Let me repeat my text one more
time, Hebrews 10, verse 22. Let us draw near with a true
heart in full assurance of faith. Now, I deliberately and most
emphatically state that a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ
will never perish. That's so. Our Lord said, My sheep hear
my voice, and they follow me, and they'll never perish. That's
so. I'm talking about a true believer,
a sheep of Christ. I'm not talking about a church
member, a religious person. I'm talking about a true believer. I emphatically state that no
charge can be leveled or brought against any redeemed child of
God. Paul said, Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? If God has justified me, I'm
justified. If God has redeemed me, I'm redeemed. There's no higher court to which
we can appeal, because I've been cleared by the highest court,
God's throne. There's no condemnation. I emphatically
state, deliberately, that no condemnation in heaven, earth,
or hell can be brought against one for whom Christ died. To
be chosen of God is to be chosen, eternally chosen. To be redeemed
of God is to be eternally redeemed. If God redeemed you, you're redeemed. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes,
what God does, it's forever Nothing can be added to it or taken from
it. If God does it, it's done. To be called by the Holy Spirit
is to be effectually, eternally called. God is the same yesterday,
today, and forever. He said, I never change. The
gifts and calling of God are without change, Romans 11, 29. To be born again is to be born
again. Our Lord didn't say you must
be born again and again and again and again. He said you must be
born again. That which is born of God is
born of God. That which is born of the flesh
is born of the flesh. It can never be anything else.
And that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit, and it can
never be anything else. Now, salvation, contrary to what
many people think today, I saw a pin on a fellow's lapel last
week sometime. I don't even remember where I
saw it, but it said, Try God. Now, you listen to me. Salvation
is not to try God, it's to know God. We've invented so many religious
clichés today, we can't distinguish them from the Word of God, but
that's not the Word of God. Salvation is not to try God,
it's to know God. You don't try God on like you
try on a suit and decide you don't like it and take it back. Salvation is not reformation.
It's regeneration. Salvation is not accepting religious
doctrines. You can persuade a person of
the accuracy of your doctrine and even get him to give mental
agreement to it. But that's not redemption. Salvation
is passing from death to life, not from one doctrinal system
to another, not from one denomination to another. Salvation is passing
from death to life. The Bible knows nothing of our
denominations, nor our denominational names. They're nowhere to be
found in the pages of God's book. Salvation is not laboring for
acceptance with God, serving God in order to be accepted of
God, establishing a righteousness with which I hope God will someday
be pleased. That's not salvation. Salvation
is resting, not laboring, ceasing from my labors and entering into
His rest. It's resting. Christ said, come
unto me and I'll make you work hard. Come unto me and I'll give
you rest. coming to me and I'll give you
peace." Martha was so busy in the kitchen, she came in the
living room there where Christ was seated with Mary's feet,
and she was almost berserk. She said, Master, don't you care
that my sister sits there at your feet and lets me do all
the work? And our Lord said, Martha, Martha,
you're taken up with and cumbered with so much care. Mary had chosen
the good part. She'll never lose it. You're
going to lose what you're doing. I wish we could lock up a religious
person in the United States in a barn and keep them locked up
until God does something for them, and then turn them loose.
