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Last time we considered the perseverance 
of the saints, the necessity for the people of God who believe 
on Jesus, those affectionately called those sanctified by His 
Spirit, for them to persevere in the things of God. And ultimately 
we know it's because of the preserving end of our God upon us. Now the 
confession takes up assurance, certainly an issue that we're 
all familiar with. We have it or we don't and we 
always want it so that we have that comfortable state of soul 
that the Bible says is a privilege to those who are in Christ Jesus. 
So I'll read chapter 18 and then we'll look at the several paragraphs. 
Although temporary believers and other unregenerate men may 
vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions 
of being in the favor of God and in a state of salvation, 
which hope of theirs shall perish? Yet such as truly believe in 
the Lord Jesus and 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. This certainty is not a bare 
conjectural and probable persuasion grounded upon a fallible hope, 
but an infallible assurance of faith founded on the blood and 
righteousness of Christ revealed in the gospel, and also upon 
the inward evidence of those graces of the spirit unto which 
promises are made, and on the testimony of the spirit of adoption, 
witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God, and 
as a fruit thereof, keeping the heart both humble and holy. This 
infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith, 
but that a true believer may wait long and conflict with many 
difficulties before he be partaker of it. Yet being enabled by the 
Spirit to know the things which are freely given him of God, 
he may, without extraordinary revelation, in the right use 
of means, attain thereunto. and therefore it is the duty 
of everyone to give all diligence to make his calling and election 
sure, that thereby his heart may be enlarged in peace and 
joy in the Holy Spirit, in love and thankfulness to God, and 
in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedience, the 
proper fruits of this assurance. So far is it from inclining men 
to looseness. True believers may have the assurance 
of their salvation divers ways shaken, diminished, and intermitted, 
as by negligence in preserving of it, by falling into some special 
sin which wounds the conscience and grieves the spirit, by some 
sudden or vehement temptation, by God's withdrawing the light 
of his countenance and suffering even such as fear him to walk 
in darkness and to have no light. Yet are they never destitute 
of the seed of God and life of faith, that love of Christ and 
the brethren, that sincerity of heart and conscience of duty 
out of which, by the operation of the Spirit, this assurance 
may in due time be revived, and by the which, in the meantime, 
they are preserved from utter despair. Amen. Well, there is 
a New Testament epistle that deals specifically with this 
whole idea. At the end of 1 John, in chapter 
5, he sets forth his purpose for writing. In 1 John 5.13, 
these things I have written to you who believe in the name of 
the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life 
and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son 
of God. So at the end of John's gospel, he indicates his purpose 
for writing, that we should believe in the Son of God, or in Jesus 
Christ, the Son of God. And here at the end of 1 John 
is that we might know that we are in this state of grace. C. H. Spurgeon made this comment 
in a sermon preached on this particular topic. He said, many 
who believe on the name of Jesus are not sure that they have eternal 
life. They only hope so. Occasionally, 
they have assurance, but the joy is not abiding. They are 
like a minister I have heard of who said he felt assured of 
his salvation except when the wind was in the east. It is a 
wretched thing to be so subject to circumstances as many are. 
What is true when the wind is in the soft south or the reviving 
west is equally true when the wind is neither good for man 
nor beast. John would not have our assurance 
vary with the weather glass nor turn with the vein. He says, 
these things have I written unto you. that you may know that you 
have eternal life. He would have us certain that 
we are partakers of the new life and so know it as to reap the 
golden fruit of such knowledge and be filled with joy and peace 
through believing. Amen. Certainly it is a boon 
to the Christian faith when we have this assurance. Many of 
those benefits are drawn out in this particular chapter, but 
one of the practical benefits is the comfort that believers 
have. If we are unsure of our state 
and grace, we are not going to have that comfort that God gives 
to his children. Another one is thankfulness. 
If we don't know we're in the state of grace, we aren't going 
to be thankful to God. We're always going to be doubting 
and wavering and wandering and worrying rather than praising 
God and expressing the gratitude that he calls on us or calls 
upon us for as we have benefited from his grace and his mercy. 
As well, it happens in evangelism and in apologetics. We're not 
going to go out and propagate that faith or defend that faith 
that we are not rightly sure we possess. In other words, Peter 
says, sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts and always be 
ready to give a defense. If we doubt that Christ is Lord 
in our hearts, we're not going to contend earnestly for the 
faith, we're not going to give a defense, and we're not going 
to evangelize persons. We're always going to be wondering, 
whether we are in possession of these graces or not. So there 
are several reasons why this doctrine of the assurance of 
grace and salvation is most important. And as I said, the confession 
draws those things out. But as we look at the chapter, 
it breaks down into four paragraphs, obviously. And we can see how 
the structure goes. In the first place, the explanation 
of assurance in paragraph one. Secondly, the foundation of assurance 
in paragraph two. Thirdly, the attainment of assurance 
in paragraph three, and then the difficulties associated with 
assurance in paragraph four. Again, this is one of those chapters 
where the divines show their familiarity with the Christian 
life. This isn't theory for theory's 
sake, but they certainly include the reality that there are struggles 
and there are hardships and there are difficulties. in the Christian 
life and so they address those things and it is for our benefit. But note in the first place the 
explanation of assurance in paragraph 1. There is first asserted a 
qualification. Notice, although temporary believers 
and other unregenerate men may vainly deceive themselves with 
false hopes and carnal presumptions of being in the favor of God 
and in a state of salvation, which hope of theirs shall perish. 
