Confidence Before God

Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.

com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Very good, my dear brother and sister. As I said, I'm going to invite you to open up your Bibles to 1 John 3.

And we are going to be addressing verses 19-22, four verses that we have in front of us. And today I want to speak to you about confidence before God. Confidence before God. And more particularly, my dear brother and sister, this is a topic that is related to assurance of salvation. That is the burden that the Apostle has in his mind, the burden that the church will have certainty that they are in Christ Jesus.

And he wants to speak about confidence before God. And the reason why I want to do that is because that is the key message of Apostle John in verse 21. If you pay attention before we read the text, in verse 21, the Apostle says, If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. If our heart does not bring condemnation to us, If our heart does not bring guilt upon our consciences, then we have confidence before God. That is what I want to speak to you, and today I'm going to invite you to read two passages of scriptures.

We're going to be reading 1 John 3, verses 19 to 22, and then I'm going to invite you to come with me to read John chapter 19. The same author in John chapter 19 is going to give us the last words that came out of the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ there upon the cross. And we're going to take that passage in John chapter 19 as a point of departure for our message. So brother, sister, dear friend here within the sound of my voice, There are many people in the world that are doing things that they consider to be more important. But there's absolutely nothing more important than to come in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ and to hear His Word.

If what I'm going to say happens to be what is written in the Scriptures, if what I'm going to say to you happens to be the Word of God who is in heaven for you, Then you have a confrontation with God and not with me. And you will have to give an account not to the preacher, not to the church, but to God. This is a very important moment. It could be the last time that you are in a church. It could be that you are going to see death tonight.

It could be the last day of your life. So a very important moment. for us to consider the Word of the Lord. And paying careful attention to what we have in front of us, let us read the Bible that happens to be the Word of the only true and living God. This is 1 John 3.

19. By this, we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before Him. Before God. For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and He knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God.

And whatever we ask, we receive from Him because we keep His commandments and do what pleases Him. Now, I invite you to come to John chapter 19. That's what the Apostle John has said in 1 John about the confidence that we can have before God. Now I invite you to come to John chapter 19 and read with me please in verse 30 the last words that came out of the mouth, not of any man, but the man, Christ Jesus. Verse 30, when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, It is finished.

And he bowed his head, and he gave up his spirit. Amen. This is the word of the Lord. It is finished. The words of the Savior.

the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the last words that he cried out and that he uttered was, it is finished. He was not only crying out and proclaiming those words in front of the people that were there present on that day, but he was proclaiming those words more importantly before the Father. It is finished. the atoning sacrifice that was entrusted to me to complete, it is now finished. Everything that you, Father, had given me to do, it is finished.

Everything that you expected me to do, it is finished. And it is not only finished before you, my Father, but it's also finished on behalf of my people. My brothers and my sisters and my people throughout the generations also will hear these words, it is finished. And they will not only remember the day in which I died upon the cross, they will also rejoice in the fact that everything that was required for them to be forgiven was completed and accomplished upon the cross. It is finished, not only before God the Father, but also for you, my dear brother and sister.

Everything that was required for you to be saved was completed and accomplished upon the cross. There is no word that you can utter that can contribute or add to the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Why? Because it is finished. There's absolutely not good work or good deed that you can perform that could be added or that could contribute to the work of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross because it is finished.

There is no manifestation of love that you can have for your brother or sister that could contribute or that could add to the work of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross because it is finished. There's absolutely nothing that we can do within the of the church that will act to the work of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross because it is finished and if it is finished that means that is completed that there is nothing that is expected to be accomplished And if it is finished, and if it is completed, we can rejoice in the fact that our salvation does not depend upon our own works. That we can rejoice that our salvation does not depend upon our own performance. We can rejoice upon the fact that salvation is not ours, but that salvation belongs and is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord, and it's not yours to accomplish.

Salvation is of the Lord, and it's not yours to fulfill. Salvation is of the Lord, and it's not yours to complete. completed. It is finished from the beginning until the end. Salvation is of the Lord.

