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Okay, what I want to do is basically
take off where I was last week.

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What I did was, I went back and
I wanted to revisit Assurance.

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I just felt like when we dealt
with it about a month ago,

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I really felt that I wanted to say
more and think more about it.

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And last week we spent,
again, quite a bit of time

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on just talking about the
counterfeit Christian,

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and how the devil tends to
promote false assurance,

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false peace, false joy
in the false Christian.

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But the devil is very strategic -
we hear about his stratagems, his wiles.

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We know about those from Scripture.

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He attacks assurance.

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Of course, you got a lost person, he wants
to convince them everything is okay.

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He doesn't want them
thinking it's not okay.

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He doesn't want them pursuing Christ.

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When you have the Christian on the other
hand, he can't steal away their salvation,

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but what he wants to do
is make them miserable,

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and there's no better way to
make Christians miserable

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than by having them doubt whether or not
they're genuinely converted.

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And he's got strategic ways
that he seeks to attack. (P)

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We have a number of different
people in our church

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that seem to have a
susceptibility to this.

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I think the reality is, the devil
is going to try to attack assurance

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in every genuine Christian at some time.

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And I don't think he uses
the same mannerisms,

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the same methods, with every
single one of God's people,

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because he knows our propensities,
he knows how each one of us is wired.

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And there are certain
ways that each one of us

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is wired differently than the next person.

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I want to go through some of these,

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and the first one we began
to deal with last week,

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but it's basically this:
He comes to the Christian

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and he says, "You can't
know that you're saved."

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To some he seeks to convince,
"You just can't know."

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And the thing is, a lot of times that
attack comes through false teaching.

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You say, "What do you mean?"

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I mean, there are circles where
basically the mindset is

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that if you're overconfident about
your being a Christian, it's presumption.

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And it's viewed that way.

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It's actually anathematized in
the Roman Catholic Church. (P)

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Now we don't need to go there.

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The Roman Catholic Church
doesn't have the gospel,

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they've abandoned that.

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For them to say you can't know—

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see, if you can know "I'm a
Christian," you don't need them.

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They are there telling you,
"Well, if you look to us - you can't know -

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but we're probably going to
get you through in the end.

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But you need us, and you
need the priesthood;

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and the priesthood makes money that way
because you need them to get you through,

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because you can't really
know, you can't be certain."

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But there's other circles.

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There's circles of Reformed people.

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There are circles where you have to be
so unworthy and so miserable,

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and we talked about this last time.

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Some of those circles, I
mean, I'll call them out.

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I was exposed to them in Michigan.

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There's a group called The Strict Baptists.

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I remember rubbing shoulders with some of
those guys when I was first converted,

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and it's the same kind of
circle, it's the same flavor,

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that John Sytsma came from.

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John was an elder in Netherlands
Reformed Church. (P)

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Again, these churches seem to put
a preeminence on being miserable.

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In fact, their assurance comes
from lacking assurance.

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It's like you need to go
about with this mindset,

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"Oh, I'm so unworthy, and woe is me, and we
just can't know, and we're all hopeful."

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And it seems like they're waiting
for this experience to take place.

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And so, you get these circles where
it's almost sinful and terrible

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to say that you have any
assurance whatsoever.

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And when you go into
those kinds of circles,

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you find that the
people are miserable.

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And so, that's great!

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I mean, the devil would love to have,
not just individual Christians,

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but whole churches where the people
are just morbid and miserable.

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And one of the things
that I've noticed is, the

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singing rarely is lively
in those circles.

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It's more like a dirge.

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It's more like everything
has to be depressed,

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and dragged out, and dull,
and almost mournful.

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You want to know about it?

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Sid, what did they call "It
is well with my soul"?

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"IS IT well with my soul?" They
retitled it in those circles. (P)

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Anyway, open your Bibles to 1 John 5:13.

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We have to go back to this.

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There's many other verses, but
as we talked about last time,

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it's very evident from many doctrines
in Scripture - the doctrine of prayer -

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we're supposed to boldly
approach the throne of grace.

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Boldly.

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How're you going to boldly
come if you're full of doubt?

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When you come to the
doctrine of the fear of man,

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the doctrine of money and
greed we looked at last time,

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coming from Hebrews 13; you
have so many doctrines -

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the doctrine of peace,
the doctrine of joy -

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these different doctrines
which are basically

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built on the assumption
that you have assurance.

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When you look at 1 John 5:13, it's one
of the clearest texts in your Bibles,

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that those who believe are being exhorted--

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you have to recognize, this is
towards the end of the letter.

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And what he's really referring to is,
the entire letter has been written

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so that you who believe in
the name of the Son of God

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may know that you have eternal life.

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The New Testament exhorts us to assurance.

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You see, there are people
who are afraid to be happy.

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They think it's presumption.

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But don't, don't be afraid to be happy.

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Don't be afraid to be full of joy.

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Don't be afraid to be a
people who are confident.

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How can you boldly approach the throne of
grace unless there's confidence there? (P)

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So, that we may know.

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Listen, the thing about it is,

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when you get these people
with the long faces

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in some of these circles who
are afraid to be happy,

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"Oh, we are so unworthy, who are we?"

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But you know what they're doing?
They're looking at themselves.

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We are unworthy.

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Of course we're unworthy!

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We're all unworthy.

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Do you know what the foundational
doctrine of assurance is?

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It's the doctrine of
justification by faith.

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We have to come back to that reality
again and again and again,

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that we are bad people.

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We are bad people who have gone to
Christ because we're bad people.

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We're diseased people; we have
these running sores of the soul.

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We go broken, we go bankrupt;

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and what we find in Christ
satisfies everything.

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It satisfies the Father. It pays fully.

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It gives us everything that
we need for salvation.

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We are accepted in Him.

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That is the foundation.

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I'll tell you, every single lie
the devil throws at God's people,

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I'll guarantee you this,
you have to come back

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to the doctrine of
justification by faith.

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We're justified by faith.

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We have to come back to that
doctrine again and again,

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where it's "I am unworthy,

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but praise God my hope is in
Him and what He has done." (P)

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Look, as Christians, are
we new creations? Yes!

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Have we been set free
from the dominion of sin?

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Isn't that what Romans 6 says? Yes!

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But the thing is, sin is
still a plague to us.

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And we still, like little children, do sin
and need the Advocate with the Father.

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And we have sins that we need to confess,

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and He's faithful and
just to forgive our sins.

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We need to go back.

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We need that Advocate.

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We need the cleansing of the blood.

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That's the root. (P)

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Okay, so one of the ways
he comes in is this:

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"You can't have assurance."

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And like I said last week, I
was just informed recently

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that we have a sister in our church
who believes that you can't have assurance.

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And I think one of the
text, or sort of texts,

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is like that found in Matthew 24,

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that says, "The one who endures
to the end will be saved."

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And so what people begin to think is,

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"Well, if I have to make it all
the way to the end to be saved,

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and I haven't actually made it
all the way to the end yet,

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how do I know I won't fall out?"

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Now that may seem logical,

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and some people have run with it that way.

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In fact, the sister in our church
was using that very logic.

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Do you know what the problem
with that logic is?

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1 John 5:13.

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That is a major snare to that logic.

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You see, that is what keeps
us from carnal logic.

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What? Scripture.

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You've got to know your Bible.

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This is essential in every
aspect of doctrine.

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The way you keep from excess,

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the way you keep from error
is you know your Bibles.

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Because, typically, when you begin
to go down a road of logic,

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what you have to do is you
have to begin to ask yourself,

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"Does Scripture square with that?

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Does Scripture in other places back that?

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If I'm comparing Scripture to Scripture,

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is the case made everywhere in
every way I look at this?" (P)

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And you would say this: To say
that I need to endure to the end -

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do we need to endure to
the end to be saved? Yes.

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But that doesn't mean I can't be confident
that God has already saved me now,

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even though I have to endure to the end

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to ultimately and fully be
saved to the uttermost.

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We are being saved.

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Scripture says we were saved, we're
being saved, we will be saved.

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00:13:01,939 --> 00:13:04,511
There is a process of salvation.

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00:13:04,511 --> 00:13:07,265
But that doesn't in any
way undo the reality

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00:13:07,265 --> 00:13:11,088
that I was justified in the past,
and that I belong to the Lord,

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00:13:11,088 --> 00:13:12,964
and that I already have eternal life.

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00:13:12,964 --> 00:13:18,055
I mean, He says if I come to Him
He will raise me up on the Last Day.

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What that means is, when I
went to Him in the beginning,

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the fact He's going to raise me
up on the Last Day is certain.

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00:13:24,854 --> 00:13:26,534
And you say, "Where is that?"

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00:13:26,534 --> 00:13:33,932
That's several places in John 6,
John 6:44 being one of the passage.

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00:13:33,932 --> 00:13:39,888
I think the other one is John
6:64 if I'm not mistaken. (P)

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But here's another way
the devil comes at us.

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00:13:44,698 --> 00:13:50,329
He will say to us, "If you...

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00:13:50,330 --> 00:13:56,641
Isn't it amazing, his
strategies, his wiles -

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it's oftentimes pushing us to the excess.

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00:14:02,141 --> 00:14:03,947
And it's like way out here on this edge,

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00:14:03,947 --> 00:14:10,703
"You can't know you're saved!
It's presumption."

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00:14:10,704 --> 00:14:16,760
"Oh, you're the kind who's
convinced from 1 John 5:13

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00:14:16,760 --> 00:14:22,045
that Christians should have assurance.

200
00:14:22,045 --> 00:14:25,410
Okay, I'm going to come at
you from another direction:

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If you don't have assurance,
you're not saved."

202
00:14:28,757 --> 00:14:32,979
All the way the pendulum swings,
all the way out to the other side.

203
00:14:32,979 --> 00:14:38,421
And so, now he comes in and he says,
"If you doubt, you can't be saved.

204
00:14:38,421 --> 00:14:42,175
How could you be saved if
you don't have assurance?"

205
00:14:42,175 --> 00:14:45,262
But notice the wording of 1 John 5:13.

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00:14:45,262 --> 00:14:47,339
It's essential that you notice this.

207
00:14:47,339 --> 00:14:52,998
Again, we have to confront...
Look, the devil is a liar.

208
00:14:52,998 --> 00:14:55,176
So how do you confront a liar?

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00:14:55,176 --> 00:14:58,172
With the truth. Thy Word is truth.

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00:14:58,172 --> 00:15:00,820
That's where we go.

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00:15:00,821 --> 00:15:10,269
I guarantee you this, God has told us
that Scripture is God-breathed

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00:15:10,269 --> 00:15:17,245
and it is there to make
the man of God complete.

213
00:15:17,245 --> 00:15:19,907
When it comes to doctrine,
reproof, correction,

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00:15:19,907 --> 00:15:24,501
instruction in righteousness,
it will arm you.

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00:15:24,501 --> 00:15:28,347
Our defense against the devil is Scripture.

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00:15:28,347 --> 00:15:31,747
And I'll tell you this,
I know this for a fact:

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00:15:31,747 --> 00:15:36,870
Every single lie that we are
confronted with by the devil;

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00:15:36,870 --> 00:15:41,462
the answer to it, the truth that
answers it, is found in Scripture.