Salvation is not serving God, it's resting in Christ. It's
not laboring for acceptance with God, it's resting in Christ. And I deliberately and emphatically
add this. that a true believer in the Lord
Jesus will never perish and no charge can be laid against him
and no condemnation brought upon him, but I say that a true believer
in Christ can have assurance of that salvation. He can enjoy
a fellowship with the Father. I'm not talking about he can
belong to a church and enjoy a social fellowship. with the
congregation. I'm talking about a true believer
can walk with God in it, Dad. You say, but he never lived in
1979. Well, he lived whenever he lived,
and he was a family man, he was a public man, he was a ruling
man, he was an influential man. But he walked with God. He walked
with God. I believe that a true believer
can have a confidence regarding the forgiveness of his sins,
confidence not in his own strength, in his own righteousness, his
own merit, but conscious of a forgiveness of sin by the mercy of God, and confident of it. I believe
a true believer can have a good hope of eternal life, and not
a hope, a hope, a hope, or a wish, but a good hope founded on the
promise of God. I believed God. Abraham believed
God. He believed God when he knew
not where. God said, lead your father's
house and go to a land I'll show you. And he left, not knowing
where he was going. But he believed God. And he believed
God when he knew not why. God told him to sacrifice his
son. He didn't know why, but he believed
God. He looked for a city whose builder
and maker is God. And I believe that a true believer
can have so much confidence and assurance in Christ that he didn't
look forward to dying. I know to most people the worst
thing that could happen to you is to die, but the Apostle Paul
felt that was the best thing that could happen to him. He
said, I have a desire to depart and be with Christ. He said,
really, I'm in a straight betwixt the two. I'm in a bind. I'm torn between two. I want
to stay here with you because I feel like you need me. But
I'd sure like to go be with the Lord. Well, now, what he's saying,
Cecil, I'm torn between two loves. I love you, but I want to be
with Christ. For me to die is gain. For me
to live is Christ, but for me to die is gain. I gain a new
body. I gain eternal happiness. I gain freedom from sin. I gain
a perfect understanding and knowledge. I cease to look through a glass
dimly and begin to see face to face. I quit knowing in part
and begin to know as I have been known. I enter into the joy and
fellowship of a of a perfect union with Christ, and I'm going
to be like him. And David said, I'll be satisfied
when I awake with his likeness. I believe that a true believer,
not a church member, but a true believer, can come to that kind
of confidence and that kind of assurance so that he can walk
with God. David was a man after God's own
heart, but we're aware of David's infirmities. But he knew God
and walked with God. Abraham was the friend of God.
He spoke with God face to face as a man speaks to his friend.
We know Abraham's weaknesses and infirmities. He wasn't perfect.
The apostle Peter was one chosen of the Lord himself, made an
apostle. And yet, oh, how he failed on
so many occasions. But he said, Lord, you know I
love you. Everybody else may doubt it,
but you know it. There's no problem between me
and you. And he can look forward to it. Now, I know there are
whole denominations that are an outspoken religionist who
vigorously oppose what I'm preaching, assurance of salvation. I know
there are whole denominations that just oppose this thing of
being confident and being sure and having an assurance of your
interest in Christ. And you don't have to go very
far to get in a real fuss over once saved, always saved. That's
another cliché. See, that's not in the Bible,
but that's people build a straw man, just beat the daylights
out of it, and feel like that they've won a great battle. And
then you don't have to go very far to get in a fuss over the
security of the believer, or once in grace, always in grace. There are whole denominations
that have been organized against those statements. And any insistence
upon, or any preaching of, an assurance of salvation, a confidence
in Christ, a certainty of hope, it offends them, and it annoys
them greatly. And then secondly, there are
others who believe that the redeemed will be saved, but they doubt
that they're one of them. You see what I'm saying? They're
a little closer to the scripture than these other folks that believe
you can get saved today and lost tomorrow, and get saved the next
day and lost the next day. But there are others who are
a little closer to the scripture who honestly feel that it borders
on presumption to entertain assurance or a thought of confidence. And
it really, if you stay in a state of doubt, that's supposed to
be humble. That's supposed to reveal humility.
Oh, I don't know whether I'm saved or not. The good Lord knows.
Now, that's not humble, and that's not establishing a humility. This is to be regretted. It does
a lot of harm. But there are some folks who
will tell you, yes, I believe that the sheep of Christ will
be saved. I believe that all who are in Christ will be redeemed.
I believe all for whom he died will be in heaven. But nobody
can really know if they're one of them. I'm going to deal with
that. Then there are many presumptuous
fools who claim an assurance of salvation for which they have
no scriptural basis at all. That's to be regretted. There
are many people especially among Baptists and Presbyterians, especially. and reformed people who have
an assurance that they're all right with God and that if they
died right now they'd go to heaven and that they're saved. And they
base it on these things. Now here's some of the things
they base their assurance on. They were brought up in a Christian
home. Mom and dad were Christians and they were brought up in a
Christian environment and they were sprinkled as an infant or
they were confirmed and catechized And they were educated in the
doctrines of the Church, and while they may not be saints
and while they may not be all out for God, at least they're
all right. I believe I'm all right. I don't
think I'm lost. I think if I die, I'd go to heaven
because of this religious heritage. Now, that's a poor foundation
for assurance. And then there's, let's get closer
home. There may be some right here this morning. They made
a profession of faith when they were in the junior department
of a Baptist church. They had a revival meeting. The
evangelist was there, and they were trying to reach 250 or 500
in Sunday school, and everybody was there, and the evangelist
preached, and then he gave an invitation, and there was a little
weeping and a little sadness, and the organ was playing, the
choir singing, just as I am. Somebody came and took you by
the arm and said, ìDonít you want to trust the Lord?î And
you said, ìWell, I figure I might as well. Everybody else is.î
And down the aisle you came, you know, and they all stood
around, shook hands, and you smiled, and they hugged your
neck, and glad you're saved, you know, and you were baptized
and joined the church. I'm not making fun. That's the
saddest thing I know anything about. That's sad. But a lot of folks, are you saved? I've had people come to my study
and to this congregation. with problems and troubles and
heartaches and sours and messed up lives, and I say, well, let's
just talk about the gospel and your relationship with the Lord.
