2019 Conference Message: Assurance of Salvation--(Part 1)

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Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

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No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the

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Apostle Paul said, But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

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In short, if you like smooth, watered -down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn't for you.

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By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we're called by the divine trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her

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King. Here's our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth. Well, it is great to see you tonight.

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I've met many of you earlier this evening, and I wanted to say, Mr. McDaniel, that was a great job.

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Steve Green who? That was excellent. Did you notice the poise? How old are you?

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Nineteen. Nineteen. We need singers like that in Massachusetts. You know, there are

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Christians in Massachusetts, by the way. Like I like to say,

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Massachusetts where even the Republicans are Democrats. When I walked up here,

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I saw these two letters, and those are Greek letters, and one is alpha, and the last is omega, like A to Z, and of course,

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Jesus calls himself that, and when I first moved to Massachusetts from California, I'm originally from Omaha, but that was in LA for a long time,

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I moved to Massachusetts, and a man got up to read scripture on a Sunday service, and he was reading the words of Jesus when

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Jesus said, I am the alpha and omega, and I did what you did, but nobody else did it.

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So I've learned it's not a good idea to say things like that. Speaking of Massachusetts, I don't know if you like backgrounds with hymns and famous hymns, and how did we get those hymns, and who wrote those hymns, and why did they write them?

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There's a hymn about assurance, and by the way, when you think of assurance, think of that root word, sure, are you sure you're right with God?

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Do you have the assurance that when you die, and certainly one day you will, and stand before God, are you sure he will welcome you into heaven?

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There was a man named Daniel Webster Whittle, and he was born in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, 1840.

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He was a religious man, so religious that when he worked at Wells Fargo Bank, he went into the vault, and got down on his knees, and dedicated his life to the

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Lord Jesus Christ. He was a Sunday school superintendent, he met his wife there, her name was

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Abby, and in 1861, he went into the Civil War, and one year later, he was in a battle, and before he left, he said this, my dear mother was a devout

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Christian, and parted from me with many a tear, and followed me with many a prayer.

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She had placed a New Testament in the pocket of my knapsack that she'd arranged for me.

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And he had that Bible with him, and off he goes to war, and he was wounded, and he had his arm amputated, and he began to read his

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Bible. It's very fascinating, because here's how the story ends. He read his

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Bible through, in three days, all the New Testament, and a nurse woke him up in the middle of the night, and said, there was a young man dying, and he was begging for someone to tell him how to go to heaven.

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And Major Whittle said, I'm not really a Christian, I'm a moral man, but I'm not a Christian, so I can't do it, because I don't know what

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I would say to this wicked man, because I'm in fact wicked as well. But you're reading your

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Bible every day, I thought you were a Christian. Whittle writes in his own words,

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I dropped on my knees and held the boy's hand in mine. In a few broken words, I confessed my sins and asked

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Christ to forgive me. I believed right there that he did forgive me, and then I prayed earnestly for the boy.

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He became quiet and pressed my hand as I prayed and pleaded God's promises. When I arose from my knees, he was dead.

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A look of peace had come over his troubled face, and I cannot but believe that God, who used him to bring me to the

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Savior, used me to lead him to trust Christ's precious blood and find pardon.

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I hope to meet him in heaven one day. Well, years later, this particular major comes back to the

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U .S., and he writes a song, and I think you've probably sang this song before, and the lyrics go like this.

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I know not why God's wondrous grace to me he hath made known, nor why unworthy

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Christ in love redeemed me for his own, but I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep me and to keep that which

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I've committed unto him against that day. One of the lines goes like this.

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I know not what of good or ill may be reserved for me, of weary ways or golden days before his face

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I see, but I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep me until that day.

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Have you ever sang that song? What a great song and a great background. The question

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I have for you tonight and tomorrow and the next day is not can you sing that song, but can you sing that song and do you sing that song from your heart?

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Do you know, in fact, that you have peace with God and that he's your friend and that he's loved you in Christ from eternity?

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Can you say with confidence, Galatians 2 .20, the Son of God loved me and gave himself for me.

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I'm regularly around people that die and when I go visit people when they die, I always go into the hospital room or wherever they might be and I'm kind to the family and talk and then

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I grab the person's hand and I lean in really close because sometimes they can't hear very well and I say the same thing every single time.

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Are you afraid to die? This one particular gentleman, my friend Mark, he was 50, he had cancer and he said,

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I'm not afraid to die. I said, Mark, knowing all the sins that you've committed in the last 10 years of your life and maybe even in the last week, shouldn't you be afraid to die?

