Assurance of eternal life is grounded in God's witness to His Son, not in human works or feelings. The sermon emphasizes that believing in Jesus Christ means possessing eternal life, a truth confirmed by God's infallible word and the indwelling Spirit. It refutes the idea that salvation is earned through the law or fleshly activities, drawing parallels with the Galatians' error of seeking righteousness through works. True assurance comes from understanding that God's gifts and callings are irrevocable, and Christ's finished work on the cross secures salvation, enabling believers to know they have eternal life and live by His power.
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heard that hymn song which one of the hymns that the older men would sing when I was a teenager when we'd go to preach at the prison in Lebanon and I still can see the leader a fellow by the name of Rufus Walters and a preacher I was when Rufus died I was wiring doing the electrical work in a large church in the city, one of the larger churches. And the preacher there was a good friend and he loved the Lord. And we'd get together and talk every day while I worked.
And he said, you know, those men that go to the county prison that you go with, said there are not many like them anymore. Said Dave Boffamoyer, Gruffus Walters and those fellas. They didn't wait for the sinners to come to church. They went out and met the sinners in their home, and they won many of them to faith in Christ. I tell you, Rufus was something. I can still hear him singing from shades of night to plains of light. Oh, praise his name. He lifted me. I'll tell you, to have memories like that is a precious thing.
of men who loved the Lord and who went out to tell others how to be saved. I often wonder if we'll ever meet anybody in glory who was saved through those efforts at the county prison. I'll tell you, one time we had five murderers in front of us preaching the gospel to them. I remember when one of those men left to go to the penitentiary, never to come out. And he shook hands with us and said goodbye. I can still remember that man.
I don't know if he was saved or not, but he certainly has no excuse if he isn't. He heard the gospel, and the gospel was proclaimed to him in love, and I believe in power. Well, we're in first John chapter five, and we want to begin our reading at verse ten, or verse nine, excuse me, first John chapter five, verse nine, and we want to read a few verses also from the epistle to the Galatians chapter three, the opening verses in Galatians three. But first John chapter five, verse nine says, if we receive the witness of men, The witness of God is greater, for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.
He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life. And this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have eternal life.
Now from the book of Galatians chapter three, verse one. Galatians chapter three, verse one. All foolish Galatians Who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth? Before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only what I learn of you. Receive ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish, having begun in the Spirit? Are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Have ye suffered so many things in vain?
if it be yet in vain, he therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit and worketh miracles among you. Doeth he it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith. These opening verses in Galatians three, we should take the heart and examine the method of these questions that Paul asks. Now let's pray together. Our Father, we thank you again tonight. for the great salvation that is ours in Christ Jesus. We thank you that this salvation is entirely by grace, and because it is by grace, and only because it is by grace can we know that we have truly been born of thee.
We need not work our souls to save, but the work is finished. And we pray thee, O God, of our praise, that this blessed assurance that we sing about may be ours not only to sing about, but to rejoice in day by day, for we know that we are thine, and thou art ours, and that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Take the word now and speak to our hearts through it. For Jesus' sake, amen. Now we want to continue our study tonight that we began last week on the great doctrine of assurance.
We notice last week what it means to be saved. John, when he wrote his gospel account, he said, as you come to John twenty and verse thirty, these are written, in other words, the account of the seven miracles in John, many other signs truly to Jesus, in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. in the Gospel of John. But these are written, the seven miracles of John, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing have life through his name. That's one of the great verses of the objective witness of our Blessed Lord.
Now, what God demands of us, God provides for us. God demands that we have a righteousness which is as perfect as his and I can't provide it but our blessed God provided it for us in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ so that tonight if we're saved we stand in the perfect righteousness of Christ it has been imputed to our account we are as righteous as Christ is righteous for it is his righteousness which is mine.
Oh, that's good news, friends. That is good news. Now, last week we also noticed how that the first epistle of John is not written to sinners. It is written to those who have been born of God. It is written to believers. Therefore, we notice that faith is a turning away from everything that is of self. And it places entire trust and reliance upon the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if this has been our experience, that we have totally placed our confidence in Jesus Christ, then we can claim First John chapter five and verse thirteen.