Oh, I'm saved. Oh, are you? Yes, sir, I'm saved. I made a
profession when I was a kid, 12, 14 years old. I know I'm
saved. Of course, I haven't worshiped
God in about ten years, and I haven't read my Bible in about eight
years, and I haven't prayed in six years, and I haven't talked
decently to my wife in twelve years, and I haven't been stealing
from my employer for twenty years. But I'm saying, yes, you are. From what? That's sad. And then other people
have studied the Bible, they've taught Sunday school, they've
held office in the church. One of the greatest pitfalls
of religion is to hold an office in the church. Because people
find a refuge in that. Are you a Christian? Well, I'm
a deacon. Are you a Christian? You know,
I'm a preacher. I didn't ask you if you were
a preacher, I asked you if you were a Christian. Are you saved? That doesn't automatically
make you a Christian because you hold an office in the Church.
Actually, the only office I find among the twelve disciples was
held by Judas. It was the only office, Charlie.
Is that correct? Treasurer. I don't know anybody else held
an office but the one lost man. And you can go through the Scripture
and you can find these fellows that held offices and had authority,
and usually it was fleshly. That's regrettable, but it's
so. And then there's another sandy foundation that men build
upon, and that is their morality. I'm as good as you are. I'm as
good as anybody in your church. Well, that may be so. But my
friend, you're not as good as God. And the test judgment will
not be whether or not you are as good as I am. But does your
holiness and righteousness match the glory of God? There's the
problem. I've sinned and come short of
the glory of God. But I want to present to you
four things this morning, briefly, about assurance and about a confidence
in Christ, an assurance of salvation. And these are the four things.
Number one, assurance is scriptural. Now, men abuse any good doctrine. It'll be abused, it'll be abused
by someone. No matter what you preach, salvation
by grace, someone will turn it into lasciviousness. If you preach
a liberty in Christ, which a believer has, a liberty not bound by laws
and rules and regulations, he's governed by love. He has love
for Christ and Christ's love for him and his love for other
people. And you're not to put the believer under a system of
rules and regulations and laws. All the law is fulfilled in one
word, L-O-V-E. But somebody's going to misuse
that. They'll do it every time. They'll exercise a liberty that
leads to lasciviousness and licentiousness and evil. Well, I'm a Christian. I'm saved. I can get drunk if
I want to. Well, some fool will do that. But we can't destroy all the
ropes because somebody hangs himself, or all the knives because
somebody cuts their throats. And I'm not going to destroy
the truth of God's Word because some fool abuses it. We're not
free to sin, we're free to serve God, and love God, and glorify
God. And a true believer walks in
pairs of righteousness because he loves Christ, not because
he wants to exercise a liberty. Assurance is scriptural. Secondly,
a man may be redeemed, truly saved, and not have assurance. And here are some reasons why
some believers don't have assurance, and then I'll close with why
it ought to be our goal to have assurance. Let's turn to the
scripture now, to the book of Job first. Assurance is scriptural. What do you mean assurance? This
is what I'm saying. That a true believer walks with
God, knows God, has peace and confidence that he's saved, that
he's redeemed, that Christ is his Lord, he has a hope for heaven,
he looks forward to being with Christ, he knows he's not perfect,
but he knows his sins are under the blood of Christ and he's
a child of God. He loves God and walks with God. Now, that's
Scripture. In Job 19, verse 25. Let's look at Job 19, 25. Here's
this man called Job who said, I know that my Redeemer liveth. Job 19, 25. I know that my Redeemer
liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon this earth.
And though after my skin worms destroy this body, we're going
to die and go back to the dust, that's so, yet in my flesh shall
I see God, whom I shall see for myself. And mine eyes shall behold
another, though my reins be consumed within me." I'm going to see
the Lord. That's confidence in Him, and
that's what I'm talking about. That's assured. I don't think
it can be presumptuous to follow men like Job. Is that presumption?
