Pauls Epistle to Colossians (10)

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The Heart of a true minister (2)

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Let's turn in our Bibles please to Colossians 2. I always appreciate it when you folks hand me prayer concerns because sometimes it slips my mind.
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And I neglected to mention Richard Lawrence. This week, is it your surgery this week?
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It was. Okay. Mercy.
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Yes, okay. Alright. Okay. Sure.
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Dental surgery first, hip replacement surgery later. Alright. Sure. Yeah.
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And then Eddie Raymond. Of course, Eddie and Betty Ann moved to the coast just a couple months ago. Eddie is going in for back surgery on the 26th.
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So what is that? Is that Tuesday? He'll be down at Mass General, I believe, in Boston.
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Again, let's pray. Father, may you help these men as they face these surgeries, both of them rather complex or significant.
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And we pray that they would both be successful and give them mobility and quick recovery, we pray.
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Help Richard, Lord, as he'll only be off work a couple of weeks, that he would be able to recover quickly from this serious, important surgery.
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Now, Father, may you illuminate our minds and truth to what is taught before us here in Colossians 2.
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May the blessed Holy Spirit instruct us and move us, our
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God, that we might live more closely with thee and for thee. We pray in Jesus' name.
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Amen. Well, last Lord's Day, we began to address this passage for us, this paragraph in Colossians 2, verses 1 through 5.
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And Paul was being autobiographical in these few verses, expressing to the church at Colossae the matters upon his heart.
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And so we've described this paragraph as the heart of a true minister. I want to read it again, and we'll probably read it a couple of times to give emphasis to the various phrases and clauses
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Paul wrote. For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those in Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face.
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That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is
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Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.
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For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.
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And the outline we proposed last week for these verses are three points. A true minister has love and concern for his people, but not just love and concern.
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A true minister has true spiritual concerns for his people. And then thirdly, a true minister of the gospel longs for and rejoices when he sees in his people good discipline and stability in the faith.
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And again, even though a direct application of this passage may be seen for ministers or for guidance to those who desire to become ministers of the gospel, we can see here quite clearly,
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I think, the Apostle Paul's desires and goals that he had for this church and that we should have for our church.
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These are his desires and they're good desires, and of course, inspired by the Holy Spirit, they should be our desires as well.
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Now, we already addressed the statement of verse one, in which we see a faithful minister has a genuine love and concern for his people.
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And then last week we began to consider verses two through four, in which we see that a true minister who's thinking and serving rightly has true spiritual concerns for his people.
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And Paul's concerns for these people were spiritual concerns, and there are really four identified.
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He struggled, Paul struggled, so that first, their hearts would be encouraged. And then secondly, and that they had been knit together in love.
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Thirdly, that they would experience full assurance of their standing before God in Christ. And fourthly, that they may be preserved from errant teaching.
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And today we give our attention to the second concern Paul had for this church.
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We dealt with the first last week, so their hearts would be encouraged. And this week, we want to begin by considering, and that they had been knit together in love.
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Chapter two, verse two B. And so, they had been knit together in love.
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What does Paul mean by that expression? What's being conveyed? Well, again, Paul wrote,
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I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you. There are struggles in the service of the
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Lord among the people of God. It's a spiritual struggle, a spiritual fight. And he says,
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I have a struggle for you and for those at Laodicea, for all those who haven't seen me personally, face to face.
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He had never been to Laodicea, to the church at Laodicea. He had never been to the church at Colossae.
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And he desired that their hearts would be encouraged. But then the apostle described the specific manner in which this encouragement is produced.
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They had been knit together in love. And I think that first clause and second clause have to be understood as linked together.
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The verb in this clause, knit together, is actually for you grammar buffs.
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And there's always one or two in the midst. All right, but it's a participle rather than a finite verb.
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And a participle is simply a verbal adjective. And specifically, every participle has tense, and it's an aorist tense participle.
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And what this means in simple terms is that the Lord, in order to encourage his people, caused his people to have been knit together in love.
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Really, Paul is describing what God had done when they were converted. They were knit together in love.
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And so he causes people to be knit together in this way. When the Lord brought us to salvation, he knit our hearts together in love.
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And when we see afresh the reality and implication of this spiritual truth, we will be encouraged in the
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Lord. We might not think that that will bring encouragement, but it does. We know it will because it's inspired before us by the
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Lord. Here is a source of encouragement for the people of God. When they realize they're numbered among the people of God who are loved by God, we are knit together.
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The Greek word translated knit together is found in this form only in all the New Testament.
