Congratulations, Christian, Assurance Activated

In life we place our assurance in lots of things - some more deserving than others - because they often promise it in return. A few decades ago there was a man named Phillip who was a passionate collector of watches. He began his collection as a teenager and through the years, came across many rare watches and was an expert of sorts in restoring old watches and making a good amount of money in the process. Phillip started out keeping his watches in his home but as their value increased he desired more security for them so he moved them to a local bank in their safe deposit box area. He had a key and the bank had a key and the only way that the box could be opened was for both keys to be present - he was assured of the safety and security of his watch collection. Over 40 years later, he came in and opened up his box and it was empty. He said that in that moment he felt a devastation that he had never felt to that point in his life. Apparently what had happened was a neighboring box owner failed to make his payments and the bank notified him that they were going to remove his box contents. Years later it was discovered that the employee had emptied the wrong box. To make matters worse, it is estimated that Phillip lost over $10 million from this accident. He was assured that everything was safe and taken care of, only to have his trust betrayed. No bank, doctor, leader, or company can promise us safety and assurance in the event of a disaster or accident. Assurance is hard to come by in our world and some approach Christ with this same skepticism. We read about Jesus, we hear about Jesus, we sing about Jesus and the cross and His blood shed for our sins and it sounds fine… but can we trust in Him?

When disaster strikes, is Jesus enough? When my health fails, is Jesus enough? When my friends betray me, is Jesus enough? When someone disappoints me, is Jesus enough? Or, will He let me down too? These are questions we want answers for, and thankfully the Bible tells us that the answer is a resounding “YES - He is enough.”

How do we know that? Sure, the Bible tells us that Jesus will never leave or forsake us in Hebrews 13:5. Sure Galatians 2:20 tells us

Galatians 2:20 CSB

20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

But, can we really trust in this Jesus? As we wrap up Hebrews 9 this morning, we’re going to look at 3 reasons why we can have assurance as Christians and it’s all because of Who Jesus is, and What Jesus has done for sinners like you and me. He won’t let us down - He’s already won the victory, He’s with us every step of the way, and He is coming again. Let’s read from God’s Word this morning

Hebrews 9:11–28 CSB

11 But Christ has appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come. In the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands (that is, not of this creation), 12 he entered the most holy place once for all time, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow, sprinkling those who are defiled, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works so that we can serve the living God? 15 Therefore, he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. 16 Where a will exists, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will is valid only when people die, since it is never in effect while the one who made it is living. 18 That is why even the first covenant was inaugurated with blood. 19 For when every command had been proclaimed by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll itself and all the people, 20 saying, This is the blood of the covenant that God has ordained for you. 21 In the same way, he sprinkled the tabernacle and all the articles of worship with blood. 22 According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. 23 Therefore, it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves to be purified with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands (only a model of the true one) but into heaven itself, so that he might now appear in the presence of God for us. 25 He did not do this to offer himself many times, as the high priest enters the sanctuary yearly with the blood of another. 26 Otherwise, he would have had to suffer many times since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared one time, at the end of the ages, for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment— 28 so also Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Aren’t you thankful for the promises that we see in this text of Scripture? Jesus obtains our eternal redemption, His blood purifies sinners, He is seated in heaven right now, and He is coming back again. If you’re not excited about those Biblical truths you’re probably dead either physically or spiritually! Truly, what an awesome reminder this text is. Let’s pray and ask Jesus to help us find our assurance in Him and in Him alone.

