I want you to open your Bibles
this morning to the book of Ephesians, chapter 1 of Ephesians. I'll
be reading and speaking from verse 13. Now, our subject today
is assurance. I want to bring you a message
on assurance. And as I read this verse of Scripture
from Ephesians 1, verse 13, I want you to remember and underscore
four words. Now let's look at it together,
Ephesians 1 verse 13, in whom you also trusted, trusted, after
that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
in whom also after you believed. You were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise. There are four words we're going
to be dealing with in this message. You trusted after you heard the
word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. And after you
believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. And
my friends, there are and have been believers who are blessed
with a great assurance and confidence of their interest in Christ.
In the Scriptures, we read about Job, who said, I know that my
Redeemer liveth, and that on this earth he shall stand. And
though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet I myself in the
flesh will see the Lord. Job had a strong assurance of
his interest in God's saving grace. I know that my Redeemer
liveth. And then the last words that
King David spoke were these. It says, these are the last words
of David, the son of Jesse, the sweet psalmist of Israel. He
said, God hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things and sure, although it be not so with my house. And
yet he has made with me a covenant. And this, he said, is all my
salvation and all my desire." Again, he said, the Lord is my
shepherd. So David had that kind of assurance.
He had that confidence of a saving interest in God's grace through
Jesus Christ. And then John, the apostle John
said, we know, we know, this is one of the key words. of the
first epistle of John. We know. We know that we have
passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. So you
can go through the scriptures and you'll find many people who
have a strong confidence and a strong assurance of their personal
interest in the Lord Jesus Christ. And you'll meet people today
and you've met people in the past who said, I know that my
Redeemer lives, that the Lord is my shepherd. God has redeemed
me. I'm his child. There are some
sincere believers, some people who love Christ. There are some
people who are sincere believers who at times have a strong assurance
of their interest in Christ and at other times while they're
filled with many doubts and many fears concerning their relationship
with the Son of God. For example, I'll tell you one
of the best examples of that is John Newton, the great preacher
and hymn writer. John Newton wrote Amazing Grace,
how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was
lost, but now I'm found. I was blind, but now I see. That's
assurance, that confidence. But yet Newton wrote another
hymn, that's not nearly so popular, not nearly so famous, but an
expression of his own inner feelings, just as much as this amazing
grace. He also wrote the hymn that goes like this, "'Tis a
point I long to know, and often it gives me anxious thought.
Do I love the Lord or no? Am I His or am I not?" So there's
a man who had, at times, great and strong confidence of his
interest, his saving interest in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
then at other times He struggled with this matter of assurance.
He struggled with this matter of confidence. So I want to direct
my message today primarily to those who, like Newton, at times
they have a strong confidence of their saving interest in Christ,
and at other times they're not quite so sure. At other times
they find their hearts full of fears and doubts about their
relationship with the Lord. Now, I think this. I think that
our trouble is caused by one of four things. I think this
is what causes our doubts and fears. First of all, we compare
ourselves with giants in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
For example, we'll study the life of a man like Abraham, and
we'll say, I can't duplicate his feats. I can't duplicate
his feats of faith. So I must not be a son of God.
Or we look at the life of a man like the Apostle Peter, or Paul,
or James, or John, or Samuel, or Isaiah, or Jeremiah, or Elijah,
or any of those great giants in the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and we say, well, I just can't measure up to those fellows.
I certainly can't come up to their great feats and works of
faith. So I must not be a child of God.
So that's one of our problems. We compare ourselves with the
giants in the Word of God, and we just don't measure up. I'll
tell you another problem is this. Many of you read biographies.
You've read the biography of George Whitefield, his memoirs,
his diary, also his biography. You read the biography of a man
like Luther, or perhaps John Knox, or Brainerd, or one of
these great men, and not realizing that the authors of these books,
are not going to show the weaknesses of their heroes. They're not
going to show you the weaknesses of these great men. They're going
to show you only their strong points. And when you read these
biographies, you'll get the opinion that these fellows prayed all
the time, or they preached all the time, or they were in some
kind of great spiritual revival all the time. You never see them
at their weak points, or you never see them at their low points,
you never see them when they're not praying or not preaching
or not witnessing or not on the mountain. Because the men who
write the biographies just don't want to picture these low points. And so we read these biographies
and we feel, well, I'm not like that. I don't get up every morning
at 4 o'clock and pray. And I don't preach somewhere
five and six times a day. And I don't walk with God constantly
in a frame of mind that's always rejoicing. So I must not be saved.
