Now, there's no need for me to
tell you how very much you mean to me and this congregation. As you said, that's the first
time I came here. I don't know how long ago it
was, but we enjoyed a bond of friendship
that's been unbroken for all these years. And I can't tell
you how very much this pastor and his wife means to me and
how much you do and how dear you are to us. But I'll tell
you one more time. I hope maybe I get to come back
next year. You know, before I bring the
message tonight, I have a word of encouragement and a word of
instruction for all of us. It's a word from the Good Shepherd,
the Great Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd, to all us under-shepherds. It's found in Psalm 40. I want
to share this with you before I bring the message this evening. Psalm 40. And here in Psalm 40, the Lord
Jesus Christ said this, and we'll start with verse 7. He says, Then said I, Lo, I come. In the volume of the book, it's
written of me. four things. I delight to do
thy will, O my God. I hope that can be said of every
one of us under shepherds. I delight to do thy will, O my
God. Yea, thy law is within my heart.
Number two, he said, I have preached righteousness in the great congregation. Lo, I have not refrained my lips,
O Lord, thou knowest." For all these years, we have preached
God's righteousness in Christ Jesus. We have not refrained
our lips, O Lord, thou knowest. Then he said in verse ten, I
have not hid thy righteousness within my heart, Somebody asked
this question, what is it to hide the truth of God? How can
a man preach and hide the truth of God? Well, one old-timer said
this, to hide the truth of God is to keep back, to keep back
a portion of it for various reasons. Just don't preach it. And Paul
said, I've kept back nothing. So to hide the truth of God,
just to preach the Bible, but leave off somebody. Secondly,
to hide the truth of God is to entangle it. Entangle it in intellect
or human wisdom. That'll hide the truth of God.
And thirdly, To hide the truth of God is to cover it with eloquence. Paul said enticing words of man's
wisdom. Just cover it up with a lot of
malarkey. Don't say what you're supposed
to say. Say something else to appeal to people. That's hiding
it. And then it's to preach the letter
without love. God help us. to preach the letter
without love, to preach doctrine without graciousness. And that's
what he says in verse 10, I have not hid thy righteousness within
my heart, I have declared, listen, I have declared your faithfulness,
your salvation, your loving kindness and truth. A man said to me one
time, I just love to preach. I just love to preach, and I
said to him, it's one thing to love to preach, it's another
thing to love the people to whom you preach. That's a white horse
of another color. It's to love the people to whom
you preach. Jeremiah was called the weeping
prophet. He said, Oh, that my head were
waters and my eyes a fountain of tears that I might weep for
my people. Can't weep over them, you can't
preach to them. And Paul tells us that in 1 Thessalonians chapter
2. And I've been a preacher to preachers
for years. I've been a preacher to preachers,
and I feel like some of them have been blessed through the
relationship. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 2,
the Apostle Paul says this, 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 7, But we were
gentle among you. We used authority, but we were
gentle among you, even as a nurse. cherishes her children. So being
affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted
unto you not the gospel only, but also our own souls, because
you were so dear to me." And then Paul wrote to Timothy,
the preacher, in 2nd Timothy chapter 2 2nd Timothy chapter
2 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse 24
listen to this listen to this instructor of under shepherds
2nd Timothy 2 verse 24 and the servant of the Lord must not
strive he must be gentle And do all men have to teach patience
in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves? If God
were it for adventure, would give them repentance to the acknowledging
of the truth, and that they may recover themselves out of the
snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him and his will. Gentle, kind, loving kindness. All right, that won't cost you
a nickel. That's free. But I want to turn to 1 Peter
chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3. And I want to talk to you tonight
about assurance. about a good hope and reasons
for a good hope. Reasons for a good hope. And
I want you to read with me 1 Peter 3. Start with verse 15. Now listen to this. Peter said, but sanctify the
Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer. to every man that asks you a
reason of the hope that's in you with meekness and care. We should not mind at all if
someone should ask us, what's your reason? What reason do you
have of a hope of eternal life? Tell me. Give me a reason. Well,
if I can't give him a reason for that hope, it must be I don't
have one. So be ready with meekness and
fear to give an answer to anybody who asks you about your hope
in Christ Jesus. I'm going to talk about that
hope. Reasons for a good hope. But now watch verse 16. Now don't be alarmed. Watch this. Having a good conscience that
whereas they speak evil of you, everybody's not going to agree
with you. You may tell them about your good hope in Christ Jesus
and they won't speak well of you at all. They speak evil of
you as of evil doers. But they may be ashamed that
they falsely accuse your good conversation and faith in Christ. Now, don't be alarmed if someone
asks you for the reason of the hope you have in Christ Jesus.