We Have Assurance Because of Christ’s Sacrifice (11-14)

If we truly do have assurance in the finished work of Jesus Christ, we have to ask ourselves what that assurance must do in our lives day in and day out. So often we want to know the future and what tomorrow holds so that we know how to plan for today. Now, the Bible isn’t always against planning, but it is against a type of planning that gets us to trust in ourselves versus trusting in God’s plan most of all. What we need and what we see in Hebrews 9 is a reminder of the Biblical doctrine of assurance. It’s not based in ourselves and our greatness. It’s not based in what another person promises us. It also isn’t a reason for us to drift towards complacency or rest in our comforts… instead, Biblical assurance is our reason to cooperate and celebrate. Alec Motyer shares, “The doctrine of assurance, Biblically understood, keeps the saint on his toes.” If we are assured that Jesus Christ truly died for our sins on the cross and secured our eternal redemption and salvation, then we have to realize that there is something for us to do today and that is respond to this news, rejoice at this news, and resolve to share this news with others.

How can we be assured of Christ’s sacrifice? For one, it is a historical fact. Even people who reject the authority of Scripture and the divinity of Jesus Christ believe that Jesus was a real person who really died on the cross. This is a real historical fact that even atheists like Richard Dawkins would agree with. How can we be assured of the success of Christ’s sacrifice? The resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the proof that He was Who He said He was all along. He sacrifice Himself in our place and as Scripture shares, He rose 3 days later, and He is seated in heaven right now! This is what Jesus has done and this must give us assurance in the midst of the things we face in this life. Jesus actually accomplished something with His sacrifice. His sacrifice wasn’t potentially good news, His sacrifice IS good news that cannot be changed or altered.

This eternal redemption is Trinitarian in nature: It was planned by the Father, purchased by the Son, and proclaimed by the Holy Spirit to the hearts of sinners like you and me. Therefore, we can have assurance in this life as a follower of Jesus Christ because He offered Himself in our place and He purchased our pardon.

Victory in Jesus: “He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood”

This is amazing news! This is news that should help us out in hard times and provide us with unwavering assurance regardless of what this world throws our way. Our salvation is secured because of what Jesus Christ did on Calvary. He cleanses our consciences and credits our accounts with His righteousness. We are called to respond to His sacrifice with repentance and faith. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ must lead to a response - Jared Wilson, professor at MBTS, shared once that, “The blood of the lamb is too precious not to be applied to our own doorposts.” If you’re familiar with the Israelites in Exodus, you know that before the final plague, God commanded them to put blood over their doorposts in Exodus 12 and the blood would serve as a barrier of sorts and God’s judgment would pass over that household. What is the cross? The place where the blood of the lamb was shed. Satan loves a bloodless cross because there is power in the blood and that power prevails against him. We don’t have to hope that God will come through with this one day or that we will earn His favor in the future… we have hope because of what has already happened.

Larry Richards shares that, “Assurance isn’t presumption; it’s promise.” God keeps His promises. Therefore, we can have assurance in this life because God sent His Son to do for us what we could never do or deserve: to save us from our sins and cleanse us from our guilty consciences and so that we could discover our purpose to glorify and serve Him faithfully with all that we do. This provides us with purpose and assurance today.

We Have Assurance Because of Christ’s Seal (Blood) (15-25)

One of the things we see in the New Testament is that Christians are “sealed” by God and this provides us with assurance that we belong to Him and that He is always with us. How does this happen in the first place? Whenever a king in the ancient world would send a message to another king or leader, he would seal the message with his ring and indicate that it truly was from him and that it was not to be opened unless the person opening it was the one the king was writing to. This is the picture in the Bible of the Holy Spirit. God puts His Spirit in our lives and seals us and nothing can un-open that seal - we’re covered and protected. That’s awesome news but how is it possible? Hebrews 9:15 has the word therefore, and when there is a therefore we have to go back and see what it is there for. Because of Jesus and His sacrifice in our place, we now have a mediator in this New Covenant between ourselves and God. Hebrews 8:6 mentioned this several weeks ago that Jesus is our mediator. Usually a mediator acts as a 3rd party between a 2 people who are at odds and the mediator usually tries to help them find some common ground and compromise. This is not the type of mediator that Jesus is - he’s not a couples counselor between God and man and the reason why is because we don’t have that common ground and God cannot compromise. God is in the right and we are in the wrong. God is holy and we are not. So, what does Jesus do as our mediator? He changes us and He saves us. He sacrifices Himself in our place and He cleans us and He makes us holy by giving us His cleanliness. We receive eternal redemption and an eternal inheritance that cannot be taken away from us.