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In other words, technically, this is an aorist passive participle. And it's only found in this form in this verse.
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There are a few places, however, where the word is used, but in a different verbal form. And I wanted to point out
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Ephesians 4 .15 for you. And I put Ephesians 4 .15 before us in two different versions or translations that differ slightly from one another.
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Ephesians 4 .15. But speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things unto him who is the head Christ from whom the whole body joined.
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And there's the expression knit together by what every joint supplies according to the effective working by which every part does its share.
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Causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. You have the idea of being knit together.
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You have the idea of love there. And I also put, I think this first one must be the
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I forgot to list. Oh, there it is. Yeah, the first is the New King James Version. The second is the
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ESV. And in the ESV, the second rendition, you see, you'll notice the words knit together is translated as held together.
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I know one commentator, William Hendrickson, used the word weld together. Interestingly, joined together.
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Now, the use of this verb in this verse, Ephesians 4 .15, is in distinction from the word in our verse in that this is in the present tense.
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The word in our verse, Colossians 2 .2, is the aorist tense.
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And really, it hasn't got to do with so much time as in English, the idea of tense, but rather the kind of action.
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And what the kind of action that Paul is describing in Colossians 2 .2 is that God knit us together when we were converted at some point in the past.
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We're still knit together. But here, Paul is expressing something differently. He expresses it in the present tense.
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And so here he's describing what the Lord is doing in us continuously. Presently, he's knitting us together.
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And so there's a sense in which we were knit together. And there's a sense in which he is knitting us together in this matter of love.
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That's the point of difference. The word carries a little different nuance in several other places in Scripture.
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For example, the Greek word is used in the translation of the
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Hebrew Old Testament, the Septuagint, in Isaiah 40, verses 13 and 14. Now, it reads in English, Who has directed the
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Spirit of the Lord as his counselor has taught him? With whom did he take counsel?
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And who instructed him? I've got instructed in bold and italic. And taught him in the path of justice.
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Who taught him? Again, bold and italic. Who taught him knowledge and showed him the way of understanding?
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Implication, no one. Well, the words translated as instructed and taught are the same word translated as knit together in our text.
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Albeit in different forms, verb forms. And so these verses in Isaiah 40 are quoted by Paul in 1
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Corinthians 2 .16, which reads, For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?
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And so you see the word in Greek can sometimes be translated as knit together and sometimes translated as instruct or instruction.
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And that's why sometimes you'll see a translation or a commentary saying that the idea of instruction is carried forth in Colossians 2, verse 2 as well.
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But really, this may not suggest a great divergence of interpretation of our verse from what we've already shown.
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Paul may be stating the truth, he's already asserted in other places, that God himself has instructed or knit together our hearts in love, not only for him, but for one another in the church as his people.
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For example, we read in 1 Thessalonians 4 .9, which we have quoted a few times here recently.
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But concerning brotherly love, you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another.
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And this is basically what it means for God to knitting us together in love as well. He has taught us this.
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There is an affinity that one Christian has for other Christians. There is an affection that we have.
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And God has put that affection there. That's one of the evidences of being a true Christian. You love the brethren.
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It's just everywhere taught in Scripture. In fact, of course, love is the true mark of the true
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Christian. And Paul is asserting this, I think in contrast to the false teachers at Colossae that were corrupting this church.
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He was correcting them. The false teachers there at Colossae were emphasizing the importance, the preeminence of knowledge.
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Gnosis is the Greek word for knowledge. As they defined it as the true mark of one of their followers, this false religion.
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And so Paul set forth the love of God and love for the brethren as the preeminent issue at hand. Not their false knowledge, but the true love that God imparts to his people.
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This is the true mark of the Christian, is what he is declaring. And so the true faith, the
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Christian faith, is a matter touching their hearts, the very center of their beings. Not just informing their mind.
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It's not just an intellectual thing. But rather it's a life -changing matter.
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And so he addresses the issue of the heart. Hear William Hendrickson's word, I think they're right. The purpose of false striving is in order that their hearts may be strengthened.
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The heart of all true pastoral activity is to be an instrument in God's hand to bring the hearts of those entrusted to one's care to the heart of Christ.
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The reason is this. Once a man's heart has been thoroughly won over and established in grace, the entire person has become the object of God's marvelous transforming power.
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For the heart is the fulcrum of feeling and faith, as well as the mainspring of words and actions.
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Now that last statement's important. Because in our American context, even our
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Western European context, since the age of Romanticism, we think of the heart only in terms of romantic affection.