Don't be alarmed if they question it, or even doubt it. Doubt that you're saved. Doubt
that you're a child of God. Not long ago, a preacher friend
of mine, a dear, dear friend, was talking to a preacher in
another state. A man whom I've known for a long,
long time. And this preacher said to him,
well, you have difficulty with Brother Mahan. Do you believe
Brother Mahan preaches the gospel? And he hollered at him a minute
and he said, I really don't know. I don't know whether he does
or not. Well, I've encountered doctrinalists
and intellectuals who doubted Spurgeon's conversion. They say they don't believe Spurgeon
was saved. Another fellow wrote to me and
doubted Martin Luther's conversion. That's a man who gave his life
for Christ. He didn't agree with everything
that some other people agreed with, but he agreed with salvation,
justification by grace. Some people even doubted conversion
of Arthur Pinck. And some people don't believe
Job was saint. And you know God said, God said
to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? There's nobody
like him. Now be careful who you challenge
about whether they're saint or not. I'll tell you the truth. I want you to listen to me now.
It's not how much faith a person has, it's not how much faith
one has, it's whom do you believe. Abraham believed God, which counted
him for righteous. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. And I'm persuaded he's able to
keep that, which I've committed to him against that day. is not
what I think of you or what you think of me. What is faith? What think ye of Christ? Whose
son is he? There's the question there. What
think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? And then faith
is not my standing before human opinion that determines my eternal hope.
David said, if thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, who would stand? But there's forgiveness with
thee. There's forgiveness with God, that he might be worshipped,
that he might be feared. Oh, my! I wait for the Lord. I wait for the Lord, and in His
Word do I hope. And I can tell all the people
in all the world We're not accepted by our best works or by our weakest
point and moment. We're accepted in the Beloved. Aren't you glad? David, aren't
you glad you're facing Christ, your hope's in Christ? We're
accepted in the Beloved. Accepted in the Beloved. In the
Beloved, accepted am I. Risen, ascended, seated on high. save of the power of his wonderful
grace, with the redeemed ones accorded a place in the beloved. God's marvelous grace caused
me to dwell in that wonderful place. God sees my Savior, and
then he sees me in the beloved, accepted and free. Now, here's
those five reasons of a good You know where I'm going to get
them? You already know. The apostle
Paul beat me to it. In Romans chapter 8, Romans chapter
8, verse 31. Now listen, Romans chapter 8. A reason for a good hope. A reason for a good hope. Here
it is, Romans 8, verse 31. What shall we say then to these
things, all these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? You know, our assurance and our
confidence and our hope ought never begin with the word, I.
It ought never begin with the word, I. Oftentimes, if a person
asks you the reason for the hope that's in you, you'll start with,
well, I heard the gospel. And I went to church, and I walked
the aisle. I did this, and I do that, and
I do the other. But Paul says here, if God be
for me, who can be against me? Our confidence and our hope is
never in I, it's in Him. But God was rich in mercy for
His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead and
sinning. has redeemed us, conquered us,
saved us, justified us by Christ Jesus. Being confident of this
very thing, that He that hath begun the work, will finish it. That's where it starts. It doesn't
start with I. It doesn't start with I. Be ready
to give an answer for the hope that you have in Christ. Don't
start with I. If God be for me, who can be
against me? I'm confident of this. Let
me give you this. I'm totally confident of this.