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God, in fact, is holy. Why aren't you afraid? And I'll never forget what he said.

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He said, because the Lord Jesus Christ has paid for all my sins and I'm trusting in the promises of God. I wept.

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So the question really for all of us is, can you have assurance? And then the next question is, how do you keep assurance if you have it?

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And so we're going to look at tonight and then tomorrow and the next day, assurance of salvation. And in my mind, it's one of the sweetest doctrines found in all the

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Bible. And let me make this very clear, Christian, if you're not a Christian, I'm not talking to you, but Christian, God wants you to have assurance.

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God is a very generous God, a God who gives generously and he wants to give you assurance.

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You can know that you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's what we're going to talk about tonight. I think a very relevant topic.

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I commend you for coming out on a Friday. Sometimes marriage conferences, they bring everyone out.

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Sometimes end times conferences, they bring everyone out. But I guess if it's your first conference you've ever done, then everyone comes out.

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They want to see what it's like. But this is such an important concept. Can I know for sure that the

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God of the universe is good with me, is right with me, and that I'm right in his eyes?

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It's the most important concept, I think, found in all the Bible. How can I know that I'm right with God?

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And can I, in fact, have this assurance of salvation?

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Which technically is, can I have the assurance of knowing Jesus himself, that he knows me?

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So we're going to look at that tonight, and then the next day, and then the next day. But before we get into these sessions, let me give you some, easy for me to say,

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I can't blame a 12 -hour flight either. Introductory remarks. I met a gentleman in the back, and he said,

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I'm really tired tonight. I said, I'm going to do everything I can to keep you awake. So here we go, ready? Introductory remarks in the form of questions.

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Question one, how would you define assurance of salvation? So we're just kind of putting the building blocks down.

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What is the definition of assurance of salvation? One writer said, it's the confidence of believers in Christ that notwithstanding their mortal sinful condition, they are irrevocably children of God and heirs of heaven.

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What a great way to think about assurance. By the way, if you want any of the quotes from me, you can just email your pastor.

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I'll email him all these quotes, and he can send them to you via email.

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All right? But seriously, if you want one of these quotes, that's fine. Here's another definition. The confidence that God has forgiven every sin of mine, and that I have a future glory awaiting for me as a child of God.

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That's what assurance is. Now assurance is different than security. Security is when

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God saves a sinner, he doesn't repent of it. You have security in Christ Jesus. There's no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.

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That's surety. That's security. But assurance is something a little bit different.

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It's a confident realization that I am secure. So security is, I'm no longer a child of wrath,

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I'm a child of the king, I'm at peace with God based on the work of Christ Jesus, the risen king.

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That's security in Christ. But can I realize that? Can I be confident in that? Can I know that?

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That's what assurance of faith is. It's described in the Bible as full assurance of understanding, full assurance of hope, and full assurance of faith, that I belong to the family of God.

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Question two, is it rare to meet someone who has never struggled with assurance? I won't make you raise your hand, but if you've ever struggled with assurance, raise your hand.

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Most people probably would raise their hands. It's something that affects all of us. And that should not be surprising.

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I mean, is your knowledge of God in this life perfect? Is your knowledge of yourself in this life perfect?

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We have a finite mind, we have a fallen mind. It should not surprise us that our assurance sometimes is not perfect.

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Nothing else in our life practically is perfect. If Spurgeon sometimes doubted his salvation, then

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I don't think you're weird. Can I say weird? I don't think you're weird if you do. But tonight and tomorrow and the next day will be, what is assurance?

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How do I get it? And if I have it, I'd like to keep it. Question three for introductory matters, how vital is it to have assurance?

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How vital is it? I would say that knowing that you're right in God's eyes is so important, especially in light of eternity, because John Bunyan, who wrote

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Pilgrim's Progress, said, at the gates of heaven, at the entry spot of heaven, there's a porthole to hell.

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It would be bad to have false assurance. It's one thing to think, well, I'm gonna party with all my buddies in hell, and I'm a

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Satanist and this, that, and the other, and of course, they'll be not doing that in hell.

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But it's another thing for dear people like you to think, you know what? I think when I die, I'm gonna go to heaven. And then not go, that would be the tragedy of all tragedies.

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Satan is alive, and he's well, and he deceives people. He has strategies and diabolical strategies to try to get the unregenerate mind to be masquerading as a real believer.

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Not everybody who says they're a Christian is. There's an old spiritual that goes this way, everybody talking about heaven ain't going there.