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You know, affection of love. And oftentimes we impose that limited idea upon the heart in Scripture.
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And sometimes it does have that nuance. But most frequently when the heart is expressed in the
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Scriptures, it's speaking of more than just how you feel. It's talking about how you think, how you feel, and how you act.
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And this is the heart, the entire being. And Paul is talking about the entire person when he's talking about the heart, not just the affections of people.
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And that's important. And that's what Hendricks is saying here. Once a man's heart has been thoroughly won over and established in grace, the entire person has become the object of God's marvelous transforming power.
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And here he mentions it. For the heart is the fulcrum of feeling, yes, and faith. See, there's thinking and will there, as well as the mainspring of words and actions.
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See, there it is. The heart is really the sum of the man, the woman. It's the core and center of man's being.
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Man's innermost self. Out of it are the issues of life. Proverbs. Man looks on the outward appearance.
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God looks upon the heart. And over against the attack of the false teachers, these hearts must be strengthened.
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In unity there's strength. Hence the continuation is they themselves being wielded, shouldn't be wielded, but welded together in love, were
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Hendrickson's words. Must have gone through my spell checker. Not knowledge.
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And see, here again he's contrasting the false teachers in Colossians. Not knowledge. Knowledge falsely called, by the way.
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Certainly not conceit. But mutual love is the bond of perfection, as we'll see later in Colossians 3 .14.
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Such love springs directly from the heart of God in Christ and leads back to him for God is love. And now when believers, here it is again, welded together in love, are confronted with the danger of errors and lies, let them unitedly pray about this and discuss it among each other on the basis of God's special revelation, in other words,
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Scripture. And this, with a view to all the riches of assured understanding, thorough, rich, gratifying insight into spiritual matters, which implies the ability to distinguish the true from the false, must ever be the goal.
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Even more definitely, this goal is expressed in the words with a view to the clear knowledge of the mystery of God, namely
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Christ. And so Paul is addressing, you know, the whole person here, not just his affections.
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And that's what he means by heart. So Paul knew these Christians at Colossae, although he'd never seen them face to face.
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And he declared he'd be greatly encouraged when they came to see. He would be encouraged, but they would be encouraged, too, when they came to see that God had knit their hearts one to another and to him.
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So that's the second spiritual concern that Paul had for them. The third spiritual concern upon Paul's heart for these
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Christians was that they would experience full assurance of their standing before God in Christ. He wanted them to have assurance of salvation.
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Again, we read, I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, for those that lay to see you, for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, be knit together in love.
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And here it is. And it's a purpose clause. It begins with the preposition to to reach.
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Here's the purpose to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is
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Christ and whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. That's a mouthful of words and ideas compacted there.
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And so Paul desired that they would be able to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and knowledge of God's mystery.
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Let's consider what Paul was suggesting. First, recognize there are riches of full assurance.
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There's nothing more spiritually rich than being assured of your salvation.
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Full assurance speaks of the settled and sound confidence that one is right with God and secure before God with respect to salvation.
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Full assurance is desirable. That's important because not everybody believes that full assurance is desirable.
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The writer to the Hebrews wrote, and we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end.
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He wanted them to have assurance of salvation. For some in the past have taught that assurance of salvation, this life is not possible or desirable.
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This was the teaching of Rome set forth in the 17th century at the
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Council of Trent, which was the effort to counter the Protestant Reformation. Because the reformers were making such inroads across Europe.
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The Council of Trent was designed to purify the abuses of the church and also clarify that Rome's doctrine.
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And they spoke a great deal about the matter of assurance and said it's not possible or desirable in this life.
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And so at Trent, Rome declared the impossibility of assurance. And so here's Trent's statement about justification.
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Now we read the Protestant understanding of the scripture in our confession earlier in the
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Heidelberg Catechism. But here is the statement that is completely opposite and counter to that that was declared by Rome.
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No one, moreover, as long as he is in this mortal life, ought so far to presume as regard the secret mystery of divine predestination.
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As to determine for certain that he is assuredly in the number of the predestinate.
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As if it were true that he is justified, either cannot sin anymore.
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I don't know anybody teaches that. Or if he do sin that he ought to promise himself an assured repentance for except by special revelation.
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It cannot be known whom God had chosen to eternal life. And so they say that assurance is possible for a select few.
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In other words, those who have a vision, see a miracle. They can be assured that they have salvation.
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But for most people, no, it's not possible. Trent stated, let no one herein promise himself anything as certain with an absolute certainty, though all ought to place in repose a most firm hope in God's help.