We have been chosen in Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world as a testimony that salvation is of the Lord and it's not yours. The day in which you were born, the family in which you were born was appointed by the decree and of the Lord as He started the work of bringing you to Him as a testimony that salvation is of the Lord. Each one of the days that you lived from the moment in which you were born to the moment in which you were saved were guarded by the sovereign hand of God that were leading you providentially up to the point in which someone came and preached the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and your eyes were opened Not to say salvation is mine and I should bring my works and my good deeds before this God to be accepted, but rather the Spirit of God open your eyes so that you will proclaim on that day that salvation is of the Lord and He's the only one that can save me and indeed saved you. Salvation is His and is yours and even from that day onwards every single day of your life. And that's no matter that has been a happy day or a sad day.

It doesn't matter that it's been a good day or a bad day. It doesn't matter that you've done what you wanted to do or that you didn't do what you wanted to do. Every single day of the Christian has been in the sovereign hands of the Lord as a testimony that salvation is of the Lord and it's not yours. The salvation is of the Lord because when He died upon the cross, He said, it is finished. And it's by virtue of that glorious hope that we know that one day we are going to be accepted into heaven.

We are going to be accepted into the presence of God, not because of our works. not because of our deeds, not because of what we have in us, not because of our own righteousness, but because salvation is of the Lord. And when He died upon the cross, He said, it is finished. Now, my dear brother and my dear soul, do you know that? Do you know that?

Do you know that salvation is of the Lord? Do you know that it was finished upon the cross? And when I say, do you know, I'm not asking your mind. Because I know that by God's grace we can agree on this glorious doctrine that salvation is of the Lord. But rather, I ask your heart and your life.

Do you know in the experience of your Christianity that salvation is of the Lord? When guilt come upon your shoulders and when you have not done what you were expected to do, do you know that the only remedy for your soul is to come before the Lord and confess your sin because He's the only one that can deal with your guilt? Or you say with your lips, salvation is of the Lord. Try to fix the consequences of your sin on your own. Do you know the salvation is of the Lord?

Not with your mind, but with your heart. When things are not working as they are supposed or as you wanted them to be. When your plans are not providing or producing the results that you wanted them to produce. When life is going in a different direction than you wanted it to be. Do you know?

that God works all together for good, for your good, because salvation is of the Lord? Or are you tempted to question the plans of the Lord and to try to fix your own life in your own strength and in your own power? Because, my dear brother and my dear sister and my dear soul, when the Spirit of God reveals to a person that salvation is of the Lord, and when the Spirit of God reveals not to the mind of a person, but to the heart of that person, that it was finished upon that cross, the only outcome that we have of that is assurance, certainty. freedom and rest. When our eyes are open and we come to the conclusion that this Christian life does not depend upon me, but that is in his hands.

When I truly come to the conclusion that independent of my shortcomings and the things that I'm seeing ahead, the salvation is in the hands of the Lord, the only outcome is that I will have atonement and assurance. That if I am a Christian, it is not because of my faith. That if I am a Christian, it is not because of the things that I do. That if I am a Christian, it is not because of my service. But if I am a Christian, it is because salvation is of the Lord and it was finished upon the cross.

That is the only remedy that will bring peace to the mind and to the heart of a person. Do you know that with your heart? Do you know that? And the reason why I'm asking you that is because, first of all, I do know that you believe that with your mind. But I also know that as Christians, we are weak many times, even though we know that salvation is of the Lord, and even though we know that it was finished upon the cross, and even though we know that the Savior loves us, and even though that Christ Jesus gave us.

We have the experience of verse 21 that we have in 1 John, verse 20. For whenever our heart condemns us, The apostle knew that Christians, even though they had been instructed and received information from the same apostle, he knew. that there are times in which Christians are going to experience condemnation. Some of you may have the word if our heart condemns us or whenever our heart condemns us. The word is the same.

It speaks of a potential possibility of experiencing condemnation as a Christian. And the apostle is humble enough not to say when your heart This man of God who has been walking with the Lord for many years, who has been experienced, who has heard the voice of the Savior, who saw Him at the cross dying for Him, and also heard the words, it is finished. The one who has been ministering to the church also say, when our heart condenses. because we still have sin within us. And even though we have been gloriously benefited by the revelation that we have been forgiven in the person of Jesus Christ, we still have within us our sinful heart, and many times our heart is going to bring us to this sense or experience of condemnation.