It's not my love for Him. It's His love for me. I do, like Peter said, Lord,
you know all this. You know I love you. But I love
Him because He first loved me. And it's not our love for God,
it's His love for us. It's not our will that brought
us to Christ. We were made willing in the day
of His power. Not of the will of the flesh,
not of the will of man, but of God that showeth mercy. It's not our works that saved
us and keeps us safe. It's under God. Under God. It is God that worketh in us. Both to will and do. Both to
will and do. And a man can't do till he wills.
And it's a God that works in you both to will and to do. His good pleasure. God's people
will persevere. They will persevere. They'll
persevere in faith. But every one of them declares
this one thing. We're kept by the power of God
through faith. I've preached so many times,
and I'm sure you've heard lots of sermons, on David's last words. The last words that David ever
recorded, he said this, although it be not so with my house, God
hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things,
and sure And this is all my salvation and all my desire. One old fella
said, it's been signed, sealed, and ratified in the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's my reason. God be for
me. Who cares if that preacher doesn't
think I'm saved? Who cares? God cares. And if God be for me, what does
he care? Here's a second one. Turn to
Romans 8 again, verse 32. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall it not with him also
freely give us all things that he willed, purpose, and purchase. That's a good reason, isn't it,
for a good hope. If God spared not His only Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall God not give Him what
He bought, what He purchased, what He accomplished? Turn with
me to John chapter 17. John chapter 17. Now I want you
to look at this a minute. John chapter 17. This is a great
wonderful, glorious, high, priestly prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ. And in this prayer, he uses the
word, I have, about six or eight times. I'm going to talk about
six times. Six times. I have, our Lord in his prayer,
praying for his people, talking about the work that he would
accomplish on the cross. Look at first forward. I have
glorified thee on the earth. No human beings ever said that
before. No human beings ever glorified
God on this earth. The old writers wrote, what's
the chief in the man? It's to glorify God, enjoy Him
forever. But nobody's ever glorified Him
but once. He said, I glorified you on this
earth. Right here on this earth. tempted, tested, tried at all
points, yet without sin, I have glorified you on this earth.
Secondly, verse four, I have finished the work you gave me
to do. I finished the work you gave
me to do. First words the Lord Jesus spoke
on this earth in human flesh that was recorded When his mother
and Joseph were seeking for him and found him two days later,
they walked into the place where he was in the temple discussing
things with the theologians, and they said to him, they said,
son, you've grieved us. We've lost you and couldn't find
you. He said, wish thee not that I
be about my father's business. What's the father's business?
to redeem sinners. What's the last word you spoke
before he died? It's finished. I have finished
the work he gave me to do. I have. What's verse six? I have manifested your name unto
the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thou they were,
and thou gavest to me, and they kept thy word. What is his name? All of you fellas know this,
you've read this, the sevenfold glorious name of Jehovah. Jehovah
Nisa, Jehovah Sidkenu, Jehovah Raphael, the Lord my Shepherd,
the Lord my Banner, the Lord our Righteousness, that's the
sevenfold name. And Christ said, I have glorified
your name, manifested your name unto these people. I've done
it. But what's verse, now verse eight. And I have manifested thy name,
and then verse 8, I have given these men, I have given unto
them the words which you gave me. I have given them your word. And they have received them,
and they have known surely that I came from you, and they have
believed me. They have received them, and
they have believed them, and know that I came from you. Alright? Watch this now. Verse 8. Verse
9. He said, I glorified you. I finished the work. I manifested
your name. I gave them the word. But He
didn't say, I have prayed for them. He said, I pray for them. It's not a have situation. He
prayed for us then. He prays for us now. He ever
lives to make an He always prays for us. I prayed for them. I
prayed for them. I pray not for the world, I pray
for them that you have given me, they are thine. Now look
at verse 22. And the glory which thou gavest
me, I have given thee. Now my friends, go back to Romans
8 and let me read verse 32. Now that's what our Lord done.
I have glorified you, I have finished the work, I've manifested
your name, I've manifested your word, I've manifested giving
these men the gospel, and I've given them the glory you gave
me. Now, verse 32, he that spared not his own son, but delivered
him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us
all these things? They're ours in Christ. They're
not ours in a doctrine. They're not ours in a profession.