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Or to use Solomon's words, there's a way that seems right to a man, but at the end, there is the way of death.

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So our outline for tonight, tomorrow, and the next day, and they'll be progressive, how to deal with the issue of getting salvation's assurance, or if you have it, how to keep it.

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Number one, if you'd like to keep your assurance or get it if you don't have it, number one, don't look to yourself primarily.

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Don't look to yourself primarily. I'm telling you, the way to get rid of assurance is to do morbid introspection and look at your spiritual navel all the time.

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Spurgeon used to say, you know what, if you want to have assurance, don't chase assurance. If you're going to try to catch the dove of assurance, you're never going to catch her.

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Instead, what we're going to do for point two, I'll just telegraph this a little bit. Point one is don't look at yourself primarily.

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Point two is going to be, look to whom? Look to the Lord Jesus, and if you look to the Lord Jesus, the dove of assurance comes and settles down in your shoulder.

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So if tonight you're thinking, for a long time I believed and trusted, but right now I'm just going through a hard time, am

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I really saved? Is this all a joke? What's going on in my life, in my heart? If you chase assurance, it's not going to help you.

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Charles Hodge, the great theologian said, many sincere believers are too introspective.

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They look too exclusively within, so that their hope is graduated by the degree of evidence of regeneration, which they find in their own experience.

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This except in rare cases can never lead to the assurance of hope. By the way, if you have your

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Bibles, turn to Romans chapter seven. If we do look to ourselves, what are we going to find in our hearts, even as Christians?

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Romans seven, the mature Paul, writing in present tense language, talks about what he sees when he looks at his own heart.

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When you look inside, what are you going to see? I don't think you're going to see what you want to see. Here Paul is struggling with this war within, this weak flesh, and he realizes, even as a believer, even as a regenerate man, he struggles with sin.

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Now, there are two different views in Romans seven. I don't know your pastor's view. I'm assuming it's this view that Paul is not an unbeliever when he writes this, that he's a believer.

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He's talked about sin in the first three chapters. He's talked about justification in chapters three,

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B, four, and five. And now in six and seven, it makes it logical for him to talk about sanctification.

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Why would he be going back to be talking about an unbelieving state? But Paul is talking about this indwelling sin, and it's hard to imagine an unbeliever even talking this way.

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If you Christians struggle with assurance and look inward, what will you find? Verse 14 of chapter seven, for we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold into bondage to sin.

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For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I am, I'm not practicing what

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I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I what, hate. But if I do the very thing

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I do not want to do, I agree with the law, confessing that the law is good. So now no longer am

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I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my flesh, for the willing is present in me, but the doing of good is not.

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Does that sound like a mature Christian man to you? Yes, in fact, it is. Christians struggle with sin.

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By the way, if we had a little, I know Canaan got up to sing, I mean, I could probably give you this microphone and said, for the person who thinks they're perfect in this

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Christian life, here's the microphone, could you please give me your testimony? How would that work out? For the married guys, don't try it, right?

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And vice versa. We realize that even though God declares us righteous based on Christ's work, we are righteous because we're in Him, positionally.

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And we realize once we get to glory, no sin, can you imagine, by the way, glory, no sin? One of my most favorite things about heaven is thinking, too often as a

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Christian, I forget what I'm supposed to remember and remember what I'm supposed to forget. Everything we learn about the

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Lord Jesus in heaven, you'll never forget it. No sin, no decay, no anything. But in this meantime, between justification and glorification, as we grow in Christ, we still struggle with sin.

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So Christian, when you look inside of your life and you're honest, I mean honest, what do you think you'll find if you keep looking inward and only inwardly?

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And do you think that's gonna grant you the assurance? If you look at yourself self -righteously, well,

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I'm not that bad, then that's not going to help you in the end either because that's going to lead to pride.

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And if you look at yourself and you say, well, you know what, I'm better than I thought or this, that, or the other, that's not what

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Paul wants you to do here. Verse 18, for I know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my flesh, for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.

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For the good that I want, I do not do. But I practice the very evil that I do not want.

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But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it. But sin which dwells in me,

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I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur that the law of God is, excuse me, in the inner man.

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But I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.

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If you want to look inside yourself, dear Christian, I think this next verse pretty much summarizes what we'll all see, if we're honest.

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Wretched man that I am, who will set me free from the body of this death?

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Can you imagine? For that man that I was talking to who said, try to keep me awake because I'm really tired, this is for you.

