A Sermon On Assurance

You know, you can plan a trip. You're going somewhere, some
very important, faraway place, a year from now. And as you think about going
and have 11 or 12 months to prepare, Well, you don't get too involved
or under too much pressure or overly excited or too anxious
to get everything together. But I'll tell you, then the days
go by and suddenly the trip's next week. And then you start
thinking a great deal about it, about the preparations for the
trip, about what lies ahead, the excitement
gets hold of your heart, and some apprehensions. And I suppose
it's that way about this business of assurance, of our relationship
with Christ. As you get a little older, you
become more excited about it, or perhaps a little more apprehensive
about it. or perhaps a little troubled
about it. And I've about reached that age to where I'm concerned
about the journey more than I ever have been before, which gives
birth to this message this morning and the one tonight on assurance.
I've passed the 60-mile marker. Somebody told me one time, said,
when you hit 60, you'll know it even if it's in the middle
of the night. You'll just wake up or something. Because you're
suddenly older. You're suddenly older. And the
journey out of this life into the presence of God is not very
far away. I had this brought suddenly home
to me out in California this summer. I was out there in a
Bible conference. And I never really thought of
myself as being an old man. Up till now it hadn't dawned
on me. But I was out in California in
a Bible conference and there were four or five or six of us
went golfing one afternoon. Went out to one of the golf courses.
It was rather crowded. And so we'd play two or three
holes and we came up to a a tee, and you folks that don't know
this language, most of you do, but that's where you hit the
ball. And there was a foursome or threesome sitting there in
carts and we came up and they said, you fellas go ahead and
hit, we're waiting for someone. And so I stepped up on the tee
and occasionally I can hit a golf ball. And I hit one of the best
golf balls I suppose I've ever hit in my life. It went clear
out of sight. It, down the middle, split the
fairway. Long, graceful and beautiful.
And I felt good about it and I put my club back in my bag
and I walked by a gentleman sitting there and he said, I guess you
know you cost me a quarter. I said, how did I cost you a quarter?
He said, I bet this fella, that old man, couldn't hit a golf
ball. Now you're old when that happens,
Richard. Yeah, that's it. So that's it,
Tom. So my subject is assurance. I'm
going to talk to myself this morning, and I want you to listen
in about this business of assurance. Let's turn to Romans 5, verse
1. I tell you, like the Apostle
Paul, I want to win Christ and be found in Him, don't you? I
want desperately to attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
I don't want to hear the Lord say, I never knew you, depart
from me. I want to know Christ and the
power of His resurrection. And it says here in Romans 5
verse 1, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with
God. We have peace with God. Now,
let me make three or four statements. Number one is this. You jot this
down. This is important. Like Scott
Richardson said, this is the truth. This is good. I do not
seek assurance itself. That's not what I'm looking for.
I'm not looking for assurance, per se, as a feeling by our experience. Not looking for, because I could
find that presumption and that experience, isn't that right,
John, and that feeling, because those people at the judgment
said, well, we preached in your name. They were actually surprised
when God cast them out. They were surprised. And the
Pharisees, those old religious Pharisees said to Christ, well,
we have one God. We have one Father, even God.
They were confident in me. So I'm not looking for assurance
itself. What I'm seeking is the Lord
Jesus Christ. I want to know Him. I want to
know Him. You see, I can live without assurance,
but I can't live without Christ. Does that make sense what I'm
saying? I can live without assurance. You know, it's like when the
Lord passed through the land of Egypt. He said to Moses, I'll
pass through the land of Egypt at midnight and I'll smite the
firstborn in every home, even the cattle on the hillside. I'm
going to kill the firstborn in every home. Now he said, you
say to the children of Israel, take a lamb, the first thing
of the flock, without spot or blemish, Slay that lamb, put
the blood on the door. Do that by faith. They went out,
all who believed God, took the lamb, put it on the door, the
blood on the door, and they went in the house. Don't you imagine
that even in those houses where the blood was on the door, there
were some people who were frightened. Now come on. Apprehensive. Don't you imagine, Chuck, I believe
you can identify with this, you and Susan, got that little fella,
Sean McKenzie, means so much to you. But if God were coming
through Ashland tonight at midnight and killed the firstborn in every
home, but he told you to put the blood on the door, and you
did by faith, could we blame you if both of you held him a
little tighter that night? Huh? Come on, a little bit tighter. and held him with a little apprehension
and concern. Oh, I bleed the blood, and it's
on the door, and I believe God. But I'll tell you, that wail
in Egypt is mighty frightening, mighty frightening. And so I'm
saying this, I'm saying that I'm not asking God to take away
from me all apprehension and all watchfulness. and all concern. I'm not asking for assurance
as an experience alone. I am asking for Christ. I want
Christ. I want to know Christ. I want
to love Christ. I want to believe Christ. As
we study this subject this morning and again tonight, There are
different preachers who can give you assurance. They can give
their magic formulas, and they can give their recipes, and they
can give this, you do this, and you do that, and God do the other,
and you can just, you can just whoop-de-doo, you know, go merrily
down your way. That's not what I'm saying. I
want Christ. Alright, here's the second statement.