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See, that's the farthest they're willing to go. Be confident God will help you in the
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Christian life. But don't ever think that you can have assurance that you have salvation in this life.
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And so the result, no assurance was possible for the one who follows Rome's teaching. And this remains true today as well.
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And so five conclusions were drawn about this matter of assurance that came forth from the
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Council of Trent. First, assurance of salvation was only possible in rare cases through special revelation from God, which was only experienced by martyr saints or eminent aesthetics or among those who live monastic lives.
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Second, for the ordinary believer, the maximum level of certainty obtainable was a moral probability of a firm hope in God's help, since even a mature believer could never be certain of final perseverance.
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Third, even if assurance were possible for the ordinary believer, it would not be desirable.
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Interesting. For Roman Catholicism considered it wholesome and beneficial for the
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Christian to entertain honest doubts in the high matters of justification and salvation.
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Such doubts, they said, keep him from an overwhelming confidence in himself. You see, they have to assume it's confidence in yourself because they think that you really obtain salvation through your works.
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And so if you're assured of salvation, you must be self -righteous. That's their conclusion.
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And so they say doubts will keep you from overwhelming confidence in yourself and will minister true humility of character and serve in a more salutary restraint on evil passions.
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In other words, they taught that if you have assurance, you're going to live like the devil. After all, what does it matter if you're assured?
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And so serve in a more salutary restraint on evil passions than joy and peace could ever be. And that's why in the
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Protestant confessions, by the way, in our own confession, when it speaks about assurance, there's always a statement in there.
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And this assurance leads to a holy life and never leads to a person, you know, to be loose in their living.
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And it's to directly refute this kind of teaching. And so Roman Catholicism believes it's damaging to a
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Christian to have assurance of salvation. And then fourth, Trent confirms that the doctrine of assurance cannot be sustained by a theology built on grace.
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This is what they're saying. And, of course, what they mean by that or what's taught by Rome is that salvation is mediated or administered through the sacraments supplied by the church.
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If your salvation is dependent on grace given to you by the church through the various duties and efforts over the course of a lifetime, obviously, then you can never be assured in this life that you have salvation.
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Because you're always in need of more of that which the church alone can give.
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And then, fifthly, the effect of a lack of assurance make individuals under Rome's teaching feel themselves dependent upon the church as God's way of channeling grace to the sinner.
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And so the bottom line is there is really dependence on the church rather than Christ. And it's this last inevitable conclusion is what led to the great break between Rome and the
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Protestant reformers in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Protestants argued against church authority for the superior and final authority of the scriptures.
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And much of the Protestant reformation involved the nature of true assurance of salvation in contrast to the teaching of Roman Catholicism.
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Protestantism said you can be assured in this life of your salvation. Rome said, no, you can't.
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Or shouldn't. So Rome says that you, the ordinary believer, cannot nor should have assurance.
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It teaches that it would not be desirable if you could have assurance. For in cause you'd become careless and sinful.
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But God's word declares, and this is a testimony, God has given us eternal life and this life is in His Son.
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He who has a son has life. There's a base of assurance. He who does not have the
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Son of God does not have life. And then John wrote, these things I've written to you who believe in the name of the
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Son of God that you may know you have eternal life. John says, I wrote these things so that you may have assurance.
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They say you can't have assurance. You shouldn't want assurance. But John here wrote, in other words, moved by the
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Holy Spirit. It's assurance is desirable and readily available for the one who truly has
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Jesus Christ as its Lord and Savior. And so full assurance should be desirable by all.
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But sadly, it's not experienced by all. In fact, what is sadder is that there are many who believe themselves to be assured of salvation when their hope is really built on nothing solid.
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And that's what concerns me probably more than any other issue in life. And this is a major problem within much of evangelicalism.
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And so where the fault of Romanism is that it denies assurance to almost everybody, we fault evangelicalism because it claims assurance to almost everybody on the slimmest of grounds.
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And one can argue which one's worse. We actually covered this whole subject of assurance, and some of these words may sound familiar to you.
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But believe it or not, it was nine years ago when we addressed this matter in a series, assurance. I was surprised when
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I saw that. But it's an important study of which I would encourage us to be familiar.
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We should understand these matters. And when we open that series, we set forth some matters to which we should give our attention.
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And in the block quote there is what I set forth back then when we began our series.
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A study of assurance of salvation is one of the great of great importance and some difficulty. I do not think it's hard to see the importance of the subject.
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To know that one is the recipient of God's salvation, to know that God is for you not against you is of great importance, obviously.