What about Psalm 23? You can quote this without looking
up. The Lord is my shepherd, David
said. I shall not walk. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life, and I shall, I will dwell
in the house of the Lord forever. Is that presumption? Is it presumptuous
for me to follow a man like David? Listen to Paul, you know this
without turning to us, 2 Timothy 1.12, I know whom I have believed,
and I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed
unto him. Is that presumption? Is it presumptuous for me to
follow Paul? Listen to John, we know that we've passed from
death unto life. Is that presumption? 2 Peter
1.10, give diligence to make your calling and election, what's
that next word? Sure. S-U-R-E. Now, brethren,
it's not presumptuous to believe God. And God said, he that believeth
on the Son hath life. It's not presumptuous to take
God at His word. And God said, he that hath the
Son hath life. It's not presumptuous to take
the Son of God at His word, and He said, come to Me, I'll give
you rest. I believe Him. I believe it's
foolishness not to believe Him. It's not presumptuous to follow
men like Job and David and Peter and Paul. It can't be presumptuous
to trust Christ. I trust Him. There's not a man
in this congregation who has a child that hasn't done this.
Not a one of you. You'll be carrying your little
boy or little girl about the age of my granddaughter, a year
and a half or two years, especially when they get, you know, where
they hug your neck and they call you by name and love you, and
you'll put them up on a bench or up on the banisters of the
house, and you'll move your hand and say, jump. Every one of you
has done that, haven't you? Jump on it. Daddy will catch
you. Now how in the world would you feel if that child looked
at you and shook his head and said, Daddy wouldn't catch me.
Daddy would drop me. Boy, I'd cut my heart out. But
no, they don't do that. Thank God they trust us more
than we trust our Heavenly Father. And we're not as trustworthy
as He is, Dick. We're not as trustworthy as He
is. No, the little fellas just look
down at you with all the confidence in the world and cast themselves
off. And you catch them, and then you hug them, you know.
And you know what you're hugging them for? Because they believed you.
And I'll tell you this, I'm going to believe my Heavenly Father,
and I believe he's going to hug me. I'm going to believe him
sink or swim, I'm going to go to him. I'm going to cast myself
without any assurance, without any written guarantee, I'm going
to cast myself on the mercy of God and Christ Jesus. And you
call that presumption if you want to. But I believe God. I'd
rather believe God than believe men. All men are liars. God cannot
lie. It's not presumptuous to have
confidence in the merits of Christ. But preacher, I doubt myself.
I doubt myself too. But I'm not saving myself. I
didn't die for myself, and I'm not interceding for myself. Christ
died for my sins. And he's my mediator. I trust
him. That's scriptural. Assurance is scriptural. All
right? Here's the second thing. A man may be redeemed and not
have assurance. That's right. He may be redeemed
and not have assurance. You can have a root without having
a flower. And that root can have life in it. And it may someday
produce a flower. But right now there's no flower
to be seen. But it's living. And even so, a man can have faith
in Christ because salvation is by faith, not by assurance. The Scripture says, he that believeth
on the Son hath life. It doesn't say he that knows
he believes has life. Scripture says, faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. It doesn't say you
have to have assurance, but faith. Now, faith may be weak, faith
may be infant faith, it may be childlike faith, and still be
genuine. Let me give you some examples.
What is faith? Faith is that poor, sick, trembling
woman who was sick for 12 years, who came crawling in the press,
in the crowd, and reached out and touched the hem of his garment.
