-
...Christian assurance.
-
And I want to because it seems like
-
I've just been getting
a number of questions
-
asked about it lately.
-
I've been receiving emails.
-
And I guess that's what I want
to talk about tonight.
-
Assurance.
-
What do we mean when we say that?
-
Christian context - what
do we mean by that?
-
Assurance.
-
(from the room)
-
Assurance of salvation?
-
Tim: Right.
-
What do we mean?
-
That we can be sure of it.
-
That we can be sure that we're saved.
-
Anybody say it a different way?
-
Know with confidence
-
that we're saved.
-
Anybody say it another way?
-
It's confirmed.
-
There's confidence.
-
There's surety.
-
Evidence - we might say that.
-
Evidence.
-
Assurance has to do with the confidence;
-
a certainty.
-
Ok.
-
I can tell you this.
-
I've told you folks this before,
-
but I remember when I was first converted.
-
I went to a church:
-
Calvary Bible Church
in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
-
And in fact, when I was back up there,
-
Ruby and I and the children,
-
we went back and we visited
-
in Kalamazoo, MI.
-
We went to church back there
-
at Calvary in August.
-
When I was first converted
-
and I was in that church,
-
typically at the end of the sermon,
-
they had a sound booth
-
positioned right in the middle
-
of this auditorium.
-
It seated about 1,200 people,
-
had a balcony,
-
a lot of people.
-
They would have a guy in the sound room.
-
And right at the end,
-
you know, he would work this thing up
-
and he would get people where
-
he'd try to get the emotions moving,
-
and the guy would have the sound dial
-
(probably more linear).
-
He would start moving that thing up.
-
So you would have this
very enchanting music
-
begin to come in.
-
And he would say,
-
"Just believe. Just believe."
-
And I can remember at those times
-
I would have my eyes wide open.
-
I know I've told this story before.
-
I'd have my eyes wide open
-
and I'd be looking around
at all those people.
-
And of course, I was a product.
-
I was saved in 1990.
-
John MacArthur came out with his book:
-
"The Gospel According to Jesus."
-
I think it was released publicly in '88.
-
So that book was kind of at its prime.
-
He was writing the Gospel
-
according to Jesus as he saw it
-
coming out of the Gospels.
-
God used that book to save me.
-
That book was largely about
-
the necessity of repentance
-
in being converted.
-
It was about the whole
Lordship controversy.
-
And of course, there were a lot of people
-
writing against him
-
that were denying
the necessity of repentance.
-
Denying that you had to bow the knee
-
to Jesus Christ.
-
They were saying that was adding
-
something to salvation.
-
So here I am,
-
saved right in the heart
-
of that controversy
-
through the materials of John MacArthur.
-
So you know where my bias was.
-
And you can imagine what I was convinced
-
was the truth.
-
And I was convinced of that
-
not just MacArthur said it
-
but because when I went to the Bible,
-
I saw it there.
-
And so now when this guy is up here
-
saying, "just believe, just
believe, just believe,"
-
and I'm going to the Sunday school class -
-
the singles Sunday school class
-
in that church,
-
and I got this girl over here
-
coming to me and talking to me
-
telling me she's sleeping
with her boyfriend.
-
And that guy over there,
I'm talking to him,
-
and he says he's got a drinking problem.
-
I'm thinking, well, what?
-
You got saved and now once in a while
-
you go back?
-
The guy's getting drunk every day.
-
I got another guy over here,
-
he invites me to his bachelor party.
-
And I'm thinking, wow, this is great.
-
Now it's not going to be like
-
the ones I knew when I was lost.
-
We're going to go over there,
-
probably exhort the guy
from the Scriptures.
-
We pull in his yard.
-
There's a keg.
-
And I'm thinking,
-
something is wrong here.
-
I joined the softball team.
-
There's a guy on the team.
-
His mouth is so filthy and so foul.
-
And I said something
to the coach.
-
Isn't that guy supposed
to be a Christian?
-
"Well, he's a Christian.
-
He just fell in with a bad crowd."
-
And I got looking at all that
-
and I thought something is wrong here.
-
They asked me to write an
article for the paper.
-
I wrote it about the nature
-
of biblical repentance.
-
They shot it down
-
and would not publish it.
-
Well, now here's this guy in this pulpit
-
every week saying,
-
"Just believe, just
believe, just believe."
-
And I wanted to stand up and shout,
-
(and I almost did)...
-
If the Spirit of God had moved upon me
-
a little bit more, I probably would have.
-
But I wanted to shout,
-
"No! It's repent and believe!"
-
Well, that's basically where
my beginnings were.
-
And so, I have been adamant
-
about Lordship.
-
I mean, here I was in the tensions
-
when I was under conviction.
-
What does it profit a man
-
if he gains the whole world
-
and loses his own soul?
-
What's Christ saying there?
-
He's saying unless a man forsakes
-
the whole world,
-
he will lose his own soul.
-
That's what that means.
-
That's the tension I was in.
-
I mean, I've told some of you before,
-
I had "The Gospel According to Jesus"
-
and I had the forty ouncer,
-
and I'm telling you, I was trying to run.
-
I was being drawn,
-
but at the same time
-
I was trying to run.
-
"God, leave me alone!"
-
If you'll just let me enjoy my sin
-
like I used to,
-
I'll get rid of this book.
-
I'll go back.
-
Just let me...
-
But there's this tension,
-
this pulling.
-
And I knew it.
-
It was like in one ear
-
I could hear the devil saying to me,
-
"You can't give up your life.
-
You can't give up that lifestyle.
-
You can't give up those friends.
-
You can't give those things up.
-
All your idols.
-
That's who you are.
-
That's what you're known for.
-
That's your reputation.
-
You don't want to live
without that reputation."
-
And I would think,
-
yeah, you're right.
-
And then I would hear that Word:
-
What will it profit you if you gain
-
all that reputation
-
and all those idols
-
and all those things
-
and lose your own soul?
-
And so this battle back and forth...
-
I was birthed into the
Kingdom through that.
-
I knew Christ would forgive me
-
if I came to Him.
-
I knew there was rest there.
-
But I knew what He was
going to require of me.