For it says, These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that you have eternal life if I have all my reliance and trust on Christ then I can claim first John five thirteen I have the right to say then I'm saved more than that I have the right to say I possess eternal life it is mine now I don't hope to possess it I possess it now We talk about the power of the gospel. In the New Testament, there are three Greek words that are translated power.
In Romans one and verse sixteen, we read, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the dunamis, and that's the word. And we get our English word dynamite from that word power. Or we get the word dynamo for the generating of electricity. The gospel is the power of God of the salvation to everyone that believe it. But then there's another word that is also translated power from the Greek word kratos. And that's the thought in the word kratos is to rule. And we get our word democrat, autocrat, and all the other crats.
from that word you see and the thought is to rule and then there's another word in the Greek exuzia and this is the word which is translated authority in first John or in John chapter one in verse twelve to as many as receive him so then gave he the authority to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name So the gospel not only gives us that which is mighty power and in generating power, but not only power to rule, but also authority that comes from heaven so that we can say if we place faith and trust in Jesus Christ, I am saved.
I do possess eternal life. Now, it is divine authority, friends, which enables a believer to be bold in his claim of eternal salvation. We don't need to take a position that is not positive. We can be bold in our claim. Unfortunately, among a lot of people who claim to be the lords today, positive language is not in the vocabulary of many of them. Many of God's people are weak at this very point.
Their experience with Christ is very vague. Well, that's hard to say two words with a V, one coming after another. You don't know how difficult that is for a Dutchman, but I got it out. But nevertheless, it is very difficult. Some people in speaking about faith have gone so far as to say that faith is a gamble upon God. No such thing. Faith is not a gamble upon God. Faith is not a leap in the dark. Never. Faith always carries with it the thought of a revelation from God.
God and there's no leap in the dark to faith there is a trust in a generous in a glorious generous revelation that God has given us in Christ faith is reliance upon a rock that cannot be moved the word of God says in second Timothy two verse nineteen therefore the foundation of God standeth sure having this seal the Lord knoweth them that are his therefore let everyone that nameeth the name of Christ depart from iniquity the foundation of God is sure friend if he's not built on something that is transient and movable it is solid as God himself now this would shift the object of faith or the pivot of faith if it were not sure from the work of Christ to our own works.
And teachers who fight against the word of God on this point, you see, their error is what has brought the warning that God gives to believers. Let anyone presume that they're saved and they're not genuine in their assurance. Now if a person isn't sure they're saved, and if they teach that you cannot know that you can be sure that you're saved, these people continually manufacture conditions for salvation. They manufacture conditions for salvation, which keeps them and enables them some semblance of being able to say I'm saved and it isn't what Christ has done but rather something I have manufactured let me give you an illustration I was sitting with a few preachers one day back in nineteen seventy five and
this one preacher he was on me on this very thing on the subject of eternal salvation. And I said, now I'm going to ask you a very simple question. But be careful with it. There's a hook in it. I said, here it is. What must I do to be lost? That is the most simple question you can ask. I said, don't answer that. I said to him, because anything you say, anything you say is what is keeping you saved, the very keeping of it.
You have shifted from the work of Christ to something that you manufacture. I don't care what it is. Do you lay hold of that? You think that through. What is keeping you saved? Something you do. Or is it the work of Christ? I told that to John Phillips, the Bible teacher, sitting in my home. And he said to me, he said, Phil, I never heard it so straight and so strong and so simple. He said, where did you get that? I said, that's me own.
What must I do to be lost? No. This was a problem of the churches of Galatia. And that's why I read this passage together. You see, this matter of assurance, it is so important that our faith rests in the person and work of Christ so that when we come to assurance, we don't manufacture something by ourselves that we do that keeps us saved. I am not kept saved because of Philip's work. I am solely saved by the grace of God and by the grace of God alone.