The apostle John knew that this was going to be the experience of some of the Christians, especially after the very strong teaching that he had given them in verses 16 through 18, in which he said that if you do not love your brother, but you hate your brother, you do not have eternal life abiding in you. The apostle is not only a prophet, he's also an abster. And he knew that these people that had been confronted by some powerful truth, that they have hate in their heart towards their brothers and sisters, that they are in Christ. Now the apostle sees the necessity of encouraging the brothers and sisters to know what biblical assurance of salvation is so that they will not be tempted by their hearts to fall into despair and not to deal with their guilt in the biblical gospel way that they should. And that's why we have this passage in front of us that speaks about assurance of salvation that leads to confidence before God.

Assurance of salvation that leads to confidence before God. And my purpose, my dear brother, my dear sister, my dear soul, is first of all to speak to two types of people that can be present within the sound of my voice. first to the type of people who have come to certainty and assurance of their salvation. But that is based either in religion or their flesh. They are convinced that they are part of God's family.

They are convinced that they are part of the people of God. Yet the foundation for their certainty is not according to the scriptures, but their foundation is either according to their flesh, religion or tradition. I want to speak to you, my dear soul, whoever you are. Because if that is the type of certainty that you have, I implore from this very moment, do not trust in your own ways. Do not trust in your own religion, but come to Christ.

Because if you're trusting in anything else that is not Christ Jesus, then you are not a child of God. Secondly, I want to speak also to my brothers and sisters, of course, and primarily, because I want you to be encouraged to trust this law of ours. that you will not look to your own heart, but that you will look to the Lord Jesus Christ in whom we have rest and in whom we have peace. And for that, for both type of people that we have here in front of us, it is mandatory and it's important that we will understand this doctrine of confidence before God, a doctrine of assurance of salvation from the text. There are three things that I want us to do from verses 19 through verse 22.

Verse 19, I want to present to you the reality of assurance of salvation. Verse 19, I want to speak to you about the reality of assurance of salvation. Number verse 20, I want to speak to you about the threat to assurance of salvation. There's something that threatens the assurance of our salvation, and that is found in verse 20. And then in verses 21 and 22, which is the closing of our passage, I want to speak to you about the fruit of what it is to have biblical assurance of salvation.

And as you hear me, I will be using this term biblical assurance of salvation because you can have fleshly assurance of salvation. And if you have fleshly assurance of salvation, there is a chance that on that day in which you die, for some of you might be sooner than you think. that on that day in which you close your eyes and you breathe your last, thinking that you're going to make it into heaven, you might be confronted with the Savior, and the Savior will tell you, I never knew you. Depart from me, you worker of inequity. But I did all of these works, and I went to church, and I did all of these glorious things in your name, Lord, Lord.

Depart from me. I never knew you, worker of inequity, worker of lawlessness. What I want to speak to you is not about assurance of salvation, but biblical assurance of salvation. And we're going to be doing that from verse 19 through verse 22. The first thing that I want you to pay attention to, the reality of biblical assurance of salvation.

Verse 19, the apostle says, by this we shall know that we are of the truth. When the apostle says that we are of the truth, he refers to being Christians. By this we shall know that we are Christians and reassure our heart before him. The Apostle does not even question it. The Apostle assumes that Christians can have assurance of their salvation.

He says that by this we know that we are of the truth. There's no question about in the mind of the Apostle. Christians can have assurance of their salvation. And it's very important, my dear brothers and sisters, that for the sake of sound doctrine, we will come to that conclusion together with the Apostle. Christians can have assurance of their salvation.

And it's very important that we say that because there are many religions and there's even many streams of Christianity that deny the possibility that Christians can have assurance of their salvation. And they say that Christians can only be certain about their belonging to God when they die. That is not true. Not only from this passage of the scriptures in verse 19, but throughout the New Testament, the doctrine of assurance of salvation is a possibility for Christians can know for sure that they have eternal life. But I'm going to take it even a step forward or further, if you allow me.

Not only Christians can have assurance of salvation, brethren, but Christians should have assurance of salvation. And the reason why Christians should have assurance of salvation is because salvation is of the Lord. And it is finished. As simple as that. at its core.