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It's really the foundation, the spring from which all peace and joy flow. It's also the source of legitimate motivation for living the
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Christian life. Much of what we do and much of how we react to situations in the world are the responses from people who know that God is for them.
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That their sins are forgiven them. That they know God who loves them is with them and will secure to them every good thing.
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That should be behind everything that we think and do, obviously. And the one who serves
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God, however, without true assurance will do so out of a sense of doubt, perhaps terror, and out of a sense of reluctant servitude rather than joyful love.
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And so the importance is, I think, obvious to everybody. But it may be more difficult to see the difficulty of the subject of assurance.
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Because it's presented as such an easy, obtainable thing. And so what really needs to be demonstrated is that assurance of salvation is not as an easy thing to acquire as most people presume it is, assume it is.
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And one reason of difficulty in obtaining true assurance is because of the ease in which people may gain false assurance and the difficulty in dispelling false assurance.
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If we, through teaching and preaching, could dispel false assurance, we'd see revival.
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That is the obstacle that has to be dealt with. Because people need to see that they're sick before they seek a physician, don't they?
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But they think they're well. They're told they're well. You believe on Jesus.
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The facts are these, as I tried to put it together back then. The fact is, there are some who have a true assurance of salvation, and they should have.
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We've already declared that. True assurance, full assurance, is possible, desirable, and available.
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Thank the Lord. But secondly, there are some who are true Christians who do not have assurance of salvation, but they should have.
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True Christians can go maybe a long period of time without true assurance.
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Some of the early Protestant Reformers were not real clear in this. I think the
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Puritans straightened it out. And the Westminster Confession, our confession, clarifies it quite clearly.
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Because some of the early Protestant Reformers declared that if you're a true Christian, you will have assurance. Because they saw assurance and faith, saving faith, as linked together.
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They would reason this way. If you don't have assurance, obviously you're not trusting Jesus. If you're truly trusting
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Jesus, you will have assurance. But later, the Puritans rightly set forth, no.
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Assurance is not so linked with saving faith that one necessitates having the other.
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But you can have true saving faith, and yet not have assurance. And maybe wait long and hard and struggle without assurance, and yet be a true
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Christian. And they're right in that. Thankfully. Thirdly, there are many in this world who have assurance of salvation, but they should not have.
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And that's the bulk of people in the evangelical world. They have no legitimate biblical grounds for assurance.
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For God's Word says that they are without hope, and they are without God. But they don't know that. They're being told that they have hope, and they have
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God. And then fourth, there are some who are true Christians who have assurance, but the basis of their assurance is faulty.
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Their assurance is based upon some great event that happened in their life when they were converted.
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And I know I'm saved because, well, look what happened to me. Or because they prayed a sinner's prayer, went through some kind of evangelistic program, and responded.
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And they're trusting that as a basis of assurance. Well, people go through that all the time and don't experience salvation.
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That's a faulty basis of assurance. And so there are some who are true
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Christians. They're believers. But their basis of assurance is not biblical. And sometimes when you rattle them, it can really be difficult for them until they get the right understanding of assurance as taught in the scriptures.
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And then fifthly, there are those who have assurance, but it is of a weak nature. Sometimes they feel assured, but other times they quite despair of their condition.
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And our confession speaks about that too. That assurance can be sometimes intermitted.
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You lose it for a time, and then it's renewed. So an understanding of biblical teaching of assurance of salvation will help us, not only in dealing with ourselves and our own souls, but helping bringing others to Jesus Christ.
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And again, much of the work of witnessing involves convincing people who have false assurance of salvation that it is indeed false.
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Proverbs 30 verse 12 still holds true. There is a generation that is pure in their own eyes, yet is not washed from its filthiness.
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That's a truism. The fact that so many people are in this matter means they need to be taught rightly.
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And much of the devil's hold on people and their sins is their false reasoning. They are okay anyway.
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And much of spiritual warfare, of which we are all engaged, is the casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
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And so many of these arguments that we must dispel are bases for false assurance.
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You've got to get them lost before they're sound. Some might be troubled by these words, but it's extremely important.
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And although we would never want to deny assurance to a believer when there's a sound basis of hope, and we don't want to shake those who have a weak assurance.
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We don't want that. On the other hand, we would cast down every false hope out of a genuine concern for the soul.
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And so although we speak, say in this matter, resulting maybe in some doubting, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
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And I've quoted Spurgeon so many times on this. I hope that you can almost recite it yourself when he declared the greatest blessing is to have true assurance of salvation.