So, how does the mediation of Jesus save us - we talk about being saved often and we talk in our testimonies about how Jesus saved us, but how does this work? It requires blood and it requires the seal from the King. Leviticus 17:11

Leviticus 17:11 CSB

11 For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have appointed it to you to make atonement on the altar for your lives, since it is the lifeblood that makes atonement.

Without blood we don’t have life. Sin leads to death and the demand that sin brings upon ourselves is the loss of our life. The reason that God required them to offer animals as sacrifices was to remind them of the seriousness of their sin. This animal is dying in your place, but it should be you who is dying. Sin is costly - yet, because of the sacrifice of Jesus, His blood seals us… but not all are sealed and not all are saved. We see that Jesus dies on the cross for sinners like you and me and this is the best news of all, but there is a dangerous thought seeping into churches that says that Jesus’ sacrifice and His blood pays for the sins of every single person who has ever lived and that all go to heaven because of the cross. We see in Hebrews 9:15 that this isn’t true that He is the mediator of the new covenant and gives the promise of an eternal inheritance to those who are called. Well, what does that mean? Paul speaks of this in Romans 8:28

Romans 8:28 CSB

28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

1 Corinthians 1:9 CSB

9 God is faithful; you were called by him into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

2 Timothy 1:9 CSB

9 He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.

Who are these people who are called by God? Believers. You’ll never meet a Christian who was not called by God. Yes, we respond to that call, we are all responsible to repent of our sins and place our faith in Christ as Lord and Savior. But what about those who reject Christ as Lord? The Bible shares that those people are not washed in the blood - they have rejected Christ and His sacrifice - and Hebrews 9:22 tells us that without that blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. Those who argue for a doctrine called Universalism do so at the neglect of countless pages of Scripture that share with us the severity of our sin and the consequences associated with rejecting Christ’s Lordship. Hell is what we deserve. That sounds harsh to lots of people in our world, but compare this with God’s standard of holiness. God’s standard is perfection - and not the Bruno Mars you’re perfect just the way you are type of perfection, we’re talking sinless perfection. Scripture tells us that we’re in trouble

Romans 3:23 CSB

23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;

What we do often times is we shift our gaze from God’s standard to the standard of our world. We look on Facebook and do this: Well, at least I didn’t ever post anything like that! We look at what other people are doing in our community and we say, “At least I’m not like that person. They’ve really sinned big time!” We’ll justify ourselves by putting someone else down and for whatever reason, as humans, we usually compare ourselves to someone that makes us look really good in our own eyes at least. This is our culture: I’m better than that person because I do x, y, and z. We love to compare horizontally - but this isn’t what we’re called to do. We compare ourselves to God and His standard. And at that point, we realize that we all drop the ball and fall woefully short! We’re sinners in need of forgiveness and salvation. Luke 18 speaks to this point

Luke 18:10–14 CSB

10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee was standing and praying like this about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people—greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’ 13 “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than the other, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

So often we’re the pharisee in this life as we justify ourselves and our sins because they’re “not as bad” but whenever we do this, we fail to repent from our own sins which is the point of this entire text. We need help! This is what the tax collector does - he realizes he is a sinner and pleads for forgiveness and mercy. Blaise Pascal put it like this, “There are only two kinds of men: the righteous who think they are sinners and the sinners who think they are righteous.” So, who are you this morning? If your assurance is found in comparing yourself to other people as the justification of your righteousness then you can’t have any lasting assurance as there will always be a “better” person in the way that we define better. Instead, we have to understand that we all need Christ’s forgiveness and blood. Whenever we repent of our sins and trust in Him, He provides us with mercy. He purifies us. He seals us with His Spirit. Our assurance isn’t found in what we’ve done and in our works, it’s found in what Christ has done. It’s found at the cross, the tomb, and where He is currently seated at in glory. It’s all because of His once for all sacrifice on the cross.