Well, it's wrong to look at it that way because you know that
the Word of God, unlike the biographies of men, the Word of God points
out the weaknesses of God's children. The Word of God shows us the
weaknesses of Moses and the weaknesses of David and the weaknesses of
Abraham and all these other men, but your biographies don't do
that. They make great heroes of all of these believers, and
you'd think they never had a doubt, never had a fear, and never had
a failure, never had a low point, and never did commit a sin. And then another problem we have
is this. We look for a full harvest of fruit on a very young tree. The Lord saves us. We've been
saved for a week or a month or six months or a year, and we
expect a full harvest of fruit. on a tree that's a very young
tree. Now, if you go out in your backyard and plant an apple tree,
it'll be three or four years before you have any real fruit
on that tree. You'll have some blossoms, and
you'll have some little nubs, but in a few years, if you'll
be patient, you'll have some fruit. Now, when a person comes
to know the Lord Jesus Christ, he's just a babe. He's just a
young tree. He's just a young branch. And
you don't expect to find a full harvest of fruit on a brand new
tree, or even one one-year-old or two-years-old. That person
must grow. And you'll see the fruit in the bloom, or in the
bud, or in the small nubbin, and give it a little time by
God's grace and the presence of God's Spirit, and you'll see
some fruit. You'll see a manifestation of
good fruit for the glory of God. But now coming down to the fourth
thing. I think our problem, the reason that there are times when
we have great assurance, we're in the worship services, we're
reading our Bibles, we're singing, we're witnessing, we're praying,
we're fellowshipping with other believers, and we just feel on
the mountaintop, we feel that God is so good and God is so
near and God is so gracious and we can say, I know my Redeemer
liveth. And then the next day, we're down in the valley in despondence,
in despair and doubts and fears. And what happens? Well, I'll
tell you, one of the main reasons is this. Perhaps our greatest
fault is that we look for assurance and confidence somewhere other
than the Word of God. Somewhere other or besides the
Word of God. Let me make a statement here,
and you listen carefully to it. The Word of God, actually, the
Word of God, is our only infallible and certain foundation of assurance. The Word of God. Now, I know
feeling has a place. The mind says, well, I feel saved.
Well, tomorrow you may not feel saved. Or experience. We have
a great experience. We experience the closeness of
our Lord and the closeness of His Spirit and the closeness
of ourselves and nearness of ourselves to Him. But tomorrow,
that experience may not be there. But the Word of God is the same.
like Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. And God said
heaven and earth shall pass away, but not one jot or one tittle
shall pass from my word until every bit of it is fulfilled.
His word never changes. And his word is actually the
only true, infallible, certain, undeniable foundation or rock
of assurance. Experience will fail you, feelings
will fail you, even works shall fail you, although they have
their place. But true assurance and true confidence is born of
a knowledge of, and an interest in, and a confidence in the Word
of God. God said it, therefore I believe
it. God cannot lie. So my assurance,
now my salvation is in Christ. I'm redeemed because he loved
me and gave himself for me. I'm redeemed because he went
to the cross and bore my sins in his body on the tree and died
that I may live. And at this moment, He is my
High Priest and Mediator, interceding on my behalf in the presence
of God, pleading not my works but His wounds, not my deeds
but His deeds. But how do I know that God will
forgive sin? The stars won't tell me that.
The moon and the sun and the trees won't tell me that. And
some human may tell me that, but I can't have confidence in
the flesh. How do I know that God Almighty, the Eternal Sovereign
Holy God, will forgives sin. He says so in His Word. Now,
that's my conflict. How do I know that Jesus Christ
is the only Savior, that there's none other name under heaven
given among men whereby we must be saved, that other foundation
can no man lay than that which is laid, Christ the Lord, that
His blood is effectual and sufficient to the redemption of all who
trust Him? How do I know that? Because somebody said it, well,
they may be lying. No, I know it because God's Word
declares it. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. Now, that's my confidence and
that's my assurance. That's the foundation of my faith.
I know that all who believe on Christ are saved because God
told me that in His Word. I know that if we confess our
sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us of all unrighteousness. How do I know that? Just one
source of information. God's holy word and my friend
I know that the dead shall rise and I know that there's no condemnation
to those who in Christ Jesus and I know that we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and I know all of these
things because God has declared it in his word that's the foundation
of faith not the fruit that's the foundation that's the root
of faith the Word of God let's put first things first first
there's the root and then there's the fruit The root of grace is
faith in Jesus Christ, faith in his word. And the fruit of
grace is works, feeling, assurance, confidence. Let's look back at
our text. Now, let's just follow this text
as the Holy Spirit enables us to develop it. And I pray that
God will make it applicable to your heart. I sincerely pray
that God will take his word and use it for his glory and your
good. Let's see if we can learn something. Four words. You remember
I told you to underscore these words? He said, you heard the
word of truth. You heard it. And then he said,
you believed the gospel. And then he said, you trusted
the Lord Jesus. And then he said, you were sealed.