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But the second greatest blessing is to doubt your salvation. For the second will lead to the first.
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And that's true. The Lord Jesus said to some who are righteous in their own eyes, those who are well have no need of a physician.
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But those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
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And most people think they're quite well in their relationship with God. Hey, we go to a church that believes the
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Bible. I believe the Bible. We believe what's being taught from the scriptures. I'm a believer. Well, that's good.
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You know, but there are other issues at hand that we have to consider to have a sound basis of assurance.
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Our confession of faith states the matter, both the false assurance and true assurance. Here's the statement. Although, and this is paragraph one of article 18 on assurance.
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Although temporary believers. Now, they're not true Christians. Temporary believers and other unregenerate men.
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Other words, those not born again may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions of being in the favor of God and state of salvation, which hope of their shall perish.
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In other words, they acknowledge a lot of people have false assurance. Nevertheless, yet such as truly believe in the
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Lord Jesus. And they list several evidences here. You know, truly believe in the
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Lord Jesus. Love him in sincerity. Endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before him may in this life be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, which hope shall never make them ashamed.
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That's almost direct quotation from scripture, isn't it? That is set forth.
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And then they cite scripture of various. And, of course, that's, I think, the identical wording of the Westminster Confession and the
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Savoy Declaration as well. Other reformed confessions and the scripture they cite to substantiate this statement.
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Job 8, 13 through 15. And here it's a description of those who have false assurance.
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So are the paths of all that forget God and the hope of the godless man shall perish. The godless man has hope, but it's going to it's not true hope.
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It'll perish. Whose confidence shall break and sunder, whose trust is a spider's web.
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That's that's really what's bearing them up. Nothing. He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand.
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He shall hold fast thereby, but it shall not endure. A false hope. But in addition, the words of our
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Lord are referenced. And here are numbers of verses that speak about the fact you can know with absolute certainty that, you know, the
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Lord. First of all, he cites the words of the Lord Jesus, of course, of many who will discover on the day of judgment that they were in reality lost without Christ.
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Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in thy name? And preachers will be standing there condemned.
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And by thy name cast out demons, miracle workers or ones who claim to be. And in thy name done many mighty works.
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And then I'll profess unto them, I never knew you, not I once knew you, but forgot you, but I never knew you.
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They were never converted. Depart from me, ye that were iniquity. And that word iniquity there is lawlessness.
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You who have lived transgressing the God's law. I never knew you so long.
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But the confession then cites verses that teach true assurance is possible. And here they are, numbers of them in First John.
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Hereby we know that we know him if we can keep his commandments. A Christian is an obedient child of God, orders his life according to God's word.
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First John 3, 14, we know that we pass from death to life, not hope so, think so, want to be so.
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Might be so. We know we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.
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And that confirms what we were saying earlier that the Lord knitted our hearts together in love. Didn't he?
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We love the brethren. That's one of the evidences of being a true Christian. First John 3, 18 and 19, we know we pass from death to life because we love the brethren.
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He who does not love his brother abides in death. First John 3, 21,
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Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before or toward God. There is assurance. First John 3, 24,
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He who keeps his commandments abides in him, he in him. By this we know he abides in us, by the
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Spirit whom he has given us. The Spirit enables us to be obedient to the Lord. And there are others there too that we won't read.
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But the fact is the scripture makes it very clear that we have the ability to have assurance.
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Now back to our text in Colossians 2, verse 2. Not only are there great riches of full assurance, but notice these riches of full assurance lie in understanding and knowledge.
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Now we were not diminishing knowledge earlier, we were refuting false knowledge that the false teachers were presenting.
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But he's really saying here that the riches of full assurance lie in understanding and knowledge.
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A true understanding of what God teaches in His Word. It must be based upon a revelation of God's truth in the scriptures.
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The Bible alone teaches us how we can have a sound assurance of salvation. It's not because you feel in such a way necessarily, as we'll talk about later.
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But it's because there's an affirmation, a confirmation, this is what the Word of God says.
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And therefore I have assurance. Actually the
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Bible teaches how we can have a sound assurance. And the scriptures really reveal three different ways in which
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God gives assurance of salvation. First, God may give assurance of salvation through believing and trusting the promises of scripture.
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That's pretty simple. For example, Jesus said, All that the Father gives me shall come to me, and him that comes to me
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I will in no wise cast out. And so the one who believes this promise,
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I've come to the Lord Jesus. And He's assured me, He won't cast me out. He can have a sound assurance based upon that.
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A second way, however, that God may give assurance of salvation is through the subjective experience of peace that the
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Holy Spirit may impart to the true Christian. Some young Christians need to be given assurance, they don't have it.