For she said, If I can touch but the hem of his garment, I'll
be made whole. That's faith. Assurance is Stephen being stoned
by his murderers and looking up into heaven and saying, I
see Christ at the right hand of the Father. Lord Jesus, receive
my spirit. That's assurance. Faith is the
penitent thief, confessing his sins and crying, Lord, be merciful
to me, be sinner. Remember me when you come into
your kingdom. An assurance is Job sitting in
the dust and ashes crying, I know my Redeemer liveth. That's the
difference. The thief says, I'm getting what
I deserve. But he hasn't done anything wrong. I plead for mercy. I plead to be remembered. Now
that's faith. But assurance is a man who knows
he has been remembered. And saying, I know my Redeemer
lives. Faith is Peter drowning. sinking beneath the waves and
reaching out his hand and saying, Lord, save me or I perish. That's
faith. But assurance is Peter crying before the council in
Jerusalem, there's none other name under heaven given among
men whereby we must be saved. Faith is the centurion crying,
Lord, I do believe, help my unbelief. Assurance is Paul saying who
can lay anything to the charge of God's elect. So when we're
talking about assurance, we're not talking about a question
of saved or not saved. It's a question of privilege
or no privilege, peace or no peace. That's what we're talking
about. A man can be saved and not have
assurance. Here are some of the reasons
why men do not have assurance. Let me give you three. I think
there are many, I'm sure, but these are the three most important. three that I would say cause
us most trouble. Number one, why don't we have
assurance? One cause of doubts is a lack
of understanding or a defective view of how we justify. Now brethren, justification and
sanctification are not the same. Where a man has been justified,
he has been sanctified. I know that. Where a man has
been sanctified, he has been justified. I know that. But we
must not confuse them together. I am saved, I am pardoned, I
am forgiven, I am justified by the work of Christ alone. Not
by my works, not by my cooperation, not by my merit, not by anything
that I have done or that I ever shall do. You see what I'm saying? Justification is by Christ alone. I'm not saved by praying. Now, let me say this. I'm not
saved because I pray, but no man will ever be saved who doesn't
pray. Now, I don't have to explain that to you, but it's so. I'm
not saved by my works, but no man's ever been saved who does
not work in the Kingdom of God. I'm not saved by Actually, watch
this now. Be careful, Henry. But I'm not
saved because I believe. But no man has ever been saved
without believing. What are you saying, Preacher? I'm saying
this. I was saved because Jesus Christ came down here on this
earth. My representative, my substitute, my sin offering,
my Savior. And as a man, he was born of
a woman, like I was, made under the law. And he met the law head
on, as a human being, as a man, bone of my bone, flesh of my
flesh. Now you stay with me now. And this is what preachers aren't
preaching. I'm not saved because I believed.
I'm saved because of my substitute came down here. God is not only
love, but God's righteous. God's not only merciful, but
God's just. He cannot, will not, must not
clear the guilty. He says that. See, it's got to
be punished. What kind of judge is it who
lets the criminal go free without punishing him? The law must be
satisfied. God's justice must be honored.
What kind of God do you have? Says one thing and does another?
He says the soul that sins, it shall die. My law is going to
be honored, God said. Christ said I didn't come to
destroy the law, but to fulfill it. So I was saved because a
substitute came down here and took my place. But you say the
innocent can't die for the guilty and satisfy the law. You're right
too, but Christ wasn't innocent. He was guilty by imputation.
He became one with us. He was numbered with the transgressors.
He became identified with us. That's the reason He didn't answer
when they charged Him with all these crimes. That's the reason
the Heavenly Father turned His back on His Son, because Christ
actually was made sin for us. He became sin. He took our sin. So I'm saying, now listen to
me, I wouldn't offend you, but this is why we don't have any
assurance. We don't have any assurance because
we don't know how men are saved. We don't know how men are justified
before God. We don't understand how sins
are forgiven. Sins aren't forgiven because
you made a decision, or because you believe the doctrine, or
you made a profession of faith, or you believe God. That's not
when God wiped your sins off the book. He wiped your sins
off when Christ paid for them. God didn't do your holiness because
you quit drinking. You quit drinking because God
gave you a holiness. It's different. God didn't give
you a holiness because you quit taking his name in vain. You
walk down the church because you just might do it again. I
imagine you will. Because any time you use God's
name that's not glorifying to his name, you've taken it in
vain. God gave you a holiness and a
righteousness when Christ obeyed the law for you. when he fulfilled
every jot and tittle of God's law. That's when God let you
out of jail. That's when God lifted the curse
from off you. That's when God delivered you
from death's rope. That's when God delivered you
from bondage, from the dungeon. It's when Christ fulfilled every
requirement of his law and met his holy justice and paid the
debt. Paul said there's no condemnation
to them who in Christ That's where there's no conduct to those
who are in the church, or in the baptister, or in the faith,
or in a certain denomination, in Christ! Why? Because Christ
died for us. I don't have assurance I'm a
child of God because I go to church on Sunday. I go to church
on Sunday because I love to. I love to worship God, I love
to hear his word, I love to meet with his people. I'd rather be
with them than be with the other folks, you know, out yonder who
don't know God. But I'm not saved because I made
a profession of faith and was baptized and joined the Church.