For nothing else will save. That's why I read Galatians chapter three. Everywhere that Paul went preaching the free and sovereign grace of God, there were Judaizers. We call them that because from the word Judea, and Jew, we get the word Judaizers and the word Judaism. They tried to take New Testament converts and put them back under the law of Moses. You have to keep the law. You have to be circumcised. You must keep the Sabbath. You must do this. You must do, do, do, do.
If you don't, you're lost. You follow me? That's what they were doing. And the Holy Epistle to the Galatians. And a great part of the Roman Epistle is written to counteract this grace plus works idea. Now works flow from a genuine conversion. But they do not keep us saved. They flow from a genuine conversion because we... are saved. We have been saved unto good works, according to Ephesians chapter two and verse ten. Now, in Galatians chapter three and verse two, it's a verse I want to expound tonight for just a few moments.
It is one of the greatest verses to refute what is known as a charismatic movement in the New Testament. One of the greatest verses. I showed that to a preacher one day. It took me, I had to go through it twice with him till it, he finally saw it. He said, I see what you're getting at. It took a little while. Notice what it says. Paul is writing to these Galatians and he says, this only would I learn of you. Receive ye the spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith. Now let me change the word just a little bit.
in order that you may grasp what it says. Receive ye the Spirit by your own fleshly activity or by the hearing of faith. You see, just changing that expression, the works of the law, to your own fleshly activity, something that you do. Now when you take the charismatic movement, They tell you you have to speak in tongues in order to receive the Holy Spirit. Paul says, is it by your own fleshly activity or the hearing of faith that you get the Holy Spirit? Well, now the answer is in the question.
Now, if it's by the hearing of faith, then there is no fleshly activity connected with it. And this is why I reject the charismatic movement and what it stands for. Because everything that they do is geared to the activity of the flesh. You've got to come to the altar. There's a geographic location for this. Number one. Number two, you've got to get on your knees. And somebody usually has to put their hands on your head. And you can go down through the fleshly activity of it all, and then they even try to teach you how to do it.
It is fleshly activity, friends. Receive ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith. When it's of faith, all works are excluded. We learn that in the book of Romans, chapter four. and the book of Romans chapter eleven. If it's of grace, then it can't be by faith. Because grace spoils, if it's of grace, it can't be a works. For works spoils faith, and faith and grace spoils works. You see, the moment by moment existence of the child of God, according to Galatians two in verse twenty, is by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Now, when you come to the New Testament, you have to be astounded at the surpassing assurance that the Apostle Paul had. Romans eight, verse one, there is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. When is there no condemnation? Now. there is therefore now and I like that word now it means right now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus if I place my faith and trust in Christ in him alone there is no condemnation so when you come to the end of Romans eight verse thirty nine Paul says in verses thirty eight and thirty nine I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans eight begins, there is no condemnation. Romans eight ends with a word, there is no separation. And what you have in between in verse twenty eight, it says, we know that all things do work together. for good to them that love God, to them who are the call according to his purpose. That is assurance. We don't rest upon our own works. Receive ye the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith. Lord, have you got it by works? You got it the wrong way. And I question whether I really had the genuine thing.
Here comes my faith. God doesn't have two types of believers. Some on this level way up here and others who are living down here. He has believers. He has children of God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And we can know that we have been born of God. And every believer has his right to express his assurance just as Paul did. And if we're saved tonight, we are just as sure, we can be just as sure of being in heaven that Christ is there now. That's assurance.
Has Christ been glorified at God's right hand? He sure has. Well, you and I can be just as sure of being there as he is there now. And we believe or not to believe. not to believe these truths is a height of arrogance and rash boldness. God has said it. Now, from first John chapter five, who makes God a liar? Who makes God a liar? You see, our assurance depends on the man Christ Jesus. And the Bible says, is my certificate of eternal union with Jesus Christ.
Here is the word of God. This is my certificate of eternal union with Christ. When our blessed Lord was on the cross on Calvary's Hill, when he cried those words, it is finished. It sealed my salvation forever. It did. Now God recognizes the truth. He says in first John chapter five and verse nine, if we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater, for this is the witness of God which he has testified of his son. Do you ever receive the witness of men all the time?
