Sermon: "A Foundation for Assurance"
Can you do anything to help you live a longer life?
Some would say exercise, good eating habits, regular medical check-ups, eight hours of sleep each night, and an overall healthy life-style, will increase your life span.
I’m not one of those. I believe those things might improve the quality of your life, but the Bible appears to teach that they will not increase the length of your life. Listen to what it says …
PSALM 139:16b – All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
JOB 14:5 – Man’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.
These are not popular verses in today’s society, but listen to what a Bible scholar in 1710 wrote about the verse in Job.
He wrote, “This verse teaches us three things.”
1. Our life will come to an end … our days upon earth are not numberless, are not endless. They are numbered.
2. It is determined in the counsel and decree of God how long we shall live and when we shall die.
3. The bounds God has fixed we cannot change; for his decrees are unalterable and his foresight infallible.
Those are some strong words, but he didn’t stop there. He also wrote:
“It is certain that God’s providence determines the length of our lives; our times are in his hands. The powers of nature depend upon him, and act under him. In him we live and move. Diseases are his servants; he kills and makes alive. Nothing comes to pass by chance.” Matthew Henry – 1710
You may not agree with everything Matthew Henry wrote, but you know that your days here on earth will come to an end. That means you should be concerned about what comes after death.
The wonderful thing is that as a Believer in Jesus you can know with complete assurance what waits for you on the other side of death. Our scripture text for this morning says that very thing.
I JOHN 5:13 – I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
If you believe in Jesus, you can be certain that eternal life if yours … Heaven will be your future home.
However, as we said last week, many Christians are not certain they are going to go to Heaven when they die. They hope they will. They think they will, but they are not certain. Yet our scripture text says …
I JOHN 5:13 – I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
We have set aside four weeks this winter to deal with the topic of - “Knowing You are a Child of God,” so that every Believer at our church can be free of the doubts, concerns and fears that haunt them concerning their eternal destiny.
Last week we looked at steps Christians can take that will lead them to an assurance of their salvation. Here they are:
1. Exercise your faith
By spending time in prayer, doing the things you know God wants you to do and trying to do what you think you can’t do.
2. Trust the promises of God
We said, “If your trust in God and his promises is complete and whole-hearted, it will do away with your fears, set you mind at rest and fill your heart with assurance.”
3. Study God’s Word
We can’t always trust our feelings, but we can trust God’s Word.
4. Cultivate Your Christian Life
Live as a Christian should live.
Did you take those steps this past week? They are steps you must take every week or your assurance will not be strong.
This week we are going to look at things you must know and believe if you are going to have the assurance you desire concerning your eternal future. It’s called … “A Foundation for Assurance.”
If you believe in the name of the Son of God, you may know that you have eternal life by standing on the foundation God has graciously given to you.
The first corner of that foundation is …
I. GOD’S FORGIVENESS IS A SURE THING
Listen to what the Apostle Paul wrote about this.
COLOSSIANS 2:13-15 -- 13When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Paul says … “He forgives us ALL our sins.” We were dead in our sins, but he made us alive through faith in Jesus.
This knowledge of having our sins forgiven is based not on how we feel, but on what God has promised and revealed to us in his word. Listen …
JOHN 3:17-18 – 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
Those of us who believe in Jesus are not condemned. There is no sentence against us. When we believe in Jesus we are given a new standing with our Creator. Jesus secures for us forgiveness. The condemnation we once were under is dissolved. Jesus said …
JOHN 5:24 – I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.
In the book of Romans we read …
ROMANS 8:1 – Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
It is true that sometimes we wonder how God could forgive us. We don’t feel worthy to be accepted by God – and we aren’t – but he has chosen to forgive us. You must trust God’s word and not your feelings. Listen to more of what God tells us in his word about his forgiveness.
MICAH 7:18 – Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.
ISAIAH 55:7 – Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
ISAIAH 43:25 – “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”
ISAIAH 44:22 – I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.
I JOHN 1:9 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
MATTHEW 26:28 –This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
You will have a difficult time being sure that you are a Child of God, on the road to heaven, if you refuse to accept the truth that God’s forgiveness is a sure thing. That is the first corner of the foundation you need for assurance of your salvation.
The second corner is …
II. YOUR ACCEPTANCE BY GOD IS A PRESENT REALITY
Paul wrote …
EPHESIANS 2:13 – But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
Notice that small word “now”. NOW, not sometime in the future you have been brought near to God. NOW means this very moment. On the merits of Jesus’ righteousness and shed blood we are invited to come into the holy presence of God.