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00:15:41,462 --> 00:15:42,607
Guaranteed.

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00:15:42,607 --> 00:15:48,256
Never think that you're being attacked
in some way or by some lie

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00:15:48,256 --> 00:15:54,552
that there isn't a sufficient answer to
in Scripture if you'll dig and find it. (P)

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00:15:54,552 --> 00:16:00,523
But notice here. 1 John 5:13.
Notice what it says.

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00:16:00,523 --> 00:16:08,392
"I write these things to you who believe
in the name of the Son of God

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00:16:08,392 --> 00:16:12,061
that you may know that
you have eternal life."

225
00:16:12,061 --> 00:16:13,618
Do you see what's happening?

226
00:16:13,618 --> 00:16:16,768
These people are believers already,

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00:16:16,769 --> 00:16:21,308
but John is recognizing
they may lack assurance

228
00:16:21,308 --> 00:16:27,548
and need to be encouraged to know
the reality of who they are.

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00:16:27,548 --> 00:16:28,772
Do you see that?

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He says he's writing to those who believe,
that they may have assurance.

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00:16:32,596 --> 00:16:36,426
His whole point is he recognizes
true believers may lack assurance,

232
00:16:36,426 --> 00:16:39,488
and that's why he's writing this book.

233
00:16:39,488 --> 00:16:41,437
And you know what?

234
00:16:41,437 --> 00:16:47,428
That's essential because we get
conscientious individuals.

235
00:16:47,428 --> 00:16:55,279
I mean, we tend to get people sometimes
who are over much self-examining.

236
00:16:55,279 --> 00:17:00,473
You say, "Self-examination is biblical."

237
00:17:00,474 --> 00:17:01,590
Is it? Yep.

238
00:17:01,590 --> 00:17:07,339
1st Corinthians 11, 2nd Corinthians 13,
both of them tell us to examine ourselves.

239
00:17:07,339 --> 00:17:11,582
But you get some people who
examine themselves way too much.

240
00:17:11,583 --> 00:17:16,377
They look at Christ too little, and
they look at themselves too much.

241
00:17:16,377 --> 00:17:20,806
People that do that are going to
end up miserable, typically. (P)

242
00:17:20,806 --> 00:17:23,598
And of course, God knows
that there are those

243
00:17:23,598 --> 00:17:29,076
who are wired that way—too scrupulous.

244
00:17:29,076 --> 00:17:31,321
But again, we need to come
back to this reality,

245
00:17:31,321 --> 00:17:40,675
we've got to remember all the
time: we are justified by faith.

246
00:17:40,676 --> 00:17:45,175
Anybody quote Romans 5:1?

247
00:17:45,176 --> 00:17:47,936
"Therefore, being justified by faith,

248
00:17:47,937 --> 00:17:49,847
we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ."

249
00:17:49,847 --> 00:17:51,468
Right. Notice that.

250
00:17:51,468 --> 00:17:55,691
"Being justified by faith,
we have peace with God."

251
00:17:55,691 --> 00:18:02,776
Don't eliminate the aspect of
peace that God deals with,

252
00:18:02,776 --> 00:18:08,594
like in Isaiah, where that person
whose mind is stayed on Him,

253
00:18:08,594 --> 00:18:11,185
He will keep in perfect peace.

254
00:18:11,185 --> 00:18:17,022
Don't just look at it like, "Well,
theoretically I'm not at war with Him."

255
00:18:17,022 --> 00:18:18,977
Does it mean that? Yes, it means that.

256
00:18:18,977 --> 00:18:23,895
But don't get away from the fact that
Jesus says, "My peace I leave with you."

257
00:18:23,895 --> 00:18:27,142
When the Scriptures talk about peace,

258
00:18:27,142 --> 00:18:29,903
it doesn't just mean that
the warfare has ended.

259
00:18:29,903 --> 00:18:39,776
He's talking about, remember, "Come
unto Me and I'll give you rest.

260
00:18:39,776 --> 00:18:43,914
I'll give you rest for your soul."

261
00:18:43,914 --> 00:18:46,808
But where does that flow from?

262
00:18:46,808 --> 00:18:50,700
Justification by faith.

263
00:18:50,700 --> 00:19:01,611
I mean, the reality is (1 John
5:13), I can be a believer

264
00:19:01,611 --> 00:19:09,831
but need to be encouraged in my assurance.

265
00:19:09,831 --> 00:19:15,534
And if I'm a believer,
by faith I'm justified,

266
00:19:15,546 --> 00:19:20,653
and my standing is
perfect in Christ. (P)

267
00:19:20,653 --> 00:19:27,182
Look, the reality is this, you may
have doubts about your standing,

268
00:19:27,182 --> 00:19:37,678
but if you know yourself to be a sinner,
and you've ceased to rely on your own works

269
00:19:37,678 --> 00:19:40,090
and look only to the Lord,

270
00:19:40,090 --> 00:19:42,659
and you're not putting
confidence in the flesh -

271
00:19:42,659 --> 00:19:49,175
I mean, remember Philippians 3 - you're
not putting confidence in the flesh;

272
00:19:49,176 --> 00:19:55,009
if that's true of you, and you
say, "I'm full of these doubts,

273
00:19:55,009 --> 00:20:02,179
and I don't have any hope except
Christ's blood, His righteousness.

274
00:20:02,179 --> 00:20:07,437
I don't have any hope. I know I
can't perform this well enough."

275
00:20:07,437 --> 00:20:13,963
Listen, maybe you're there, saying,
"I just don't know where I stand."

276
00:20:13,963 --> 00:20:18,727
But if you can say, "I know my
only confidence is in Christ."

277
00:20:18,727 --> 00:20:21,646
If you say that, you're a Christian.

278
00:20:21,646 --> 00:20:23,231
You are a Christian.

279
00:20:23,231 --> 00:20:31,517
Nobody whose hope is in Him and His
cross work, His life, His perfection;

280
00:20:31,517 --> 00:20:34,712
if that's where your confidence
is, you will never be ashamed.

281
00:20:34,712 --> 00:20:36,967
No matter how you may doubt in this life,

282
00:20:36,967 --> 00:20:39,436
no matter how you may
tether back and forth,

283
00:20:39,436 --> 00:20:42,656
no matter how you may struggle.

284
00:20:42,656 --> 00:20:44,862
Now look, the reality is this,

285
00:20:44,862 --> 00:20:51,662
if you lack assurance you're
a defective Christian.

286
00:20:51,662 --> 00:20:53,059
You say, "What do you mean?"

287
00:20:53,059 --> 00:20:54,962
I mean, you're supposed to have assurance.

288
00:20:54,962 --> 00:20:56,558
God wants you to have assurance.

289
00:20:56,558 --> 00:21:04,232
1 John 5:13 is pressing you towards
having that assurance. (P)

290
00:21:04,232 --> 00:21:07,872
And, like I say, there's so
many doctrines in the Scripture

291
00:21:07,872 --> 00:21:10,830
that tend to bear witness to this reality.

292
00:21:10,830 --> 00:21:14,142
Like what? The doctrine of joy -

293
00:21:14,142 --> 00:21:19,237
"Rejoice in the Lord always,
and again, I say rejoice."

294
00:21:19,237 --> 00:21:21,131
But I'll tell you that, even right there,

295
00:21:21,131 --> 00:21:25,295
you can find in that text the
doctrine of justification by faith.

296
00:21:25,295 --> 00:21:27,020
You say, "Where?"

297
00:21:27,020 --> 00:21:30,546
Well, I would say this, Paul
didn't come along and say,

298
00:21:30,546 --> 00:21:33,614
"Go look in the mirror,
examine yourself over

299
00:21:33,626 --> 00:21:36,438
and over and over, and
find joy in that."

300
00:21:36,438 --> 00:21:38,663
He said, "Rejoice in the Lord."

301
00:21:38,663 --> 00:21:39,708
What does that mean?

302
00:21:39,708 --> 00:21:45,119
It means I'm rejoicing in what
the Lord has done for sinners.

303
00:21:45,119 --> 00:21:47,028
That's the reality.

304
00:21:47,028 --> 00:21:49,865
You see, Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS.

305
00:21:49,866 --> 00:21:52,389
There's never a reason [not to].

306
00:21:52,389 --> 00:21:57,810
In other words, no matter what
lie the devil comes with,

307
00:21:57,810 --> 00:22:01,618
God is saying, "Rejoice
in the Lord always."

308
00:22:01,619 --> 00:22:04,324
See, there's always a reason
for the genuine Christian

309
00:22:04,325 --> 00:22:07,621
to look at what has happened there.

310
00:22:07,621 --> 00:22:09,331
And you know what I find?

311
00:22:09,331 --> 00:22:12,924
I find that true Christians, as much
as they may doubt and struggle,

312
00:22:12,924 --> 00:22:17,289
and have the scrupulous conscience
be over self-examining,

313
00:22:17,289 --> 00:22:22,099
you put them in front of a good
song being sung, up on that screen,

314
00:22:22,099 --> 00:22:24,855
and you get their mind off
of themselves for a second,

315
00:22:24,855 --> 00:22:28,818
and they're rejoicing inside,
because their hope is there.

316
00:22:28,818 --> 00:22:32,625
They see that Christ set
forth in "And Can It Be,"

317
00:22:32,625 --> 00:22:36,369
or they see it up there in those songs,

318
00:22:36,369 --> 00:22:38,969
and suddenly they light up inside.

319
00:22:38,969 --> 00:22:41,027
Their confidence is there. (P)

320
00:22:41,028 --> 00:22:44,615
Then they're done singing, and now
they're listening to the preaching.

321
00:22:44,615 --> 00:22:49,831
And unless it's absolutely
on "justification by faith"

322
00:22:49,831 --> 00:22:51,737
(they glory in messages like that).

323
00:22:51,737 --> 00:22:55,228
But oh, if you start getting
messages on Christian conduct,

324
00:22:55,228 --> 00:22:57,344
and the way the Christian should live,

325
00:22:57,344 --> 00:23:00,302
then all of a sudden, "Woe is me!"

326
00:23:00,302 --> 00:23:09,680
And the preacher, he's looking at Grace
House women who have false professions,

327
00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:14,788
and he's bringing out the
shotgun and taking aim — bang!

328
00:23:14,788 --> 00:23:16,190
And you know who he hits?

329
00:23:16,190 --> 00:23:20,804
He hits the sister in the third row back,
who he wasn't even aiming at

330
00:23:20,804 --> 00:23:22,726
(he's every bit confident
she's a Christian);

331
00:23:22,726 --> 00:23:25,373
and she's just taking it
right between the eyes.

332
00:23:25,373 --> 00:23:30,513
And she's like, "Ohh, I must not be saved."

333
00:23:30,513 --> 00:23:33,148
That's what happens a lot of times.

334
00:23:33,148 --> 00:23:37,951
Look, the truth is, Scripture
wants us rejoicing.

335
00:23:37,951 --> 00:23:41,453
And if we're not rejoicing we
should be dealing with ourselves.