There is in the day goes by that you do not receive the witness of men. If I don't know your telephone number and I call the operator, do you know what God says about that operator who gives me your number? It says, let God be true and every man a liar. And when that operator gives me your number out of the book, I receive the witness of a liar. You realize that? If we receive the witness of men, all men are liars by nature. You see, and yet we believe what people tell us every day.
We believe men. I often call places different cities or different people in that I don't have the phone number for and I have to get it by means of long distance and other ways. But we receive the witness amend. In other words, somebody comes to me and wants to be married and they present a marriage certificate to me. That is the witness amend. I call the airport to make reservations for a flight. I believe the witness of men. The girl goes by the timetable of the airline.
This is a witness of men. I receive a bill from the gas company. You've used so many terms in the month of December, and your bill is. I receive the witness of men, and I pay it. I get a notice from Duke Power, you've used so many kilowatts. That is the witness of men. And we accept it day by day. How little do we pay attention to the fallible nature of man? We accept his word day after day, but God who cannot lie.
has given us his witness. God can't lie. Is his witness true? And God rests his word rests upon his infallible nature and upon his unchanging faithfulness. God cannot lie. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. But now let us move on. For this is a witness of God, which he hath testified of himself. He that believeth on the Son of God hath a witness in himself. Oh, friend, if I believed, if I placed my trust in Christ, then I have the witness within.
How did I get it? By faith. But now notice what it says. He that believeth not God hath made him a liar. That's not talking about a sinner. First John is not written to sinners. First John is written to saints. Who makes God a liar, Christians? This is written to believers. Christians who, by their walk and by their flimsy witness, make God a liar. That's who does it.
Who makes God a liar? because he believeth not the record that God gave of his son. God tells me that I have eternal life. God expects me to stand on that record. And he expects me to be able to tell others that I have assurance because the assurance is within. I have taken God of his word and it's a genuine thing with us. You see, the unbeliever doesn't make God a liar by his unbelief. Oh, no. This is written to believers. They make him a liar. When God says they're saved, and they don't believe it.
When a Christian doesn't believe they're saved, and God says they are, they make God a liar. For God cannot lie. You see, this is Why, friends, this experiential salvation that is so prevalent today is so dangerous. This is why it is so dangerous. Now, there are many, let me illustrate that. There are many children in the nursery, you know, who ask questions about life. Children often ask this, where did I come from? And there are a lot of children who, probably in their younger years...
might even believe that the Stork brothers. But as they grow older, they know different. Friends, God can't lie. Titus chapter one and verse two says, In hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began. God cannot lie. Now notice what this text says. This is the record. What is the record? Right here it is. This is the record. Here's my birth certificate. This is a record that God has given unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
You can't get it any plainer than that. And the next verse is the plainest yet. He that hath the Son hath life. And he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. All one syllable words. I remember playing tennis with a man at Greensboro one morning at Palat Light, and he was one of the men who was pretty high in the insurance business there at Palat Light, and he had played professional ball for the Kansas City Athletics. And He was a good tennis player.
We were playing, and my objective in playing tennis was not simply to play tennis, but also the witness to different ones that came along to play. And I witnessed to him about faith in Christ. And of course, he was a member of one of the big first churches in Greensboro. And he said, when I go to church, I want to listen to someone who has a Good education who's able to explain the Bible to me. He said an ordinary person can't understand the Bible. Oh, I said, why can't it? Well, he said, it's a difficult book to understand. I knew I had him.
I said, did you ever read an insurance policy? He wrote that. He said, oh, yes. I said, did you understand it? Oh, he said, I have to. He said, it's my line of work. So I said, well, I'd like to quote a verse of Scripture to you. And I quoted First John five, verse twelve. He that hath the Son hath light, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not light. I said, all one syllable words. Can you understand that? He grunted a little bit.