Why the cross, though? Why did Jesus have to die? Hebrews 9 is a great text to help us see why this was necessary. Let’s look at 3 things in our passage in relation to death and the death of Jesus, specifically.

In order to have a will, you must have death (v. 17)

We understand this in our world from a legal perspective as people make a will and that will is what is used to distribute the possessions of the person who passed away. Whether it be a car, dog, house, or stocks, those possessions are passed down through a will but they won’t be distributed until the person passes away and the will take effect. What is the inheritance that Jesus leaves for us? We read in verse 15 that it is this promise of eternal inheritance. This means the forgiveness of sins that we receive from Jesus is only given through His death.

In order to have forgiveness, you must have death (v. 18, 22)

Blood is important in our text and we’ve talked about it as verse 22 shares that there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood. Hebrews has looked at this blood often as there were thousands of years of sacrifices offered by priests and high priests alike. In order for the sin to be covered, there had to be something that died. You must have death. This is why Jesus says at the Last Supper that His blood is the New Covenant poured out for His followers in order to forgive their sins. Forgiveness requires blood and death. Sin is that serious!

In order to have salvation, you must have a substitutionary death (23-25)

Think of Barabbas and Christ - Barabbas went free not because he was innocent from his crimes. He went free because Christ took his place. This is the same situation for all of us. In order for us to be saved from the punishment of our sins, Christ must take our place. We have to understand that sin is so serious that we deserved to be on that cross (the cross was for you and me) - but because of the grace of God, sinners like you and I can be set free from that punishment. That’s the Gospel - we deserved death, Christ took our sin and shame upon Himself, He credits us with His righteousness before God, and we are raised to walk in newness of life and to glorify Him as a new creation. Praise the Lord for His substitutionary death in our place!

~ How Deep the Father’s Love for Us ~

We look at all that Jesus has done, and we can have assurance today as His followers because He sacrificed Himself in our place. He has sealed us with His Spirit. He is sanctifying us to become more like Him each and every day - but we can also have assurance today because, 3rd,

We Have Assurance Because of Christ’s Second Coming (26-28)

Jesus was God’s plan A before the foundation of the earth - we see this in Revelation 13:8 and other texts. In verse 26 we see that Jesus as our high priest appeared one time, not multiple, and offered His once for all sacrifice at the end of the ages. What does that mean? It means that when Jesus showed up, things changed. He fulfills the Old Covenant and brings about the New Covenant. Jesus has paid for our pardon in full on the cross and, as a result, could return at any moment at least the way the preacher of Hebrews views things because it is not the end of the ages. In other words, everyone talks about the last days these days… We’ve been living in them for 2,000 years and it’s all because of the change that Jesus brings through His sacrifice on the cross.

Everything changes whenever Jesus shows up. The religious leaders had never heard a boy with wisdom like Jesus taught when he was at the temple at the age of 12 asking and answering questions. The woman at the well had been to that well hundreds of times before but when Jesus showed up in John 4, everything changed. Cripples, Leapers, Blind, and Sick people were changed whenever Jesus showed up. The entire world changed whenever Jesus came. The question we have to individually ask ourselves today is this: Has Jesus come into my life? Not do I know the stories of Jesus. Not have I come to church. Not have I done the religious check boxes for weeks, months, and years… has Jesus come into my life and changed me? If you can’t look back to that moment in time and you can’t see evidence of change in your life that lines up with God’s Word and the Fruit of His Spirit, then you need to be honest enough to see the reality of your situation here. Every single one of us will pass away. Because of the reality of sin, we will all die. But Hebrews 9:27 reminds us that death is not the end - after death comes judgment. We don’t like the idea of facing judgment or being judged, but there is no way around this truth that we will stand before God after our death and one of two things will happen on that day and it is something that you don’t have to be fearful of if you’re obedient today.