Brethren, my record is clear and clean before God because
Christ cleaned it and cleared it and satisfied it and enabled
God to be just and justifier. He enabled God to give me a righteousness
and a holiness without which no man will see the Lord. That's
justification. Now then, sanctification is God
working in us a work of grace and a work of love, and we're
progressively sanctified. We're sanctified by the Word.
You see what I'm saying? And by the blood of Christ, and
by the Word of God, and by the work of the Holy Spirit, and
we... That brings me to the second reason why we don't have assurance.
Number one is we don't know how we justify. It's out of us and
not of us and away from us. It's something that took place
between the Father and the Son. Justification is. Forgiveness,
remission, salvation. Christ came down here and did
for us what we couldn't do. He restored my soul, he paid
my debt, he redeemed me, and God looks not on me, he looks
on Christ. But then there's another reason why men don't have assurance,
and that is a slow growth in grace. Some folks expect just a growing
grace overnight. Now let me tell you something. You go out and plant an apple
tree. I've had a little experience with this. I've got apple trees
and pear trees. Don't expect a full tree of fruit the first
year after you plant that tree. You'll be disappointed. Don't
run out and cut it down because it's not just laden and covered
and filled with fruit. Give it a little while. And I
know when a fellow comes and hears the gospel and he says,
Now, that's the gospel. I believe that. Now, be patient
with him. Because he's not going to bust
out all over with love and joy and peace and meekness and humility
and all these things tomorrow, or the next day, or the next
day. That growth is going to be slow.
He'll grow a little in grace, and he'll slip back, and he'll
grow, and he'll fall and fumble and stumble, and he'll grow,
and then he'll lose his temper, and then somebody says, I thought
you was a Christian. Oh, I hate that. And he'll grow a little more,
you know, and then he'll disappoint somebody. But after a while,
by God's grace, the fruit will be there. But we get discouraged,
and what a struggle the Apostle Peter had. You ever heard the
life of that man? What a struggle. He was one of
God's own. I'll tell you another cause of,
turn to Galatians 5, another cause of, the reason why we don't
have assurance. And these are the three things. This is so. These are the three
things. Number one, if you just remember how God saved you, it
wasn't what you did, it's what Christ did. It was a transaction
between the Father and the Son. Secondly, if you remember that
another thing, folks, you're not going to grow unless you
hear the Word. If you go where the Word is not
preached, you're not going to grow. You know, this always disappoints
me. We're so careful to give our
children the best education, send them to the best schools,
we feed them the best food, we get them the best clothes, and
then we'll let them sit and listen to somebody that doesn't know
beans about God's Word. We're so, talking about jogging
and health and eating the right thing, getting the right rest,
protecting our, caring for our bodies. How about your soul? Your body's going to wind it
up in a few years. Your soul's going to go right
on in. Are you feeding it? Are you exercising it? Are you
listening to the word? You better find you somebody
telling the truth and listen to him. Find out what this book
says. That's the reason you don't grow.
You don't feed that soul of yours, that spirit of yours. You don't
hear anything. What you're feeding it on is
depressing, not helpful. The third reason why men don't
have assurance is that agonizing presence of that old nature.
Preacher, would I think the things I think if I was a child of God?
Yeah. Unfortunately, yes. In Galatians
5.16, this I say then, walk in the Spirit. Now, here's what
we need to do. We need to walk in the Spirit.
We need to walk in a fellowship with God, his word, his people. And then you won't fulfill the
lust of the flesh. If you run with the wrong crowd,
you're going to have more opportunity to do evil. If you don't feed
your soul with the word of God and fellowship with the people
of God, you're going to have more avenues of trouble and sin. Because, verse 17, here's the
reason, "...for the flesh lusteth against the Spirit." The word
lust is in opposition. Now, usually today we use the
word lust all in connection with one thing, and that's sex. And
that's wrong. Men lust for power. They lust for fame. They lust
for riches. They lust for personal glory.
