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*Blessed Assurance*
*Ephesians 1:3,4*
*May 27, 2007*
* *
You’ve probably noticed that today’s key verses are Ephesians 1:3,4 and are probably thinking that I just preached on them recently.
If so, you are right, I did, but I’m also going to preach on them again.
Two weeks ago the emphasis was on what we were chosen for – to be holy and blameless.
This week the emphasis will be on our assurance, our blessed assurance knowing that Jesus is ours.
Assurance of your salvation may seem a given – once saved, always saved!
But not all denominations teach assurance .
Years ago when Marcy and I were care group leaders in Prince George, we met a sweet gal who was assigned to our group.
She grew up in the Salvation Army.
During our years together she shared her great fear that she might lose her salvation.
Her church did not teach eternal security.
Later, we came across others from other denominations who shared her fear that their salvation could be lost.
I ask you, how is it lost?
What would you have to do to lose your salvation.
Or the converse: what would you have to do to keep your salvation.
Today we will look at some supporting Scripture beginning with these two verses from Ephesians, which support the argument that you can’t lose your salvation.
So, let’s start in Hebrews.
Please turn to Hebrews chapter six and verse 11 and we’ll read that.
If you don’t have our Bible, the verse is printed on the back of your bulletin, but I’m hoping that you all have your Bibles with you.
I will be reading from the New Kings James version.
In Hebrews 6:11 we read: /"We desire each one of you to show the same earnestness in realizing the full assurance of hope until the end."/
In other words, God's will for us is that we live in the liberty and the joy and the power of full assurance of our salvation.
He means for us to know assuredly that we are bound for heaven and that we will not fail to get there.
In his book, “The Glorious Journey”, Dr. Charles Stanley says: If you are still struggling with assurance, apply these three tests:
1. /Do I believe the Word of God?/ God said it; I believe it; that settles it.
2. /Do I have the witness of the Holy Spirit?/ Read with me 1 John 5:6, /“And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.”/
It is conviction, not feeling.
/“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God”/ (Rom.
8:16).
3. /Do I have the walk of the believer?/
Am I different?
Do you I a deep desire to please the Lord Jesus?
/“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation”/ (2 Cor.
5:17).
I am a new creation.
You are a new creation.
I will sin from time to time.
You will sin from time to time, but the Holy Spirit convicts me and you.
The saved person feels guilt when he sins.
That is proof that the Holy Spirit resides in us and pricks our conscience.
Mind you, we can harden our heart so that eventually our conscience doesn’t speak anymore.
Those who were saved very young often need to reaffirm or make sure of their salvation when they are in their teens.
This does not insult God.
Teens go through a long process of making sure they are making their own choices and not resting on their parents’ decisions.
They may need to resettle the issue of their salvation.
Don’t be alarmed.
Many who were saved at a young age have never doubted their salvation, but many do doubt.
People are different, and God deals with us where we are.
But rest assured, God will deal with you.
For God wants us walking closely, not at a distance.
And God wants us trusting in the work of the cross and resurrection, not our good works.
| *Did you know that one-third of self-described born-again Christians believe that they will gain entry into heaven as a consequence of their good works rather than God’s grace through Jesus Christ.*
|
Again, quoting Dr Stanley.
“I was saved at the age of twelve.
I remember where I was sitting in the church.
A woman was preaching, and I went forward and accepted Christ.
So much emphasis was subsequently placed on performance, I wondered if I was still saved.
But as I would get down beside my bed to pray, I would say, “God, I know I’m not doing everything right.
But something inside me says I’m not lost.”
Dr Stanley continues, I didn’t know that was the witness of the Holy Spirit in my young heart.
But He was there, assuring me that I belonged to the Lord Jesus Christ.
There was no ethereal feeling.
I had a blessed assurance.”
Based on His wonderful Word—all of it—we can /know/ that we have eternal life.
It has nothing to do with feeling.
But it has everything to do with the trustworthiness of God.
He wants us saved.
He has done everything possible through Christ to make that happen.
Once we receive Him as our own, we can rest on the Word of God and in the witness of the Spirit.
Once you’re in the family of God, by faith in His Son, your name is written in the Book of Life.
Again, from Dr. Stanley: “Several times a year, we conduct cruises through In Touch Ministries.
It’s a wonderful time of Bible study, special music, and fellowship.
I look forward to each one.
On one cruise, a worker on the ship sat in the back during a Bible study session.
He came to me later and asked if we could talk.
I was delighted.
We sat down and I explained the way of salvation to the young man.
He wasn’t quite sure about the whole thing.
He asked more questions, and I tried, as best I knew how, to answer them from the Word of God.
He left to go back to work on the ship, still uncertain.
The next afternoon at lunch, the same fellow came up to me, smiling, and said, “Dr.
Stanley, I got it!”
He knew he’d been born again.
The smile and enthusiasm were not from a hope-so or maybe-this-will-work experience.
He knew, according to 1 John 5:13, that his name was written in heaven and that he was a child of God.
He just took Him at His Word.
Literally.
When the seas of his life get rocky, he has an anchor.
Blessed assurance.
Let’s look at 1 John 5:13 now: /“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
“/
*T*he most frequently asked question I hear is, “How can I /know/ I’m saved?”
That is the dilemma of many people.
What did we just read in 1 John 5:13 – /“that you may know you have eternal life./
Dr Stanley continues, Not long ago during the invitation at our church, an older woman came forward.
She took my hand and said she’d wondered about her salvation for years, and she needed to know.
The longing look in her aged eyes broke my heart.
She’d needlessly wrestled for many years.
With great delight she was able to meet with one of our counselors and settle it once and for all.
Maybe you are like that woman.
You have prayed the sinner’s prayer to accept Jesus into your heart and life.
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