-
And when I finally let go,
-
and said, "Lord, help me."
-
He saved me in a moment.
-
Here's what it seems like happened.
-
You had everybody talking about
-
the carnal Christian heresy.
-
What's the carnal Christian heresy?
-
Well, basically, it goes right along
-
with this whole deal.
-
What is it?
-
Well, it's basically saying this:
-
That there were guys that were
-
actually even responding to MacArthur -
-
you know some of the names.
-
They're out there.
-
Most of them came from
Dallas Theological Seminary.
-
They wrote books against MacArthur.
-
Back and forth.
-
They were saying things like this:
-
You could actually at one
point in time believe,
-
and because you made that
-
one-time decision, you could actually
-
fall into all sorts of notorious sins.
-
You could even actually fall
-
eventually into atheism.
-
And I remember MacArthur saying
-
these guys are advocating you can become
-
an unbelieving believer.
-
And he's like what is that?
-
Exactly.
-
What is that?
-
What in the world is that?
-
And so what happens is
-
trying to put away these errors;
-
trying to put away this idea
-
that you can be a Christian
-
and live any way you want,
-
which is basically a denial
-
of regeneration.
-
That's basically what it is.
-
Because God says if He saves you,
-
He's going to give you a new heart.
-
God says if He saves you,
-
He's going to put His Spirit within you.
-
God says if He saves you,
-
He's going to write that
law on your heart.
-
That's what it says.
-
The Scripture says if by the Spirit
-
you don't put to death
the deeds of the body,
-
you're going to die.
-
This is a life and death thing.
-
Jesus Christ comes along and He says
-
it's not anybody and everybody
that says to Me, "Lord, Lord,"
-
that's going to inherit
the Kingdom of Heaven.
-
He says it's the ones
that do the will
-
of My Father in Heaven.
-
Basically, if there is not such
-
a radical transformation in your life
-
that old things pass away,
-
all things become new,
-
and you're a new creation in Christ,
-
keeping the will of the Father,
-
if that's not true about you,
-
you haven't been born again.
-
I mean, that is where
repentance flows from.
-
Repentance flows from
a renewed man or woman.
-
It flows from one who is born again;
-
radically transformed by God -
-
by the power of God.
-
And we have undoubtedly in our church
-
and folks like you that gather here
-
for the Bible study,
-
you have embraced these things.
-
I think most of you have.
-
You like these things.
-
But I'll tell you,
-
what I think is happening -
-
now listen to me,
-
Satan is cunning.
-
Oh, he is cunning.
-
There is a text - now listen to this.
-
Paul says this in 2 Corinthians 11:3.
-
I'm going to read the ESV.
-
And then I'm going to
read the New King James.
-
2 Corinthians 11:3.
-
By the way, the NAS, the old King James
-
are virtually the same; pretty close
-
to the New King James.
-
So you'll get the flavor there.
-
Listen to the ESV first.
-
"I am afraid that as the serpent
-
(there's the devil)
-
as the serpent deceived Eve
-
by his cunning,
-
your thoughts be led astray
-
from a sincere and pure
-
devotion to Christ."
-
Now the New King James:
-
"I fear lest somehow as the serpent
-
deceived Eve by his craftiness,
-
so your minds may be corrupted
-
from the simplicity that is in Christ."
-
The reason I wanted to use that one;
-
the NAS, the New King James,
-
the old King James,
-
they all use that word: simplicity.
-
Listen.
-
There is a simplicity in Christ.
-
What is the craftiness
-
that Paul's worried about?
-
The cunning of the devil?
-
It is to move us away from Christ.
-
And I'll tell you this,
-
if all of a sudden,
-
the movement in the church
-
is to reintroduce and
reemphasize repentance,
-
guess what his craftiness will be?
-
Guess where the danger is?
-
He would gladly have us to believe
-
you can be a Christian and live like hell.
-
But ok, if they're not going to buy that,
-
if they're going to move back to Lordship
-
and there's going to be a resurgence
-
of repentance,
-
then let's do this:
-
let's get them so focused on repentance;
-
let's get them so focused on themselves
-
bending the knee to Christ
-
and what that looks like
-
that they're no longer setting their eyes
-
simply on Christ.
-
You see, there is a simplicity
-
in the Gospel.
-
And there is a simplicity in what it is
-
coming to Christ in the beginning.
-
And there is a simplicity of where
-
our strength as a Christian comes from
-
in the Christian life;
-
in Christ.
-
And Satan will seek to divert us away
-
in his craftiness all the time.
-
Oh, let us go back to repentance.
-
But if he's going to have us go back there
-
then he would have us
look away from Christ
-
in the midst of our repentance.
-
Now, you say, wait a second,
-
I thought you were going to speak
-
on assurance.
-
Oh yeah.
-
Think with me here.
-
You know what?
-
Satan - basically his strategies:
-
keep the lost lost.
-
If somebody is saved,
-
keep them powerless.
-
And you know what?
-
You keep the lost lost
-
when you keep them blind to Christ,
-
and you keep the saved powerless
-
when you keep their eyes off of Christ.
-
How does that relate to assurance?
-
Folks, let me ask you this:
-
Have any of you ever asked a Catholic
-
if they know they're going to heaven?
-
I have.
-
And you know what?
-
Now you may prove me wrong on this,
-
and somebody watching is going to say,
-
"Wait a second! I'm a Catholic
-
and I wouldn't answer that way."
-
And you know what?
-
That may be.
-
You may find exceptions.
-
But I can tell you this,
-
I've talked to many Catholics
-
and I've asked them this question.
-
And I have never found one answer
-
to the contrary.
-
Do you know you're going to heaven?
-
Do you know what they say?
-
Have you ever asked one?
-
What do they say?
-
I hope so.
-
I've gotten that answer
-
from almost everyone.
-
If not exactly that answer,
-
something that's basically comparable
-
to that answer.
-
I hope so.
-
You know where that comes from?
-
That comes from the top.
-
What do I mean by that?
-
Have you ever heard of
the Council of Trent?
-
Basically, many of the Catholic dogmas
-
were asserted or reasserted
-
in that council.