336
00:23:41,453 --> 00:23:43,066
You say, "What do you mean
dealing with ourselves?"

337
00:23:43,066 --> 00:23:47,505
I mean, you know how David
dealt with himself?

338
00:23:47,505 --> 00:23:50,122
He asked, "Why are you
cast down, O my soul?"

339
00:23:50,122 --> 00:23:51,634
He dealt with himself.

340
00:23:51,634 --> 00:23:54,574
Lloyd-Jones has a
book on Spiritual

341
00:23:54,586 --> 00:23:58,359
Depression, where it's
based on that reality.

342
00:23:58,359 --> 00:23:59,902
Dealing with yourself.

343
00:23:59,902 --> 00:24:03,740
If you're not rejoicing, you
should be dealing with yourself.

344
00:24:03,740 --> 00:24:07,336
You say, "What does that even mean?"

345
00:24:07,342 --> 00:24:10,627
I mean, you should be preaching
the gospel to yourself.

346
00:24:10,627 --> 00:24:12,996
You should go back to the
doctrine of justification

347
00:24:12,996 --> 00:24:17,176
and really remember what it is,
and what you have to rejoice in.

348
00:24:17,176 --> 00:24:23,243
Again, I come back to this,
if your confidence is in Him;

349
00:24:23,243 --> 00:24:25,762
you know you're a sinner, you feel it,

350
00:24:25,762 --> 00:24:29,488
you feel you have no
confidence in the flesh. (P)

351
00:24:29,488 --> 00:24:32,173
What's another strategy of the devil?

352
00:24:32,173 --> 00:24:42,533
How about this one: "You're no
Christian because of your past."

353
00:24:42,533 --> 00:24:51,164
Now, that can come out in two ways.

354
00:24:51,164 --> 00:24:55,646
Perhaps there are people, I
mean, I've heard of examples.

355
00:24:55,646 --> 00:25:00,593
I don't feel vulnerable to this
attack, maybe some of you do.

356
00:25:00,593 --> 00:25:03,338
Maybe you could speak to it.

357
00:25:03,338 --> 00:25:08,852
Anybody here ever feel
vulnerable to attacks

358
00:25:08,852 --> 00:25:13,528
because of the greatness of
your sin in the past? (P)

359
00:25:13,528 --> 00:25:18,940
[James]: When you say "in the past,"
are you referring to post-conversion? (P)

360
00:25:18,940 --> 00:25:25,485
[Tim]: Either. Just from the past.

361
00:25:25,485 --> 00:25:30,994
Maybe no, not as a Christian.

362
00:25:30,994 --> 00:25:34,587
I want to deal with that
under another heading.

363
00:25:34,587 --> 00:25:37,213
But I'm talking your past
life when you were lost.

364
00:25:37,213 --> 00:25:41,125
Maybe you lived so wickedly
when you were lost.

365
00:25:41,125 --> 00:25:45,772
You raised your hand, but you were
thinking after you were saved, right?

366
00:25:45,772 --> 00:25:48,842
[Brother]: "I was thinking both."

367
00:25:48,842 --> 00:25:50,662
You've actually struggled with that?

368
00:25:50,662 --> 00:25:55,369
You've struggled with doubt over
how bad you were when you were lost?

369
00:25:55,369 --> 00:25:58,171
[Brother]: "Yeah."

370
00:25:58,171 --> 00:26:02,319
But again, we come back to the
doctrine of justification by faith.

371
00:26:02,319 --> 00:26:06,215
It's really the answer to that. (P)

372
00:26:06,215 --> 00:26:20,425
Do any of you remember what
happened to Mrs. Lloyd-Jones?

373
00:26:20,425 --> 00:26:24,644
When they were at Sanfields in South Wales,

374
00:26:24,644 --> 00:26:29,763
she was on a bus one day,
and a guy got on the bus.

375
00:26:29,763 --> 00:26:36,387
And he very pointedly asked
her if she was saved.

376
00:26:36,387 --> 00:26:40,050
Hey, this is the pastor's wife,
and this guy was very bold.

377
00:26:40,050 --> 00:26:43,923
He asked her if she was
saved, and she wasn't.

378
00:26:43,923 --> 00:26:51,157
Does anybody remember what she
struggled with, as far as her past?

379
00:26:51,157 --> 00:26:54,601
Being too good.

380
00:26:54,601 --> 00:26:58,687
It wasn't her badness she struggled with.

381
00:26:58,687 --> 00:27:03,150
She felt like if she could have
been one of these wretched people

382
00:27:03,150 --> 00:27:07,608
like she saw being saved through
her husband's preaching;

383
00:27:07,608 --> 00:27:13,633
she felt like, then she could know she was
converted if her life had transformed.

384
00:27:13,633 --> 00:27:15,857
But you know where Lloyd-Jones took her?

385
00:27:15,857 --> 00:27:20,409
Again, back, not to the
doctrine of regeneration,

386
00:27:20,410 --> 00:27:21,209
because you know what?

387
00:27:21,209 --> 00:27:25,730
The doctrine of regeneration
is a glorious doctrine.

388
00:27:25,730 --> 00:27:29,884
But that person who basically
lived a very moral life,

389
00:27:29,884 --> 00:27:37,919
and that got converted, that stark
difference is sometimes harder to see.

390
00:27:37,919 --> 00:27:41,450
That can especially be true
with children who get saved,

391
00:27:41,450 --> 00:27:43,342
people saved in their younger years,

392
00:27:43,342 --> 00:27:48,549
people who were raised in very godly
families and didn't go off into all the sin

393
00:27:48,549 --> 00:27:51,684
and debauchery that many of us have.

394
00:27:51,684 --> 00:27:55,110
And then to be radically saved out of that.

395
00:27:55,110 --> 00:27:58,110
And so you get these people,
and sometimes I think,

396
00:27:58,110 --> 00:28:08,507
that, in their past, can be a
hindrance as much as anything. (P)

397
00:28:08,507 --> 00:28:16,277
How about this: Variations in experience.

398
00:28:16,277 --> 00:28:24,950
And what I don't mean here
is, my experience vs yours.

399
00:28:24,950 --> 00:28:27,196
When I talk about variations in experience,

400
00:28:27,197 --> 00:28:34,494
what I mean is you come to
the Lord and you get saved,

401
00:28:34,494 --> 00:28:40,229
and you experience an incredible joy.

402
00:28:40,229 --> 00:28:47,139
But as you live your Christian life,
you come into seasons that are dry,

403
00:28:47,139 --> 00:28:50,329
and you feel dead.

404
00:28:50,329 --> 00:28:55,055
In fact, brother Kyle was telling
me at the Men's Retreat,

405
00:28:55,055 --> 00:29:01,113
he's thinking about bringing some
messages on the dark night of the soul.

406
00:29:01,113 --> 00:29:08,006
And you come into those seasons,
and you can begin to think, "What is this?"

407
00:29:08,006 --> 00:29:11,239
I mean, Christianity was
so glorious in the past,

408
00:29:11,239 --> 00:29:15,430
but now it just seems like I'm
walking around in the dark.

409
00:29:15,430 --> 00:29:19,859
And you can feel that.

410
00:29:19,860 --> 00:29:22,854
I mean, have any of you ever been
to the place in the Christian life

411
00:29:22,854 --> 00:29:25,425
where you feel like you lost something?

412
00:29:25,425 --> 00:29:29,090
It's like that closeness that you had,

413
00:29:29,090 --> 00:29:33,180
that joy that you had, the
sweetness that you had;

414
00:29:33,180 --> 00:29:38,795
you look up one day and
it's, "Where is it?"

415
00:29:38,795 --> 00:29:43,527
And the devil's right there, and
he's saying, "It was never real.

416
00:29:43,527 --> 00:29:46,726
You were like the one in
the Parable of the Soils.

417
00:29:46,727 --> 00:29:51,307
You sprang up quickly and you've withered.

418
00:29:51,308 --> 00:29:54,501
You weren't real."

419
00:29:54,501 --> 00:30:00,669
You see, we can be
vulnerable right there. (P)

420
00:30:00,670 --> 00:30:10,699
Brethren, I would say this, if
your life knows nothing of this,

421
00:30:10,699 --> 00:30:12,859
you don't know anything
about these variations,

422
00:30:12,860 --> 00:30:19,248
you don't know anything about seasons
of dryness or God hiding His face;

423
00:30:19,248 --> 00:30:25,298
the reality is, that is suspect in itself.

424
00:30:25,298 --> 00:30:29,570
That would seem more dangerous actually.

425
00:30:29,570 --> 00:30:36,531
That seems more like the counterfeit that
the devil is just kind of leaving alone,

426
00:30:36,531 --> 00:30:41,680
because the reality is,
with the true child of God,

427
00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:44,680
the devil is going to attack us.

428
00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:48,331
He is going to level
assaults on our assurance.

429
00:30:48,332 --> 00:30:54,347
And the truth is, that God
in no way promises us

430
00:30:54,347 --> 00:30:59,594
that He will prevent the
devil from doing that.

431
00:30:59,594 --> 00:31:04,876
In fact, we know that He does allow
the devil to do those things.

432
00:31:04,876 --> 00:31:07,308
He allowed the devil to sift Peter.

433
00:31:07,308 --> 00:31:11,494
He allowed the devil to do
to Job what he did to Job.

434
00:31:11,494 --> 00:31:16,558
Let's just watch David.

435
00:31:16,558 --> 00:31:22,066
You know what's beautiful about the Psalms?
It's all experiential.

436
00:31:22,066 --> 00:31:23,713
Go watch David.

437
00:31:23,713 --> 00:31:31,018
Over here, he is praising the Lord,
he's talking about his own righteousness.

438
00:31:31,018 --> 00:31:33,499
Over here, he's bemoaning his sin.

439
00:31:33,499 --> 00:31:37,494
Over here, he's asking
himself why he's cast down.

440
00:31:37,494 --> 00:31:40,414
Isn't that the life of the Christian?

441
00:31:40,414 --> 00:31:46,670
I mean, that's the reality, that
there are ups and there are downs.

442
00:31:46,671 --> 00:31:52,838
There's this reality. (P)

443
00:31:52,838 --> 00:32:06,303
One of the things as well is,
like I've noticed, I know this,

444
00:32:06,303 --> 00:32:12,297
that we're still in the body.

445
00:32:12,297 --> 00:32:19,034
And so often, our physical condition...

446
00:32:19,034 --> 00:32:21,752
I mean, I highly recommend
that people exercise.

447
00:32:21,752 --> 00:32:25,349
You know why? I am convinced
that lack of exercise -

448
00:32:25,349 --> 00:32:33,344
if you let this body
grow sluggish and unfit,

449
00:32:33,344 --> 00:32:41,309
and you allow yourself to
eat rotten, it affects you.

450
00:32:41,309 --> 00:32:44,113
I mean, having migraines affects me.

451
00:32:44,113 --> 00:32:46,537
Having different physical things happen.

452
00:32:46,537 --> 00:32:49,762
We can be up and down, we
can be back and forth.

453
00:32:49,763 --> 00:32:52,735
There's variations in our experience.