There are those who have a false assurance. There are those who 
do not or should not have assurance because they have temporary faith 
or they are in otherwise unregenerate. But because there are those false 
persons out there or those persons who are not entitled to the comfort 
of assurance, it doesn't follow that genuine believers shouldn't 
have it. It's like that whole idea that 
easy believism. You all know what easy believism 
is in the church, the idea that somebody can just mouth the word 
Jesus, go live like the devil, and be saved. Well, that's obviously 
false. But the corrective to easy believism 
is not a works righteousness. The corrective to easy believism 
is not salvation by faith plus works. It is still the reality 
that we are justified freely by grace through faith in Jesus 
Christ. So trying to shore up easy-believism, 
preachers can fall prey to adding a few works along with belief 
to make sure that the person doesn't fall subject to this 
idea of easy-believism. And it's the same sort of thing 
as here. You probably know people that think all is well with their 
souls. You ask people that have no profession 
of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, ask them if they think they're 
going to end up in hell. Nine times out of ten, they will 
say no. I mean, I guess there are a few out there, and it's 
probably getting more increasingly so, but a lot of people just 
don't want to anticipate the thought or the idea that they're 
going to end up in hell. They say things like, I've not been 
that bad. I know that God is full of love, 
and he'll probably find a place for me and whatnot. Just because 
there are persons out there with this false assurance or an assurance 
that is untrue because of a false belief or a temporary faith doesn't 
mean that assurance is not available for the people of God. And that 
is what is addressed in the following section. Notice, yet such as 
truly believe in the Lord Jesus and 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." If you have children, you've probably, 
at least at some point in the lives of your children, expressed 
to them your love for them. I hope that you all have. I hope 
you can remember that your parents expressed their love for you. 
They made you feel part of the family. They made you feel like 
you belong. They made you feel that you were 
an insider and not an outsider. Well, why would God the Lord 
give us the Holy Spirit, according to Galatians 4, whereby we cry, 
Abba, Father. He wants us to understand that 
we are insiders. He wants us to know that we have 
this assurance. He wants us to know that we are 
members of the household of God. We are children of the Most High. 
So assurance isn't just something out there for a privileged few, 
but it is something that every believer ought to pursue and 
every believer ought to have. Notice the specific reference 
to who received this assurance. Yet such as truly believe in 
the Lord Jesus. That in many respects is foundational. Faith in Christ precedes any 
virtue. Faith in Christ precedes any 
good work. Good works manifest or evidence 
the presence of faith, but ultimately we are justified by grace through 
faith, not works. But notice what they go on to 
say, yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus and love him 
in sincerity. Who loves him in sincerity? Those 
who truly believe in the Lord Jesus. And those who believe, 
those who love, then endeavor to walk in all good conscience 
before him. This is gospel assurance. This is what God affords to his 
people. And notice, they may be certainly 
assured. Romans 8.1 underscores that, 
doesn't it? The apostle says there is therefore 
now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And 
isn't that a blessed reality? Doesn't your heart sore when 
we sing and can it be and we get to that last stanza and it 
rehearses that reality of Romans chapter eight verse one. There 
is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. That 
is our portion and that is our lot. And if that doesn't provide 
comfort and encouragement and strength for us, then I'm really 
doubtful we'll find anything in the Bible of use. As well, 
notice, they may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. They 
may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. As one who tends 
to a melancholy spirit at times, I need to be reminded of this. 
We are to be a rejoicing people. The Apostle Paul in the book 
of Philippians says we are to rejoice always. We are to manifest 
a disposition of inner peace and joy at the reality that our 
God is for us. Remember what Paul says, if God 
is for us, what can man do? If God is on our side, if God 
is the one who has set a hedge about us and has protected us 
and has brought us from a state of death into a state of eternal 
life, if he has called us out of darkness into marvelous light, 
no matter what it may look like around us, nevertheless we may 
rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And then as well, it 
goes on to say, which hope shall never make them ashamed. Wasn't 
this Paul's testimony in 2 Timothy chapter 1? I am not ashamed. I know whom I have believed. 
I am confident that he is able to keep that which I have committed 
unto him unto that great day. So those are some of the benefits. 
Again, this is an overview, and it deals with the doctrine. If 
we had no other paragraphs in chapter 18, sufficient definition 
and explanation of the doctrine. But then it goes on to sort of 
amplify specifics. Notice in paragraph two, the 
foundation of assurance. This certainty is not a bare, 
conjectural, and probable persuasion grounded upon a fallible hope. It's not a bare, conjectural, 
and probable persuasion grounded upon a fallible hope. It's not 
just if you feel like it, or if you feel good, or you work 
yourself into this. That's not what the doctrine 
of assurance teaches. Trent seems to indicate such 
is the case, that a man must convince himself that he truly 
is a child of God. Now that's not the thrust of 
this particular chapter. It's not a matter of convincing 
yourself that you are a believer. There's a lot of people out there 
that try to convince themselves of a whole host of things. But 
if you notice as the confession moves on, it's not just this 
convince yourself, rather there's a lot of externals that God has 
given and provided to help the believer understand what the 
Spirit has wrought in his heart. I think it was Brooks or Watson 
said something to the effect that the Spirit writes the graces 
of God in our hearts. And then he calls us, or he causes 
us, to see what he has written. I quite like that. Something 
to that effect. I probably butchered it in the translation. The spirit 
in our conversion, or the spirit in our justification, the spirit 
in our salvation, writes these things upon our heart. Assurance, 
then, is that same spirit showing us the things that he has inscribed 
therein. Notice, what is this assurance 
founded upon? Goes on to say, it is an infallible 
assurance of faith founded on the blood and righteousness of 
Christ revealed in the gospel. That's it, right? That's the 
main emphasis. This is what Moat meant when 
he wrote, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood 
and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest 
frame. Because you see, brethren, if 
you get this wrong and you trust in sweet frames, to get assurance, 
you will always fall down. If our hope is built on our sweet 
frames, as long as the sweet frame is present, as long as 
we read Spurgeon this morning, and we read a chapter out of 
the Apostle Paul, and we sang a hymn, and we prayed, well, 
then I'm going to feel comfort, and I'm going to feel assurance. 