Second statement. There are some mighty notable
persons, some mighty notable persons who have had their times
of doubt, and fear, and weak assurance. Now, I'm going to
read you something. Let's turn first to Exodus 33.
This man Moses, and everybody talks about Moses, but I'll tell
you this, Moses wasn't as cocksure as a lot of fundamentalists today
about his relationship with God. I find him here, now there's,
and this is after they'd already left Egypt. This is when they
were going to Canaan. And this is when they were out
in the desert. And this is when Moses had set up that little
tent of meeting over which the cloud stood, the cloud of God's
presence. And Moses would go out there
to that tent and meet with God. And the people would all stand
in the doorway of their tent as Moses went by to meet with
God. And he went out there this day, and Moses Verse 12, Exodus
33, listen to what he says, And Moses said to the Lord, See,
thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people, and thou hast not
let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said,
I know thee by name, and thou hast found grace in my sight.
Now therefore I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight. You ever talk that way? Moses
did. If I have, show me thy way, that I may know thee, that I
may find grace in thy sight. And consider that this nation
is thy people. Lord, is this a moment of doubt? Is this a moment of weakness
on the part of Moses? I think so. Lord, if I have found
grace in your sight, show me your way. Don't leave me wandering
around out here. If I have. Let me show you another
turn to Genesis. to Abraham, Genesis chapter 12.
Now this was after Abraham had left his father's house, he had
left his kindred, he had gone as God had called him, he'd gotten
out of his father's house and awaited his kindred. In Genesis
chapter 12, this is the man of faith, this is the man who believed
God, Genesis chapter 12 verse 11. And it came to pass when Abraham
was come near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarah, his wife, Behold
now, I know that you are a beautiful woman, fair woman to look upon. Therefore it shall come to pass
when the Egyptians see you, they'll say this is his wife. And they'll
kill me, but they'll save your life. So will you say, I pray
thee, Savior, that you're my sister, don't tell anybody, this
is Abraham. Is this a lack of faith? Well,
it certainly is. Is it doubt in God? It certainly
is. Is it a time of actual fear? Is God really with me? He just
said, I pray, just tell them you're my sister, and it'll be
well with me for your sake, and my soul shall live because God
promised to protect me. No, because of you. because of
you. Let me show you another time
that he has depression. Genesis 16. Genesis 16, verse
1 and 2. Now Sarah, Abraham's wife, bared
him no children. And she had a handmaid, an Egyptian,
whose name was Hagar. And Sarah said to Abraham, Behold,
now the Lord hath restrained me from bearing. I pray thee,
go into my maid, It may be that I'll obtain children by her."
And Abraham believed God. Now, sir, Abraham hearkened to
the voice of Saul. All right, turn to Psalm 73. Here's David. And you know, I
preached a sermon one time along this line in a Bible conference,
and I had a, I showed, I showed, I took, I took the Old Testament
I mean men who knew God. I took John, the Old Testament
believers, and I showed their failures and their weakness. I showed them to be but men.
I showed them to be dependent, as you and I are, on the grace
of God. And I had a preacher get mad at me because I showed
the weaknesses of these men. But listen, listen, these are
men. They're our examples. And we learn from them. And listen
to David in Psalm 73. Now just listen to David. Here's
the man who said, I'm old, I've been young, I've never seen God
seen forsaken or begging break. Never, he said. But now this
doesn't sound like the same David. Psalm 73, 1. Truly God is good
to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. But as for
me, my feet were almost gone. Almost gone. My steps had well
nigh slipped far. I was envious at the foolish
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked." David said, I got
jealous of the wicked, prosperous, evil people around me because
they were getting along so good and I was having such a hard
time. And it nearly got me, he said.