Lack of biblical assurance of salvation is lack of faith in the completed work of the Lord Jesus Christ. So not only Christians can have assurance of salvation, but Christians should have assurance of salvation because the work is not being done. It's done already. He died on the cross and he's taking his people in his hands to bring everything to completion. Christians should assurance of salvation.

But if that was not enough, I'm going to take that a step even further. And I would say that not only Christians can have assurance of salvation and should have assurance of salvation, but Christians must have assurance of salvation. How are you going to deal with your sin and bear fruit of righteousness for the glory of the Father if you're doubting that you're in Christ? How are you going to help one another when you do not know that you are a child of God? How are you going to help a brother and sister that is fallen when you're not sure that you're a child of God?

He cares for us. And as a father, he does not want his children to be living in the shadow of doubt and with fear of the father. He wants his children to live in the power and the joy of the fact that they are forgiven. So Christians can not only have assurance of salvation, they should have assurance of salvation because Christ is upon the cross and they must have assurance and salvation because that's the way that they bear fruit and they benefit with each other of the glorious things that the Lord provides to the context of the church. But how do I know that this thing that I have in my mind that tells me that I'm a Christian is not my mind, but that it's actually true?

How do I know that the fact that I know that I'm a Christian is according to the mind of God and I have not invented that myself? How do I know that I have not been pretending to myself because people can lie to themselves? For the last 11 or 12 years that I've called myself a Christian, how do I know that that which I think of my profession of faith and yours How do I know that that is true? Well, we need to see from the Scriptures what biblical assurance of salvation is. Now, I'm not sure what I'm going to say after this, my dear brother and sister.

I'm not sure if the Lord is going to give me clear words to speak in the later points that I want to make. But if there's going to be one thing that you're going to pay attention to, Colombian preacher, is the three things that I'm going to tell you that follow. I'm going to speak to you now about the characteristics of salvation. Remember that I said that I'm speaking to two types of people, those who have fleshly assurance of salvation, that they think that they are Christian just because in their flesh. also I want to encourage my brothers and sisters to have certainty of the finished and completed work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The way that we speak to both groups is by dissecting what biblical assurance of salvation is. Pay attention to these three characteristics that I want to show you from the text. First characteristic of biblical assurance of salvation. The first one is that biblical assurance of salvation is spiritual and not only intellectual. Biblical assurance of salvation is spiritual and not only intellectual.

Would your mind come to the conclusion that you're a Christian? Yes, but biblical assurance of salvation will go beyond the mind and is spiritual. Biblical assurance of salvation is ultimately a spiritual reality than that it is an intellectual reality. How do we know that? We know that because of two words that the Apostle uses in verse 19.

The Apostle uses the word know and the word heart. It says in verse 19, By this, we shall know that we are Christians. So by this, we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our minds? No, reassure our hearts. By this, we shall know, the apostle says, that we are Christians and have assurance in our hearts before God, knowing and heart.

Both words for the apostle are always used with a meaning that is spiritual in nature. If you go to first, John chapter 4 verse 7, you will see that those who love God know God. They have been born of God. For the apostle to know is something that goes beyond the mind and is something that is experiential in nature. The apostle is not referring to knowing only with the mind, but to have certainty.

And that is confirmed because of the following word that he uses, the word heart. that we will assure our hearts before God. The heart, for the Apostle John, is that where resides the emotions, is where resides the affections, is where resides the eternal life. If you go through different verses before this one, you will realize that for him, both knowing and the heart is the spiritual life of the person. And if that was not enough, the Apostle is going to confirm that in the last verse of this chapter, in verse 24.

Pay attention to that. Having certainty that we are of God is confirmed not with the mind, but with the spirit. Pay attention to verse 24. It says whoever keeps his commands abides in God and God in him. Now pay attention to this because it's the same use of words.

And by this we know that He abides in us by the Spirit whom He has given us. Knowing that we abide in God is the same thing to know that we are of the truth or that we are of the light, chapter one. To be a Christian is not something that happens in the mind, but is something of the spirit. This is later confirmed by the Apostle John, actually before because this happened later, but in the book of Romans, 8, verse 12 and onwards, and it is the Spirit of God that testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, joined or co-heirs with Christ. It is the Spirit of God, the Apostle Paul says, that testifies to my spirit that I am a child of God.