But if we seem to have neglected that this morning, then we're 
going to walk around like we're children of the devil. I'm not 
saying we should neglect the means. In fact, the confession 
says that's one of the problems wherein people have a lack of 
assurance. But our hope is built on nothing 
less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. Where in doth your assurance 
lie? Is it in your performance? Is 
it in your virtue? Is it in your devotional life? 
I hope not. I hope it is founded squarely 
upon what the Confession says here, on the blood and righteousness 
of Christ revealed in the Gospel. That is most blessed That is 
the foundation. That is the only foundation for 
Christian assurance. Now notice what it goes on to 
say. and also upon the inward evidence 
of those graces of the spirit unto which promises are made. 
So you see, the confession acknowledges this reality. Those who look 
by grace through faith to the blood and righteousness of Jesus 
Christ, those who are justified by faith alone, will then manifest 
that. It's not the case that our good 
works are the condition for our faith. No, our faith is given 
freely by God's grace, and that is the foundation for the evidences 
or the consequences that follow, namely those good works. So the 
idea being that when we believe the gospel, when we've come to 
Christ, when we have been washed in his blood and righteousness, 
then we will live in a manner consistent with that profession 
or confession of faith. Notice, very specifically, the 
promises of the gospel are foundational with reference to this whole 
issue of assurance, and also upon the inward evidence of those 
graces of the spirit unto which promises are made, and on the 
testimony of the spirit of adoption. We see we have the scripture. 
When we come to this issue of assurance, we don't walk up Mount 
Sham and sit there and chant like an Eastern monk. We look 
to the scripture, we understand Jesus and his blood and his righteousness. We understand the reality of 
God's saving grace. We come to scripture to listen 
to God speak to us through his word. And sometimes we are sluggish 
and sometimes we are lazy and we trust ultimately in the voice 
of the almighty God. and we come and we listen. Notice 
the testimony of the spirit of adoption. Didn't Paul deal with 
this in Romans 8? And as I've already mentioned 
in Galatians chapter 4, and John the Apostle deals with this as 
well, we have the testimony of the Holy Spirit. He is dwelling 
in us and he will bring these things to bear upon us. Also, 
what else? says in the testimony of the 
spirit of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we are 
the children of God and again first John is very helpful to 
this and if you want to turn there for just a moment if we 
have by grace believe the gospel if we have by grace the internal 
testimony of the Holy Spirit That Holy Spirit will witness 
with our spirits that we are the children of God. But 1 John 
sets forth certain things that are true of those who believe 
the gospel. 1 John indicates there are certain 
identifying marks of those who believe the gospel. When the 
police officer comes to your door and he shows the badge, 
that badge identifies the reality that he is who he says he is. 
And by the same token, these evidences or these tokens or 
these symbols that Christians manifest are the identifying 
mark that they are believers in Jesus Christ. John highlights 
in the first place that those in Christ, those who believe, 
those who should know they have passed from death to life, are 
those who believe the truth of the gospel. 1 John 2, verse 1. First John chapter 2 verse 1, 
my little children, these things I write to you so that you may 
not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an 
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. And he 
himself is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, 
but also for the whole world. You say, well, he doesn't mention 
faith in Christ there. Nobody mentions the content of 
the faith that distinguishes the fact that we are in Christ. That is the sum and substance 
of the Christian message, the reality that Christ was set forth 
as a propitiation for our sins. That is the primary content of 
gospel truth that the believer in Jesus Christ lays hold of 
by God's holy, by God's grace. Notice in 1 John 5, 12. 1 John 
5.12, He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the 
Son does not have life. How do we have Him? It is by 
faith. John everywhere else describes 
or declares. And then the second evidence 
or the second fruit, those who have the Spirit, will manifest 
as the practice of righteousness. the practice of righteousness. 
This won't be perfect. It won't be 100%. Never on this 
side of the consummation will we ever be perfect. The Bible 
knows no Wesleyan perfectionism. The Bible knows no sinless perfectionism 
that a saint of Christ can attain to on this side of heaven. It's 
simply not taught in scripture. But the idea is that those who 
believe in the Lord Jesus, those who have the Holy Spirit, the 
Holy Spirit will testify with their spirit that they are indeed 
the children of God. And these are some objective 
criteria that the believer can look at in his own life. He does 
believe the gospel. He does practice righteousness. Again, not wholly, not completely, 
not perfectly. But notice in 1 John 2.3. For 
by this we know that we know him if we keep his commandments." 
You see, you shouldn't even delude yourself if there is this antithesis 
to commandment keeping in your own life. If you rail against 
and reject all those 10 words, then this assurance is not for 
you. The Spirit is not going to testify 
with your spirit that you are a child of God if you reject 
the Decalogue, if you reject the things that God has spoken. 