454
00:32:52,735 --> 00:32:57,435
There's physical elements to all of it.

455
00:32:57,435 --> 00:33:01,945
But I'll tell you this, the
confidence in the midst of all of it

456
00:33:01,945 --> 00:33:08,709
are these promises like,
"Through many tribulations."

457
00:33:08,709 --> 00:33:14,631
But at the same time, the work that
He starts He's going to finish.

458
00:33:14,631 --> 00:33:16,868
He is going to raise me
up on that Last Day.

459
00:33:16,868 --> 00:33:21,076
I recognize this, there are times
He's going to withdraw His face.

460
00:33:21,077 --> 00:33:23,851
It tests us.

461
00:33:23,851 --> 00:33:25,785
It shows how badly we want Him.

462
00:33:25,785 --> 00:33:28,982
You remember what was happening to David?

463
00:33:28,982 --> 00:33:34,960
He was saying, "My soul is
thirsting, it pants for God."

464
00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:39,492
There are times God hides His
face on purpose to test us,

465
00:33:39,492 --> 00:33:44,032
but it can be miserable seasons. (P)

466
00:33:44,032 --> 00:33:48,003
But the devil can be right
there and just say,

467
00:33:48,003 --> 00:33:52,203
"You see, you've gone into this
season and God has hid His face

468
00:33:52,204 --> 00:33:55,656
because God hates you.

469
00:33:55,657 --> 00:33:59,295
You're not His."

470
00:33:59,295 --> 00:34:00,369
But that's not true.

471
00:34:00,369 --> 00:34:03,746
Again, it comes back to the
doctrine of justification by faith.

472
00:34:03,746 --> 00:34:04,828
And what do I mean?

473
00:34:04,828 --> 00:34:13,364
Faith is, you trust what Christ did on
that cross, and you know no other trust;

474
00:34:13,364 --> 00:34:17,734
because if that's where your trust
is, we can trust in that love.

475
00:34:17,735 --> 00:34:21,726
You remember the song "Love
That Will Not Let Me Go"?

476
00:34:21,726 --> 00:34:26,884
And if my hope is in Christ,
it's not going to let me go,

477
00:34:26,885 --> 00:34:30,190
because that is what it is
to be a real Christian. (P)

478
00:34:30,190 --> 00:34:36,904
And then, let's come over to the
other variation in experience,

479
00:34:36,905 --> 00:34:41,645
in the sense of "my experience is
different than your experience."

480
00:34:41,645 --> 00:34:45,746
I've seen Christians who struggle
with assurance because of that.

481
00:34:45,746 --> 00:34:47,185
You know what?

482
00:34:47,185 --> 00:34:55,092
Martin Lloyd-Jones was against
testimonies for this reason.

483
00:34:55,092 --> 00:34:58,479
And I know people who have
heard Paul Washer's testimony,

484
00:34:58,479 --> 00:35:03,515
and they hear different
radical testimonies,

485
00:35:03,516 --> 00:35:08,526
and they look at that and they say, "I
wasn't saved that way, so I'm [not real.]"

486
00:35:08,526 --> 00:35:10,471
And you know what happens?

487
00:35:10,477 --> 00:35:13,308
The devil will come right in there and say,

488
00:35:13,308 --> 00:35:19,178
"Yeah, those radical conversions
are the only true ones.

489
00:35:19,179 --> 00:35:25,233
The reason your experience wasn't like
theirs is because you're not real."

490
00:35:25,234 --> 00:35:29,607
But again, it comes back
to justification by faith.

491
00:35:29,608 --> 00:35:31,315
Where's your hope?

492
00:35:31,315 --> 00:35:34,453
God doesn't say you have to have a
certain experience to be saved;

493
00:35:34,453 --> 00:35:37,489
God says you need to trust
His Son to be saved.

494
00:35:37,489 --> 00:35:39,731
And you know what?

495
00:35:39,731 --> 00:35:42,852
All you have to do, again,
if you go to Scripture,

496
00:35:42,852 --> 00:35:46,369
the answers to all these things
are found in Scripture. (P)

497
00:35:46,369 --> 00:35:49,231
In the previous one, go look at David.

498
00:35:49,231 --> 00:35:52,022
Go look at the experiences of God's people.

499
00:35:52,022 --> 00:35:53,977
In this one I would say the same thing:

500
00:35:53,977 --> 00:35:56,155
Look at the salvation experiences.

501
00:35:56,155 --> 00:35:58,299
How was Timothy saved?

502
00:35:58,299 --> 00:36:00,846
"Well, I grew up under a godly
grandmother and a godly mother."

503
00:36:00,846 --> 00:36:04,868
Do you know when you were saved? "No, I
was exposed to the Scriptures as a child

504
00:36:04,868 --> 00:36:06,559
and I don't really know when I was saved."

505
00:36:06,559 --> 00:36:08,896
That's what my wife would say.

506
00:36:08,896 --> 00:36:13,446
She would say she knows the year,
maybe even the three months;

507
00:36:13,446 --> 00:36:16,781
but if you asked her to peg
the day, she doesn't know.

508
00:36:16,781 --> 00:36:22,054
If you asked the apostle Paul to tell you
the day, he knows the exact day.

509
00:36:22,054 --> 00:36:28,147
You see, the biblical
experiences are different.

510
00:36:28,147 --> 00:36:33,535
And so, we can answer the devil that way.

511
00:36:33,535 --> 00:36:37,676
Some people feel like - bang! -
the switch came on in a dark room.

512
00:36:37,676 --> 00:36:40,580
Other people, it's more
like the sun rising.

513
00:36:40,580 --> 00:36:44,734
You can't really tell exactly when it went
from being dark to being light.

514
00:36:44,734 --> 00:36:49,045
It just kind of happened slowly.

515
00:36:49,045 --> 00:36:58,474
Or you even think about the salvation
experiences of the Macedonians

516
00:36:58,474 --> 00:37:00,304
over against the Corinthians.

517
00:37:00,304 --> 00:37:08,465
You find the Corinthians are still walking
in all sorts of sin after they're saved;

518
00:37:08,465 --> 00:37:13,229
and yet it seems like the Macedonians,
who Paul set forth as such an example,

519
00:37:13,229 --> 00:37:17,107
it seems like they excelled and
were running so much better. (P)

520
00:37:17,108 --> 00:37:20,691
It's like, even in our experience that way,

521
00:37:20,692 --> 00:37:25,557
some get saved and they
can take off running.

522
00:37:25,557 --> 00:37:33,280
Again, my wife's experience and my
experience are radically different,

523
00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:38,585
and what God did with us in the first
several years after we were saved.

524
00:37:38,585 --> 00:37:46,359
I mean, I kind of feel like God allowed me
to come out of the gates at a full run,

525
00:37:46,359 --> 00:37:48,413
whereas my wife got out of the gate slower.

526
00:37:48,413 --> 00:37:54,899
But she picked up speed to the
point where she passed me.

527
00:37:54,900 --> 00:37:59,868
I mean, that's what it feels
like has happened. (P)

528
00:37:59,868 --> 00:38:09,847
Another big one is this: it's
misinterpreting God's dealings with us.

529
00:38:09,847 --> 00:38:13,993
Do you know how often
Scripture has to tell us,

530
00:38:13,993 --> 00:38:18,578
"If you're God's children,
you're going to suffer.

531
00:38:18,578 --> 00:38:24,674
And if you don't suffer, you're
not legitimate children"?

532
00:38:24,674 --> 00:38:29,128
Do you know why Scripture has to emphasize
the suffering of the Christian so much?

533
00:38:29,128 --> 00:38:33,243
Because this is such a
huge place of attack

534
00:38:33,255 --> 00:38:37,758
upon God's people to
challenge their assurance.

535
00:38:37,758 --> 00:38:40,737
Why? You know why.

536
00:38:40,738 --> 00:38:42,888
Because we're vulnerable.

537
00:38:42,888 --> 00:38:47,201
Okay, we watch our friends: they
get married, I don't get married.

538
00:38:47,201 --> 00:38:50,061
What am I Lord, a stepchild?

539
00:38:50,061 --> 00:38:54,838
And the devil is right there to say,
"That's exactly what you are."

540
00:38:54,838 --> 00:38:58,947
Every Christian feels this.

541
00:38:58,947 --> 00:39:04,718
They feel the loneliness
of suffering something

542
00:39:04,718 --> 00:39:09,842
that, at least, they're
imagining nobody else suffers.

543
00:39:09,842 --> 00:39:11,733
And the devil is right there
to tell you that too:

544
00:39:11,733 --> 00:39:16,188
"Look at this. Look at what
God is putting you through.

545
00:39:16,188 --> 00:39:18,348
He's not putting anyone else through that."

546
00:39:18,348 --> 00:39:21,665
Actually, He's putting a lot
of other people through it,

547
00:39:21,665 --> 00:39:23,859
and they're going through other trials;

548
00:39:23,859 --> 00:39:26,844
and many of them much
worse than your trials.

549
00:39:26,844 --> 00:39:31,786
But the devil is right there to
say, "No, their lives are good.

550
00:39:31,786 --> 00:39:37,624
You're the one who's got
the raw deal here." (P)

551
00:39:37,624 --> 00:39:40,906
And then what happens is,
we're kind of like Habakkuk,

552
00:39:40,906 --> 00:39:44,646
we're looking for an answer:
"Lord, answer us here.

553
00:39:44,646 --> 00:39:49,557
How can this be? How can all
this be happening to us?"

554
00:39:49,557 --> 00:39:53,869
And there is silence.

555
00:39:53,869 --> 00:39:57,276
And oftentimes, the Lord brings silence
because He wants us to trust Him

556
00:39:57,276 --> 00:40:00,708
and He wants us to seek Him
all the more diligently.

557
00:40:00,708 --> 00:40:05,313
But the devil is there, saying,
"He won't even answer you.

558
00:40:05,313 --> 00:40:10,413
Come on, if you had children you'd answer
your children if they were crying out.

559
00:40:10,413 --> 00:40:13,616
What kind of Father do you think He is?

560
00:40:13,616 --> 00:40:16,559
He doesn't want anything to do with you."

561
00:40:16,559 --> 00:40:23,086
And, in our immaturity or in our
childishness, we listen to the devil.

562
00:40:23,086 --> 00:40:25,734
We actually listen to him,
and it's like, "Yeah."

563
00:40:25,734 --> 00:40:29,781
We go into this pity party.

564
00:40:29,781 --> 00:40:37,129
But remember what Hebrews 12 says,
there's discipline for the child of God.

565
00:40:37,129 --> 00:40:41,903
And if you're not exposed
to that discipline -

566
00:40:41,903 --> 00:40:47,214
the Lord disciplines the one He loves,
and chastises every son whom He receives.

567
00:40:47,214 --> 00:40:50,589
And you remember what Paul and
Barnabas told those churches

568
00:40:50,595 --> 00:40:53,988
as they were going through all
the churches there in Acts 14?

569
00:40:53,988 --> 00:40:57,995
"He was strengthening the
souls of the disciples,

570
00:40:57,995 --> 00:41:00,126
encouraging them to continue in the faith,

571
00:41:00,126 --> 00:41:03,661
and saying that through many tribulations
we must enter the kingdom of God."