-
Let me tell you this,
-
Council of Trent;
-
16th Canon, 6th Session, says this:
-
Now listen to this very carefully:
-
"If anyone saith that he will for certain
-
of an absolute and infallible certainty
-
have the great gift of perseverance
-
unto the end,
-
unless he have learned this
-
by special revelation,
-
let him be anathema."
-
In other words,
-
if you say that you have confidence
-
and assurance of salvation
-
in the end of this life,
-
they say we pronounce our curse
-
of damnation on you.
-
That's what they say.
-
Now, isn't it interesting,
-
they give that exception,
-
"unless he have learned this
-
by special revelation."
-
Why do you think they added that?
-
I'll tell you why they added it,
-
because it helps them explain
-
somebody like Paul.
-
Because if they can't explain
-
some of the things Paul says about himself
-
they're in real trouble.
-
Like what does Paul say?
-
"I am not ashamed..."
-
2 Timothy 1:12
-
"...for I know Whom I have believed
-
and I am convinced (or persuaded)
-
that He is able to guard until that day
-
what has been entrusted to me."
-
Galatians 2:20
-
"I have been crucified with Christ.
-
It is no longer I who live,
-
but Christ Who lives in me,
-
and the life I now live in the flesh,
-
I live by faith in the Son of God
-
Who loved me and gave Himself for me."
-
There is no doubt in that man...
-
that man has assurance.
-
Does he not?
-
Ok, what is assurance?
-
You want to define assurance?
-
It's that right there.
-
I know Whom I've believed.
-
I am persuaded He is able
-
to keep that which I've committed to Him
-
against that day.
-
I know it. I believe it.
-
I'm persuaded.
-
I know that the Christ Himself loved me
-
and I know He gave Himself for me.
-
Listen folks, that's assurance.
-
That's assurance.
-
The Catholics basically say you're cursed
-
if you say that you can know
-
that you're going to have eternal life
-
in the end of this
-
with the assurance that Paul has,
-
unless you've had special revelation.
-
And they would basically say
-
yes, Paul has it,
-
and yes, maybe certain select saints -
-
super Christians have been given
-
special revelation.
-
Listen to this text.
-
1 John 5:13
-
The Apostle John says
-
after he gets done writing
-
the first epistle.
-
"I write these things
to you who believe..."
-
Not just to those who
have special revelation.
-
To every single person who believes.
-
"I write these things to you who believe
-
in the name of the Son of God
-
that you may know
-
that you have eternal life."
-
Oh, my brothers and sisters,
-
God wants us to know we have eternal life.
-
He's not playing some game with us
-
where He dangles a carrot before our eyes
-
and says, I never want you to be sure
-
that you have it.
-
Brethren, the very Spirit He gave us
-
is a Spirit of adoption
-
by which we cry,
-
"Abba, Father."
-
The Spirit speaks to us
-
in ways that resonate within us
-
that we're children of God.
-
What does John say?
-
"Behold what manner of love
-
the Father hath bestowed upon us
-
that we should be called
the children of God."
-
Does he say, oh, He wants us to doubt?
-
He wants us to fret?
-
He wants us to worry?
-
He wants us filled with anxiety?
-
He wants us filled with uncertainty?
-
Brethren, He doesn't want that.
-
Why?
-
Listen.
-
When you lack assurance,
-
what are you doing?
-
(Unintelligible)
-
But if you lack assurance...
-
Look, if we said we lacked faith,
-
I would say you're right on.
-
Lacking faith - faith and assurance
-
are not exactly the same.
-
Because you can have saving faith
-
and lack assurance.
-
You all agree with that right?
-
I mean a person can truly be converted
-
and wrestle with whether or not
-
he's truly saved.
-
So they're not exactly the same.
-
Faith is believing what God has said.
-
It's believing His character.
-
It's believing His promises.
-
Assurance is that confidence
-
that I truly belong to God.
-
I'm truly saved.
-
I'm truly going to receive eternal life
-
at the end of this.
-
And those are two different things.
-
So if I'm lacking assurance,
-
what am I doing?
-
Now look, a lost person can
-
lack assurance.
-
And a saved person can lack assurance.
-
So think with me here,
-
what is it that whether you're saved
-
or lost if you lack assurance,
-
what are you doing?
-
Totally separate from whether you have
-
saving faith or not.
-
What are you doing when
you lack assurance?
-
What is that?
-
(unintelligible)
-
But what is it you're
thinking about yourself?
-
(unintelligible)
-
Well, not so much that necessarily.
-
(from the room): Am I going to heaven?
-
Tim: Exactly.
-
You're in a quandary.
-
I'm not positive I'm going to heaven.
-
Right? Isn't that what
lacking assurance is?
-
I'm not positive that I'm saved.
-
I'm not positive that I've actually had
-
saving faith.
-
I'm not positive if I'm
going to go to heaven.
-
I'm not positive if I'm
going to go to hell.
-
I'm not positive if I'm one
of God's children or not.
-
I'm not positive.
-
I don't have confidence.
-
That's what it is to lack assurance.
-
And to have assurance is to say,
-
yes, I know that I'm one of His.
-
Paul had that assurance.
-
I know Whom I've believed.
-
I'm confident.
-
I know He died for me.
-
I know He loved me.
-
Now listen, assurance, like I said
-
is not faith.
-
A person can have great assurance.
-
These folks in Matthew
7 seem quite certain.
-
"Lord, Lord..." We were there.
-
Many mighty works.
-
Remember all those?
-
Remember the demons we cast out?
-
Remember us prophesying?
-
And they were pretty confident.
-
Look, you can have assurance
-
and not be saved.
-
There are a lot of people, Christ says,
-
many in that day are going to say to Me...
-
You see the second soil type
-
in the parable of the soils.
-
They receive the Word gladly.
-
There's a time there,
-
they're thinking they're in.
-
They're pretty confident people.
-
They receive these things.
-
There's a confidence there.
-
Trials come and they fall away.
-
But we're speaking about assurance.
-
And of course, I'm wanting us
-
to give consideration to the Christian
-
and assurance.
-
(Incomplete thought)
-
What are some big indicators
-
that a person - even if they have
-
tremendous confidence,
-
that they're a Christian?