Notice in 1 John 3, 24. Now he who keeps his commandments 
abides in him and he in him. And by this we know that he abides 
in us by the Spirit whom he has given us. So you see there's 
this interplay. The Spirit in us, testifying 
with us according to these things that are true of us. Not because 
we're virtuous in and of ourselves, not because we're wonderful human 
beings, but because by God's grace we have believed in Jesus 
Christ who is the propitiation for our sins. The scripture says 
those who believe this will then live in a manner that is consistent 
with that confession of faith. And then notice the practice 
of righteousness. in 1st John 5, 2. By this we 
know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep 
his commandments. That's a beautiful statement. 
By this we know. Notice that's all serving John's 
grand purpose. I read it at the outset, 1 John 
5.13. John says, you want to know why 
I wrote? I wrote so that you may know that you have eternal 
life. And all of these things up to 
this point are pieces of this great pie. They are pieces of 
this great truth. They are objective criteria by 
which the child of God can indeed know these things to be the case. 
And then the exercise of love, love to God, love to brethren. That is riddled throughout this 
first epistle as well. We know that we have passed from 
death to life. How? We love the brethren. Do 
we love them perfectly? No, unfortunately. Do we love 
them the way we should? No, unfortunately. But do we 
love them? Yeah, we love them. We don't want to steal from them. 
We don't want to take their wives. We don't want to take their husbands. 
We don't want to slander them. We don't want to malign them. 
We don't want to ruin their reputation. We don't want to hurt them. We 
genuinely and earnestly want to promote their well-being. 
That's love. Not this romantic Hollywood ideal that we just 
get all gushy and ushy over everybody. That's not what love is according 
to the scripture. So you see the spirit testifies 
with our spirit that we are the children of God. But it's not 
esoteric. It's not mystical. It's not tune 
out and just wait for the spirit to click or to turn the light 
switch on. No, do you love brethren? Do 
you love God? Do you walk in righteousness? 
Do you love the truth? If that is true, then it's the 
case that you have believed the Christian gospel. Because those 
who do not believe the Christian gospel don't care about the truth. 
They don't walk in God's commandments, they don't love brethren, and 
they certainly don't love God. If those things are there, love 
to God, love to brethren, love for the commandments, love for 
the truth, then we can conclude that you by grace have believed 
the gospel of our Lord Jesus. So it's not this me convincing 
myself. It's not me talking myself into 
it. It is the spirit at work in me 
showing me the things that he has already wrought. The spirit 
does this. He writes it upon our hearts. 
This whole idea of assurance is him pointing us to these facts. so that we say yes spirit not 
that we're having this conversation but yes I see I do love the truth 
yes I see that I do love God I do love brethren it's not what 
it ought to be and it's not what it's going to be but there is 
something there who gets glory for that not us It's not the 
case that we congratulate ourselves and say, aren't I a wonderful 
person? No, we conclude when those evidences 
are present that God is at work in us. Because if God was not 
at work in us, none of those things would be present. We would 
care less about the commandments. We would care less about the 
love for God or love for brethren or any of those particulars. 
So the spirit works. with us to show us the things 
that he has wrought in our hearts. And then notice, and as a fruit 
thereof, keeping the heart both humble and holy. This doctrine 
of assurance does not promote antinomianism. This doctrine 
of assurance does not promote licentiousness. It is not the 
case that somebody with assurance says, well then, it doesn't matter 
how I live because God has sealed me, God has blessed me, God has 
given me. No, this true doctrine of assurance 
helps frame the heart to keep it both humble and holy. It's 
not the case that assured believers are going to go out and engage 
in absolute licentiousness. Again, they're not going to be 
perfect, but they're going to be kept humble and holy by the 
grace of God as they appreciate the reality that they are indeed 
in Him. They're going to walk as children 
of God, as Paul specifies in Ephesians 5. Those who are adopted, 
those who have assurance, will see the fact that they are children 
of God Most High. They're going to walk in the 
light. They're going to walk in wisdom. They're going to walk 
in love. They're going to practice those things that the spirit 
is leading them into. Now notice in the third paragraph 
the attainment of assurance. The attainment of assurance, 
the difficulty is highlighted in the first place. This infallible 
assurance does not so belong to the essence of faith. That's 
important to understand. This infallible assurance does 
not so belong to the essence of faith. Faith in Jesus means 
to believe what the Bible says, specifically concerning the gospel. Not to believe that I believe 
what the Bible says. You see, that cannot be included 
in a definition of faith. Everybody understand that difference? 
I believe the truth as it is in Jesus. Some would teach that 
I not only believe the truth as it is in Jesus, but I must 
believe that I believed the truth as it is in Jesus. That's not 
what's in view here. That's what this statement means. 
This infallible assurance does not so belong to the essence 
of faith. In other words, when we parse 
out the scripture and we look at a fundamental definition of 
saving faith, saving faith means to look and live. When Moses 
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, what was the responsibility 
of those who had been bitten? to look and live. Not look, live, 
and be convinced that their legs were healed. No, they just looked 
and they lived. not drag themselves closer to 
that brazen serpent. The essence of faith is to look 
upon the Lord Jesus Christ. It is to assent to the truthfulness 
of Holy Scripture, to receive the propositions from God and 
to believe them. So saving faith does not contain 
as an essential element this idea of assurance. I think that 
assurance will grow as we grow in the grace and in the knowledge 
of our Lord Jesus. Think back to when you first 
got converted. Is your assurance stronger now 
than it was then? Well, probably. Probably you 
didn't know a whole lot. You looked and you lived. And 
then later on, you muse, you wonder, you think, you consider, 
you read the scripture, you grow in your understanding. So we 
cannot say that this infallible assurance is part of the essence 
of faith. It may not be the case that everybody 
is able to muse on their conversion in the same way they will when 
they've been at it for 30 or 40 or 50 years, when they understand 
the cross. I hope that makes sense. This infallible assurance 
does not so belong to the essence of faith. Doesn't 1 John 5.13 
even indicate that? John says, These things I have 
written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that 
you may know that you have eternal life and that you may continue 
to believe in the name of the Son of God. This is what his 
purpose is. I want to feed you. I want to 
educate you. I want to encourage you. I want 
you to understand. I want you to have some objective 
criteria. I want you, with the Spirit's 
help, to be able to look at the Spirit's work in your heart. 