Is assurance of salvation happening in my mind? Of course it does, because the Christian life is not mystical. It's not something that happens there and it's black and it's obscure and difficult to understand. Of course it happens in the mind, but biblical assurance of salvation is ultimately the spiritual testimony of the Spirit of God to my spirit that I am a child of God. So this means, my dear brother and sister, that nobody can give you certainty of your salvation apart from God.

You are not to come to the pastor and say, I have been a Christian for 20 years and this is the things that I've done. Am I a Christian? If a man or a woman dares to give you assurance of salvation, that man or that woman will be violating and breaking the scriptures because only the Spirit of God is to testify within you that you are a child of God. Can the church give you assurance that you are a Christian? No!

Yes, we are to distinguish the fruits. You shall know them by their fruits. But the church is going to make many mistakes because the only one who can truly know the hearts of people is the Spirit of God. So is the Spirit the one that is testified to your spirit that you are a child of God. And if you are pursuing and if you are seeking, assurance of your salvation by or through someone, you are doing it in the wrong place because nobody is going to be able to provide to your soul rest.

Nobody is going to be able to provide to your soul rest. Only the Spirit of God can testify to your spirit that you are a child of God. But even there, how do I know still that this thing that I have inside of me is a testimony of the Spirit and it's not my mind? How do I know that it's not me telling Nelson, Nelson, you're a Christian, but rather that this is the spirit of God that is testifying with my spirit that I'm a child of God? Well, the nature of assurance, assurance.

This is the second thing. Assurance is to have approval before God. Did you pay attention there to the text? Verse 19. By this, we shall know of the truth, reassure our heart before the church.

Right. No, and by this we shall reassure our heart before the pastors, right? No, and by this we shall reassure our heart before the world, right? No. And by this we reassure our heart before myself, right?

No. Approved by God. Be for Him. And let me ask you a question. How can a man be approved before God?

Is there something in me that I can bring to God and to say, look, Lord, I have come all the way from Colombia to first world country and look all the things that I've done. I'm bringing all of these before you. Will God approve me for those things? Will God approve you from all the things that you have done in your life? How is someone approved before God, brethren?

You tell me, please. In Christ Jesus, and that is the center of assurance of salvation. Assurance of salvation is not the response to the question, pay attention to this, that it took me a very long time just to say what I'm going to say. Pay attention to this. Assurance of salvation is not the answer to the question, am I a Christian?

Assurance of salvation is the answer to the question, Lord, what have you done for me? Because the person that is pursuing assurance of salvation is pursuing already an idol. The one that is already pursuing to have certainties already pursuing something that is not God. We are not to pursue certainty about our condition. We are to pursue God in Christ Jesus.

Uncertainty will be the byproduct of knowing that He died upon the cross. Once again I say, biblical assurance of salvation is not the answer to the question, am I a Christian? Am I a genuine believer? No. Biblical assurance is the response to the question, what have you done?

And when he answers the question with the scriptures, salvation is Lord and it is finished. From that moment, brethren, The focus is removed from self and is passed to the Lord. From that moment, I find myself approved, not because of my works, but because of what Christ Jesus did upon the cross. In that moment, the burden of self is removed. Now my eyes are focused on the Lord Jesus Christ.

From that moment, the Lord, if He wills and He does, He will give us assurance of salvation. That is not in pursuit, but rather that is the byproduct of focusing on the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is the spiritual assurance that does not come from your religion. That is the biblical assurance that does not come from your traditions. That is the biblical assurance that does not come from your many years of doing the same thing.

That is the assurance that does not come from you looking to the past. That is the type of assurance that comes from the Spirit of God. That is the type of assurance that can be found only in the person of Jesus Christ. Because biblical assurance of salvation is first of all spiritual, a testimony of the Spirit to my spirit, and second is before God and not before men, including yourself. Don't try to develop in your own a good Christian so that you approve yourself.

Don't try to develop a good version of me so that on Wednesday I'm happier of what I was on Tuesday about my own performance. That is idolatry. Idolatry with the form of your own physique and your own face. My dear brother and sister, our duty is to look to Him and to be found approved before the Lord because of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done because of what it is in us. And thirdly, first, biblical assurance of salvation is spiritual in nature.