I nearly gave in to those people. My feet almost slipped. He even
called himself in latter verses there, a beast, dumb before God
for acting this way, but he did act this way. How about John
the Baptist? Turn to Luke 4. Luke chapter
4. Let me show you this. Luke the
4th chapter. I won't wear you much longer, but I just want
to show you that I want to encourage you. You know, he said, comfort
my people, and this is encouraging to me. When I have these times
of doubts and fear and depression and questioning my relationship
with God, I just know I'm not the only one. And you're not
the only one. And there's some notable persons
of great repute who have had it. Listen to John the Baptist
in Luke chapter 7. Luke 7 verse 19. And this is John the Baptist,
my friends. This is the one who baptized
Christ, who saw the Spirit of God descend in the form of a
dove and lied upon Christ. This is the one who said to his
disciples, Behold the Lamb of God. This is the one who would
lay down his life for the gospel he preached. But here he is sitting
in prison. Now, he's sitting in prison,
and he's left. He's deserted of everybody. He's
waiting execution. In verse 19, John called unto
him two of his disciples, and sent them to Jesus, saying, Art
thou he that should come, or look we for another? I've heard
people say, well, he's doing that for the disciples' sake. Where can you read that in? The
disciples went over there to Christ, verse 20, and said to
them, John the Baptist sent us, saying, Art thou he that should
come? or look we for another? Well, John Newton wrote these
words, "'Tis a point I long to know, oft it gives me anxious
thought. Do I love the Lord or no? Am I his or am I not? Lord, let
me love thee more and more. If I love you at all, I pray. If I have not loved you before,
help me to love you today. And again he wrote, Lord, if
indeed I am thine. There's nothing wrong with examining
your faith, is there? There's nothing wrong with examining
your relationship with God, is there? The scripture says examine
yourself whether you be in the faith. The scripture says give
diligence to make your calling and election sure. The scripture
says every time you come to the table of the Lord, examine yourself
and see if you discern the broken body and shed blood of Jesus
Christ. But we're told in this day that
you make your profession, you join the church, and it's really
sinful to even put a question mark on that experience. It's
somehow doubting God. I don't doubt God at all. I doubt
me. It's not my problem doubting
God. Newton said, Lord, if indeed I am thine, if thou art my sun
and my song, then why do I languish in pine and why are my winters
so long? Oh, drive these dark clouds from
my sky, thy soul-cheering presence restore, or just take me unto
thee on high where clouds and winters are no more. All right,
the third statement. God knows we're not seeking assurance
itself, because there is no assurance apart from Christ. We're seeking
Christ. We're seeking Christ. I can live without assurance,
but I cannot live without Christ. And secondly, I do know this,
that even men of God, men of God in their old age have struggle
with doubts and fears about their relationship with God. But here's
the third statement. I can tell you this. Every person
in the Scripture who spoke of hope and confidence and assurance
and eternal life, every one of them without exception, now get
this, every person in the Word of God without exception who
spoke of any hope, any good hope, any assurance or any confidence
of eternal life, did not find it, never did find it in their
faith, in their faithfulness, or in their righteousness. They
found it in Christ. Every one of them. In other words, they find it
in the Word of God. Here's what I'm saying. The foundation
of a good hope, of assurance and confidence, is twofold. Twofold. It's twofold, and both
are called the Word of God. There is the Word of God written
or spoken, and there's the Word of God incarnate. You see where
I am? My confidence and my assurance
and my hope of eternal life, I'm not going to find it in my
works, in my profession, in my deeds, in my faith, even in my
faithfulness. I'm going to find it in a twofold
foundation, the Word of God. The Word of God being the written
Word and the incarnate Word. Now let me show you that. Turn
to Romans 4 where we were a moment ago. Romans 4. Abraham, in Romans 4, it says
here, verse 20, Romans 4, 20, he staggered not at the promise
of God, the promise of God, through unbelief, but he was strong in
faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what
God had promised, what has God promised in Christ? He has promised
us life, promised us forgiveness, He promised us redemption, promised
us salvation, promised us all things. Has he not? Has God not
promised that? He said, He that believeth on
the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth on the Son
shall not perish. He that believeth shall not be
ashamed. Therefore I shall not be ashamed. I believe the Word
of God. That's what Abraham, believing that what God had promised,
God was able to perform. That's believing the Word of
God, the promise of God. Go with me to Isaiah 45. Isaiah
chapter 45. Isaiah 45, let's begin reading
with verse 22. Isaiah 45, verse 22. Let's read verse 21. Isaiah 45,
21. Tell ye, and bring them near,
yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this? Who hath
declared this from ancient times? Who hath told it from that time?