You now love the truth. You now love righteousness. You 
now love brethren in God. That's what John's purpose is. 
We cannot say that part of the essence of faith is believing 
that I believe. That's not what's in view here. 
But that a true believer may wait long and conflict with many 
difficulties before he be partaker of it. Now this is important 
to understand. God doesn't work in the same 
way with every single human being. He just doesn't. Has anybody 
ever read John Bunyan's Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners? 
We were going through that in family devotions when our children 
were little and I finally had to stop reading it. Not because 
I disagreed with Bunyan or not because I disapproved of Bunyan, 
but Bunyan agonized. long and hard. I mean, he would 
have been a poster boy at the NRC for that deep valley of misery. And I didn't want to inculcate 
that mindset into my children. I didn't want them to learn or 
imbibe or to think that the way to salvation is through a 2 or 
a 5 or a 10 year or 15 year period of abject misery before we can 
close with Jesus Christ. But that's how God worked with 
Bunyan. We don't minimize that. We don't say it's wrong. Certainly 
I would encourage them out as adults to read Bunyan by all 
means. A Brockel in his Christian's 
reasonable service indicates the ways that people come to 
the Lord Jesus Christ when the gospel is preached or the word 
of God is proclaimed. Some people are terrified by 
the threatenings of the law. Some people are laid low at the 
view of their own sin. Others hear of the loveliness 
and the love of Jesus and their hearts are melted so they come. 
You see, God works in different ways. If you, by God's grace, 
believe the gospel and have this assurance right away, then praise 
God for that. But there are brethren out there 
that don't have the same experience. There are brethren out there 
that may be these these strugglers. They may be in that valley of 
misery. They may be in the depths of 
despair. You know what the best encouragement 
to them is? The Word of God. not suck it 
up, buck up, be better and do better. No, we come to them with 
Scripture and speak and whisper to them the great promises of 
God Most High. If this, by grace, is true of 
you, you believe the Gospel, then you are called a Christian 
according to Holy Scripture. We want to understand that reality 
and know that a true believer may wait long and conflict with 
many difficulties before he be a partaker of it. Full assurance 
is not essential to salvation. This is Spurgeon. Full assurance 
is not essential to salvation, but it is essential to satisfaction. It's not essential to salvation, 
but it certainly is for satisfaction. That's a miserable place to be. 
when you're not sure, when you doubt, when you waver, when you're 
constantly worried, you're constantly concerned. Now, I don't want 
to minimize that reality, but again, I think what those persons 
need, and if you're that person here this morning, what you need 
is a good, healthy dose of the Christian gospel. You need to 
be in the scriptures. You need to feed your soul. You 
need to understand what God says concerning salvation. Notice, 
though the difficulty is highlighted, the provision is mentioned. Yet, 
the end of the second statement there in paragraph three, yet 
being enabled by the spirit to know the things that you're freely 
given them of God. Isn't that beautiful? We don't 
know the Bible. We don't know the truth unless 
the spirit is at work in us. That's just the reality of it. 
Those who profess faith in Christ, or those who confess faith in 
Christ, why do they do that? Because the Spirit's at work 
in them. It may be small. It may be a mustard seed faith. 
But as Machen points out, mustard seed faith is enough to save 
a soul. Brethren, we ought not to forget 
that. But the Confession says, being enabled by the Spirit to 
know the things which are freely given him of God, he may, without 
extraordinary revelation, That's a beautiful thing. You don't 
have to go up to Mount Sham. You don't have to leave your 
iPhone at the base. You don't have to leave your laptop at 
the base and go up there and just sort of, you know, tune 
out and tune in and wonder if indeed you are a child of God. 
It's without extraordinary revelation. You don't need to find a picture 
of Jesus in your pizza. You don't need to find that in 
your tortilla. You don't need to find some statue 
that weeps. You don't need any of that extraordinary 
revelation. That is precisely the fault of 
many who want this peace with God, who seek it apart from the 
means that God has provided. And that's what's underscored 
here in the Confession. Without extraordinary revelation 
and the right use of means. Both the Westminster and the 
Savoy Act, in the right use of the ordinary means. It's not 
extraordinary revelation that we need, it's the ordinary means 
that God's ordained. It is the Word. It is prayer. 
It is public worship. It is preaching. It is the Lord's 
Supper. It is baptism. It is those things that God has 
ordained to flourish or cause to flourish in the hearts of 
His people, those realities or that conviction. that they are 
indeed children of God. So you see the emphasis there. 
It's not extraordinary. It's the ordinary means. So when 
a person comes to you and they say, I'm not sure if I'm a Christian 
or I'm not. What do you tell him? Read your 
Bible. Get along with God. Pray. Seek the Lord while he 
may be found. Call upon him while he is near. 
Go to sit under preaching. And I think we underestimate, 
we minimize the primacy of preaching in the public means of grace. 