with that Holy Spirit of promise. Now, let's take them one at a
time. First of all, he said, you heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation. Here's another statement I want
you to consider. I want you to think about this
now. Let me tell you what it is. The
preaching of the gospel, the preaching of the gospel of Jesus
Christ, not just preaching about the gospel, the preaching of
the gospel, of the Lord Jesus Christ is a soul-saving ordinance. Now, baptism is not a soul-saving
ordinance. Nobody is saved by the act of
baptism. Sacraments, communion, the Lord's
table, they're not soul-saving ordinances. Easter, Christmas,
or any other church tradition or holiday is not a soul-saving
ordinance. It cannot save your soul. But,
my friend, the preaching of the gospel is a soul-saving ordinance. How do I know that? Why do I
say that? Because Paul said in Romans 1, 16, the gospel is the
power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it. You
see how important this thing is of preaching the gospel? Somebody
writes in and says, why don't you have more music on your program?
Well, let me tell you something, friend. I just have a short time
with you. And we must devote whatever time
we have to the preaching of the gospel. Somebody says, why don't
you do this and that and the other on the program? We must
devote every moment we have to the preaching of the gospel.
For the preaching of the gospel is the soul-saving ordinance.
Listen to this. God hath chosen by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Not the foolishness
of singing, not the foolishness of visual aids, not the foolishness
of chalk artists, not the foolishness of music. God has chosen by the
foolishness of preaching, not the preaching of foolishness.
But the foolishness of preaching, it's foolishness to them that
perish. It's the wisdom of God to those who believe. But God
has chosen by the preaching of the gospel. to save them that
believe. What I'm doing is a soul-saving
ordinance. Our Lord sent his disciples out
and he said, you go preach the gospel to every creature. He
that believeth that gospel and is baptized shall be saved. And
he that believeth not shall be damned. You hear what I'm saying? Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. James says, of his own will beget
he us with the word of truth. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. But how shall they call on him
in whom they haven't believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they haven't heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be saved?
I know in 1981, on most television programs, radio programs, church
programs, that preaching has been relegated to the scrapheap.
Preaching has been turned into a time of entertainment. It's
been then turned over to a group of comedians. It's been turned
over to the healers and all these other things. But let me tell
you this, the true prophet of God is still preaching the gospel. He's still lifting up the Lord
Jesus Christ, who said, if I be lifted up from the earth, will
draw all men unto me. In every age, God has had his
preachers. In every age, God has had men
who were faithful to the preaching of the gospel. Elijah may have
sinned, but his mantle falls on Elisha. Paul may die. But Timothy preaches the gospel. And the true preacher of the
gospel, of the word of God, has a claim on your attention. For
by the preaching of the gospel, men are saved. And without the
preaching of the gospel, men aren't going to be saved. They
may be religious, and they may enjoy religion, and they may
have a zeal for God. But without the preaching of
the gospel and a revelation of the Holy Spirit, to the heart
of that gospel, man will not deceive. Well, what is this word
of truth that you heard? Paul said, you heard the word
of truth. Well, first of all, it's the
word of God that you heard. It's not human logic. I hear
a lot of human logic today. Well, it seems to me, they'll
say, this is what tradition says, or the philosopher said this.
I'm not interested in what the philosophers say or what tradition
says. Or what human logic says, I'm
interested in the word of God. Paul said, Timothy, preach the
word. I'm not interested in speculation, nor men's thoughts. I'm interested
in the word of God. It is the word of truth. Paul
said that you heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. He said, Brethren,
I declare unto you the gospel which I preach to you, which
you receive, which you believe, wherein you stand, by which you
are saved, how that Christ died for our sins according to the
Scriptures, and that he rose again and ascended to the right
hand of God according to the Scriptures. Our gospel is Christ
incarnate. The angel said to Joseph, Mary
will bring forth a son and thou shall call his name Jesus for
he shall save his people from their sins and this was written
that it might be fulfilled by the prophets as the prophets
said a Virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son and I shall
call his name Emmanuel God with us Christ incarnate that's the
gospel Christ obedient He was made of a woman, made under the
law to redeem them that were born under the law. Christ crucified.
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth on him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. Christ risen. Paul said,
if he be not risen, you're yet in your sins. If he be not risen,
I'm a false witness of God. If he be not risen, those who
are asleep in Christ are perished. If he be not risen, we're yet
in our sins, and we are of all men most miserable, but Christ
is risen. And then Christ ascended, and
Christ interceding. He said, who can condemn me?