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Some of us were given assurance the moment we were converted. No one had to come to me and give me assurance of salvation.
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I was transformed in a moment. I had a sensation of being cleansed, spiritually cleansed.
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I mean, I was evil with sin one moment, and I felt a sense of cleansing of my soul.
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It was remarkable. And a sense of assurance. And it was a ministry of the
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Holy Spirit. It's not experienced by everyone to the same degree and in the same way.
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But there is a subjective assurance that God the Holy Spirit produces and sustains. And so Paul wrote about it in 1
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Thessalonians. We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, patience of hope, and our
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Lord Jesus in the sight of our God and Father, knowing, beloved brethren, your election of God.
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Paul was assured of their salvation. Some of you might remember the sermon I gave some years ago,
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How to Know You're One of the Elect, and it was based on this passage. Paul doubted the Corinthians, he doubted the
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Galatians. I stand in doubt of you. He did not stand in doubt of this church of Thessalonica. I know your election.
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And then he listed all the reasons for when my gospel came, it came to empower. You became examples in all of Asia.
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I didn't even have to preach a gospel anymore because word of your transformation spread throughout the whole region.
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You burned your idols, turning to the living God. I'm convinced of your election, is what he said. But here you'll notice also, for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the
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Holy Spirit, and in much assurance. The Holy Spirit gave them assurance. And that's a wonderful blessing.
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Romans 8, Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you'll die.
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But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Every true Christian puts to death the deeds of the body by the
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Spirit, and you'll live. For many reasons, for as many as are led by the
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Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. See, the ones being led by the Spirit of God are not those, you know,
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Holy Spirit, which way do you want me to go? What do you want me to do? No. In the context, those who are led by the
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Spirit of God are putting to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit. And furthermore, you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out,
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Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. There you have subjective experience, granted by the
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Holy Spirit, the Comforter. Not everybody experiences this to the same degree.
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D. Martin Lloyd -Jones thought that this way of assurance was the greatest and strongest form of assurance that a believer may have.
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I read a Puritan, I forget whether it was Thomas Boston or Thomas Brooks, however, who seemed to think this way of assurance was the least reliable of the three.
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It's fascinating to read that. But a third way
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God gives true assurance of salvation is when the Christian is able to pass the test of Scripture that distinguishes the true
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Christians from all others. So there are tests that the
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Scripture gives. And with respect to this third way that God gives assurance, passing the test of Scripture, the little epistle of 1
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John sets forth three kinds of tests. So there are three ways of assurance, and this third way, passing the test, there are three kinds of tests set forth in 1
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John, by which we can legitimately have assurance of salvation.
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And these three tests are as follows. The test of the faith, which addresses the content of what you believe.
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We might say that this is the doctrinal test. It is the sphere of the mind or intellect.
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There are certain things you have to believe if you're a Christian. Secondly, there is the test of fellowship.
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This test concerns whom you love. Do you truly love God? Do you truly love
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God's people? This is the test of one's affections. It's in the sphere of the heart as emotion, affections.
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Third, the test of the life. This is the issue of how you live. This is the practical test. It's the test of righteousness.
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It's the sphere of acting, reacting, relating to people, to things, to situations that we encounter in life.
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And we have to pass all three of these tests. You might pass two, fail one, you're in trouble. To fail in one test is fatal to assurance.
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I used this illustration back when we dealt with this, back in 2007. Imagine you have a strange and growing pain in your abdomen.
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It becomes a concern for you. You go to your physician. He looks over you. He says, let's take an x -ray of you to see if that test may reveal anything.
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And as a result, he says, hey, you look fine to me. Perhaps we should do some more blood work, however, to see if that test reveals a problem.
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So we take some blood, send it down for a thorough blood test. You return to him. He says, yeah, I don't see anything wrong with you.
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You pass the second test. You have a clear bill of health. Nevertheless, I think we'll send you for an ultrasound, for sometimes that will reveal a condition that is not made obvious through other means.
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And so that is done. You return. He says, hey, we found the problem. It is such and such.
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Well, false assurance is bolstered by either not submitting to examination or not submitting to thorough examination.
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You have to pass the test of the faith or you're a heretic. Furthermore, you have to pass the test of life or you're a hypocrite.
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And you have to pass the test of fellowship, or your case is hopeless unless you repent of sin and turn to Christ.