Persons who are genuinely in Christ want to be where the voice 
of the master is heard. And God has promised that through 
the foolishness of the message preached, he will save those 
who believe. I listened to a wonderful lecture 
the other day. It's by T. David Gordon on preaching 
as a means of grace, or something about how God has been pleased 
to use preaching. And it just refreshed or revived 
in my own heart that appreciation, which I think I've always had, 
but needed to hear it again. Do you know there were several 
media available to Paul when he wrote 1 Corinthians? Media 
preferable to preaching? When Paul says the foolishness 
of the message preached, he didn't just look to the 21st century 
when Facebook and Twitter and social media and the internet 
would render preaching as a foolish means to reach people. When Paul 
lived and walked the earth, poetry was a primary means to communicate 
truth. Dialogue, rhetoric, debate, drama, 
all those things were practiced and utilized in Roman culture 
when it came to propagating ideas and theories. But it was through 
the foolishness of the message preached. Why? Preachers, or 
the K. Rooks, was looked at as a functionary. He wasn't some esteemed, privileged 
person in society. Typically, they weren't the brightest 
bulbs in the chandelier. They didn't need to be, because 
in the final analysis, what the K. Rooks did was make known the 
message of the one who sent him. You see, God uses those things 
so that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of 
man. And those are the means whereby 
God has given these assurances to his people. I've just never 
understood this idea that I'm struggling and I'm struggling 
and I'm struggling, but I'm not going to go to where God helps 
strugglers. It's like saying, I've got this 
illness, I've got this pain in my stomach, I've got this pain 
in my head, I've got this pain in my leg, but I'm not going 
to go where there's help and there's healing and there's health. 
In the final analysis, you want to just say, well, then live 
with the pain, man. If you're not going to walk into 
the hospital or call 9-1-1 or get some medical treatment, then 
I don't know what else to do. I'll put you in the car and I 
can take you over there, but if you don't sign on the dotted 
line, they're not going to treat you. Same thing in the church. 
People struggling and doubting, and oh, this, that, and the other. 
Then go where God helps strugglers. Go where God ministers to his 
patients. Go where the great physician 
comes to heal those whom he saves. Notice, because of this reality, 
it's difficult, but there is a provision. Notice that it then 
becomes the duty. The middle of paragraph 3, and 
therefore it is the duty of everyone to give all diligence to make 
his calling and election sure. You see, it is our duty. We need 
to pursue this. Again, not convincing ourselves 
that we are in a state of grace. Using the means that God has 
provided, trusting in the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit, 
pointing out to us the work that he has wrought in our hearts, 
giving us eyes to see that, and a Bible to measure it by, Now 
it is, of course, our duty to attain that assurance. It ought 
not to be the case that we're always wallowing, and we're always 
faltering, and we're always stumbling, and we're always whining, and 
we're always complaining. No, we need to lay hold of the 
reality for this reason. Notice what the confession goes 
out to say. make, it is the duty of everyone 
to give all diligence to make his calling and election sure 
that thereby his heart may be enlarged in peace and joy in 
the Holy Spirit. I introduce the subject this 
way. Why is insurance important? So 
that we'll have love and joy and peace in our hearts. I wanted 
my children to know that they were insiders in my house. I've 
got to believe God is infinitely more kind and gracious than I 
am. He certainly wants us to know 
that we're insiders. He wants us to cry, Abba, Father. He wants us to know that love 
and joy and peace that are that are requisite are part and parcel 
of the kingdom of God. And notice in the second place, 
in love and thankfulness to God. We're not going to thank God 
if we don't know that we're of God. We're not going to give 
our praise to God if we're still wondering if he's our enemy. 
Assurance is vital for these very practical reasons, so that 
we'll know this love, joy, and peace, so that we'll express 
gratitude toward God, and so that we will have strength and 
cheerfulness in the duties of obedience. See, these are the 
proper fruits of assurance. It's not just so we'll feel better. I mean, that's certainly part 
of it, but it's so that we'll experience those things that 
God's kingdom citizens are supposed to experience so that they will 
issue forth gratitude toward God and so that we'll have a 
strength and a cheerfulness in the duties of obedience. Well, 
not to look at the commandments and say, oh, what a drudgery. 
What a burden, what a hardship. No, the assurance that we are 
children of the living God, the fact that we cry Abba Father 
to our Lord ought to send us on our path with strength and 
cheerfulness when we seek to obey God. That ought to be the 
motivation, brethren. You don't say, oh, I've got a 
knuckle under and do what God says. No, that's not it. We are 
children of the Most High God. He has saved us at great cost. 
