The Anchor of Assurance

``I wonder if we can have an honest well, it's not really gonna be a conversation because this is not really a forum for us to talk back and forth a bunch, but let's consider an honest question. Sometimes in the quiet of the night, you're laying in bed, and maybe it's before you drift off to sleep, or if you're if you're a early bird, maybe it's in the morning, or if you wake up in the middle of the night. Sometime when your mind is sort of inactive and at rest, it begins to be active with a question like, am I really a Christian? Have you ever asked that question of yourself? Have you ever wondered that question? [00:00:53] (41 seconds)  #AmIReallyAChristian

Wondered what the answer to that question might be? We do things like we look at our failures. We look at how sometimes our hearts are cold to the Lord, and we look at struggles in our life that seem to be recurring. Why can't I seem to win the battle over this particular sin or this habit? I'm I'm putting effort into it, but I I seem to it's not entirely gone, and I'm just still struggling with it. And we wonder, if I were truly saved, surely I'd be better than this. [00:01:34] (39 seconds)  #FaithBeyondFailures

we instinctively look for some kind of assurance in our lives. And there are two common paths that we typically take as we look for assurance or or or tests that we might use as we're thinking through through things. The emotional test, which asks the question, do I feel close to God right now? And our hearts are deceitful. So on the positive or the negative side, we can be completely misled if we look to our feelings alone. [00:02:22] (40 seconds)  #AssuranceNotEmotion

Feelings are like the weather. Right? It's changing. You know, some of you know I've got some friends that I went to college with that I'm still in contact with, and we live most of them in the in the toward the East Coast, but we've got a daily text thread going. And so this weekend, you know, we've just been texting back and forth back and forth about the weather in different spots and how things are going and how it's changing. And our feelings are like that. Our feelings change like the wind changes. And sometimes, we don't know where it's coming and where it's going. But if we look to our feelings, if you build your assurance of salvation on your feelings, you can be confident on Sunday and crushed on Monday or Thursday. [00:03:02] (43 seconds)  #FeelingsAreLikeWeather

The second test that we often, consider is the perfection test or the performance test. Right? We ask something like, did I sin today? Now in our mind, we kinda go like, well, sure. There are some sins that are just like, of course, because we're human. Right? Well, even that's off to the wrong start, in the conversation. But if we ask the question, did I sin today? Well, the answer is yes. On a Sunday morning where we come together to gather with God's people, not much of the day has gone by yet. And yet, if I said, have you sinned yet today? Every hand in this room ought to go up because you can guarantee it. So we fail that test. So the emotional test is, not reliable. The perfection or the performance test always leads to failure. [00:03:45] (56 seconds)  #PerformanceTestFails

And that God graciously sent his son in the like born in the likeness of men to become our sin sacrifice, to pay the penalty for your sin and for mine. And when a person recognizes that and is transformed by that reality, repentance and faith occurs. [00:06:06] (21 seconds)  #RepentanceAndFaith

So our assurance needs to come from the promises of God. But as we're thinking it through, how do we think through it in a way that looks for assurance? Because I know people I've talked with people who would look all the way back to the time that they were baptized, and nothing and I mean nothing in their life looks like a follower of Christ. If you have to look all the way back to your salvation and you're not able to consider actual active and growing fruit, you ought to be concerned. [00:06:39] (43 seconds)  #LivingFruitMatters

And so as I said a minute ago, we don't work for our salvation. What we do is we work from our salvation to confirm our salvation. We work from the starting point of our salvation to confirm our salvation. And God's promise to us is clear in verse eight. Fruit is inevitable. If you're a child of God, fruit is guaranteed [00:07:21] (30 seconds)  #FruitIsGuaranteed