572
00:41:03,661 --> 00:41:07,457
Now you got to hear him. You
got to hear what he was doing.

573
00:41:07,457 --> 00:41:09,809
He was encouraging them
to continue in the faith,

574
00:41:09,809 --> 00:41:13,249
and saying that through many tribulations
we must enter the kingdom. (P)

575
00:41:13,249 --> 00:41:15,356
Encourage them to continue in the faith?

576
00:41:15,356 --> 00:41:18,616
Yes, because when you
face trials, that is

577
00:41:18,628 --> 00:41:22,129
exactly what's being
challenged - your faith.

578
00:41:22,129 --> 00:41:24,747
Are you going to trust the Lord?

579
00:41:24,747 --> 00:41:27,556
Or are you going to throw in the towel?

580
00:41:27,556 --> 00:41:35,425
That's the test. That's always the test.

581
00:41:35,425 --> 00:41:39,930
I like how Jesus said it in John 16:1,

582
00:41:39,930 --> 00:41:45,724
"I've said all these things to you
to keep you from falling away."

583
00:41:45,724 --> 00:41:48,098
I often think about that text.

584
00:41:48,098 --> 00:41:51,299
"I have said these things to you
to keep you from falling away.

585
00:41:51,299 --> 00:41:55,214
In other words, if I didn't tell
you that you were going to face

586
00:41:55,214 --> 00:41:58,055
the kind of persecution
you're going to face,

587
00:41:58,055 --> 00:42:00,101
if I didn't tell you ahead of time,

588
00:42:00,101 --> 00:42:02,199
you guys would probably
become so discouraged,

589
00:42:02,199 --> 00:42:08,704
and the devil would get a foot
in there, and you'd fall out.

590
00:42:08,704 --> 00:42:12,707
I'm telling you this to
keep you from falling away.

591
00:42:12,707 --> 00:42:18,264
Don't fall away because they
put you out of the synagogues,

592
00:42:18,264 --> 00:42:21,400
because they treat you the way
they're going to treat you—

593
00:42:21,400 --> 00:42:22,998
and they're going to put
some of you to death,

594
00:42:22,998 --> 00:42:25,886
and they're going to persecute you,
and they're going to reject you,

595
00:42:25,886 --> 00:42:28,683
and they're going to do the things
to you that they've done to Me.

596
00:42:28,683 --> 00:42:33,362
And when they do that,
don't question the Lord.

597
00:42:33,362 --> 00:42:38,320
You need to know ahead of time
that this is what's coming.

598
00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:41,379
This is what you're going
to be faced with." (P)

599
00:42:41,379 --> 00:42:50,263
Look, God has ordained your sufferings
so that they will be different.

600
00:42:50,263 --> 00:42:52,910
Sometimes our sufferings are simultaneous.

601
00:42:52,910 --> 00:42:57,835
Sometimes we suffer because of
the same event or circumstances,

602
00:42:57,835 --> 00:43:00,740
you know, a trial can come
on a whole church at once.

603
00:43:00,740 --> 00:43:08,547
But oftentimes, God is constructing
our sufferings uniquely for us.

604
00:43:08,547 --> 00:43:14,682
And what happens is, we recognize
that we're getting treated differently

605
00:43:14,682 --> 00:43:16,628
than others are being treated.

606
00:43:16,628 --> 00:43:22,685
And it can lead us to unhappiness,
it can lead us to insecurity,

607
00:43:22,685 --> 00:43:27,738
it can lead us to self-pity, it
can lead us to misunderstandings.

608
00:43:27,738 --> 00:43:31,235
Listen to this text, you know this,

609
00:43:31,235 --> 00:43:39,147
"If you are children, you are heirs
of God and fellow-heirs with Christ -

610
00:43:39,147 --> 00:43:43,329
what? - provided we suffer."

611
00:43:43,329 --> 00:43:46,154
You're only a child if you suffer.

612
00:43:46,154 --> 00:43:50,122
But the devil is right there to say,

613
00:43:50,122 --> 00:43:53,246
"You're not one of God's children
if He treats you like this."

614
00:43:53,246 --> 00:44:00,867
And Scripture is saying, "You're not God's
child UNLESS He treats you that way.

615
00:44:00,867 --> 00:44:07,374
It's not meant to destroy
us, it's meant to test us.

616
00:44:07,374 --> 00:44:12,677
It's meant to strengthen us,
it's meant to build us up.

617
00:44:12,677 --> 00:44:16,178
"Provided we suffer with Him in order that
we may also be glorified with Him.

618
00:44:16,178 --> 00:44:18,670
For I consider that the
sufferings of this present time

619
00:44:18,670 --> 00:44:22,739
are not worth comparing with the
glory that is to be revealed to us."

620
00:44:22,739 --> 00:44:24,788
That's the reality. (P)

621
00:44:24,788 --> 00:44:29,499
God puts us through the wringer,
He puts us in the fire,

622
00:44:29,500 --> 00:44:35,074
to take the dross out, to make
us pure, to make us like Christ.

623
00:44:35,074 --> 00:44:37,514
God often hides His face.

624
00:44:37,514 --> 00:44:40,256
You know what?

625
00:44:40,257 --> 00:44:43,415
If you carry your children
around all the time

626
00:44:43,415 --> 00:44:45,208
- you want them to learn to walk -

627
00:44:45,208 --> 00:44:47,857
but you actually carry
the child all the time.

628
00:44:47,857 --> 00:44:49,618
You put him on your shoulders all the time.

629
00:44:49,619 --> 00:44:55,291
Guess what he's not going to do.
He's never going to learn to walk.

630
00:44:55,292 --> 00:44:58,624
But you throw your child out,
not just on level ground,

631
00:44:58,624 --> 00:45:00,965
throw them out where there's a
bunch of obstacles and everything,

632
00:45:00,965 --> 00:45:04,231
and what you're going to find is
they're going to learn to stand,

633
00:45:04,232 --> 00:45:05,808
they're going to mature.

634
00:45:05,808 --> 00:45:07,875
This is what the Lord does.

635
00:45:07,875 --> 00:45:09,416
You remember what the Apostle Paul says?

636
00:45:09,416 --> 00:45:13,419
"I've learned how to be
abased and how to abound."

637
00:45:13,419 --> 00:45:16,370
What? You're a child of the King!

638
00:45:16,371 --> 00:45:18,262
How dare you even talk about being abased?

639
00:45:18,262 --> 00:45:23,742
Don't these Charismatics all say, "If you
don't have riches and all manner of stuff,

640
00:45:23,742 --> 00:45:27,711
it's because you lack faith, it's
because you are this or that.

641
00:45:27,711 --> 00:45:31,332
I mean, certainly, God wants you rich!"

642
00:45:31,332 --> 00:45:32,612
No.

643
00:45:32,612 --> 00:45:38,853
Actually, God never said that He
wants you rich in this world.

644
00:45:38,853 --> 00:45:44,212
In fact, it's often the poor that He saves.

645
00:45:44,212 --> 00:45:47,701
And the reality is that
the apostle Paul said,

646
00:45:47,701 --> 00:45:54,314
"I have learned to be both abased,
and I've learned to abound.

647
00:45:54,314 --> 00:45:58,131
I've learned to have
everything taken away." (P)

648
00:45:58,131 --> 00:46:01,814
He abases us because, why?

649
00:46:01,814 --> 00:46:10,227
The truth is, difficulty in life
produces - what does it produce?

650
00:46:10,227 --> 00:46:13,137
It produces prayerful people.

651
00:46:13,137 --> 00:46:18,440
You ever notice you pray
desperately when things get hard?

652
00:46:18,440 --> 00:46:20,137
God wants us to be prayerful people.

653
00:46:20,137 --> 00:46:23,061
We tend to not be so prayerful
when the sun is shining,

654
00:46:23,061 --> 00:46:29,951
and the bank accounts are
full, and everything is good.

655
00:46:29,952 --> 00:46:32,767
We know that.

656
00:46:32,768 --> 00:46:39,366
Trials tend to make us
think, to dig, to pray.

657
00:46:39,366 --> 00:46:41,399
They strengthen us.

658
00:46:41,399 --> 00:46:48,945
I remember some years ago reading
the Pastor Shi biography.

659
00:46:48,945 --> 00:46:56,799
He was a Chinese pastor ordained by
Hudson Taylor, back in the 1800s.

660
00:46:56,799 --> 00:47:09,745
China is the same in many ways today
as it was back then, 150 years ago.

661
00:47:09,745 --> 00:47:13,430
They sued everybody.

662
00:47:13,430 --> 00:47:16,376
They're still like that.
They sue everybody.

663
00:47:16,376 --> 00:47:21,157
And so, those Christians who were
in that church with Pastor Shi,

664
00:47:21,157 --> 00:47:28,167
they determined that as Christians
they would never sue anyone.

665
00:47:28,167 --> 00:47:33,476
And when the lost people found that out,
they tried to take advantage.

666
00:47:33,476 --> 00:47:40,661
They would move fences so that
they would take their land.

667
00:47:40,661 --> 00:47:42,429
Number of things happenned.

668
00:47:42,429 --> 00:47:50,683
And what Pastor Shi recognized
is, when it was a new believer,

669
00:47:50,683 --> 00:47:54,778
if the new believer lost, say, their land,

670
00:47:54,778 --> 00:48:02,527
or the lost people came in and took
some of their geese or their pigs,

671
00:48:02,527 --> 00:48:06,017
what they noticed was
that, trusting the Lord,

672
00:48:06,017 --> 00:48:09,580
God would allow those
things to be restored.

673
00:48:09,580 --> 00:48:13,529
And they would be all happy, and
their faith would be vindicated. (P)

674
00:48:13,529 --> 00:48:18,231
But they noticed very specifically
that the more mature the Christian was,

675
00:48:18,231 --> 00:48:26,137
the less likely God would have the thing
restored that they were gypped out of,

676
00:48:26,137 --> 00:48:30,883
or swindled out of, or
had stolen from them.

677
00:48:30,883 --> 00:48:39,200
He recognized that because the more mature
and more able to deal with that,

678
00:48:39,201 --> 00:48:44,874
God pushed them further
to mature them more,

679
00:48:44,874 --> 00:48:49,690
to develop more thoroughly
the spiritual muscle.

680
00:48:49,690 --> 00:48:53,802
Brethren I'll tell you, it's
through these difficult times

681
00:48:53,802 --> 00:48:58,289
that we really come to know the Lord.

682
00:48:59,756 --> 00:49:08,676
And I'll tell you, there is nothing
that so exalts the Lord Jesus Christ,

683
00:49:08,676 --> 00:49:14,023
as coming across a suffering Christian,

684
00:49:14,023 --> 00:49:21,424
who their hope and their joy is just so...

685
00:49:21,424 --> 00:49:30,602
I mean, I think just recently
about Rione, and watching her;

686
00:49:30,603 --> 00:49:34,993
over against, you know, you're
struggling, and you're miserable,

687
00:49:34,993 --> 00:49:39,248
and you're full of self-pity.
What a horrible testimony.