-
What are some big
indicators that they're not?
-
They don't desire the Word of God.
-
Fruits.
-
They don't pray.
-
Again, all these things. Fruits.
-
These have to do maybe
-
with the fruits of repentance.
-
Maybe with the fruits of regeneration.
-
And see, we're coming back now,
-
to where I really wanted to go.
-
Folks, let me tell you something.
-
My fear that there's a danger -
-
there's always a danger
-
with everything,
-
and it's missing the simplicity of Christ.
-
The danger is forgetting Christ.
-
Listen.
-
Think with me here.
-
That as we stress and we stress,
-
and I'm hearing some of you do this,
-
I'm hearing this happen.
-
I'm hearing it in the church.
-
I hear it in this Bible study.
-
I hear you folks when you tell me
-
what you're telling people,
-
when you're out on the streets,
-
and listen, I'm not saying
-
that what you're saying is wrong
-
about repentance and about looking
-
for the fruits;
-
obviously, they're there.
-
Obviously, the great evidences
-
of regeneration need to be true
-
in our lives.
-
But let me tell you this.
-
Why is it that the Catholic
-
doesn't have confidence?
-
Why?
-
I mean, yes, they said
it in the Council of Trent,
-
but practically, why
do they lack confidence?
-
(unintelligible)
-
They're trusting their works.
-
And what's wrong when
you trust your works?
-
(unintelligible)
-
You never know if you've done enough.
-
That's the problem.
-
The problem with works is
-
you never know when you've done enough.
-
If you've ever been part of a religion
-
that is based on works,
-
you never know when you've done enough.
-
And so if you're always
looking at your works,
-
you're always looking at yourself.
-
And the problem with looking at yourself
-
is your self is bad.
-
You are bad.
-
By nature, you are bad.
-
By nature, you are full of imperfection.
-
By nature, you fall short
of the glory of God.
-
(Incomplete thought)
-
And you know what?
-
Even whatever religion it is
-
and no matter whatever code they stick up,
-
nobody ever keeps the code
-
of any religion.
-
They always have a standard
-
that even when they bring it down;
-
even when they back off God's Word,
-
nobody ever keeps any of the standards
-
of any of their religions.
-
And so whenever they look at themselves,
-
they are always shaken.
-
They don't know.
-
They don't have confidence
-
because they're always
looking at themselves.
-
You know why they don't have confidence?
-
Because they can't say,
-
Jesus Christ perfectly kept the law
-
in my spot.
-
And my acceptance with the living God
-
is not based on my performance.
-
He did it!
-
And you see, as soon as faith
-
turns away from self
-
and our works,
-
you know what happens?
-
Folks, there's a lot of attention;
-
a lot of emphasis being given
-
with regards to repentance.
-
(incomplete thought)
-
Listen, we've got a lot of people saying;
-
well, let me just tell you what
-
some people are saying.
-
Let me tell you some
emails that I've received.
-
Here's an email.
-
I'm going to read two emails to you
-
that I've just received
in the last week or so.
-
First guy says -
-
and these are shortened versions
-
of actually what I got.
-
First guy says,
-
"I have to confess
-
that I am not so sure
-
I've been genuinely converted.
-
I'm so confused,
-
and I honestly do not have assurance
-
of salvation.
-
Every day is miserable for me.
-
I have no peace,
-
joy,
-
or love.
-
Let me tell you why I'm so confused
-
about my salvation.
-
In the past,
-
I've been more devoted to reading the Word
-
and I truly loved it.
-
I had a prayer life.
-
I felt clean and free.
-
And I knew I was born again.
-
But I've compromised in many ways.
-
If you knew who I used to be,
-
you would say without any doubt
-
that I had a radical change
-
that had occurred in my life.
-
I know I've changed,
-
but now I'm unsure I'm truly saved.
-
I want to be free.
-
I want to have peace with God.
-
I want to rejoice in what
God has done for me
-
through Jesus Christ.
-
I want to shout for joy.
-
I want to be a bold witness for Christ.
-
I can't.
-
Oh, I've wrestled with God in prayer.
-
I've begged Him to help me.
-
To set me free.
-
To give me assurance.
-
But I still can't say with joy I'm saved.
-
I want to so badly.
-
If I do say that, I feel like a hypocrite
-
and a liar.
-
I think I've grieved the Holy Spirit.
-
And His manifest presence is no longer
-
in my life."
-
Here's the second email:
-
"I've been a Christian for over two years
-
but so often I still
struggle with assurance
-
which may mean that I'm not truly saved.
-
I have no doubt about
the truth of Scripture,
-
about who God is, who Christ is,
-
and that to be saved
-
one must repent and put full trust in Him.
-
(Referring to a particular
time in his past, he says...)
-
My entire life was changed.
-
My mom tells me that she remembers
-
the transformation that took place.
-
I remember talking about how God
-
gave me a new heart.
-
Now over the past year,
-
I've been blessed to be
under good teaching,
-
and I know all the right answers
-
to the questions that someone would ask
-
concerning how you can know you are saved.
-
(But he says) I can't get assurance
-
from those answers.
-
I look back at my conversion
-
and I can't remember a single moment
-
where I placed my trust in Christ.
-
I know that I must trust in Christ alone
-
for the forgiveness of my sins
-
and that I cannot trust
even a shred in myself.
-
I know that to be true.
-
I see my sinfulness.
-
I understand my weakness and inability,
-
but I fear that because
I didn't understand
-
that then, that I never
really put my trust
-
in Christ and just don't know what to do.
-
I don't know if I should seek God
-
for assurance or seek Him to save me.
-
Sometimes, I share the Gospel
-
and I completely forget about
my assurance problem.
-
Other times, I'm sitting alone.
-
Tears well up in my eyes
-
because I'm simply not sure if
-
I truly belong to Him.
-
I cannot go living like this.
-
It's so taxing.
-
I don't know if I truly am His.
-
I know all the tests from 1 John.
-
When I hear an exposition of 1 John,
-
and I ask myself, ok, does my life
-
stand the assurance test?
-
I simply cannot place any trust
-
in my own reasoning
-
to answer that question.