As some pastors have said before, “Born once, die twice. Born twice, die once.” These are the options before us. Every human being will die. We’re alive today but at some point because of sin, we will face death. But in Scripture we see that there are some who are said to be born again, what does that look like? Look with me in John 3 this morning

John 3:3–5 CSB

3 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 “How can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

We must be born of water and of the Spirit in order to enter God’s Kingdom. If this is your story, if you have repented of your sins and been changed by the blood of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit lives inside of you, then you have hope that you will enter this Kingdom because you’ve been born again and this should lead you to rejoice this morning… but undoubtedly there are some here who have been born once but you haven’t been born again and, as a result, you lack the assurance that Jesus alone provides. Maybe you’re here and you think that death is the end or that your good actions and works will be able to help and save you after your death or that there is this cycle of reincarnation and karma is the judge. Hebrews 9:27-28 rejects all of those ideas. We will all die. We will all face some sort of judgment. But if Jesus is your great high priest and mediator before the Father through His sacrifice on the cross, you have nothing to fear because He has taken your sins upon Himself. But if you reject Jesus, even if you go to church and know the answers, you will pay the price for your sins for all eternity. This isn’t fun to talk about, but it’s important and it’s what the Bible tells us. Every sin ever committed must be paid for to satisfy God’s holiness and justness. It will either be paid for by the sinner or by Jesus Christ. If Jesus has paid for your sins, you have nothing to fear today. No power of hell or scheme of man can pluck you from His hand. You don’t have to fear coming judgment. Instead, Hebrews 9:28 instructs us to wait for Christ’s return eagerly.

Everyone has an idea of what Jesus’ return will look like. Many think they have it all or at least mostly figured out. I’ve seen all the charts and you’ve probably seen them too. This happens here, and then 3 years of this and 3 years of that and then this event will happen and then Jesus will FINALLY come and everything will be good but until that point we need to be really afraid because it’s going to be bad - the worst its ever been. If you’re a born again believer, you have nothing to fear. If you’re a born again believer, Jesus said that no one knows the day or time but the Father. We don’t know the WHEN but we do know the WHO. Look at what this verse tells us: When Christ appears a second time, He comes to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him. There are things here we don’t know and there are things that we can be assured of:

We are assured that Jesus will return - we don’t know when

We are assured that Jesus will judge sinners and save Christians - we don’t know when

We are assured that God’s Word is true - we don’t know all the details we’d like to know

So, are you waiting for Jesus?

So often we say that we’re ready for Jesus to return on our terms. I’m ready for Jesus, but I want to do _____ first. I want to watch my children and grandchildren grow up. I want to try this thing. I want to experience that. Yet, God’s Word tells us that we are aliens here and just passing through this world. We’re in this world but not of this world. That this world cannot satisfy our hearts. We must fight against the temptation to remain comfortable in this modern Babylon whenever Babylon isn’t our home.

However and Whenever He chooses to return, as a Christian, this truth should do nothing but excite you and energize you to fulfill God’s purpose for your life. There are thousands of people in Dent County who do not come to church. Thousands who do not know Christ as Lord and Savior. There are millions of people in that boat in our state and billions in our world. There is work to be done. The harvest is plenty but the laborers are few. Rather than soaking up the comforts this world offers us, let’s be diligent to step up and serve our Savior each day until He calls us home. We have assurance in this life that this world can’t offer and it can’t steal. We have assurance in our Savior’s sacrifice. We have assurance in our Savior’s seal upon our lives through the presence of His Holy Spirit. We have assurance that Jesus Christ will return. That’s a blessed assurance - what are we doing with it? Let’s be a people who wait well with our eyes fixed on Jesus and our hearts aligned with His will for our lives.

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