688
00:49:39,248 --> 00:49:52,394
Because remember what Paul said,
I count these sufferings to be as nothing,

689
00:49:52,394 --> 00:49:57,573
compared to this glory that's
going to be revealed to us.

690
00:49:57,573 --> 00:50:02,095
In fact, to the Corinthians, he talks
about "momentary light affliction."

691
00:50:02,095 --> 00:50:06,481
It's not even to be compared to
the eternal weight of glory.

692
00:50:06,481 --> 00:50:08,980
That's the reality. (P)

693
00:50:08,980 --> 00:50:14,606
Now here's another place
the devil comes in,

694
00:50:14,606 --> 00:50:18,728
and this goes back to
what Travis was saying.

695
00:50:18,728 --> 00:50:25,626
This is a big one: When we fall into sin.

696
00:50:25,626 --> 00:50:30,848
When we fall into sin (and I brought
this one up last week actually,)

697
00:50:30,848 --> 00:50:34,008
but when we fall into sin,
the devil is right there:

698
00:50:34,008 --> 00:50:39,747
"Look at you. You can't be a Christian."

699
00:50:39,747 --> 00:50:47,834
But again, we need to remember,

700
00:50:47,835 --> 00:50:50,439
what's the devil trying
to say to us right there?

701
00:50:50,439 --> 00:50:52,974
"True Christians never sin."

702
00:50:52,974 --> 00:50:58,239
That's not true. True Christians do sin.

703
00:50:58,239 --> 00:51:06,434
And if you say you don't, 1st John 1
would say that you're not even genuine.

704
00:51:06,434 --> 00:51:11,400
The truth is, true Christians sin.

705
00:51:11,400 --> 00:51:14,103
And all you have to do is
go to Scripture to see it.

706
00:51:14,103 --> 00:51:18,271
We can go and we can point out
sin on the part of David,

707
00:51:18,271 --> 00:51:22,528
sin on the part of Abraham,
sin on the part of Noah,

708
00:51:22,528 --> 00:51:28,539
sin on the part of Peter, sin
on the part of the Corinthians,

709
00:51:28,539 --> 00:51:31,898
sin on the part of the Hebrews,
sin on the part of the Galatians.

710
00:51:31,898 --> 00:51:38,744
We can go to Scripture and find
God's people, even Paul himself;

711
00:51:38,745 --> 00:51:43,059
I mean, you remember they
smote him on the cheek

712
00:51:43,059 --> 00:51:48,329
because he spoke in a way that he wasn't
supposed to speak about the high priest.

713
00:51:48,330 --> 00:51:51,239
But the reality is, he himself
said he pressed towards the mark

714
00:51:51,239 --> 00:51:54,032
and he hadn't yet achieved,

715
00:51:54,032 --> 00:51:59,537
he hadn't laid hold yet of what
he was being laid hold for.

716
00:51:59,537 --> 00:52:05,134
He was stretching and seeking earnestly
to achieve, and reach, and go on. (P)

717
00:52:05,134 --> 00:52:08,007
Listen, if the devil comes in and says

718
00:52:08,007 --> 00:52:10,339
"because you've sinned you
can't be a Christian,"

719
00:52:10,339 --> 00:52:12,771
where does that come from?
Are you gonna buy that?

720
00:52:12,771 --> 00:52:16,294
Are you gonna fall into
that, and say, "Oh yeah.

721
00:52:16,294 --> 00:52:19,438
After all, true Christians must be perfect.

722
00:52:19,438 --> 00:52:21,137
All Christians are perfect.

723
00:52:21,137 --> 00:52:25,276
And yeah, I haven't been perfect,
so I must not be a Christian."

724
00:52:25,276 --> 00:52:27,228
Of course, the Bible doesn't teach that.

725
00:52:27,228 --> 00:52:34,390
In fact, if you say you have no sin,
then you find yourself having a problem.

726
00:52:34,390 --> 00:52:36,409
We are going to sin.

727
00:52:36,409 --> 00:52:38,709
We're not yet perfect.

728
00:52:38,709 --> 00:52:41,457
Does sin have dominion over us? No.

729
00:52:41,457 --> 00:52:46,320
Romans 6:14 says, "Sin shall
not have dominion over you."

730
00:52:46,320 --> 00:52:55,057
But we sin. There is sin
that comes into our life.

731
00:52:55,057 --> 00:53:01,832
And it's almost like, well, yes,
we were these horrible sinners

732
00:53:01,832 --> 00:53:04,700
when we first came to Christ.

733
00:53:04,700 --> 00:53:07,550
But it's like the devil
would have us believe,

734
00:53:07,550 --> 00:53:10,687
"Yeah, but now that you
say you're a Christian

735
00:53:10,687 --> 00:53:16,396
and you believe you've been
saved, now there's no excuse.

736
00:53:16,396 --> 00:53:27,371
You knew better, and you sinned in the
midst of great light, and so that's it."

737
00:53:27,372 --> 00:53:35,104
He can come in and make you feel
like you've just lost everything.

738
00:53:35,104 --> 00:53:39,564
The devil can throw people
into utter despair. (P)

739
00:53:39,564 --> 00:53:43,867
It's like, now that we're Christians,
well, you have no right to sin.

740
00:53:43,867 --> 00:53:49,006
But the fact is, let me
tell you what that is,

741
00:53:49,006 --> 00:53:55,806
it's you going back to a works mentality.

742
00:53:55,806 --> 00:53:58,701
Because you have to remember
what Colossians 2:6 says;

743
00:53:58,701 --> 00:54:01,235
we keep looking at that over the years.

744
00:54:01,235 --> 00:54:07,313
But Colossians 2:6 is basically the
text that emphasizes the reality

745
00:54:07,313 --> 00:54:13,030
that the way you start the Christian life
by faith, is the way you continue.

746
00:54:13,030 --> 00:54:17,664
Remember this: "The just
shall live by faith."

747
00:54:17,664 --> 00:54:19,395
That faith is not ambiguous.

748
00:54:19,395 --> 00:54:25,442
That faith is in the work
and person of Jesus Christ.

749
00:54:25,442 --> 00:54:28,428
Don't look at faith as something separate.

750
00:54:28,428 --> 00:54:33,251
Sometimes we can hear 'faith',
and it's like, "Oh yeah, yeah,"

751
00:54:33,251 --> 00:54:36,562
and it just becomes this
nebulous, ambiguous thing.

752
00:54:36,562 --> 00:54:39,475
Like, "Oh yeah, we have this.
What is this?"

753
00:54:39,475 --> 00:54:41,946
Well, you need to remember what it is:

754
00:54:41,946 --> 00:54:47,243
It is me looking outside myself
at what Jesus Christ did,

755
00:54:47,243 --> 00:54:52,948
and having confidence totally in who
He is and what He accomplished.

756
00:54:52,948 --> 00:54:54,593
That's the reality.

757
00:54:54,593 --> 00:54:58,214
And when the devil comes
in, and he begins to say,

758
00:54:58,214 --> 00:55:02,740
"You sinned, you can't be God's,"

759
00:55:02,740 --> 00:55:07,499
you just look at him and say,
"You know what you're wanting me to do?

760
00:55:07,499 --> 00:55:15,107
You're wanting me to feel accepted
or not accepted based on my works.

761
00:55:15,107 --> 00:55:19,501
But the just shall live
by faith, not by works.

762
00:55:19,501 --> 00:55:30,476
You're calling me to continue in a
different way than I started." (P)

763
00:55:30,477 --> 00:55:33,171
Colossians 2:6, somebody open that.

764
00:55:33,171 --> 00:55:36,727
Somebody open up your Bible
to that text and read it.

765
00:55:36,727 --> 00:55:42,518
"Therefore, as you received Christ
Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,

766
00:55:42,518 --> 00:55:46,381
rooted and built up in Him and
established in the faith."

767
00:55:46,381 --> 00:55:49,995
Right. Walk in Him the
same way you came to Him,

768
00:55:49,995 --> 00:55:53,496
the same way you received Him,
the same way you started.

769
00:55:53,496 --> 00:55:55,163
How did you start?

770
00:55:55,163 --> 00:55:57,925
See, this is what we have to remember.

771
00:55:57,925 --> 00:56:04,583
When I came to him that
first day, I was broken.

772
00:56:04,584 --> 00:56:12,830
I was at the bottom. I
didn't have any hope.

773
00:56:12,830 --> 00:56:17,992
I didn't have any place to go, but to Him.

774
00:56:17,992 --> 00:56:24,662
I didn't have any hope; I was
bad, and I was going to hell.

775
00:56:24,662 --> 00:56:26,606
See, that's how I came.

776
00:56:26,606 --> 00:56:30,572
And what he's saying is,
that is the way to walk,

777
00:56:30,572 --> 00:56:32,572
where you come to Him and you recognize,

778
00:56:32,572 --> 00:56:36,870
"Without Him I'm broke,
I'm empty, I'm bankrupt,

779
00:56:36,870 --> 00:56:40,976
I'm unworthy, I deserve hell."

780
00:56:40,976 --> 00:56:44,216
It's the same way.

781
00:56:44,217 --> 00:56:46,459
I tell you, we keep coming back to this,

782
00:56:46,459 --> 00:56:52,913
but the doctrine of justification
by faith is the Satan-resister.

783
00:56:52,913 --> 00:56:56,294
This is the reason why God would have us
come back to the Lord's Supper,

784
00:56:56,294 --> 00:56:58,760
again and again and again. You know why?

785
00:56:58,760 --> 00:57:02,322
He wants us to look at that
cross, again and again and again,

786
00:57:02,322 --> 00:57:07,613
and see on that cross Christ
being made sin in our place.

787
00:57:07,613 --> 00:57:11,055
That's the reality. (P)

788
00:57:12,368 --> 00:57:19,547
And then I would say this, the devil is
very quick to come in and accuse us,

789
00:57:19,547 --> 00:57:23,785
and tell us that certain things
are sin when they're not sin.

790
00:57:23,785 --> 00:57:29,378
We kind of dealt with this about 3 weeks
ago when we talked about the Blitz.

791
00:57:29,378 --> 00:57:32,031
But he comes in and he does that.

792
00:57:32,031 --> 00:57:37,151
It's like, "You can't do that, that's sin!"

793
00:57:37,151 --> 00:57:40,879
And then, last week, I mentioned
what Luther said to Melanchthon.

794
00:57:40,879 --> 00:57:45,351
He told Melanchthon, "Sin boldly."

795
00:57:45,352 --> 00:57:55,173
The reality is this, our faith, (see,
whatsoever is not of faith is sin),

796
00:57:55,173 --> 00:58:00,718
but our faith comes by
hearing the word of Christ.

797
00:58:00,718 --> 00:58:05,604
And what Scripture says, Jesus
said, "My sheep follow Me,

798
00:58:05,604 --> 00:58:08,256
and they know My voice."

799
00:58:08,256 --> 00:58:11,988
And the thing is, the devil comes
in like an angel of light,

800
00:58:11,988 --> 00:58:17,604
and he will speak like he's God, and
he will tell you, "That's sin!"