I said, I'll tell you what, I'm not going to fight with you. I'm not going to argue with you. But you're going to stand before God one day, and you're going to have to tell God that you can understand an intricate insurance policy, but you couldn't understand the one-syllable words of his book, the revelation that he's given you. I left it at that. But you see, a person who prefers their own way, for all we like sheep have gone astray, and we have turned everyone to his own way.
I want my own way. And I want an excuse for not believing the record that God has given of his Son. And a person is either in the first part of this verse or they're in the last part. They either... have the Son of God and they therefore have life. Or they don't have the Son of God and they don't have life. So you see, salvation is in the person of Jesus Christ. Just as old Simeon said when he held the baby in his arms, mine eyes have seen thy salvation. The salvation of God is in Christ. And if I place my trust in him, I have it. What do I have? I have eternal life. If I haven't placed my trust in him and I am trusting something that I have manufactured of myself, whatever it may be, it may be the fact that I've always had my own way.
It may be the fact that I have always had enough money to get me out of any jam I was ever in. We can have any excuse that we can manufacture. It could be that I'm a religious person. I just love to go to church. You know, and you can go down the list. But do I have a life? Do I have Christ? Have I placed personal faith in Jesus Christ? Now, Romans chapter eleven and verse twenty-nine is one of my favorite passages. The gifts and callings of God are without repentance. Oh, I love that text. Oh, you got to think that through.
And of course, You see, when I used to be the director of the Youth Congress at Greenwood Hills, I'd love to be there on a Friday night when all the young people gathered from over the eastern part of the United States. And I'd see Betsy and Carl together or Betsy and Richard together. And boy, I thought, boy, they're really... hitting it off well and they'd be sitting together at every meeting and you'd see them standing around talking together and boy by Wednesday night I'm Richard's with somebody else and Betsy's with somebody else and I'm sitting on the platform looking at who's sitting with who and I say to myself uh-uh somebody repented somebody repented maybe maybe more than one repented you see somebody changed their mind about somebody else When I read the gifts and callings of God are without repentance, when did God begin to think about you before the foundation of the world?
Let me ask you a question. How much did God know about you when he saved you? Did you know how many times you'd fail him? Did you know how many times you'd make a mistake in nineteen eighty-eight? He knew all about you. And the nice part about it, he'll never change his mind. Isn't that great? He knows all your feelings. And he'll never change his mind about you. The gifts and callings of God are without repentance. Oh, what a passage. John ten says, my sheep hear my voice.
I know them. They follow me. and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand my father who gave them me is greater than all and no one is able to pluck them out of my father's hand I and my father are one do you know that God never starts anything he doesn't finish the verse for that is Philippians one verse six being confident of this very thing that he who hath begun a good work in you will complete it in the day of Jesus Christ. Are you Christ?
Oh, we have every reason to sing from the heart, but less of assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine. Why? Why, because it rests on a solid foundation. It isn't resting on the wobbly foundation of my feet, I'll tell you that. and what I can do by the flesh. And he's resting upon the solid foundation of what our blessed Savior did when he died on the cross in our place and in our stead. I'd have reason to doubt if it depended on my work. But it doesn't depend on mine, but it depends on his.
Assurance. Now we can say these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may know that you have eternal life. We may know it. We don't make him a liar. We were able to say, I possess eternal life and thanks be to God. He's given me the power within to live that way. And if you're saved, you have it too. This is why a person who's genuinely saved, they manifest that because they have the power now to live and rejoice in our blessed Lord and in the salvation that he's provided by divine grace.
You see, I believe that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone. In Christ alone, apart from any work. And that's the genuine thing. I trust you have it. Lord, he that hath the Son, hath life. He that hath not the Son of God, hath not God. Let's pray together. Our Father, we praise you tonight. for the grace of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. For the grace of God to bring us salvation and that it hath appeared unto all, teaching us to deny ungodliness and worldly life.
We thank you that we can know that we're born of these. We thank you for the witness in ourselves. And we thank you that you never change your mind about us. Take the word therefore and bless it through every heart. For Jesus' sake, amen.