through, what your circumstances
is, the way to have full assurance in everyday Christian life is
to believe what He tells you and gain understanding from the
Word of God as to what God says about these situations. Understanding. The full assurance of understanding. There are some Christians, bless
their hearts, they don't have spiritual enough sense to do
anything but rejoice. When the Lord first saved me,
I didn't know what was going on. I just rejoiced. But I tell you,
it wasn't long, boy. It wasn't long. I got in a mess.
I got in some trial. I was trying to find out somebody
that did know what was going on. But now, now there comes a time
when you have to get your head in the book, read the Word of
God and say, I need some understanding. Lord, open my understanding.
And there's where we get full assurance. Let's go back now
to our text right quickly. Look right quickly. Back over
in the 6th chapter of Hebrews and look in verse 11 again. We
desire that every one of you show the same diligence and to
the fullest assurance of hope until the end. When you see this
word hope, it means one of two things. It means the object of
hope, what we hope for. The Bible says there is a hope
laid up in heaven. That's the object of our hope.
Or heaven itself. Heaven itself. Heaven is yours.
He's going to give you heaven. He's going to give you His kingdom.
Or when Christ comes, you're going to be just like Him. And
you'll see Him as He is. That's a hope which is laid up
for us. That's the object of our hope. Boy, that's precious, ain't it?
That's precious. I'll tell you why it's precious.
If you miss heaven. Somebody says, if you miss heaven,
you missed it all. And that's the scary thing. You miss heaven,
you haven't missed it all, have you? You miss heaven, you go to hell.
That's the scary part. That's one of the things that
makes heaven so precious. There's a heaven to be gained.
There's glory, eternal rest to be gained. And there is a hell
of torment and damnation to be avoided. Hope is important. And to live with a full assurance
of hope is one of the most blessed things anybody could ever imagine. And then there's the grace of
hope, which the Apostle Paul is talking about here in verse
11. That's the grace that's in our
hearts. The hope of a hypocrite, Solomon
said, shall perish. But the believer that has been
given a good hope through grace, he has every reason to live in
the full assurance that what God has promised him Heaven,
Christ, eternal life, he'll realize. He can live in the full assurance
of that. Whatever God has promised, the believer has the right to
live in the full expectation of it. Just go find out what
He's promised you. As a child of God, read the Bible
and find out what He's promised you, and you have a right to
live in the full expectation that you'll realize that someday.
Hearken, my beloved brethren, have not God chosen the poor
of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which
He hath promised to them that love Him?" You say, Bruce, I
thought we were already in this kingdom. We are. But I'm telling
you, this kingdom is going to be manifested. It's going to
be revealed. It's going to be a glorious kingdom
that can be seen. This is the promise that He has
promised us, eternal life. You say, I thought we already
had life. We do. And faith brings this life to
us right now. But see, there's hope. And hope
has to do with the future, doesn't it? What we hope for the future. What do we hope for the future?
Life eternal. He's promised us life eternal. And look at verse 12 right quickly. Look at some of these things.
that will help us to live in the full assurance of hope. He
says here, be not slothful. Don't be sluggish. Don't be lazy.
But followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the
promise. Don't be lazy. Well, I tell you what, if we
get lazy, we can have the assurance of hope one time and live with
such, oh, the hope will be so bright But if we get careless, we're not watchful, then you
know what? This hope can get so dim it can
hardly be seen. That can happen. Lot, bless his
heart, he's a man that's in heaven today. The Bible says he was
a just man, a righteous man. But I just wonder how bright
his hope was when he was up there in the cave. Be sober. Be diligent. The object of our faith is secure. It's in heaven. But boy, this
grace in our hearts is very tender. Be careful. Be sober. Be diligent. And he said this, Be not slothful,
but followers of them who through faith inherit the promise." We've
looked at that. By faith we inherit the promises. The only way to inherit these
promises is by faith. You can't inherit them any other
way. You can't do good enough, you can't earn them, you can't
marry them. The only way to finally obtain the promises, the hope
that God is from, is through faith. All those Old Testament
saints died in the faith, looking to the fulfillment of those promises.
Live every day by faith, looking for the fulfillment of those
promises. Live by faith. Through faith, Sarah received
strength to receive seed, and she inherited the promise. By
faith, Abraham, after he had patiently endured, he obtained
the promise. But not just through faith. Look
at this. Through patience. Through patience. Well, I tell
you what, there's not many promises. There's not any promises regarding
our hope, what's to come, that God's promises that He gives
us immediately. Hope regards the future. And
we wait for that. The Lord told Abraham, I'm going
to bless you, I'm going to give you a son and multiply you 25
years later before he got that son. But you know something? It's worth waiting for. If we wait, if we hope for that,
we see not. And we have some idea of what
this is that we're hoping for. What a glorious hope it is. And
I tell you, we'll wait for it, won't we? We'll wait for it. If you're running a race, get
your eye, if you can, out there on the finish line. Look at the
band ready to play when you cross the finish line. Look at the
friends and people in the stands ready to cheer when you cross
the finish line. Well, keep your eye on the finish
line. And if you'll do that, you can
just keep on running. And you can be patient until
you cross the finish line. And He said here, fourthly, be
followers of them who through faith and patience. And I think
the word really here is that they've inherited the promises.
Be imitators. Well, we've got a cloud of witnesses. We think we have a hope of heaven.
We do. There's a multitude that's gone
before us. They had a hope, too, of heaven.
And you know something? They realized it. Where's Abraham
at tonight? Well, you and I are here. Where's
he at? He's in heaven, isn't he? He's realized that part of
his hope. All the apostles are in heaven. Be imitators of them. Live like
they live. And it won't be long until you're
with them where they are. I hope that was a blessing and
an encouragement to you.