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For the Scripture says, if anyone says, I love God, hates his brother, he's a liar. For he who does not love his brother,
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I'm talking about Christian brother, whom he has seen, how can he love God? And so, in fact, to fail any of these three tests is to reveal a present condition that unless repentance is exhibited, that person will die in his sins.
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However, again, our confession reasons and argues biblically, true assurance belongs to those who truly believe in the
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Lord Jesus, to those who love Him in sincerity, to those who endeavor to walk in all good conscience before Him.
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They may in this life enjoy assurance. They may be assured that they will be glorified one day.
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Their hope will never be disappointed. They will stand unashamed before God one day. And that statement of the confession is right.
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It's a biblical one. Lastly, we need to return to our text and see, thirdly, that this riches of assurance is in understanding and knowledge, which bring great riches of assurance, but they're all centered in the person of Jesus Christ.
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Again, Paul wrote, I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea, for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, be knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and knowledge, and here it is, of God's mystery, which is
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Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He is the center of all things.
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The creator of all things, the meaning of all things, the explanation of all things, the value of all things, everything is in Christ.
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The heretics who were influencing these Christians at Colossae claimed they were promoters of a mystery religion.
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They told the people, if you join us, we'll give you some inside information about this God, including
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His name, and if you've got His name, then you can control Him, and He'll bring benefit to you.
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That's the heart of a pagan, basically. You can do this or that and manipulate
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God to be favorable to you. And so they were called mystery religions. Well, here
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Paul tells his readers that God's mystery is Jesus Christ. See, there's a contrast there between what is false and what is true.
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God's mystery is Jesus Christ, and it's in Him alone all the treasures and wisdom and knowledge may be acquired.
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And he declares this knowledge in Christ was hidden, not that it could not be recovered, but just the opposite was true.
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It was hidden, and through Jesus Christ these hidden riches may be uncovered and recovered.
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That's the point. As Calvin wrote, The meaning, therefore, is that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid in Christ, by which he means that we are perfect in wisdom if we truly know
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Christ, so that it is madness to wish to know anything besides Him.
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For since the Father has manifested Himself wholly in Him, that man wishes to be wise apart from God who is not contented with Christ alone.
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Should anyone choose to interpret it as referring to the mystery, the meaning will be that all the wisdom of the pious is included in the gospel by means of which
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God has revealed to us in His Son. The point is, Christ is the sum of all things. And the last statement, and we won't go into this, but he's saying that the final spiritual concern of the minister is that they be preserved from errant teaching.
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And so, Paul wrote, I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.
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You know, every errant person I've ever talked to, and every heretic I've ever talked to, seem to have a plausible argument in their own mind.
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They reason. They reason wrongly. They have some wrong premise, or drawn some wrong conclusion, but they have what in their mind is a plausible argument.
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And sometimes you'll be confronted with what appears on the surface to be a plausible argument. But you need to examine it carefully.
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Because people are easily deceived. And people sharper than you or me have been deceived in the past by plausible arguments.
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And Paul was concerned that they not be deceived by plausible arguments. There are some, you know, in our community that can probably come into your house and teach you falsehood in a very persuasive way.
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Don't give them ground. Don't give them a place or a forum. But rather, give yourself to Scripture and Scripture alone.
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They may try and argue from Scripture, and it seems plausible. It seems to make sense. But remember what the
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Scripture says. You know, that at first, when somebody comes and speaks, it might seem to be true until the next guy comes along and gives the counter of it.
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And you see the folly of it. And basically that's what Paul wanted these Christians to do at Colossae.
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They were being deceived by what may have seemed plausible arguments. But he wanted them to be grounded and preserved from errant teaching.
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And then lastly, the apostle declares that what greatly encouraged him was when he saw his people disciplined and stable in the faith.
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For though I am absent in the body, I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and firmness of your faith, of the faith in Christ.
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And I was reminded of John's teaching, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
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And that's what Paul is really expressing here in Colossians 2, 5, isn't he? And yes, it's our delight to hear that you know and believe the truth.
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It's our greater delight to know that you're walking in that truth, that it is influencing and affecting how you are living for Christ among his people.
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Amen. May that be our our desire and our accomplished goal.
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Let's pray. Thank you, Father, for your word. And we pray that you'd take help us take these matters to heart.
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And thank you for the wonderful promises you have in Scripture, but also for the warnings. We pray,
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Lord, that you would help us not to be deceived by what appear to be plausible arguments, but that we would be grounded in Christ, in Christ Jesus, in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.
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And we just pray, our God, as we continue to search out Christ, that you would reveal these to us, that we might know them and enjoy them as spiritual treasures, riches in Christ.