-
I fear so immensely for my salvation."
-
Folks, we've got people running around,
-
and I'll tell you,
-
some of them probably
aren't true Christians,
-
but we've got true
Christians running around.
-
And you know, they're there
-
and they're just wondering.
-
Does He love me?
-
Does He love me not?
-
Am I in? Am I out?
-
Am I saved? Am I not?
-
Back and forth they go.
-
Brethren, I'll just tell you this.
-
If you don't have assurance,
-
guess what else you don't have?
-
Both these guys hit on it.
-
The first guy said,
-
"every day is miserable for me.
-
I have no peace, joy, or love."
-
The second guy hits on it.
-
(incomplete thought)
-
He says, "I cannot go on living like this.
-
It is so taxing."
-
Both of these guys hit on
-
no joy.
-
No peace.
-
So taxing.
-
I can't go on living like this.
-
What happens when you lack assurance?
-
You have no what?
-
Joy.
-
Let me read an Old Testament passage
-
to you from Nehemiah 8:10.
-
"The joy of the Lord is your strength."
-
No assurance. No joy.
-
No joy. No strength.
-
"The joy of the Lord is your strength."
-
Brethren, let me tell you something.
-
Confidence makes you brave.
-
You think a person can run headlong
-
into heavy Muslim population
-
where they very well may lose their life
-
and preach the Gospel boldly?
-
If they're there and they're wondering,
-
am I in? Am I out?
-
Does He love me? Does He love me not?
-
Am I the real thing
-
or am I fake?
-
Am I going to go to heaven?
-
Or am I going to go to hell?
-
Am I still in my sin?
-
Am I not?
-
Is my name graven upon His palm?
-
Or is it not?
-
You cannot be brave.
-
You cannot charge off into the world
-
and battle for Christ
-
if you have no assurance.
-
No assurance. No joy.
-
No joy. No strength.
-
No strength. Folks,
you've got no boldness.
-
You've got no confidence.
-
You've got to have confidence
-
if you're going to be bold as a lion
-
for Christ.
-
You will not be.
-
See, folks, you cannot scare
-
a person with assurance
-
with death.
-
You can't. Why?
-
Because they're confident that at the end
-
of this life, there is joy everlasting.
-
There is an eternal weight of glory.
-
You don't scare Christians
-
with that assurance of that joy
-
and that eternal weight of glory
-
with death.
-
But if you're wondering...
-
"I don't know."
-
I may come in here
-
claiming to be a Christian,
-
but if they put me to death,
-
I may go straight to hell.
-
I may not be any better off than them.
-
You don't have boldness to go out
-
on the East side.
-
Well, what if this happens to me?
-
Folks, you don't know
-
if you're a child of God or not,
-
you're trying to protect everything.
-
(incomplete thought)
-
Folks, what do we say to people like this?
-
And I'll tell you what,
-
we need to be really careful.
-
You know what I'm hearing a lot of times?
-
Well, that person fell into...
-
Look, one of these guys,
-
he's been falling into masturbation.
-
He had such assurance in the beginning.
-
And I'm telling you, we can take
-
all these tests from 1 John,
-
and look, we don't dismiss them.
-
They're valid.
-
Regeneration looks like something.
-
But I'll tell you this folks,
-
if we start keying in on repentance
-
and on the fruits
-
and on all these things
-
that ought to be true
of the Christian life,
-
and you're not
constantly taking people
-
to the cross;
-
taking people to Christ,
-
you know what?
-
You're going to be tearing down
-
people's assurance.
-
Because there isn't a
one of you in this room,
-
truly and genuinely converted,
-
that isn't going to fall into sin
-
and sometimes majorly
in your Christian life.
-
And if we're setting up this standard
-
that is unreal;
-
that is not right;
-
that is not biblical...
-
Listen, if you're in Christ,
-
definitely, by the Spirit,
-
you're going to be putting to
death the deeds of the body.
-
You will be practicing righteousness.
-
But we have to be confident, folks,
-
of texts like "therefore there is now
-
no condemnation for those
-
who are in Christ Jesus."
-
We've got texts in the Scripture.
-
"Who shall bring any charge
-
against God's elect?
-
It is God Who justifies."
-
We have to be turning our eyes
-
again and again and again
-
back to that cross.
-
Now look, if people
struggle with assurance,
-
and some do,
-
and some do more than others,
-
what we want to do is we want to
-
take them to the cross.
-
We want to take them
to passages like this:
-
Romans 8:34
-
"Who is to condemn?
-
Christ Jesus is the One Who died.
-
More than that, Who was raised.
-
Who is at the right hand of God.
-
Who indeed is interceding for us."
-
Brethren, we are not Catholics!
-
Our performance is not what gets us
-
into Heaven.
-
Our acceptance before God Almighty
-
is based on the perfect work of Christ.
-
Brethren, He came to save sinners.
-
And you are at best in this room
-
a saved sinner.
-
And you are not perfect.
-
And practicing righteousness does not
-
mean perfection.
-
And it doesn't mean that you're
-
not going to fall.
-
And it doesn't mean that
even some of the best
-
Christians we read about in the Scriptures
-
didn't have terrible falls.
-
And the way to heal such wounds
-
is to take the balm of Gilead
-
to the hurting Christian.
-
It isn't simply to beat them over the head
-
with a standard of righteousness
-
that is unbiblical and not real.
-
Yes, we come to them and we say,
-
brethren, we want to exhort you.
-
We want to encourage you
-
that you not sin.
-
But if you do sin,
-
you have an Advocate with the Father.
-
Does that sound familiar to us?
-
That comes at us from John.
-
In all of John's tests,
-
in all of 1 John,
-
in all the marks of true Christianity,
-
he says, brethren, I'm telling you this;
-
I'm writing this to you
-
that you might have assurance;
-
that you might know.
-
And I'm writing all this to you
-
that you sin not.
-
And yes, the standard is high.
-
And yes, it's radical
-
when you've been truly born again.
-
And it's going to do
something to your life.
-
And your life is going to be affected
-
by the cross of Jesus Christ.
-
And if you truly have a faith in Him,
-
it's going to turn your life upside down.