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This body of death part, some scholars think the way you would punish someone back in the old days if you murdered them, is they would take the murdered body and they would rope it to you and you would have to walk around town with this roped dead body, this body of death because then all the bacteria and the grossness and everything else would eventually pervade and invade your system and then you would die.

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You awake? Okay, good. I used to work in the operating room and people are like, please, no more operating room illustrations.

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But I'm just trying to bless you and keep you attentive, that's all. When we look at ourselves honestly and stop there, it's not going to help you with assurance.

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True or false? Could you identify with Paul when he said, the sane is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom

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I am the what? Chief or foremost. That's first Timothy and we can identify with Paul.

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Luther had a little slogan, simul justus et peccator, right?

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You've probably been taught that. And I remember one time when I was in Florida and R .C. was still alive,

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R .C. Sproul, and he had the chalkboard and I saw R .C. walk over with the chalk and write some Latin words.

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I got the anointing that night, I think, that was just like a second blessing to me. And if he walked over there, simul justus et peccator, simultaneously.

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Justus, just, are right, et, and, peccator, sinners. I'm simultaneously just in God's eyes, yet I'm still sinful, right?

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Practically. So when you look in, what are you going to see? We don't want to do that. In one sense we're just, from a different perspective we're sinful.

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Plus, think about when we look inside of ourselves and we kind of run on our feelings.

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True or false? Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool. True or false? I think that's from Disney show, isn't it?

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That's the Disney slogan. No, that's Proverbs 28, verse 26. Of course you had to say true, it's from the

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Bible. You're a fool to look inside and go, oh yeah, that must be good. John Calvin said, for nothing so moves us to repose our assurance and certainty of mind in the

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Lord as distrust of ourselves. Met a guy here today, his last name was Calvin.

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I said, you related to Calvin? He said, maybe according to the bloodline, John Calvin's brother. So there's my

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Calvin quote for you, Mr. Calvin. Where are you, Mr. Calvin? Right in the back, okay.

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Baptists in the back, Presbyterians in front. This is right up here for you. I have to distrust myself, not puff up myself.

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Joel Beeky writes in the book that's out in the table, they judge themselves more by their feelings than they do

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God's word. I have a question for you, dear congregation. Is there something good in you that makes you acceptable to God?

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So let's say you said, you know what? I am going to look in myself, and I'm going to look in myself because I'm going to stand before God one day, and I'm standing before Him now, and what in me can

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I find to make sure I'm good in God's eyes? What would it be? There's nothing you can do, nothing that you are, nothing that you can religiously do or civically do that makes you good in God's sight on your own.

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There's just nothing because we're tainted with sin. You know, it's like if you're in the backyard, and you're cutting down a tree, and you get some pitch on your fingers and some tar, or you're putting a cement thing down, and it just seems to be everywhere.

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You cannot base your justification on a condition that you fulfill. All right, let me put it this way.

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If I really wanted to guilt you, this is how I would do it. How was your prayer life?

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How was it this week? I mean, really? You have children, you have this conference, you have unbelieving friends.

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Did you pray like you should this week? How was your Bible reading? Did you pray enough?

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Did you read enough? Did you memorize enough? Did you evangelize enough?

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Did you serve other people enough? If you really want to look inside those enough questions, what are you going to find?

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That's why number two is going to be so important, because I'll just give you the lead. Jesus on earth prayed enough.

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Jesus in heaven now is interceding for us. Jesus evangelized enough.

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Jesus is the one that once you start looking to him, that's where assurance is to be found. So to continue on this theme, looking inwardly,

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I want to make sure you get it. You're thinking, you know what, am I a Christian? I don't feel like I am. Then don't look inside because I know what you're going to find if you're honest with yourself.

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Luther knew this when he's a young monk in 1517, this vicious cycle of trying to get better and do more and do more.

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How much more? More. I always think of this as N plus one if you're kind of a math person.

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There's N and there's N plus one. And if you want to have assurance, it's just one more thing that you have to keep doing.

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He's plagued with the horror of God's wrath because he's trying to appease God by his own life of prayer and saying no to sin.

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He studied Romans and he said, I greatly long to understand Paul's epistle to the Romans and nothing stood in the way but the one expression, the justice of God.

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Because I took it to mean that justice whereby God is just and deals justly in punishing the unjust.

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If I look inside long enough, I know I'm unjust. There's a man named

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Staupitz and he was Luther's senior. And so I try to remember things sometimes because there's so much to remember in life.

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And Luther goes to Staupitz and he's talking about, am I right with God? Am I right with God? Am I right with God? Do I have assurance?