We don’t have to wait until we get to heaven to come into God’s presence. Listen to what the writer of Hebrews wrote.
HEBREWS 4:14-16 – 14Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin. 16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Our acceptance by God is a present reality, and thus, we can approach his very throne and present our praise, thanksgiving and requests to him.
Do you understand that if you have received Jesus as your Lord your Heavenly Father has accepted you into his family?
Your acceptance by God is not going to occur on Judgment Day, or when you die, or when you come to heaven’s entrance – it is a present reality.
Listen to what Paul wrote about this.
PHILIPPIANS 3:17-21 – 17Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. 18For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. 20But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Right now you are living on earth, but you are a citizen of heaven.
I am not telling you that. God is telling you that in his word. Do you see why we said last week that two of the steps to assurance is trusting God’s promises and studying God’s word.
When you know and believe that your acceptance by God is a present reality, not something that will occur in the future, it gives you an assurance of God’s divine blessing upon you.
So far we have laid two corners of the foundation you need for the assurance of your salvation.
- God’s forgiveness is a sure thing.
- Your acceptance by God is a present reality.
That brings us to the third corner of the foundation.
III. YOUR ADOPTION CHANGED YOUR FUTURE
Down through the years I have said that I must have been adopted into my family.
When my brothers and I had hair, theirs was red and mine was brown. My sister also has red hair.
They, particularly my brothers, hated school and I loved school.
They are friendly, outgoing, social people and I am more of a loner.
They read when they must, but I love to read and study, and …
They say they are normal and I am weird.
Do you see why I could start thinking I must have been adopted. However, my mother has assured me that the labor pains she experienced did not come from signing adoption papers, so I was not adopted into my family.
But I have been adopted into another family – God’s family. The Bible says …
EPHESIANS 1:3-8 – 3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
When we are adopted into God’s family our future is drastically changed. John, speaking of believing in Jesus wrote …
JOHN 1:12-13 – 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Through Jesus we become Children of God. Listen to God’s promise to everyone who believes in Jesus.
II CORINTHIANS 6:18 – I will be a Father to you, and you will be sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.
As you study the scriptures you come to understand and appreciate just how much your life and future changed when God adopted you into his family. Listen to the following scriptures and soak up the wonderful truths they contain.
ROMANS 8:15-17 – 15For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Can you believe that your adoption into God’s family has made you a co-heir with Jesus? Listen closely to this next scripture.
HEBREWS 2:10-11 – 10In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.
Did you catch that? Both the one who makes men holy – that’s Jesus – and those who are made holy – that’s those of us who believe in Jesus – are of the same family … AND … Jesus is not ashamed to admit that he is our brother.
Do you see the great change that adoption has made in your future? You were born outside of God’s family, but through Jesus, God has adopted you into his family and you now have all the privileges of being one of his children. That means eternal life is yours. Heaven is your future home because God has adopted you into his family. It doesn’t matter how you feel or what is in your past, heaven is in your future because of what God has done. He adopted you.
Listen again to our scripture text for this morning.
I JOHN 5:13 – I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
Three corners of your foundation for assurance are in place. Here they are:
- God’s forgiveness is a sure thing.
- Your acceptance by God is a present reality.
- Your adoption changed your future.
The final corner is …
IV. YOU ARE PART OF JESUS’ KINGDOM
Listen to, and be thankful for, the message contained in the following passage from Colossians.
COLOSSIANS 1:12-14 – 12Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Each of us who believe in Jesus should probably take a week or so and just keep soaking up the truths contained in this passage. Notice …
- God has qualified you to spend eternity in heaven.
- God has rescued you from the dominion of darkness.
- God has brought you into Jesus’ kingdom.
Do you see why you can be sure that you have eternal life? One of the reasons is because you now live in Jesus’ kingdom and not Satan’s kingdom. You live in the light not in the darkness.
Listen to how Peter describes people who believe in Jesus.
I PETER 2:9-10 – 9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
CONCLUSION
We started the morning with this verse …
I JOHN 5:13 – I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
If you have received Jesus as your Lord you may know that you have eternal life – that heaven is your future home.
This morning we have looked at a foundation that every believer can stand upon and when they do they will know eternal life is theirs. Here are the four corners of that foundation.
- God’s forgiveness is a sure thing.
- You acceptance by God is a present reality.
- Your adoption changed your future.
- You are part of Jesus’ kingdom.