801
00:58:17,604 --> 00:58:23,190
And it's not sin, but he's dealing with
people with sensitive consciences.

802
00:58:23,190 --> 00:58:27,731
And he'll tell you, "That's sin,"
and he'll bring you into bondage.

803
00:58:27,731 --> 00:58:30,779
You remember that truth of Galatians 5:1?

804
00:58:30,780 --> 00:58:35,400
For freedom, Christ has set you free.

805
00:58:35,401 --> 00:58:38,161
You are free.

806
00:58:38,162 --> 00:58:44,533
Only don't use the freedom
for the sake of the flesh;

807
00:58:44,533 --> 00:58:47,283
use your freedom to love.

808
00:58:47,283 --> 00:58:56,375
Even the rich are told, God has
given them those things to enjoy.

809
00:58:56,375 --> 00:59:02,052
He wants them to be liberal, and to help,
and to look out for times of need. (P)

810
00:59:02,052 --> 00:59:08,934
But we can get into this...

811
00:59:08,935 --> 00:59:11,803
sometimes it's just by the
conviction of other people.

812
00:59:11,803 --> 00:59:16,076
We can get around other people with
convictions that don't come from Scripture,

813
00:59:16,076 --> 00:59:19,731
and their convictions
assault our consciences.

814
00:59:19,731 --> 00:59:21,734
And the devil can use people like that

815
00:59:21,734 --> 00:59:26,227
and seek to bring us into bondage,
and rob us of assurance.

816
00:59:26,228 --> 00:59:29,612
Because you get to the
place where you feel like,

817
00:59:29,612 --> 00:59:33,547
"Oh, I have to do what that
person's conscience [believes].

818
00:59:33,547 --> 00:59:38,026
And then it's like, when you follow
that path, there's not joy in it.

819
00:59:38,026 --> 00:59:41,041
And then if you resist
it, the devil's saying,

820
00:59:41,041 --> 00:59:42,920
"Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

821
00:59:42,920 --> 00:59:45,027
And you were really believing
that you should do that."

822
00:59:45,027 --> 00:59:51,403
And sometimes you just have to say, "Stop!
What does Scripture say?

823
00:59:51,403 --> 00:59:54,801
Does God forbid that anywhere in Scripture?

824
00:59:54,801 --> 01:00:01,053
Not just deductive reasoning
because God said that over there,

825
01:00:01,053 --> 01:00:10,690
and I'm supposed to draw third- and
fourth-level [conclusions]. (P)

826
01:00:10,690 --> 01:00:14,779
You need to listen to what God says.

827
01:00:14,779 --> 01:00:19,172
We need to listen and
be taught by Scripture.

828
01:00:19,172 --> 01:00:25,651
The devil will seek to wreak
havoc on scrupulous consciences,

829
01:00:25,651 --> 01:00:29,412
and it'll rob us of our assurance.

830
01:00:29,412 --> 01:00:35,423
And again I would say, Luther was
saying, "Melanchthon, sin boldly."

831
01:00:35,424 --> 01:00:38,184
He wasn't really telling him to sin;

832
01:00:38,184 --> 01:00:40,909
it was that he didn't
really believe it was sin.

833
01:00:40,909 --> 01:00:52,384
It was just an over-scrupulous conscience,
and, in other words, "burst out of it." (P)

834
01:00:52,384 --> 01:01:21,566
Another area of attack is not
just that we fall into sin,

835
01:01:21,566 --> 01:01:29,667
this is probably even a bigger
one: We fall into the same sin.

836
01:01:29,667 --> 01:01:39,416
That becomes hard because
it's like, Scripture says

837
01:01:39,416 --> 01:01:47,326
that if we're practicing unrighteousness,

838
01:01:47,326 --> 01:01:54,642
I mean, basically, 1st John says
that if we continue in sin,

839
01:01:54,642 --> 01:01:58,881
it's emphasizing we're not born of God.

840
01:01:58,881 --> 01:02:02,103
And what the devil will tell you is,

841
01:02:02,103 --> 01:02:09,160
"Scripture says that if you're in Christ,
sin will no longer have dominion."

842
01:02:09,160 --> 01:02:11,912
And what he'll come in
and tell you is this,

843
01:02:11,912 --> 01:02:15,779
"You keep falling into that
same sin over and over.

844
01:02:15,779 --> 01:02:22,779
You're practicing it, it's
habitual, you can't be real."

845
01:02:22,779 --> 01:02:29,648
But see, here's the thing: again,
you have to remember this,

846
01:02:29,649 --> 01:02:33,100
we are radically new people.

847
01:02:33,100 --> 01:02:38,399
And I know this about the true Christian,
they hunger and thirst after righteousness.

848
01:02:38,400 --> 01:02:40,251
Do you desire that?

849
01:02:40,251 --> 01:02:43,538
I mean, answer me.

850
01:02:43,538 --> 01:02:46,534
If we could chop off your
left hand right now,

851
01:02:46,534 --> 01:02:48,320
and you'd be perfect and never sin again,

852
01:02:48,320 --> 01:02:49,786
how many of you would be ready to do it?

853
01:02:49,786 --> 01:02:51,685
I'd put my hand up there right now,

854
01:02:51,685 --> 01:02:54,508
if chopping it off was gonna make
me perfect the rest of my life.

855
01:02:54,508 --> 01:02:58,353
I'd say, "Take it, I want to be perfect."

856
01:02:58,353 --> 01:03:02,866
You know, if you're honest with yourself,
whether you really desire the world,

857
01:03:02,866 --> 01:03:06,007
you desire all the things of the flesh,

858
01:03:06,007 --> 01:03:09,471
you desire the things that
this world has to offer.

859
01:03:09,471 --> 01:03:14,102
You know if the only reason you
want heaven is to escape hell,

860
01:03:14,102 --> 01:03:19,680
or whether you desperately
want to be with Christ. (P)

861
01:03:19,680 --> 01:03:25,759
But I'll tell you this, you come to
Scripture, and you know what I find?

862
01:03:25,759 --> 01:03:36,670
I find that the unbelief of the
apostles in the four gospels,

863
01:03:36,670 --> 01:03:39,491
it was repeated.

864
01:03:39,491 --> 01:03:45,999
Jesus came to them and rebuked them
for the same thing, over and over.

865
01:03:45,999 --> 01:03:48,615
But you see, the devil's crafty.

866
01:03:48,615 --> 01:03:52,674
He'll say, "Well, that
was before Pentecost.

867
01:03:52,674 --> 01:03:57,890
After that, and you're after that, so..."

868
01:03:57,890 --> 01:04:00,964
Okay. Well, let's go after that.

869
01:04:00,964 --> 01:04:09,261
I remember preaching through those
seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3.

870
01:04:09,261 --> 01:04:10,291
I was blown away.

871
01:04:10,291 --> 01:04:15,783
I was blown away, especially
by churches like Sardis:

872
01:04:15,783 --> 01:04:21,702
"You have a name that you are
alive, and you are dead."

873
01:04:21,702 --> 01:04:32,437
And yet, there's Jesus saying,
"Put away that false hope.

874
01:04:32,437 --> 01:04:37,915
Repent. You come to Me."
And His arms are open.

875
01:04:37,915 --> 01:04:40,266
I look at Laodicea.

876
01:04:40,267 --> 01:04:46,251
Listen, if you have a name that
you're alive but you're dead,

877
01:04:46,251 --> 01:04:48,192
how long were they living in that?

878
01:04:48,192 --> 01:04:49,727
How long were they doing that?

879
01:04:49,727 --> 01:04:52,591
Was that a one-time sin, a two-time sin,

880
01:04:52,591 --> 01:04:55,703
a three-time sin, a five-time
sin, a ten-time sin?

881
01:04:55,703 --> 01:05:02,396
They had gotten to the place where the very
name that they claimed to be was a lie.

882
01:05:02,396 --> 01:05:05,717
They were claiming to be
alive, but they were dead. (P)

883
01:05:05,717 --> 01:05:10,426
Lukewarmness: How long did
that go on at Laodicea?

884
01:05:10,426 --> 01:05:14,131
Ten days? It sounds like
it was a chronic thing.

885
01:05:14,131 --> 01:05:15,942
And yet He says, "Repent."

886
01:05:15,942 --> 01:05:19,437
He says, "Those I love, I'm disciplining."

887
01:05:19,437 --> 01:05:25,879
How long had they been walking
in not having their first love at Ephesus,

888
01:05:25,879 --> 01:05:30,919
before He stepped in and
called them to repentance?

889
01:05:30,920 --> 01:05:36,131
How long do you think the Galatians
had resorted to another gospel?

890
01:05:36,131 --> 01:05:40,249
One day, two days, three days, ten days?

891
01:05:40,249 --> 01:05:47,878
How long do you think that the Hebrews
had been drifting away from Christ?

892
01:05:47,878 --> 01:05:52,917
A month? A year?

893
01:05:52,917 --> 01:05:58,464
How long do you think the Colossians
had been living in carnality?

894
01:05:58,464 --> 01:05:59,691
What's my point?

895
01:05:59,691 --> 01:06:02,794
My point is this: those
are obvious examples

896
01:06:02,794 --> 01:06:06,163
where people were not
only living their lives

897
01:06:06,163 --> 01:06:10,595
and having fallen into
some sin, some weakness,

898
01:06:10,595 --> 01:06:14,425
some terrible distortion,
some lukewarmness,

899
01:06:14,425 --> 01:06:18,010
some loss of first love, some hypocrisy,

900
01:06:18,010 --> 01:06:20,804
some carnality that was obvious;

901
01:06:20,804 --> 01:06:25,950
some drifting from Christ that
obviously was pronounced,

902
01:06:25,950 --> 01:06:30,492
it was repetitive, it was happening;

903
01:06:30,492 --> 01:06:34,081
and Christ steps in and
calls them out of it. (P)

904
01:06:34,081 --> 01:06:44,500
Now listen, if with all the calls
and all the scripture light,

905
01:06:44,500 --> 01:06:48,687
if a person turns their back to that,

906
01:06:48,687 --> 01:06:52,250
and keeps willfully going
back to their sin;

907
01:06:52,250 --> 01:06:56,909
yes, obviously, you continue to do that
because that's your heart's desire,

908
01:06:56,909 --> 01:06:59,683
you really don't hunger and
thirst after righteousness,

909
01:06:59,683 --> 01:07:01,860
and you go back to that.

910
01:07:01,860 --> 01:07:08,922
I remember after first being
saved, just being distressed

911
01:07:08,922 --> 01:07:13,356
because of certain sins
that I was convicted about.

912
01:07:13,356 --> 01:07:21,037
And I would draw the line in the
sand, and it's like, "No more."

913
01:07:21,037 --> 01:07:27,279
And then I'd fail. And
I remember the sorrow.

914
01:07:27,279 --> 01:07:31,904
But see, there was never
sorrow when I was lost. Never.

915
01:07:31,904 --> 01:07:36,123
The only sorrow I ever experienced
when I was lost is if I got caught,

916
01:07:36,123 --> 01:07:40,833
or there was some kind of negative
ramifications for the sin

917
01:07:40,833 --> 01:07:46,452
that caused me earthly, worldly
grief because of the embarrassment,

918
01:07:46,452 --> 01:07:50,617
or because of the cost, or
because of something like that.