He has saved us through the blood of His Son. He has brought us 
out of darkness into marvelous light. He has called us to Himself. He has justified us freely by 
His grace and that instrument being through faith. And now 
He calls us to live as obedient children. And so when Paul sets 
forth in Ephesians 5 that believers are to walk in love, walk in 
light, and walk in wisdom, they're not supposed to say, oh, what 
a drudgery, what a pain, what a difficulty, what a trial. No, 
it ought to promote in us strength and cheerfulness. We go about 
walking in love, walking in light, and walking in wisdom with that 
strength and cheerfulness. There's a vigor, a resolve, a 
zeal, a desire because of what God the Spirit has done in our 
hearts. The doctrine of assurance at 
the last part of paragraph three does not promote looseness. So far is it from inclining men 
to looseness. You see what can happen. Some outside of the Protestant 
tradition could say, well, you know, if people actually have 
assurance, then they're going to just lay on the couch and 
eat Doritos and watch Oprah. They're not going to do anything 
that God says believers ought to do. This doctrine of assurance 
will paralyze men. It's better to keep them guessing, 
better to keep them doubting, better to keep them in that position 
of disadvantage. Well, that works well in the 
Roman tradition because then you preach sacraments to them, 
and you preach works to them, and you preach give money to 
them as a means by which they have some comfort of heart. But 
in the Protestant tradition of justification by faith alone, 
this doctrine of assurance is founded upon the gospel of our 
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And all those who find themselves, 
note, in a state of grace and salvation are those who by grace 
have believed, are saved, and therefore want to do the things 
that are pleasing to God. Assurance does not promote lasciviousness. Assurance does not promote looseness. Assurance is the context for 
genuine godliness in Christian living. It is only this assurance 
that will promote strength and cheerfulness in the duties of 
obedience. When God looks down upon his 
people, he doesn't want to see them. I'm not speaking in the 
manner of men. He doesn't want to see them down 
there, you know, just sucking it up and knuckling under and 
doing what they have to do. so that they can satisfy some, 
you know, peace desire in their own hearts. It ought to be with 
strength and cheerfulness. They go about their Christian 
lives with joy and thanksgiving, with gratitude and peace and 
love in the spirit. You see, that's what assurance 
provides and what assurance promotes, not looseness. And then notice 
the difficulties associated with assurance in paragraph 4. True 
believers may have the assurance of their salvation diverse ways, 
shaken, diminished, and intermitted. See, this is just biblical realism. This is just biblical realism, 
practical religion. from 17th century divines. Again, I've got to say this, 
I get tired and weary of those who say, oh, these confessions, 
it's just theory and academics and dry and this and that. There's 
no more heartwarming stuff than this confession of faith. Outside 
of the Bible, obviously, this confession as a document of those 
things most surely believed among us, get into the nub, get into 
the hub and the heart of genuine practical religion. I mean, brethren, 
this is what the, you know, the curse in the modern church is 
that we don't admit what the confession admits so clearly 
here. We need to understand true believers. That's who's in view may have 
the assurance of their salvation. Divers way shaken, diminished 
and intermitted. Does any of us have or do any 
of us have experience with this? All of us do. All of us, don't 
we? Do you always feel on the top 
of the game? Do you always feel like everything's 
great? You know, you meet those guys. Great, great, everything's 
great. Well, not most of us. Most of us aren't like that. 
Not everything's always great for some of us. Some of us are 
struggling and doubting and tried and shaken and having it diminished 
and intermitted. That's just reality. None of 
what the confession says. There's reasons for this. This 
happens. It doesn't happen in a vacuum. 
The reasons for this. It says, as by negligence in 
preserving of it. Notice, the negligence of assurance. If it is a duty, a la paragraph 
three, for believers to make their calling and election sure, 
and that's not paragraph three, that's the apostle Peter. We 
need to make our calling and election sure. If that duty is 
specified by Peter and then codified in paragraph three of chapter 
18, what happens when we don't pursue it? It's going to be shaken, 
diminished, and intermitted. Right? If we don't cultivate 
it, if we don't seek it, if we don't fan it into a full blaze, 
we ought not to be surprised when it's diminished. So that's 
one of the means by which this happens. Notice the presence 
of some special sin. as by negligence in preserving 
of it by falling into some special sin, which wounds the conscience 
and grieves the spirit." You think of any biblical examples 
of who this happened to? David, yes, David. Was David 
just walking with the Lord and writing psalms when he was in 
the midst of adultery, when he was in the midst of murder? What 
does David say in Psalm 51? When by God's grace he comes 
to repent, he says, take not thy spirit from me, restore unto 
me the joy of thy salvation. What's the implication? That 
when David was in that state, he didn't have the joy of his 
salvation. He's not saying, save me. He's not saying, bring me 
out of darkness into marvelous light. He's not saying, I want 
to know what it is to be a genuine believer. No, I want the joy 
of my salvation restored to me. You see, whether we appreciate 
it or not, when David was in the arms of Bathsheba, or giving 
the hit to Joab, concerning the hit order for Uriah to Joab, 
David was a saved man. That may be hard for some of 
us in terms of our theological appreciation to come to grips 
with, but he was a saved man. And so when he comes to repentance, 
he says, restore to me the joy of thy salvation. So this is 
a reality by falling into some special sin, which wounds the 
conscience and grieves the spirit. Did this happen to the to the 
apostle Peter? Of course it happened to Peter. 
Peter denied his Lord. Brethren, in many respects, when 
you look at what David did and you look what Peter did, those 
are just heinous. I mean, think about the worst 
things you could ever do as a Christian. I'd say adultery. I'd say murder. And I'd say denying the Lord 
would be in the top three, right? Wouldn't you? Wouldn't those 
be benchmark sins, high heinous sins? I think so. And yet we 
have in the presence of David and Peter men who were saved, 
who fell for a time into such a season. And as we see here, 
by falling into some special sin which wounds the conscience 
and grieves the spirit. And then there's a third reason, 
by some sudden or vehement temptation. A sudden or vehement temptation. This is an assault to assurance, 
isn't it? Has it ever been the case? Don't 
nod. Don't wink. Don't look with a smile. But 
has it ever been the case where something has tempted you or 
something has come to you? Can I even entertain such a thing? Man, good Christians don't entertain 
such things. Good Christians don't ponder 
such things. What's a good Christian? A good 
Christian is somebody who, by grace, believes on the Lord Jesus. 
A good Christian is somebody who believes in a good Christ. 
There's not virtue in us. There's not goodness in us. I 
mean, as believers, we can do good things, but it's the Spirit's 
work in us. But there comes those points 
in time where temptations come. You say, how could I have entertained 
such a thing? Man, what a piece of filth or garbage. That's terrible. 