They desire and make warfare to get a lot of things. And here
the flesh, what is the flesh? That's the old nature. That's
the faults of the old nature. the inclinations of the old nature
and the desires of the old nature and the passions of the old nature. The old nature is at warfare
with the new nature. You see, you were born with an
old nature. You were born in sin. You came
into this world with flesh, eyes that see and ears that hear and
a mind that thinks and a heart that has affections, and this
mind thinks on things it shouldn't, and this heart on things it shouldn't,
it loves things it shouldn't. And that's an old nature that's
going to stay with you, but God puts within you a new nature,
a new man, a new spirit, a divine spirit. And that old nature of
yours is at war with that new nature, and that new nature is
at war with that old nature. Look at it there, the flesh lusted
against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these
are contrary one to the other, so you can't do what you would. The new nature is not going to
let the old nature take over. It's not going to do it. God's divine nature that he puts
within you is not going to let you do it. You're sitting at
your desk and someone comes in with an opportunity to make some
money that's dishonest and not on the up and up, and that old
nature says, you could use a new car. That old nature says, maybe
it needs braces. Johnny's going to college, and
it wouldn't hurt, but that new nature says, no, it would hurt
too. It's not right. See that? That
old nature sees something it desires, and the old nature says, it won't
hurt anything, nobody's going to know. Go ahead. You're out
of town, you're away from your family, it's all right. That
new nature says, uh-uh, it's not all right either. You see
that conflict? And you can't do, that old nature
can't do what it will do. But that new nature gets up in
the morning and says, today, I'm going to keep my temper,
I'm going to walk with God, I'm going to pray all day, I'm not
going to sin. I'll bet on that. That old nature
will not let you do that either. You're not going to do it. This
is just, Old Brother Mews used to say, cornbread, tater roll,
preaching it. We need to go back to it. We need to talk about
things as they are. tell men the truth so that they
can cope with these things. And that's the reason a lot of
men and women don't have assurance. They expect to arrive at a perfection
in this life, and brethren, let me tell you, turn to, where is
that? Philippians, Paul said, Philippians
3, here's the apostle Paul talking. He says in Philippians 3, 12, I'm not perfect. I haven't attained,
and I'm not perfect. And that's the reason you don't
have assurance. Charlie, here are the three things right here.
Number one, folks don't know how God justifies sinners. Now,
if you knew it was Christ alone and you could rest, you knew,
I don't make a contribution to the salvation of my soul so I
can rest. Christ can handle it all right.
Believe in anything. And then my growth, my spiritual
growth. It's going to be slow. It's going
to take time. God's going to have to put me
through sorrow and trouble and sickness and trial. And the only
way to learn patience is tribulation. Now you're not going to learn
this from a book. You're going to learn it by God
dealing with you providentially. And this is chastening. God doesn't
punish his people because they do this, that, and the other.
They don't live in a fear all the time of God who will give
them a whip because they do. God chastens his sons. He disciplines
his sons. He teaches us by trial and trouble. And then another thing, that
old nature, you're going to deal with it, and you may as well
face it. It's going to be there a while until you die. Now, here's
some reasons why assurance ought to be desired, and I've got to
quit. First of all, assurance is to be desired because it gives
me peace and rest in my daily life. If I know, if I have assurance
that I'm in Christ, I can have a peace and a joy and a rest. My heart would not be troubled.
Secondly, assurance gives me patience and joy in trials and
tribulations. And I've had a few, and some
of you have. And I found my comfort in the presence of the Lord,
that all things work together for good to them who love God,
who are called according to His purpose. I don't care what happens
tomorrow. It will be for your good and God's glory if you are
one of His children. I don't care what it is. Your baby may
die tomorrow, but now if that baby does and you are one of
God's children, it will be for that baby's good and your good
and God's glory. That's so. I believe that. And
that gives me rest, that gives me joy in tribulation. Suppose
the doctor tells me tomorrow that I have six months to live.
That's God's will, it wouldn't happen for his people. John Newton said, I'm content
with beholding his face. My awe to his pleasure resigns. No changes of season or place
would make any change in my mind. While blessed with a sense of
his love, a palace, a toy, would appear, and prisons would palaces
prove, if Christ would dwell with me there. His name yields
the richest perfume, and sweeter than music his voice. His presence
disperses my gloom, and makes all within me rejoice. I should,
were he always thus now, have nothing to wish or to fear, no
mortal as happy as I, My summer would last all the year. And
then assurance produces holiness. One of the great old writers
years ago said, Assurance leads to indifference, to carelessness. I don't believe that. The word of God says, He that
hath this hope within him purifies himself. That's the difference
in the old writer and the Word of God. The old writer said,
Assurance leads to indifference and carelessness. God said, We're
going to see him and be like him, and he that hath this hope
purifies himself. May you come by God's grace to
an assurance, a full assurance of faith. Our Father, thank you
for your Word and the promises of your Word. We thank thee,
O Lord, you've given us some understanding of this precious
book, you've given us a confidence and an assurance