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And I haven't done enough. I haven't prayed enough. I haven't dieted enough. I haven't said no to food enough.

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I haven't been in the monkery enough. I was the best of all monks. Out of all the monks who did monkery, I'm the monkiest. Is that what he said?

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Is that right? And he says, stop looking inside yourself. So here's how

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I remember Staupitz. What Staupitz said to Luther was simple. When it comes to looking inside yourself, stop it.

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That's right. Let's close in prayer. You know, one of the major recoveries in the

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Reformation, besides the five solas, besides the doctrines of grace, besides sanctity of marriage, for something more than procreation, was this very doctrine, the doctrine of assurance.

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It revolutionized everything. And matter of fact, if you teach a Bible study or you're teaching from the pulpit, and you're trying to show people where assurance is found, you're going to first tell them it's not found in them, it's found in the work of another.

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There's a difference, in other words, between faith and faithfulness. How faithful are you?

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Versus our second point that we're going to get to in a minute, but I can't not talk about it now. What's your faith in Jesus like?

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How faithful are you, or who's your faith in? I have weak faith, but is it in the right object?

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So there's a difference between faith, because that's shorthand for faith in Jesus, and my own faithfulness. How faithful must

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I be before God accepts me? The answer is perfect. I remember it was two and a half years ago, and I knew from when

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I got the doctor's message. I had done some nationwide radio stuff, and I was thinking, Lord, you're just amazing.

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I'm just this kid from Nebraska, and I went over to the phone, and the voicemail came on, and it was,

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Mike, this is Dr. So -and -so with Boston Medical, and I have the results for you.

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Please call me. It was right before Christmas. And I know doctors, and here's what a doctor says.

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If the cancer results are negative, here's what they say. Sorry to miss you.

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This is Dr. So -and -so from Boston General. The results are negative. Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. Happy Hanukkah.

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Yom Kippur. God bless you. Hang up the phone. But I knew. And then what do you start doing in your mind?

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How faithful I am, and what about my worries? I'm a pastor, and I worry. What do

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I do with people? How did Samson make it in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11?

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How did Jephthah make it? How about let's just make it really easy.

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How about Abraham? How about David? Remember Abraham?

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Don't kill me. My wife, no, she's not my wife. She's my sister. Sleep with her, but don't kill me. The first time he did that or the second,

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I wonder. There's a difference between faith and faithfulness.

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We ought to be faithful, and we'll talk about that on Sunday. But when you want assurance, you cannot look at your own faithfulness.

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We used to sing funny songs sometimes around the church making jokes, and we didn't want anybody to ever pick up that microphone and start singing,

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Great is my faithfulness. I mean, it's laughable, isn't it?

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How faithful must you be if you want to have assurance when God only accepts perfect?

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You say, well, what about fruit in my life? Well, we're going to talk about that on Sunday. Introspection is not going to be healthy because here is something that you need to learn.

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Obligation and duty does not precede assurance. I have to do these things in order to get that.

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No. Wrong priorities. Do I have

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Christian faith? Do I bear enough fruit of the Spirit? How firm is my faith? How faithful am I? Is my faith solid enough?

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Do I believe enough? Do I love God enough? Do I read the Bible enough? Do I love the lost enough? Have I confessed enough? Have I repented enough?

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Do I love Jesus enough? That's not the right way to get assurance. That's all law, law, law, law.

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Should you love Jesus? Absolutely. Must you love Jesus? Yes. But I'm struggling with assurance, and if the question stops with,

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I just have to love Him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and do I, you'll never get there. The law says, you're a sinner.

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The gospel says, Jesus comes into the world to what? Save sinners. The law says, pay me what you owe.

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And Jesus says, I myself will pay the price, and I'm the ransom price. The law says, you're accursed.

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And the gospel says, Christ redeemed us from the curse by becoming a curse for us. Is there a more biblical way?

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I'm glad you asked, number two. This is what I've been wanting to get to. What time is it? I have no idea.

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I didn't fly all the way here for a 20 -minute sermon for Christianettes. If you want assurance, or if you've got it and you want to keep it, you don't look to yourself primarily, number one.

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Number two, you look to the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you do look at self, you keep looking past self unto the

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Lord Jesus. Here's a quote that will make the entire conference worth it. Martin Luther, when

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I look at myself, I don't see how I can be saved. That's point one. Right when we're honest with ourselves.

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When I look at myself, I don't see how I could be saved. Next sentence.

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But when I look at the Lord Jesus, I don't know how I can be lost. But when

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I look at the Lord Jesus, I don't know how I could be lost. That's where assurance comes in.