They're ours in a person who did these things on our behalf
and for us, our substitute, our savior. One with Christ, I cannot
die. My soul is purchased by His blood. My life is hid. With Christ on
high, with Christ my Savior and my God. That's the reason. That's the reason. Thirdly, verse
33. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
shall lay anything to our charge? Well, who are God's elect? Those
whom he foreknew, whom he predestinated, whom he called, whom he justified,
whom he glorified. That's God's elect. Well, are
they not charged? Are they not guilty? Are they
not sinners? Oh, yes. All of them have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. All of them. All of them. Man at his best state, altogether
vanished. Yeah. Yeah. Does no one else
charge them? Well, Satan does. He goeth about
seeking whom he may devour. The world does. They laugh at
you. They accuse you of things that you don't do. And you know
something? We charge ourselves. David said,
My sins are ever before me. against thee and thee only have
I sinned on this evil and that sin. Satan charges us, people
charge us, we charge ourselves. But let me tell you something,
God doesn't. God doesn't. He said here, who shall lay the
blame to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justified
us. He has redeemed us. He said their sins and their
iniquities I remember no more. They don't even exist. Let me
ask you to turn to Romans chapter 3 for a few moments. Romans chapter
3. This is a great gospel chapter. Romans chapter 3. Listen to chapter
3 verse 23. Romans 3, 23. Now this is true. All have seen come short of the
glory of God. But being justified, who justifies? It's God that justifies. Being
justified, how? Freely. Freely. How? By His grace. Through the
redemption that's in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth. He set Him
forth in promise, in prophecy, in picture, and then in person,
set Him forth to be a perpetuation through faith in His blood. to
declare His righteousness for the remission of sins of the
past through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say, at
this time, His righteousness, that He might be just and to
justify. Who is He that, who can lay in
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. It's God that justifies. Now, number four. Number four, verse thirty-four.
Who is he that condemneth? Who is he that condemneth? Paul
seems to look around principalities and powers and rulers of the
darkness and spiritual wickedness and high places and men out yonder
and down below. He seems to look around everywhere
and says this. He said, who can condemn me? Who can condemn me? I give you
a four-fold answer, he said, it's Christ that died on that
cross. It's Christ that's risen again. It's Christ that is even at the
right hand of God. It is Christ that ever liveth
to make intercession for us. One old writer said this, before
the throne of God, above We have a perfect plea. Our great high
priest, whose name is love, lived and died for me. My name is written
on his hands. My name is written on his heart. And I know that while in heaven
he stands, no one can bid me depart. No one. No one. Because the sinless Savior
died, my sinful soul is free. For God, the just, is satisfied
to look on Him and pardon me." That's what happened. Who is
he condemning? Christ died. Christ rose again. Christ is at the right hand of
God, and Christ ever lives. to make intercession for his
people. Let me give you the last reason. Verse 35. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Is this possible? Who shall separate
us? If God be for me, who can be
against me? Who's going to separate me? It's
God that justifies. Who's going to separate me? It's
Christ that died and was buried in Rosia. Who's going to separate
me? Who can separate me from the love of Christ? Tribulation?
Well, we have plenty of that. Nobody here over 30 years of
age hasn't had tribulation. We're going to have some more.
You shall, through tribulation, inherit the kingdom of God. You have tribulation, but be
of good cheer, I've overcome the world. Shall distress? You ever get stressed out? Raise half a dozen teenagers,
you... Distress. Persecution? Famine? I tell you, one of the famines
I dread is famine of hearing the Word of God. That's what
I dread. Famine of hearing the Word of
God. Nakedness, peril of sword. And it is written, it is written,
for thy sake we're killed all the day long. We're counted as
sheep for the slaughtered. But in all these things, the
more than conquers through whom? Him that loved us, gave Himself
for us. We live in a world—listen, listen,
old brother of mine, I can say that now. Brother Mews, you say
that all the time. Listen to brother Mews. Listen
to old brother of mine. We live in a world of sin and
decay and change. Nothing in this world is perfect,
or pure, or permanent. Therefore it's impossible for
us to understand how that our perfect, eternal, infinite, unchangeable
God loves us, and died for us, and saved us. That's hard for
us to lay hold of altogether, isn't it? And yet he said, who
can separate me? from the love of Christ. I am
the Lord, I change not. Lo, I'm with you always, even
to the end of the earth. I've been a pastor and a dear
friend to a lot of people a long, long time. I've been involved
in people's lives from the time they were just married got their
50th wedding anniversary. Now some of them up in the 70s
and 80s, some even 90s. And I found sometimes, especially
as they get older, old age comes in, and they entertain some fears
and some doubts regarding their hope in Christ. I've run into
this a lot, a whole lot. Especially as I've gotten older
and my friends have gotten older. Because they're changing. Their
bodies are changing. Their minds are changing. Their
thoughts are changing. They're growing weaker in body
and mind. Had a friend out in Oregon, known
him for years. He was a Greyhound bus driver.