Is this the invention of men? This redemption, this eternal
life, this Savior, is this the invention of men? Who told it?
Hath not I the Lord? And there's no God else beside
me, I'm a just God, I'm a just God, a holy God, a righteous
God, and I'm a Savior! And there's none beside me, so
look to me! And be ye saved, all the ends
of the earth, for I'm God and there's none else, I'm God, look
to me! Let me just, don't turn to all
of you, let me just quote you some scripture here, in the word. For we through the Spirit wait
for the hope of righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ. There's the two-fold witness.
Look back at that scripture I just read. He said, Who hath declared
this from ancient times? Who hath told it from that time?
Have not I the Lord? There's no God beside me. I'm
a just God and a Savior. There's none beside me. So look
to me. I've declared it. I've spoken
it. So look to me and be you saved. And these scriptures now. Remembering your work of faith,
your labor of love, your patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. Colossians 1.27 says, Christ
in you, that's the hope of glory. 2 Thessalonians, listen, Now
our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father who hath loved
us hath given us a good hope through grace. in our Lord Jesus
Christ. 1 Timothy 1, Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is our hope. Titus 3, 7, being justified by
his grace, we are made heirs according to the hope of eternal
life in Christ Jesus. 1 Peter 1 verse 3, Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to his abundant mercy hath begotten us unto a living hope by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Now I want you
to turn to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1, let's begin
reading with verse 18. Here's our twofold foundation.
The promise of God, the Word of God, what God has said, and
the revelation of God in Christ, who is the Word of God? He's
the Word of God. All right, 1 Peter 1.18, listen.
For as much as you know, you were not redeemed with corruptible
things. You're not going to find your
confidence in these corruptible things. You're not going to find
hope in these corruptible things. You're not going to find any
encouragement because you're not redeemed by those things
as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by
tradition from your fathers. But you were redeemed with the
precious blood of Christ. as of a Lamb without blemish
and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation
of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
who by Him do believe, and God that raised Him from the dead
and gave Him glory, that your faith and hope might be in Him."
In Him. That's where it is. And when
you look in here, And when you look at some profession, or when
you look at your affiliation with some church, or you look
at your experience, we're going to fail because we've got to
look to Him. Turn to Hebrews 6. I want you
to look at this scripture here. Hebrews chapter 6. Hebrews chapter
6. God's Word, you see, cannot be
broken, and God's Son cannot be defeated. He said, I am the
Lord, I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Hebrews chapter 6, verse 16. Now listen to this. Hebrews 6,
16. For men barely swear by the greater. We swear by the greater. And
an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. We
swear by it. Men do this. Now, carnal men
do this. Believers don't swear by heaven
or earth or God. But you've heard people say,
I swear by my mother's name, or I swear by the Bible, or I
swear by God, or things like that. They swear by the greater.
Something greater than themselves. And so if two fellows are having
an argument, and he's trying to prove he's telling the truth,
he'll pick something much greater than himself and swear on it.
And that ends the strife. Now read on. We're in God. willing
more abundantly to show to the heirs of promise, that's us,
to show us the immutability, the unchangeableness of his counsel. God will not change. He confirmed
it. He confirmed it by an oath that
by two unchangeable things in which it's 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. What are those
two things? God's promise and God's oath in Christ Jesus. God's
word and the giving of God's Son. That's the two things. All right, read on. 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,
Jesus Christ, the forerunner is for us already entered, even
Jesus, made a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
God Almighty has given us consolation and comfort and assurance and
a good hope by his promise and by his son who's already entered
into his holy presence representing us within the veil as our forerunner.
One other illustration. Turn with me to the book of Judges.