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Not looking at myself and stopping, but if I do look at myself and say, well,

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I see this area or this struggle or this fruit, I keep going and move past that to the Lord Jesus.

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Take a look at Romans 7, verse 25, please. He says, wretched in verse 24, and now in verse 25, thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our

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Lord. Exclamation point. I mean, you could sing that. Chapter 8, verse 1.

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There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We're starting with assurance and the objective work of Christ Jesus outside of us.

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Christ for you takes priority. Christ in you. Did Jesus finish the work on the cross?

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That's the real question. Is Jesus enough? That's the real question. He suffers and makes satisfaction, and the finished work of Christ should come through his words.

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It is finished. You want assurance? Here's good assurance. Look at the empty tomb.

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Jesus did exactly what he said he would be, and what we're doing is not trying to do things to have him be pleased with us.

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We're believing by faith alone. Knowledge, I know the facts. Ascent, I agree to them.

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And trust, I'm trusting my eternal life with his word about what he did. Sometimes I flip it around and I think,

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I'm willing to go to hell, and I mean this when I say it. I'm willing to go to hell if Jesus Christ didn't pay for my sins.

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In other words, I'm all in. I've got no other hope. I know I'm sinful. My conscience bears witness to me.

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I realize I'm sinful. The law of God condemns me, and I have only one hope, because I know

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I'm not perfect, is to trust in the one who is perfect.

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Let's see, how could we explain it? I think it's been explained like this sometimes. Hebrews talks about Jesus as mediator, a middleman.

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You ever need a middleman? Anybody here ever need a lawyer? You're pretty insane if you're going to be your own lawyer.

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Fool for a client if you are, as they say. Here's the thrice holy God. Here's sinful man.

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Here's me. Here's you. And I've got to approach this God. And even people like Isaiah who were redeemed, when they approached this

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God, they're saying things like, Woe is me, I am undone. Curse me. Damn me. I can't be in your presence.

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It'd be like a nuclear winner. But I'm going to need to approach that God, because I'm going to die.

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And how am I going to do that? And here Jesus is like a mediator, Hebrews 8. He stands in between.

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He's like 1 John 2, an advocate. And He, to be able to put

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His hand on God, Job 9 language, is going to have to be God. He has to be divine, perfectly, truly.

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But to be our representative, He's going to have to be man, truly and perfectly.

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So the mediator Christ Jesus, there's only one of them, and He can put His hand on God to be an arbiter, an umpire,

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Job 9 language, and one on us to stand in the middle. And therefore,

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Christian, think about gears. I haven't driven too many tractors.

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Are there any farmers here? All right, let's just talk tractor language for a second.

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In the garden, God says to Adam before the fall, I want you to obey me, be fruitful, multiply, don't eat that fruit.

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It's like God said, put it in drive and go forward. I want you to move forward by obeying me and going forward.

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Adam sins, right, as your federal representative. Consequently, you're a sinful. And Adam, instead of going forward, what did

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Adam do? He went backwards, reverse. Why do we need

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Jesus as a perfect law keeper and a penalty bearer? Because if Jesus only forgives our sins,

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He brings us back to what? Neutral. But if He forgives our sins, and perfectly obeys for us, now we're going forward.

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Now, if Jesus has perfectly obeyed for you, and God sees you as He's perfectly obeyed, Jesus is your great mediator.

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I start to look at myself thinking, I struggle with my assurance, and then before you know it, I start thinking about the

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Lord Jesus Christ. I start thinking about this God who is merciful and kind. One of the greatest things

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I think God ever did was for Peter. I mean, Peter on earth and how he defied Jesus, how he denied

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Jesus, and Jesus dies for Peter's sins. He raises himself from the dead.

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And what does the Lord Jesus do with Peter? One of the wildest things when you read it in John.

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He makes him breakfast, and Peter denies Jesus three times, and Peter is allowed to say to Jesus three times,

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I love you. You think about Jesus touching the leper. You think about Jesus going to that soldier, the centurion, and granting him eternal life.

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You think about Jesus healing Peter's mother -in -law. You think about Jesus who takes Paul, the

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Christian murderer, and forgives him of all his sins. And the more you begin to think about Jesus, guess what happens?

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The less you start thinking about yourself. That's actually what we're after. I tell our church all the time, if you don't want to hear about Jesus in the church,

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I'm not trying to be mean or rude or Bostonian, but this is the wrong church for you. Because you can get

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TED Talks out there, Motivational Speaking out there, Elks Lodge out there, whatever you want, a bunch of how -to -do things.

