Enduring Faith: Assurance and Confidence in God's Justice

But beloved we are convinced of better things concerning you in other words he doesn't believe that it's as Bleak as it might have sounded when he gave that warning better things that accompany salvation though we are speaking in this way this this warning way verse 10 for God is Not unjust so so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward his name in having ministered and in still ministering to the Saints. [00:01:34]

And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full Assurance of Hope to the end so in spite of what anybody might have thought the goal of that warning was Assurance Strong full not half full but full Assurance of Hope and not just part way to the end but all the way to the end. [00:02:09]

I ask with all my heart now that this word would not be preached in vain that Hearts would be opened that Assurance would be granted to all the saints that unbelievers would be awakened to the truth and the beauty of Christ and of your own holy self and that people would be saved by faith in Christ and that we would all be United in one great full Assurance of hope that preserves us patiently to the end where we will inherit eternal life. [00:03:06]

I've been really keenly aware in recent days and weeks that in America and in little circles where I function love and how it gets expressed is in great measure controlled by how we think people are going to feel about what we say and what we do America these days it seems to me and I see book titles bearing witness to it are a people not entirely but in large measure with very thin skins very given to feeling like victims feeling like they're offended and they're wounded and they're easily hurt. [00:04:35]

Christians ought to be different from our culture we ought to be different we ought not to have thin skin the church ought to be a place with thick skin why because we don't get our significance and our stability and our security and our meaning and our worth from what people say about us do we do you I fear many of us do it's a constant temptation to want to be liked to want to have people say nice things about us. [00:08:09]

We are loved by God we are chosen by God we are forgiven by God we are accepted by God we are indwelt by God we are strengthened by God we are Guided by God we are secured by God we're surrounded by God he's underneath he's on top he's everywhere what do we care or do we do we believe it that's the issue do we believe that who we are where we're going how we get there is God's thing not the world or even other Christians. [00:09:20]

When we are reviled we bless when we are persecuted we endure when we are slandered we try to conciliate now that's thick that is thick because it could so easily read when we are reviled we revile back or we feel self-pity and Retreat into our bedroom and won't come out especially if the wife said it or it could say when we are persecuted we get the upper hand and make sure they get persecuted back. [00:11:06]

Be quick to hear slow to speak slow to anger that's kind of a somebody starts coming on you strong with some rebuke or some admonition or some criticism some of it warranted some of it unwarranted you don't need need to immediately throw up words of defense well if if you know what well if you only you don't need to do that you can be slow to speak slow to anger quick to listen why because God says I've got you I've got you I've got you your mine listen you might learn something you can grow. [00:12:31]

I take a a person I care about out to lunch a son or one of you for the explicit purpose of inquiring about a problem I see in your life that is going to be bad news if you don't get it fixed leading you away and I know that when I do this I'm running a huge risk I they might say why don't you just butt out of my life it's none of your business you're so nosy they might say that and I don't want to be told that that hurts. [00:14:19]

Get into each other's lives you got small groups be thick small groups not thin small groups grow up together as small groups in a family dads get on the kids take them out to lunch ask them about some stuff they're listening to on the radio put your hand on their shoulder and say I love you I'm concerned where you're headed do that people in your Sunday school class somebody at work big risks but the only reason you're not going to take it is if you're thin and is you really are getting your life from them and not from God. [00:15:19]

I'm confident that you're going to make it because God is Not unjust that's the essential argument you're going to make it because God is Not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward his name in having ministered and in still ministering to the Saints now what's amazing about this verse and what's kept me busy for hours on this sermon was that this is a verse about Justice not Mercy. [00:19:47]

The justice of God is somehow grounding and upholding his confidence that they are going to experience things that belong to Salvation and I would have thought it was the mercy of God so that's what we have to figure out and here's the problem if you're like me anyway into my head when I say justice of God comes God's disposition to give a person their Just Desserts so if you do this then you get what that deserves that's Justice which is bad news for me. [00:21:41]