The book of Judges, chapter 13. Now this is an interesting story. I'm not going to keep you long,
but I want you to see this. Be a little patient. Judges 13. Here was a man and a woman. The man's name was Manoah. Manoah. I don't know his wife's name,
but they had no children. And God appeared to the wife
and told her that she was going to have a son in Judges 13 verse
5. You see it there? Judges 13 verse
5. The Lord said to this woman,
For lo, thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and no razor shall
come on his head. For the child shall be a Nazarite
unto God from the womb. And he shall begin to deliver
Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. And this son's name
will be Samson. This is the prophecy of the birth
of Samson. The angel of the Lord said to
this woman, Manoah's wife, you're going to have a son. He'll be
Samson. He'll be a great judge in Israel.
He'll deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines. She
went and told her husband. And he came to God. Verse 8,
Manoah entreated the Lord and said, Lord, let the man of God
which thou didst send again come again to us and tell us what
we shall do for the child that shall be born. And the Lord appeared
to them again. And then, if you will, look down
here at verse 20. And the angel of the Lord told
him to offer an offering before the Lord. And verse 17, look
at verse 17. And Manoah said to the angel
of the Lord, what's your name? that when these sayings, thy
sayings, come to pass, we may do thee honor." And the angel
of the Lord said to him, why do you ask after my name? It's
sacred, it's wonderful. So when Noah took a kid with
a meat offering and offered it upon a rock unto the Lord, and
the angel did wondrously, and when Noah and his wife looked
on, who is this angel? It's Christ. It came to pass when the flame
went up toward heaven from off the altar that an angel of the
Lord, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. Just went right
up. He took the sacrifice and slew
it on the altar and as the smoke and flame ascended up to heaven,
the angel of the Lord just went into the flame and ascended right
up to heaven in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his
wife looked on and fell on their faces to the ground. And the
angel of the Lord did no more appear to them. And Manoah knew
that he was an angel of the Lord. And Manoah said to his wife,
we're going to die. For we've seen God. We're going to die. We've seen
God. And his wife said to him, she
gave three reasons why she didn't believe they were going to die.
Three reasons. She said in verse 23, his wife
said, if the Lord were going to kill us, if he were pleased
to kill us, he would not have received the burnt offering. Secondly, if the Lord were going
to kill us, would he have showed us all these things? Would he
have done that? Would he have promised us a sign
if he was going to kill us? Would he have told us these things
to begin with if he were going to kill us? I ask you that. You notice she didn't say to
her husband, she didn't say, no, he's not going to kill us,
we're the best people in town. No, he's not going to kill us
because we've been faithful to the Lord all our lives. She said,
no, if he were going to kill us, number one, he wouldn't have
received the offering from us. Secondly, he wouldn't have showed
us that he was going to give us a son, and thirdly, he wouldn't
have told us all this to begin with. And consequently, I say
to you, God Almighty's promise to us in consolation is, number
one, he told us these things. Number two, he showed us himself
in Christ the Lord. And number three, he received
the sacrifice of Christ Jesus. And that's the foundation of
our hope. That's the foundation right there. In closing, there
was a man many years ago, I don't know the dates, but he wrote
a message, Looking Unto Jesus, he called it. And he gave a four-fold
outline about this Looking Unto Jesus. And he said, first of
all, look to Jesus in the scriptures. Here's where you'll find comfort,
assurance, and hope. Look to Christ in the scriptures.
Learn who he is. what he has done, why he has
done it, and where he is now. Secondly, look to Christ on the
cross to find in his blood your ransom, your redemption, your
pardon, and your peace. Thirdly, look unto Christ risen
again to find in him the righteousness which alone justifies and permits
us, unworthy as we are, to approach the Father in His name with confidence,
boldness, and assurance, not in ourselves, but in Him alone. Fourthly, look unto Jesus glorified
to find in Him our heavenly mediator, our heavenly advocate, who appears
even now for us before the presence of God and supplying the imperfection
of our prayers by the efficacy of his own which the Father always
hears. Looking unto Jesus. There's my
hope and confidence. Our Father, we pray above all things We pray above all things that we may have that saving,
living, eternal relationship with Thee in and through and
by the Lord Jesus Christ, sons of God, redeemed of God, children
of the King. that it may be true through Christ
that we have been taken out of the darkness and the curse and
the judgment of sin and translated by his grace into the kingdom
of the Son of thy love. I pray for every person in this
building today that all of us may be objects of your grace
that we may be children of your love, that we may enjoy the glory
and presence of our Redeemer throughout eternity. Help us this day, we pray, to
look to Christ and Christ alone. We pray in his name. Amen.

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