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Guess who the subject of every sermon is? Not you. The subject is the

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Lord Jesus, the mediator, the risen Savior, the one who if he walked in here in his glorified body, you wouldn't have to say,

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I wonder what I should do? We would be on our faces and glorify him and praise him. This is what you'll be doing in heaven.

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All glory, laud, and honor to the eternal King. You want assurance, there's no assurance outside of faith in Jesus.

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The inward -looking person isn't going to get assurance. Because it's always linked, assurance is always linked to the

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Lord Jesus. But we learn so slowly. Here's how I learn.

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I've got low assurance. Mike, do something about it. Do more. Pray more.

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How much more? N plus one more. Get going. Wake up earlier.

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Watch more spiritual Jocko videos. Anybody here watch Jocko? You should type in Jocko, not now during the service.

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Jocko, stop. You're going to like that. The counsel to do more works isn't right.

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It's actually counterproductive, and some say it's pastorally deadly. Because here's what we do.

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The people that get stuck looking at themselves all the time, they forget this great fact. And they doubt the fact that Jesus is merciful and forgiving.

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They doubt that because if they didn't doubt it, they wouldn't be looking in here. They look in here, see their sin, and immediately think, you know what?

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God loves to forgive sinners. Matter of fact, think about this for a second. I just said assurance of salvation is one of the key things of the

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Reformation. When you hear pastors preach, sometimes you should walk out of there going, you know what?

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He laid the wood on me today, and I'm a complainer. And he said, in light of who you are in Christ, you ought not to complain anymore. Great, and you feel conviction.

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The word does convict. But you ought to walk out of church very many times thinking, you know what?

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I felt convicted by the law, and what I didn't do or did do against the law. But the pastor reminded me that God loves to forgive.

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He's ready to forgive, anxious to forgive. He is like that father in Luke chapter 15 that smothered the disobedient son with love and with compassion and mercy and grace.

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Kid couldn't even say, I'm sorry, before the father lavished the love. I think sometimes, sadly, to my shame,

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I think God's more of a policeman than he is a heavenly father who loved me and gave his son for me.

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And the God who demonstrates his own love towards us, that while we're yet what? Sinners. Christ died for us.

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And now if you're a child, I think I'll talk more about this tomorrow. What kind of father says to his son, you know what?

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These are the things you have to do before I remind you or tell you or let you know you're actually my kid.

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Daddy, am I really your son? My nose doesn't look like yours. My eyes don't look like yours.

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And I say, praise the Lord for that. But I'm not gonna tell you if you're mine or not until you obey me more.

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How much more, daddy? I don't know, just more. And the

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Lord Jesus, through his apostle John, writes in 1 John 2, by this we know that we are in him.

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Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God and whoever loves the father loves the child born of him.

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Good works strengthen your faith, but they're not the sun as some writers say.

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They're like the rays of the sun. See what kind of love the father has given to us that we should be called children of God and so we are.

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Calvin said this is the duty of the faithful preacher to make sure they're looking to the

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Lord Jesus Christ. My little children, I'm writing these things to you that you may not sin, but if anyone does, we have an advocate or a lawyer with the father

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Jesus Christ, the righteous. Take a look at chapter 8 verse 31.

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We're gonna just end here on 831. We're still thinking about when you look to yourself, don't stop there.

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If you want assurance, look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now as you're turning to 831, let me just say this.

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Well, we'll save that for tomorrow. 831 for Mr. Calvin.

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Here's another Calvin bit of information. This is John Calvin's life verse by the way, 831.

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Romans 831. Do you have a life verse? I think the world has a life verse, don't they? Judge not lest you be judged.

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This is Calvin's life verse. What then should we say to these things? All those things about no condemnation in Christ and you have the

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Holy Spirit and this golden chain of redemption and predestination and calling and justification and glorification, what do you say?

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Eh, yeah. Bruins won last night. Browns are gonna be pretty good this year

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I think. Usually when I come to Cleveland to speak, they're already out of the playoffs and it's still preseason but I don't know, that's something else.

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What do we say to these things? I mean, sin, wretched, no condemnation?

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If God is for us, who can be against us? What great questions.

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I hear an echo of Isaiah 50 verse 9 here. Behold, the Lord God helps me.

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Who is the one who condemns me? What do you say? Some say with wide open mouths of hallelujah and amazement.

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And if we were really honest with ourself, if God is for us, who can be against us?

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Shouldn't God really be against us in light of our sins? Would you blame him? He'd have good reason to be against us.