-
And he says, brethren, I write to you
-
that you not sin.
-
But he knows...
-
He says if you sin,
-
we have an Advocate.
-
And you see when the devil rushes in
-
and says, "look at you."
-
"You've got all this
teaching on repentance.
-
Hey, don't you hear what they're saying?
-
If repentance isn't true in your life;
-
if radical bowing to the
Lordship of Christ isn't real;
-
if there isn't some pattern
-
of righteousness in your life,
-
who do you think you are
-
saying you're a Christian?"
-
But you see,
-
if you can say,
-
"devil, you're right...
-
what you say is right.
-
But I can tell you this,
-
I'm not perfect.
-
But I know this,
-
I'm not what I once was.
-
I'm not perfect, and I fall,
-
and I struggle and I fight
-
and I wish I could be perfect,
-
but I know I have desires
I didn't have before.
-
And I know I love Christ in
a way I didn't before.
-
And my life has been transformed.
-
You're right.
-
I've sinned. I've fallen.
-
But I'll tell you this.
-
I didn't come to Christ in the first place
-
dependent on my works.
-
And I don't stay there now
-
dependent on my works.
-
There is no condemnation
-
to those who are in Christ.
-
Devil, all you're telling me right now
-
all the more assures me
-
that I need to trust Christ
-
and not look at my own life.
-
What you're saying to me
-
only drives me back under His wing."
-
Brethren, that's got to be so.
-
And I'll tell you this,
-
that's where our assurance comes from.
-
We've got to be running back
-
again and again and again.
-
And I would say this to any of you,
-
you get where you're struggling
-
at a point in life
-
where you're struggling with assurance.
-
I would ask you this:
-
Did you ever have assurance?
-
Because listen, why would I say that?
-
Why would I ask that?
-
The Spirit of God is a Spirit of adoption.
-
By that Spirit, we cry, "Abba, Father."
-
[Romans] 8:16 - He bears witness
-
with our spirit.
-
Now listen.
-
Do not grieve the Spirit
-
by which you've been sealed.
-
The Spirit seals us.
-
The Spirit seals.
-
When you sealed a document -
-
if a president puts his seal on something,
-
it's a sign of ownership.
-
The Spirit of God is given.
-
That is a seal.
-
Where the Spirit of God is
-
there are definite evidences.
-
What's one of the things
the Spirit of God does?
-
Bears witness with our spirit.
-
Pours the love of God into our heart.
-
Now listen to me.
-
If that Spirit is resident,
-
that person is going to have assurance
-
at least at some time.
-
Now, it's possible to grieve the Spirit
-
by which you've been sealed.
-
And if you grieve Him,
or as 1 Thessalonians 5,
-
quench, then yes, the
witness of the Spirit
-
may go silent.
-
If you're a person who has never known
-
the witness of the Spirit,
-
you have never had assurance
-
of your salvation,
-
I don't believe you're saved.
-
By the testimony of the Scriptures.
-
I don't believe that.
-
But if at seasons, you have indeed had it,
-
well, then look,
-
people can have false assurance.
-
There's no question about it.
-
And that definitely needs to be examined.
-
But I can tell you this,
-
it's definitely as a true Christian
-
possible to have that resident
-
Spirit of adoption
-
by which we cry, "Abba, Father,"
-
and at seasons because we've quenched Him
-
or grieved Him, have Him go silent.
-
And so what I would ask:
-
have you had seasons where
you've known assurance?
-
And if you tell me yes,
-
then I would ask you,
-
have you done anything in your life
-
to grieve the Spirit?
-
And typically, we know.
-
We've allowed something.
-
The Spirit has prodded us to repent
-
of something that we've resisted.
-
You've allowed some sin or worldliness
-
or idol into your life
-
that you're not repenting of.
-
Brethren, the Spirit bears witness.
-
Look, I can't tell you
-
about what you've experienced.
-
But I can tell you, I've experienced it.
-
I've experienced it in a way
-
I never experienced it when I was lost.
-
I mean, I never experienced it
-
when I was lost.
-
Look.
-
The witness of the Holy Spirit
-
is different than assurance
-
that's gotten from other things.
-
Like there are people who are certain
-
they're going to go to heaven.
-
Why?
-
Because (have you guys
ever come across this?)
-
God healed me.
-
I'm certain everything's ok.
-
We were just talking about this
-
at the campus today at Palo Alto,
-
that many people have an assurance
-
that everything's ok. Why?
-
Because they got sick and God healed them.
-
Because they were in a car accident
-
where they should have been killed
-
and they walked away.
-
You guys have heard things like that?
-
Listen.
-
The kindness of God
-
is meant to do what?
-
Assure us we're Christians?
-
Is that what the Bible says?
-
Lead you to repentance.
-
Right. The kindness of God is meant
-
to lead you to Christ.
-
Not confirm that you're in Christ.
-
In fact, the fact is
-
that many who are in Christ,
-
don't avert the accident or the sickness
-
or the trial or the tears
-
or the death...
-
in fact, through many tribulations...
-
Why do other people have assurance
-
that's no good?
-
Not based on good foundations.
-
Where does other false
assurance come from?
-
Emotions.
-
People feel like they're saved.
-
But why would people
feel like they're saved
-
when they're not truly saved?
-
And I'll tell you this,
-
if they're not truly saved,
-
it's not the witness of the Holy Spirit.
-
What is it?
-
Where would emotions come from?
-
Let's go through a list of things.
-
Maybe false teaching, right?
-
People assure you that you're saved
-
when there's really no evidence.
-
How many men are out there
-
telling men they're saved?
-
How many preachers stand in pulpits
-
and say if you say this little prayer,
-
you're saved?
-
Basically if you did this, you're saved.
-
We've got men all over the place
-
telling people that.
-
How about something else?
-
How about people who just
-
get emotionally stirred up?
-
They weep tears.
-
They were greatly affected.
-
And because of bad teaching, again,
-
they don't understand what true
-
saving faith looks like.
-
They don't understand
-
the nature of biblical repentance,
-
and so they're led to believe
-
(incomplete thought)
-
Can you think that maybe the devil
-
would try to convince people
-
that they're saved when they're not saved?