Second, biblical assurance of salvation is before God and not before ourselves. Third, biblical assurance of salvation, according to the Apostle John in verse 19, comes always together with a glorious virtue. And that virtue is love. Pay attention to what he says in verse 19. By this we shall know that we are of the truth.

By this we shall know that we are of the truth. And the question is, what is this that the apostle refers about? What is this that the apostle refers in verse 19, by which we shall know that we are of the truth? The answer is given to us in verse 18. Little children, let us not laugh in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.

Of all the things that the Apostle could have chosen to bring together with assurance of salvation, of all the manifestations of obedience that the Apostle could have brought together with a biblical assurance of salvation, of all the commandments that people are supposed to fulfill as Christians, the one that the Apostle chooses is love to the brethren. Because the one that is able to love the brethren is because he has seen the love that God has for us. All of those people of Matthew chapter 7, when they come to the Lord, they say, Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name? Didn't we cast out demons in your name? Didn't we do mighty works in your name?

Did you pay attention that none of them say, Lord, didn't we love the brethren that have called us to love them? Didn't we sacrifice ourselves for your people as you called us to do? But for those people, everything was about their works and their deeds. Because biblical assurance of salvation is the spiritual testimony of the Holy Spirit that we have been approved before the Father through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when that happens, Then our heart is filled with love for the brothers and sisters, because we have seen the love that the Father has bestowed upon us in making us the children of God.

And that is how then our heart is full with joy, not because of my own life, not because of my own performance, but because of what he did and accomplished upon the cross. So I ask you, Do you have biblical assurance of salvation? Are you perhaps trusting in your faith? What is trusting in my faith? Oh, 20 years ago I prayed a prayer.

And because I prayed a prayer 20 years ago, I know that I am a Christian. That is called faith in your faith. Or are you trusting your religion? I have been a Christian for 45, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 years. And because I have been a Christian for the last 50 years, that means that today I'm a Christian.

That is called idolatry and not trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. Were you born into a religious family? And because you were born into a religious family, now you say, well, I was born into a religious family. And because I was born into a religious family, I suppose that I'm the same that my parents are and that my grandparents were. That is called idolatry.

Biblical assurance of salvation only comes when we are fully relying and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. So if you are in the category of people that are trusting something else that is not the Lord Jesus Christ, I call you now and I implore to your soul, please come to Jesus Christ. There is no other way of salvation that through the Lord Jesus Christ. I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

There is no religion. There's no system. There's no tradition. There's no procedure. There's no work.

There's nothing that we can do that will bring us into the presence of the Father. Only the finished and completed work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is of the Lord because he said it is finished. Salvation is of the Lord because he completed the work that the Father gave him. So I implore to you, while there is time and while death is still ahead of you, that you will come to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Only in him you will find rest for your soul. Only in the presence of Jesus Christ you will find freedom from your guilt. Only in the presence of Jesus Christ you will be able to have the peace that surpasses all understanding. Only in the presence of Jesus Christ. And having said that, now I move to verse 20, and I want to speak to you now, my dear brother and sister, about the threat, the threat to biblical assurance of salvation.

Now I speak to you primarily, brothers and sisters. The threat to biblical assurance of salvation. Verse 15, verse 20. For, or if, or whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and He knows everything. You know what the threat to assurance of salvation is?

Your heart, your heart is the threat to the assurance of your salvation. And the apostle says they're not your heart, but he includes himself in verse 20 when he says our heart. And you know why? Because our heart is not his heart. Our heart is not the heart of Christ, brethren.

Yes, we're being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, but we're still very distant to have the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our heart is not the heart of the Savior walking towards Him, and we want to be like Him, but our heart is our heart. And before glory arrives, our heart will continue to be within us. And our heart continue to be our heart. And our heart will never, will never submit to the will of the Father as the Lord Jesus Christ did.

Not my will, but your will be done. Even though we do desire that with the Spirit, but many times our heart is going to tempt us to say, Oh Lord, my will, please. Even though we don't say with our mouth. Brothers and sisters, the reason why our heart is the biggest threat to our assurance is because it's not the heart of Christ, and because it's not the heart of Christ, it's a sinful heart. Our sin is that which separates us from God.