Christ died, yea rather is risen again, who is ascended and seated
at the right hand of God, whoever liveth to make intercession for
us." My friend, you heard. You heard. And you better be
able to give a reason for the hope that's in you. And the only
way to give a reason for the hope that's in you, if it's a
sure, certain reason, is what did your Word of God say? You
heard the Word of God. Now watch this. The second word
was believe. He said, you heard the word,
the gospel of your salvation. He said, then you believed it.
Now hearing, listen to me, here's another statement. You weigh
it, think about it. Hearing is no good except it
be received by faith. Can I make good on that? Turn
to Hebrews 4, 2, listen to this. For unto us was the gospel preached
as well as unto them, but the gospel preached unto them. did
not profit them. They heard the gospel too, just
as you've heard it. But he says it didn't profit
them. Why? Not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
So hearing's no good if you don't have faith. Hearing won't accomplish
a thing if you don't believe. Hearing will profit you nothing
if it's not mixed with faith. For Paul said in Hebrews 11,
6, without faith it's impossible to please God. Hearing the gospel,
if it's not mixed with faith, will add to your condemnation.
Death upon death, Paul calls it. He said to him that knoweth
to do his master's will, and did it not, shall be beaten with
many stripes. And this faith, this belief,
embraces all of the Word of God, not just that which I approve.
This is where so many people fail. Well, I believe the Word
of God. That is the part of which I approve. or the part which I understand.
That's not faith. Faith embraces all of the Word
of God. Faith says all Scripture is given
by inspiration of God, and all Scripture is profitable for doctrine,
reproof, for correction, instruction, and righteousness. Man shall
not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth
from the mouth of God. I take all the Word of God by
faith. Faith is not sight. We walk not by sight. We walk
by faith. We walk by heart, confidence
in God's Word. Not part of it, not the part
of which we approve or the part which we understand. But we believe
all the Word of God, knowing that we see in part, we know
in part, we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect
is come, we shall know as we have been known. And faith is
not judged by its quantity. but by its quality. That's the
reason the centurion said, Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. I believe. So there you have
two words. You heard the word of truth. Some of you have never
heard it. Some of you have been going to
church all your lives. You've been programmed to death.
You've never really heard any teaching. You don't really know
anything about the word of God. But some of you have heard the
gospel, and you believe it. Now watch the third word, and
you trust it. Trusted well, you say trust is
just another word for faith. Well, you're right it is Trust
is just another word for belief. You're right and it is But trust
implies more than belief and more than faith. It implies a
commitment Trust is a commitment a surrender listen to Paul He
said I know whom I have believed And I am persuaded he's able
to keep that which I've committed Unto him. I believe Paul said
I believed. I heard and I believed. And I
believed he was able. But I committed it to him. Abraham
believed God, but he still had to go out of his father's house.
Noah believed God, but he still had to build an ark. You see
what I'm saying? Moses believed God, but he still
had to put the blood on the door. So you heard the word, you believed
the word, and then by God's grace, you trusted. You committed it
to Christ. My life, my love. I give to thee,
thy Lamb of God, who died for me." It's faith that justifies
the soul before God. It's obedience that justifies
your faith before me. Show me your faith without your
words. I'll show you my faith by my words. So we heard the
gospel. And we believed the gospel, and
we intelligently and willingly and consciously committed, trusted,
surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ. We received him. Now
the fourth word, and you were sealed. You were sealed with
the Holy Spirit of promise. Now, in hearing, my mind is active. So is my heart. With a heart,
man believeth unto righteousness. In hearing, in believing, my
mind is active. In trusting, my mind is active.
He said, If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord,
and believe in thine heart, God hath raised him from the dead,
thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation. I'm active in all those things.
I heard, I believe, I trust it by God's grace. But in this sealing,
it doesn't say you sealed yourself. It says you were sealed. You
heard. You believe, you trusted, but
what's the difference in the expression? You were sealed.
By whom? The Holy Spirit of promise. In this sealing, I am passive.
It's the work of God's Spirit. In faith, I do something. I believe. In faith, I do something. I commit
myself to Christ. I trust Him. In sealing, I receive
something. God sealed me. God Almighty sealed
me. Salvations of the Lord. It was
God who gave us life. It was God who convicted us by
His Spirit. It was God who baptized us into
the body of Christ. It was God who sealed us by His
Spirit. It was God who taught us by His
Spirit and produced the fruit of His Spirit. And it's God who
keeps us by His power through faith. He said this, I'll make
a covenant with them, an everlasting covenant. I'll not turn away
from them to do them good. I'll put my fear in their hearts.
And they won't turn away from me. That's what our Lord said. I won't turn away from them.
And they won't turn away from me. We persevere in faith and
we are preserved by the power of God, sealed by the Holy Spirit
of promise.