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But God shows his love. He shows how much he's for us by verse 32. To what extent is

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God for us? For you, Christian, he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

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Now sometimes I think it's inappropriate to do but just for tonight, I'll give you a little dispensation.

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If you, Christian, want to put your name in that verse to get the flavor of the personal nature of it, I wouldn't mind.

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He the father who did not spare his own son but gave him up for Mike Abendroth, how will he not also with him graciously give

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Mike Abendroth all things? The father did not withhold the full execution judgment on his son.

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He delivered Jesus up to die. Won't he give you everything else? Friends even including assurance.

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Some people think, you know what? God's really angry. Jesus kind of coaxed the father to love us. Dragged him along.

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Was it not the father who sent the son in love to go rescue sinners like you, like me? For God so loved the world, he what?

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That's right, that's the father. He gave his son. One reformer writes this, but what is the gospel?

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It is this, that God has sent his son into the world to save sinners and to crush hell, overcome death, take away sin and satisfy the law.

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But what must you do? Nothing but accept this and look up to your

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Redeemer and firmly believe that he has done all this for your good and freely gives you all as your own so that in the terrors of death, sin and hell, you can confidently say and boldly depend on it.

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Although I do not fulfill the law, although sin is still present and I fear death and hell, nevertheless from the gospel,

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I know that Christ has bestowed on me all this work and I am sure he will not lie.

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His promise he surely will fulfill. And it's so good when you look up and not in.

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And therefore the justification question of verse 33, who shall bring any charge against God's elect? I mean, how about your own sin?

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Will your own sin charge against you? It is God who justifies. Your sin can't unjustify you.

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Who's gonna impeach you? Your own sin, even Christian? Who is to condemn, verse 34,

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Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who is indeed interceding for us.

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Can you imagine Jesus' work on earth was done at Calvary in terms of atonement, but he's still doing work now?

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He's praying for you? Sinful Christian, yes, he's praying for you. One man said, if I could hear

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Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance is no difference because he is praying for me.

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You want joy and delight? For Luther, it was not found inside of himself, it was found outside of himself.

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I think assurance will help you with your worship because then you're not going to run around thinking, am I right with God or not?

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I think assurance will help you when it comes to trials because those trials, as Thomas Brooks said, will sing sweetly knowing that God is still with you and on your side.

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And God's assurance will help you with ministry and good works. Thomas Goodwin said, assurance of faith is 10 times more active than one who does not have it.

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The airport today, I had reserved tickets. Someone said, there's a difference between passengers who have confirmed tickets and those on standby.

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The ones who have confirmed tickets, they read their newspaper, they're on their phones, they chat, they sleep. And the ones who are on standby, pace.

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This is an older illustration because here's what it says. The ones on standby hang around the ticket counter, pace and smoke, smoke and pace.

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You know you're old when you think S &H Green Stamps when you think of redemption. I try to explain to young people what redemption is in the

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Bible. Well, we have these things called S &H Green Stamps. If you get enough Bazooka Joe comics, you get a free sweatshirt when you turn them in.

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The greatest joy besides salvation is enjoying that salvation. And we're gonna work more on this the next two days, but to start, don't look inward and stop there.

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You're not gonna see anything good. Look upward. And just like that man, Daniel Webster Whittle, other people have sang songs like this.

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How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent word.

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What more can he say to you than he has said to you who for refuge to Jesus has fled?

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Now here's the assurance part. The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,

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I will not, I will not desert to its foes. That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,

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I'll never, no never, no never what? Forsake. Even though he knew what we did in the last week and month and since we're a

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Christian in spite of us. Well, let's pray. Father, I thank you for your son's great work for us.

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Who could devise such a plan of salvation? Only you could. How could you keep your justice upheld and show your grace and love?

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It's in the person and work of the Lord Jesus. We're thankful that he's a risen savior, that he's coming back.

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Father, we admit today that we do sin as Christians and we struggle with sin.

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But we know and you've promised that you've forgiven us. And so help us to take you at your word with that.

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And I pray if there's anyone here today that's trusting in their own baptism or good works or maybe even thinking, if I go to a conference,

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I must be a Christian. I pray that you would use the law to convince them that they haven't loved you like they ought to and love their neighbor as they should because you expect perfect obedience.

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So I pray that you'd grant them repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus who did perfectly love you and who did perfectly love his neighbors.

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And we pray this in Jesus name. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

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Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life -transforming power of God's word through verse -by -verse exposition of the sacred text.

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Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston.

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You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.