Take heed, the Apostle says, assuming that is Paul in Hebrews chapter 3 verse 12. Take heed, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, separating you, taking you apart from the living God. Do you want to find a cause for lack of assurance of salvation, my dear brother and sister? Sin. If you do not deal with sin in the way that you are supposed to do, that is coming to the feet of Christ and repenting of your sin and confessing of your sin, you are going to lack endurance.

Our heart is not only not the heart of Christ, but it's also a heart that is sinful. And our heart is not only sinful, but my dear brother and sister, our heart is also weak. We are not strong. We are not powerful. We are not mighty.

Our heart is weak. And it only takes that you don't sleep at night. It only takes that something happens to your body. It only takes that you don't have a good day for everything that is within you to be manifested. For everything that is in the depths of your soul to be manifested, we are weak.

And because our heart is sinful, my dear brother and sister, many times we're going to see the things that we really have inside of us, and that should bring us to the feet of Christ. Not to think that we are something good or not to think that we have a dance match, but if you had an insight into who we really are, you will realize that you are closer to the you version of when you were initially saved than what it is the you version of when the Lord Jesus Christ comes. Because holiness and glory is much greater of the present time. Our heart is not only sinful and weak, but our heart is also deceitful. And that's why our heart, in verse 20, will tell us, our heart condemns us.

Condemns us? Our heart condemns us, if that is the way that you pronounce those two words that I cannot pronounce together. Our heart brings condemnation to us. While the scripture says in Romans chapter 8 verse 1, for therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The Word of God says, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Yet my heart says, condemned! Condemned! Condemned! You have sinned! You have sinned!

Go away! Hide yourself! Run away from God! Run away from His Word! When the Word of God says, there is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Oh, my dear brother and sister, the intention of the apostle in verse 20 is to Do not look to self, look to God, who is greater and know all things. You know the point of the apostle there in verse 20? He says, for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. Brethren, he knows everything, yet he gave his son. He knows everything in your heart, yet He continues to work.

He knows the sins that you have committed, that you are committing, and that you will commit. Yet He continues to work in His people, bringing completion to the work that He has planned among His people. God is much greater than the testimony of our hearts. Our hearts are an ambassador of the present evil system within us. The only solution for the ambassador of the evil system that is within us is death.

We need to die. We need to be resurrected in the redemption of our bodies. And when we are resurrected in the redemptions of our body, then the fullness of who we are will be in the person of Jesus Christ and in the fullness of assurance. in us. But until we don't have that moment, we have an ambassador of the flesh, an ambassador of darkness, and that is our heart.

So the apostle says, do not look to your own heart. Do not trust your own things, but look to the Lord. Trust in the Savior. Look to Him. He is greater.

He is mightier. He is more powerful. Why would you try to solve your own sin in your own strength? Why do you think that when you have done something that you're not supposed to do, that you are able to fix the consequences of your sins? Rather, come to Christ, come to the Lord.

If you confess your sins, he's just and faithful to forgive your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Because he says, come to me. And then finally there, your brother and sister, then we have the heart of the apostle in verse 21 and verse 22. If a person, does not look to self, but look to God. If a person knows that the condemnation that our heart can bring is nothing compared to the testimony of God who has already made us his children, then we have in verse 21, Beloved, if our heart does not condense us, in other words, if we do not hear or if we do not pay attention to the condemnation, if we are not taken by the power of our heart within us, Then he says in verse 21, we have confidence before God.

The outcome of biblical assurance of salvation is this, confidence before God. To be biblically assured and to know entirely that we are of the Lord produces confidence before God. Confidence before God, who knows all things, who knows the things that I don't know, Who knows those things that I don't want you to know? Who knows those things that I have done in the past that I prefer them to stay in the past, but He still knows them? To have confidence before the One that is holy, holy, holy, and does not accept any sin in His presence?

To have boldness and confidence, not only to look to Him, but what the rest of the verse says, to come to Him. Because when a person is assured and has confidence of everything that the Lord has done for them, when a person is filled with certainty that we are accepted in God because of what Christ Jesus has done, then that person is going to be moved not only to look, but go to the presence of the Lord. That's why he says in verse 22, And whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. The result of confidence, my dear brother and sister, is that we are aligned with the will of the Lord. That we say, Lord, whatever comes our way, that may it be because it is according to your will.