-
How?
-
Let me give you an example.
-
We were just talking about this at Mark's.
-
I remember as a Catholic having a dream
-
on Christmas Eve about Mary.
-
And I felt so much assurance
-
and warmth from that dream.
-
I went and visited my Roman Catholic
-
great uncle.
-
A week before I went there
-
to preach the Gospel to him,
-
an angel appeared in his dining room
-
in the middle of the night;
-
lit up the whole house.
-
He said it was the most beautiful creature
-
he ever laid his eyes on.
-
I said, "Uncle Tom, Satan comes
-
as an angel of light."
-
You know when I told that story
-
at church one night,
-
Carlos turned and looked at me
-
and he said,
-
"My parents had the same thing happen."
-
They saw an angel in the doorway
-
of their bedroom
-
in the middle of the night.
-
Listen to me, folks.
-
The devil will seek to give men
-
false assurance.
-
Many different ways.
-
Through false religion.
-
Through various manifestations.
-
But true assurance -
-
listen to me.
-
The Spirit of God bears witness
-
with our spirit.
-
When God Almighty wants to speak
-
to the soul of a man,
-
do you think He's impotent in doing it?
-
He pours the love of God
-
into the heart.
-
How?
-
Well, the Scripture tells us.
-
God's love poured into our hearts
-
through the Holy Spirit Who has
-
been given to us,
-
for (fuller explanation)...
-
for while we were still weak,
-
at the right time,
-
Christ died for the ungodly.
-
Do you know what the expressions of love
-
are that are poured into the heart
-
of God's people?
-
They're expressions of the love of God
-
as shown through us.
-
In a time of weakness,
-
His Son died for us.
-
(Incomplete thought)
-
Listen.
-
The Spirit bears testimony
-
not as you gaze at yourself.
-
Brethren, you can gaze at yourself.
-
If we get a church that's gazing
-
on ourselves where the talk is,
-
am I a Christian or am I not a Christian?
-
Well, have you masturbated?
-
Well, is this true?
-
Well, is there that sin in your life?
-
Look, there's a place
for practicing righteousness.
-
There's a place for these tests.
-
We need to examine ourselves.
-
Folks, there's no proper examination
-
except looking at the cross.
-
True repentance is,
-
see, so often,
-
(incomplete thought)
-
is missed because what repentance
-
is viewed at is more like,
-
imagine a human scale.
-
Imagine I've got a big human yard stick.
-
And we say, well, am I up here?
-
Am I full of pride?
-
Am I lifted up?
-
Am I high and haughty?
-
Versus, am I low?
-
Am I broken?
-
Am I repentant?
-
And you see, the whole time,
-
we're looking at ourselves.
-
Versus being done with the yard stick
-
and looking at Christ.
-
You see, folks,
-
repentance, so often what happens
-
is just in religion -
-
every human type of religion -
-
what they do is they put the yard stick up
-
and they say you've go to go from here
-
to here.
-
Or from here to here.
-
However you want to look at it.
-
Either from pride to humility
-
or from this low, debauched state
-
to this high moral standard.
-
Whichever way you want to invert it.
-
But what is it?
-
The whole time you're
looking at the yard stick.
-
Where what the Bible says
-
is repentance - true, biblical repentance
-
is throwing that thing away altogether
-
and looking at Christ.
-
And see, when you
pull the yard stick back,
-
and now as a Christian -
-
see, the Bible doesn't say,
-
examine yourself and now
-
pull the yard stick back.
-
And look at it again.
-
Well, where am I at on here?
-
That's not the examining of yourself.
-
If you ever take your eyes off of Christ,
-
I'll tell you this,
-
the Spirit of God came into the world
-
to exalt Christ.
-
Where does the Spirit of God
-
bear witness with our spirit
-
that we're children of God?
-
As we gaze at Christ.
-
Looking to Christ in faith.
-
The love of God is poured abroad
-
in our heart.
-
It's shed abroad when
we're looking to Christ.
-
It's shed abroad when we see ourselves
-
as weak, as ungodly,
and Christ dying for us.
-
That's where the assurance comes in.
-
It's not looking at our works.
-
(incomplete thought)
-
You say, well, how do I measure up then?
-
How do I look?
-
How do I do that?
-
If this indeed is true;
-
if there's got to be this radical change,
-
well how can I not see that?
-
Or how can I see that?
-
How can I measure myself
-
against that
-
if I'm not pulling the yard stick back?
-
But you go look at those things.
-
Go look at the biblical yard sticks.
-
And I'll tell you what happens.
-
Yes, there has to be a look
-
at what God has done in my life.
-
There's going to be that evidence
-
of what God has done in my life,
-
but what is basically at the root
-
of the evidence?
-
What is the heart of repentance?
-
It's a turning.
-
it's a turning away from what?
-
It's a turning away from the yard stick.
-
Because what happens,
-
if you look at the yard stick
-
by itself, even as a Christian,
-
what are you doing?
-
You're saying well,
-
am I doing this?
-
Have I lived righteously enough?
-
Have I lived perfectly enough?
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Have I prayed enough?
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Have I loved enough?
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It says if I don't do that -
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have I done this enough?
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And you start looking there
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and you start looking there,
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and I'll tell you what,
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the poor Christian is just getting
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beat up by the law again.
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They're getting beat up by the standard.
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They're getting beat up by this thing.
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And then, suddenly
they're floundering around.
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Am I in? Am I out?
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Because I have sinned.
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Brethren, this is why
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whenever these standards of Christianity
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are held out,
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you look biblically,
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they are just impacted,
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they are surrounded,
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they are encompassed
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with lookings to Christ.
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Looking to Christ.
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The cross of Christ.
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Do you see what the problem can be folks?
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Is when we begin to pull
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these things out of Scripture.
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And you begin to pull them away.
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You begin to set up
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this standard before people.
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Practice righteousness.
Practice righteousness.
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You fall into this thing of masturbation;
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you fall into this thing over here,
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it's practice righteousness;
practice righteousness.
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And we can get to where we're
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hammering people and
hammering people....
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We hammer them with holiness.