That assails the assurance, doesn't it? Maybe by God's grace you 
were restrained and didn't enter into it, but the fact that you'd 
even entertain such a thing, that can throw you into a bit 
of a stumble. And then in the fourth place, 
notice, by God's withdrawing the light of his countenance 
and suffering even such as fear him to walk in darkness and to 
have no light. The first three are pretty well 
oriented to us. They make sense, don't they? 
This makes perfect sense. If I neglect the pursuit of assurance, 
if I engage in adultery, murder, or the denial of Christ, or if 
some sudden or vehement temptation presents itself to me, all of 
those things I can understand. I'm a weak man. I'm a weak woman. 
I've got my issues. I've got my problems. I can understand 
why that would assail my assurance. But this last one, by God's withdrawing 
the light of his countenance, why does he do that? Why would 
our father withdraw the light of his countenance? He doesn't 
always explain himself to us. Does he? These things happen. You may look at your own heart. 
You may look at your own life. You may look at your own wavering 
assurance and say, you know, by God's grace, I've not been 
neglecting the pursuit of assurance. I've not engaged in any serious 
sin. I mean, I've got my garden variety 
stuff, but I'm trying to confess it and deal with it. And then 
I've not been struck with any vehement temptation, and yet 
I've got this this feeling, this blah, this spiritual lack. There seems to be this distance 
between me and God. Well, sometimes God does that. 
Why does he do that? I don't know. I don't know. I mean, I ultimately know because 
Romans 8 tells me he does it for our good. We may not always 
understand how his withdrawal of his light of his countenance 
for a time is for our good. But nevertheless, we have that 
assurance. So by God's withdrawing the light 
of his countenance and suffering even such as fear him to walk 
in darkness and to have no light. That's just the reality of the 
Christian life. You see, one of the problems 
of the health, wealth and prosperity gospel is they have no category 
to deal with such things. And by the health, wealth, and 
prosperity gospel, I don't just mean the big-haired guys. I don't 
mean just the Joel Osteens or the Kenneth Copelands or the 
Benny Hens. There's a lot of health, wealth, 
and prosperity gospel going on out there that isn't associated 
with big cars, big hair, and big women with big hair. There's a lot of health, wealth, 
and prosperity gospel going on in Reformed and Evangelical churches 
because the end game is always you and your feelings. It's always 
you and your betterment. It's always you and your personal 
fulfillment and your personal satisfaction. That's just, that 
category or that mindset cannot jive with this category. It cannot 
entertain the reality that God in his infinite wisdom at times 
will withdraw the light of his countenance and suffer even such 
as fear him to walk in darkness and to have no light. It can't 
account for the psalmist in Psalm 119 who actually said it was 
good for me that I was afflicted. We ever hear that in health wealth 
and prosperity. It was good for me that I was afflicted. Oh you 
didn't have enough faith if you were afflicted. You didn't have 
enough confidence. You didn't know it was good for 
me that I was afflicted. If I hadn't been afflicted that 
way things wouldn't have turned out this way. And God in his 
grace and in his mercy at times suffers even such as fear him 
to walk in darkness and to have no light. If anything it makes 
us to claw after him with a vigor and a newness that perhaps we 
have grown stagnant in. a newness and a vigor that perhaps 
we have grown stagnant in. But even in these instances, 
notice, yet they are never destitute of the seed of God and life of 
faith, that love of Christ and the brethren, that sincerity 
of heart and conscience of duty out of which, by the operation 
of the spirit, this assurance may in due time be revived, and 
by the which, in the meantime, they are preserved from utter 
despair. I think it was Spurgeon, it was 
one of the old boys that say, we may fall, but we don't fall 
in. We do not utterly despair. Even in the midst of these challenges 
and trials and assaults upon our assurance, God will never 
leave us and God will never forsake us. And that should send us afresh 
to the scriptures to fill our minds with the promises of God 
Read the Psalms of Asaph. He had a particularly melancholy 
spirit. His Psalms are marked by what 
we would call depression. And he was a man who witnessed 
the presence of Gentiles, the presence of difficulties, the 
presence of hardship, and the presence of pain. And the things 
that he used to refresh him was God's past acts of faithfulness. If God is not with us here to 
vindicate his name, I'm going to think about the exodus. I'm 
going to think about what he did in the plains of Moab. I'm 
going to think about this over here. You see, that's how we 
need to be. It may be the case that we're going through a particularly 
dark season. What do we do? We go to the light 
of scripture and we encourage ourselves with the promises of 
God and realize that he who begins this good work in us will indeed 
completed onto the day of Jesus Christ. So assurance of grace 
and salvation is something we ought to pursue and pursue it 
using the ordinary means. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank you for the Word of God and we thank you for these good 
doctrines, these things most surely believed among us and 
we thank you that by grace we believe them. We thank you for 
the Spirit's work in us and even now, God, revive in all of us 
that assurance and that that conviction and that reality that 
we are indeed children of God, that we would worship you as 
we ought, that we would have that cheerful disposition, that 
we would be those, Lord God, who go about obedience with strength 
and with cheerfulness. And we ask that you would be 
present with us in the morning hour. We pray for those outside 
of Christ that today would be the day of salvation. We pray 
that your Holy Spirit would break through We know that the voice 
of God shatters the cedars of Lebanon, so certainly that same 
voice can shatter the hardened hearts of sinners in this place. 
We ask that the Spirit would come and breathe life into dead 
bones, and that sinners would call upon the Lord Jesus Christ. 
And we ask in His most blessed name. Amen.