Confidence before the Lord brings us into the secret place of prayer to ask boldness and to ask with confidence, not because we have done and filled the requirements of the things that are expected of us so that God will respond, but rather because we're in alignment with the will of the Lord. And unless any one of you may be tempted to believe that verse 23 or verse 22 means that the Lord will respond to our prayers because we're doing good works, let me just simply take you for the sake of clarity to chapter 5 in which the apostle actually explains what that means. And that is to be in alignment with God's will. It's not that the Lord will respond because of my prayers and because of my deeds, but it's rather that the Lord will respond because now my life is in alignment with the will of the Lord. Verse 14, you will see here exactly the same words that are used in 3.

22. Exactly the same words the Apostle is just only explaining. Verse 14, and this is the confidence that we have toward him. Exactly the same topic. that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask implicitly according to His will, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him. Having biblical assurance of salvation and having confidence before God is not this past that now you, whatever you say, is going to be responded positively by the divine court. But rather, the promise is that when you are assured in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ and when you have confidence before the presence of God, now the Spirit of God that is testifying to your spirit, the child of God will bring you in alignment with the will of the Lord. And now your prayers and your life will be according to the will of the Lord. And because you are praying and you're living according to the will of the Lord, now that alignment to the will of the Lord is what pleases the Lord in verse 21 in chapter 3 and also in Hebrews.

And it's also what makes prayers that the Lord will use to respond. These are the glorious benefits of being assured in the presence of God. How am I going to be assured? Because of my works? Because of my deeds?

Am I going to look to myself and the things that I accomplish to obtain this glorious confidence before God? How would a sinner come before God and say, Lord, save my children? How would a sinner come before the Lord and say, Lord, save souls? How would a sinner come and say, Lord, please speak to us? If it's not because the Spirit of God has given us the assurance not only that we are in Him, but also this is His will for us.

So now let me ask you, my dear brother and sister, do you have biblical assurance of salvation? Are you trusting something that is not God? Are you trusting something beyond God? And are you trusting yourself? Is there something in your soul that is testifying and appeasing your conscience, telling you that on the day that you see the Lord, that you are going to be OK because of your life?

Or are you really trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you really in the depths of your heart knowing that salvation is of the Lord and salvation is of the Lord because he said it is finished? The driver, that which ignites your life is your works, your deeds, or it is that which the Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished. So I said to you, my dear friend, within the sound of my voice, if your case is in the one that you are trusting yourself, your works, your deeds, once again, I implore to you that you will come to Jesus Christ. You will not find forgiveness of your sins in any other place.

To you, my dear brother, my dear sister, I said to this, you're going to make it until the end, not because you're going to have such a good persevering faith, But you're going to make it until the end because God's grace is persevering on you. You're not going to make it until the end because you're going to be bearing fruits of righteousness for the glory of the Father. But you're going to make it until the end because His grace is never going to end. Because His grace is always going to be provided for those whom He loves. And He is going to provide that grace to His people, not because when He sees them, He sees something that is worthy to be given to them, but because of what Jesus Christ did upon the cross.

So our eyes are not to be centered in ourselves, Our eyes are to be centered in the Lord Jesus Christ, because apart from looking to Christ, and going to Christ, and running to Christ, and submitting to Christ, and giving up to self, and giving up to my own desires, but going to the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, apart from that, We're going to find ourselves striving in our own flesh to fix ourselves. And my dear brother and sisters, we are not going to be able to fix the problem of our sin. The only one that is able to do that is the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't have the ability to help our own shortcomings in our own ways. The only one who can do that is the Lord Jesus Christ.

So my dear brother and sister, when your heart condemns you, Hear this, because we hear this now, and there's going to be experiences like this tomorrow, next week, or the next month. When our heart condemns us, do not try to fix yourself in your own strength. Don't even call me. Look to Christ. Look to the Savior.

Look to the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only one that is able to provide for your soul. And He's the one that will bring the work to completion. Amen? Amen.

Let us pray.