Loved the gospel. He and I met at a Bible conference. We just became buddies right
away. I went out to the conference
a lot of times. We were always together. And then I went to
Oregon and got right into him there. He loved the gospel. He
loved the grace of God. He loved my tapes. Got a letter
from him as he got older. He said, Brother Man, I'm troubled. I'm troubled. I'm afraid of the judgment. He
said, I've sinned so much back there in my early days, it's
bothering me now, and I'm getting in trouble, worried about the
judgment. I wrote him back and I said,
Jim, you needn't be bothered about the judgment. There is
now no condemnation to them who are in Christ. Are you in Christ,
Jim? Certainly. Then you have no worry. Judgment not going to touch you.
There is no condemnation, no judgment in God's people. The world is going to be judged,
not His people. We've already been judged in
Christ. One of my dearest, dearest friends,
one of the first friends that I met when I came to Ashland,
has been with me all these years. Love him dearly, dearly, dearly. Loves the gospel. Been a real
helpmate, a helper in the gospel, a gifted man, a generous man,
a gracious man. He got up in years, in his 80s. He came to me one day and he
said, Brother Henry, he said, you might not want to be baptized
again. I said, why? Well, I don't know. He said, it's just I think back
over my life, you know, and that maybe, you know, I said, maybe
nothing. Do you love Christ? Yes, I do.
Do you believe Christ? Yes, I do. Absolutely. Don't
even think about a ritual or anybody baptizing you. Don't
let anybody do that to you. The first thing you do is tear
down the confidence that the people in the church have had
in you all these years. You built that believe, that
faith and that confidence and that following. Now just remember,
look at this, verse 38, Romans 8.30, I'm persuaded they need
the death nor life, angels nor principalities, no powers, no
things present, no things to come, no height, no depth, no
any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love
of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And then I asked him this, I
said, you know, Paul said, are you so foolish, had me begun
in the spirit, that now you're going to be made perfect in the
flesh? He said, I see it. This happened. Pastor called me one day, his
daddy, 90 years old, He said, Brother Henry said, my dad's
thinking about getting baptized again. I said, don't do that. Don't do that. Don't do that. Paul said, I thank God I baptized
none of you. I tried to baptize none of you
except maybe Crispus or Gaius or somebody else you know. Salvation
is not in baptism, or down an aisle, or shaking a preacher's
hand, or even dying. It's in Christ. Christ Jesus. That's what we've been raised,
that's what we've been raised. If God be for me, who can be
against me? Old age, forget it. Judgment,
forget it. Forget it. If God be for me,
who can be against me? Who can lay anything to the charge
if God's elect? He's expanding out His own Son.
He'll give Him everything Christ purchased. Who is He to condemn Him? And
who can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus, our Lord? Our Father, how blessed we are I will thank you for your word. This is our confidence, our assurance,
our hope. Christ Jesus, our Lord, loved
us, suffered on the cross to put away our transgressions and
our sins, raised from the dead, seated now at thy right hand,
ever living to make intercession for us. Christ is our salvation. our hope, our confidence, our
assurance. Strengthen us, our Father, in
the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. Make these days together to be
special days for us. Teach us Thy Word. Bless Thy servants everywhere.
We give Thee the praise and glory for the glory is Thine alone
through Christ our Lord. We pray, Amen.