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Folks, we're under the New Covenant.
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What is the New Covenant?
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The New Covenant is God saying,
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"I will forgive their sins."
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Blessed is the man -
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blessed is the man, folks,
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whose transgressions are
not held against him.
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David went in with another man's wife
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and he killed that man.
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And he could come before God
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and say, "Blessed is the man..."
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Folks, we've got to be there all the time.
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We've got to be there.
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I tell you, brethren, don't sin.
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But if you sin, we have an Advocate.
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Do you see?
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We've got to take these letters
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in their entirety.
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Yes, you've got Romans 8.
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Yes, yes, yes.
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By the Spirit, you put to death
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the deeds of the flesh.
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But remember how he started
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that same chapter.
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There is no condemnation.
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Remember how he's hitting at this
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when he gets to v. 33-34,
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Nobody can bring an accusation
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against God's elect.
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There is no condemnation.
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No one can condemn.
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It's freeing.
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Brethren, I've been hearing a lot
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about repentance.
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And I hear some of you guys,
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and you're hammering it,
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hammering it,
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you're hammering it...
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but folks, we've got to take people
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to the cross.
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What we're going to do,
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if we don't keep taking
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the brethren to the cross,
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we're not going to outfit people
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for the mission field.
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What we're going to do is
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we're going to have them wondering,
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Am I in? Am I out?
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Does He love me?
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We've got to take them to the cross.
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Say your acceptance is here.
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We know you've fallen into sin.
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We've fallen there ourselves.
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We're not advocating a life
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that is habitual sin.
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There's got to be victory.
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There's got to be righteousness,
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but it is a righteousness that flows
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out of a life that is constantly
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resting in the cross.
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When I came to Christ in the beginning,
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yes, there was radical transformation
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in the beginning,
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but I fell into some horrible sins
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in the beginning.
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My wife fell into some horrible sins
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in the beginning.
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And I'll tell you what,
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in the midst of that,
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I didn't fall into despair
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for this reason:
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Because when Satan would rush in
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and say, "look at you.
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You wretch.
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You think God wants
anything to do with you?
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How could you claim you're saved?"
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And I could say,
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"Devil, you can slander me day and night.
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But I came to Christ in the beginning
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because I was a wretch.
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And I know, all I am right now
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is a saved sinner.
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And all you're proving to me
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all the more is I need to run
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back to Him again.
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And I'm going to head back there."
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Folks, we've got to be heading
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back to the cross.
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Because that's where our assurance
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is going to come.
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And it's only when we're confident:
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Yes. I am not accepted by God because
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of my own works,
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even as a Christian.
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I am not accepted because of my own works.
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And my own failings as a Christian
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don't sever the way I'm received
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by the Lord.
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And I run back there again
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for healing,
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for the blood,
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back again,
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where I know there is full forgiveness
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and no condemnation.
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Back to that cross.
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Over and over and over.
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And I set my eyes there.
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And that Spirit will breathe in
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such loving expressions of the Father
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to me as His son -
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expressions of love,
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bearing witness,
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and in those expressions
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there will be assurance.
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There will be confidence.
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Where there is confidence,
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there will be strength.
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There will be boldness.
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We will be bold as lions.
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We will have a church of lion-hearts.
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Brave-hearts
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where there's confidence.
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Oh, it comes in Christ alone.
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That is my word for us tonight.
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Brethren, go to the cross.
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Brethren, when you see others struggling,
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take them to the cross.
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Don't beat them up,
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but take them to the healing wounds.
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Take them.
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Back again and again.
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And amen.
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Any last comments or questions
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or anything tonight?
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What will help us look to Christ?
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Fair question, right?
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I would say this.
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(incomplete thought)
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Look, if my eyes need to be there,
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then my eyes need to not be
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on other things.
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(incomplete thought)
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We don't have spider eyes.
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We don't have fly eyes.
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We don't have compound eyes.
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I mean, basically, God has designed us -
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we can basically look in one direction
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at a time,
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and maybe that's true spiritually
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to a great degree as well.
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We need to set our minds on things above.
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Folks, it's very difficult
to fix your gaze
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upon Jesus Christ,
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when your gaze is on
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a thousand other things.
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And so, I realize,
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there are things we need to give
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our attention to in life.
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Gazing on Christ means
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I'm thinking on Christ.
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(incomplete thought)
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Have you ever read Psalm 1?
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What does that godly man,
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that righteous man,
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that upright man of Psalm 1 -
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what is his relationship
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to the Word of God?
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There's something he does
with the Word of God.
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He meditates on it.
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Folks, you've got to meditate.
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You've got to chew.
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The little, flippant reading of Scripture
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isn't going to get it.
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You need to be in the Word
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long enough, well enough,
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where you're able to meditate
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and chew and think.
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The Spirit of God begins to work
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and drive those thoughts deep.
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Go deep with God.
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I mean, you're not going to go deep
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with God in the Word;
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you're not going to go deep with Christ
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in visions of the cross;
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you're not going to go deep
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into those realms of Christianity,
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where the Spirit of God really breathes,
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where you just do flippant reading
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in the Scriptures.
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You've got to get in there.
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A lot of you guys listen to sermons.
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You know what?
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Sometimes we can get where
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we can really like a
certain kind of sermon.
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We really like the kind of sermons
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where we get all beat up.
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I know in the beginning,
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I like that.
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I like sermons that really beat me up,
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but I tell you what,
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a lot of times, we need to listen
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to good sermons that just take us
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to the cross.
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And you find a good preacher.
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Go read some good Spurgeon sermons.
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When you guys find a good sermon
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on the cross,
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begin to recommend it to one another.
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I'll tell you this,
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avoid legalism.
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Avoid it among yourselves.
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Avoid it in your own thinking.
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Don't go to a church that is legalistic.
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Why?
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Because legalistic churches
set up standards.
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They set up rules.
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They press it.
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Press it. Press it.
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That's no good.
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That is not good to assurance.
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Don't go where they're legalistic.
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Don't go where there's preaching
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that hammers law and responsibility
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and holiness where Christ
isn't constantly mixed in.
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Where Christ isn't central in the singing;
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central in the preaching.