919
01:07:50,617 --> 01:07:56,908
There was never any inward sorrow
because I had offended God.

920
01:07:56,908 --> 01:07:59,553
Never.

921
01:07:59,554 --> 01:08:01,922
Listen, the devil doesn't produce that,

922
01:08:01,922 --> 01:08:03,374
and the world doesn't produce that,

923
01:08:03,374 --> 01:08:05,011
and the flesh doesn't produce that.

924
01:08:05,011 --> 01:08:13,542
That comes from God's
garden - a sorrow for sin.

925
01:08:13,542 --> 01:08:17,068
Not just the consequences
of it, but a sorrow over it

926
01:08:17,069 --> 01:08:23,687
because we greatly hunger and
thirst for righteousness. (P)

927
01:08:23,687 --> 01:08:26,135
Now I'm going to quickly
go on to the last one here

928
01:08:26,136 --> 01:08:28,401
because this is another
one, and I experience this,

929
01:08:28,401 --> 01:08:30,577
and I know many people do.

930
01:08:30,577 --> 01:08:33,310
But, "the unpardonable sin."

931
01:08:33,312 --> 01:08:37,590
There's an area here, where,
because of repetition,

932
01:08:37,590 --> 01:08:42,004
because of the amount of light,
the devil will come in and say,

933
01:08:42,004 --> 01:08:44,473
"You've committed the unpardonable sin."

934
01:08:44,473 --> 01:08:46,291
I don't know if any of you
have dealt with that.

935
01:08:46,292 --> 01:08:52,621
I've dealt with that. I know
Bunyan dealt with that.

936
01:08:52,621 --> 01:09:03,011
I want you to open up to Mark 3.

937
01:09:03,013 --> 01:09:09,071
We got about 12 minutes till 9:30, and I'll
just use this last little chunk of time

938
01:09:09,071 --> 01:09:11,510
to have us think about
the unpardonable sin.

939
01:09:11,511 --> 01:09:14,885
Because again, when the devil
comes to God's people,

940
01:09:14,885 --> 01:09:17,952
and says, "You've committed
the unpardonable sin,"

941
01:09:17,953 --> 01:09:23,702
the answer lies in Scripture,
as to how to respond.

942
01:09:23,702 --> 01:09:31,894
And I think if we just look,
Mark 3, listen to this.

943
01:09:31,895 --> 01:09:37,182
What Jesus is saying
is, these guys are

944
01:09:37,194 --> 01:09:43,420
entirely against all
reason and all logic. (P)

945
01:09:43,421 --> 01:09:48,542
Notice, Mark 3:22, "The scribes
who came down from Jerusalem

946
01:09:48,542 --> 01:09:53,831
were saying that Christ is
possessed by Beelzebul,

947
01:09:53,831 --> 01:10:00,510
and 'by the prince of demons
he casts out the demons.'

948
01:10:00,510 --> 01:10:05,196
And He called them to Him and
said to them in parables..."

949
01:10:05,196 --> 01:10:11,860
Now, here, He is appealing to their logic.

950
01:10:11,860 --> 01:10:15,693
But you see, when people blow away logic,

951
01:10:15,693 --> 01:10:21,073
they don't want to hear it,
because they are so against,

952
01:10:21,073 --> 01:10:27,781
such an antipathy for Christ,
such a hatred for Christ.

953
01:10:27,782 --> 01:10:30,806
It's kind of like you
hear in politics today.

954
01:10:30,806 --> 01:10:32,403
Nobody cares what the truth is.

955
01:10:32,403 --> 01:10:34,947
They've already got their minds made up.

956
01:10:34,947 --> 01:10:36,911
You see, that's what
we're dealing with here.

957
01:10:36,911 --> 01:10:43,147
They've already got their minds made
up, that Christ is to be rejected.

958
01:10:43,148 --> 01:10:56,523
This is arrogant, proud, vehement
rejection against all the facts.

959
01:10:56,524 --> 01:11:00,012
They can look reason and logic in the face,

960
01:11:00,013 --> 01:11:04,263
and they're carried away
by their hatred. (P)

961
01:11:04,263 --> 01:11:11,266
He said, "How can Satan cast
out Satan?" Very basic appeal.

962
01:11:11,266 --> 01:11:16,791
Well if you thought for a second,
you'd say, "Oh yeah, he can't."

963
01:11:16,791 --> 01:11:20,145
I mean, maybe you'd figure
out some way that he could.

964
01:11:20,145 --> 01:11:23,720
"If a kingdom is divided against itself,
that kingdom cannot stand.

965
01:11:23,720 --> 01:11:28,219
If a house is divided against itself,
that house will not be able to stand.

966
01:11:28,219 --> 01:11:31,405
And if Satan has risen up
against himself and is divided,

967
01:11:31,405 --> 01:11:34,862
he cannot stand, but is coming to an end.

968
01:11:34,862 --> 01:11:37,727
But no one can enter a strong man's
house and plunder his goods,

969
01:11:37,727 --> 01:11:39,843
unless he first binds the strong man."

970
01:11:39,843 --> 01:11:43,350
See? It's all reason. It's all logical.

971
01:11:43,350 --> 01:11:45,618
"Then indeed he may plunder his house.

972
01:11:45,618 --> 01:11:48,985
Truly, I say to you, all sins will
be forgiven the children of man,

973
01:11:48,985 --> 01:11:50,766
and whatever blasphemies they utter,

974
01:11:50,766 --> 01:11:54,784
but whoever blasphemes against the
Holy Spirit never has forgiveness,

975
01:11:54,784 --> 01:11:57,410
but is guilty of an eternal sin'–

976
01:11:57,410 --> 01:12:02,870
for they were saying, 'He has
an unclean spirit.'" (P)

977
01:12:02,870 --> 01:12:08,466
Look, the devil will be right there to say
you've committed the unpardonable sin

978
01:12:08,466 --> 01:12:12,525
because some thought
flashed through your mind.

979
01:12:12,525 --> 01:12:17,476
"I had some thought," you know.

980
01:12:17,476 --> 01:12:19,219
We've heard this.

981
01:12:19,219 --> 01:12:24,445
Somebody will make a vow and break the vow.

982
01:12:24,445 --> 01:12:26,725
Or they'll say, "If I
think a certain thing,

983
01:12:26,737 --> 01:12:28,775
then I'm selling my
soul to the devil."

984
01:12:28,775 --> 01:12:31,275
People will go through the craziest things.

985
01:12:31,275 --> 01:12:35,159
You have to recognize
what's happening here.

986
01:12:35,159 --> 01:12:41,734
These guys, they're arrogant, they're
proud, and they're rejecting;

987
01:12:41,734 --> 01:12:44,305
and it doesn't matter
what reason Jesus brings,

988
01:12:44,305 --> 01:12:50,495
what logic He brings, they say, "No.
It's of the devil."

989
01:12:50,495 --> 01:12:54,867
They can have the brightest light
shined right in their face -

990
01:12:54,867 --> 01:12:58,506
Jesus doing these miracles and
casting out these demons -

991
01:12:58,506 --> 01:13:01,888
and they say, "We will NOT believe!"

992
01:13:01,888 --> 01:13:05,579
That's different than the person who falls

993
01:13:05,579 --> 01:13:09,015
or the person who has a thought
shoot through their mind.

994
01:13:09,015 --> 01:13:11,291
Entirely different. (P)

995
01:13:11,291 --> 01:13:20,887
Luke 11: 19-20, that's
cross-reference to this,

996
01:13:20,887 --> 01:13:27,290
"If I cast out demons by Beelzebul,"
again he appeals to this logic and reason,

997
01:13:27,290 --> 01:13:32,142
"by whom do your son's cast them out?"

998
01:13:32,142 --> 01:13:35,499
Well, see, the people in their generation,

999
01:13:35,499 --> 01:13:41,938
they considered if they cast a
demon out, they did it by God.

1000
01:13:41,938 --> 01:13:45,941
When they say "sons," they don't mean
necessarily their biological kid

1001
01:13:45,941 --> 01:13:47,967
that's running around at home.

1002
01:13:47,967 --> 01:13:53,714
It's just like, you guys do this;

1003
01:13:53,715 --> 01:13:57,287
people of the Jewish religion do this;

1004
01:13:57,288 --> 01:14:03,020
people in your midst do this;
your disciples do this.

1005
01:14:03,020 --> 01:14:06,225
"Who do you guys say they
cast out demons by?"

1006
01:14:06,225 --> 01:14:08,887
"Well, we think that's of God."

1007
01:14:08,887 --> 01:14:13,416
"Uh, okay, and you watch
Me cast a demon out,

1008
01:14:13,416 --> 01:14:16,068
and you're going to come to
the opposite conclusion?"

1009
01:14:16,068 --> 01:14:20,962
Again, it's the appeal to logic and reason.

1010
01:14:20,962 --> 01:14:24,811
It's against all reason and logic.

1011
01:14:24,811 --> 01:14:31,112
What you have to see about these guys is,
they are completely denying Christ.

1012
01:14:31,112 --> 01:14:32,070
They hate Him.

1013
01:14:32,070 --> 01:14:34,017
They're denying the Christian faith.

1014
01:14:34,017 --> 01:14:36,272
They're ridiculing the Spirit.

1015
01:14:36,272 --> 01:14:38,842
They're not just a man who falls into sin.

1016
01:14:38,842 --> 01:14:43,450
They are proud, they're
arrogant, they are defiant.

1017
01:14:43,450 --> 01:14:50,350
And listen, you get this sense
of arrogance and defiance

1018
01:14:50,350 --> 01:14:54,136
in the text in Hebrews, that seemed
to deal with this as well. (P)

1019
01:14:54,136 --> 01:15:08,012
Heb 6:4-6, "It is impossible, in the case
of those who have once been enlightened,

1020
01:15:08,012 --> 01:15:12,051
who have tasted the heavenly
gift, shared in the Holy Spirit,

1021
01:15:12,051 --> 01:15:16,379
have tasted the goodness of the word of God
and the powers of the age to come,

1022
01:15:16,379 --> 01:15:22,145
and then have fallen away, to
restore them again to repentance,

1023
01:15:22,145 --> 01:15:26,352
since they are crucifying once again
the Son of God to their own harm

1024
01:15:26,353 --> 01:15:28,691
and holding Him up to contempt."

1025
01:15:28,691 --> 01:15:36,992
Again, is this a person
who had a stray thought,

1026
01:15:36,992 --> 01:15:41,630
or thought a blasphemous
thought about the Holy Spirit,

1027
01:15:41,630 --> 01:15:45,364
or fell into the same
kind of sin repeatedly?

1028
01:15:45,364 --> 01:15:50,595
It says this is a person who's
been exposed to amazing light,

1029
01:15:50,595 --> 01:15:52,706
and they fell away.

1030
01:15:52,706 --> 01:15:54,193
"What do you mean they fell away?"

1031
01:15:54,193 --> 01:15:57,743
They went away from the Christian faith.

1032
01:15:57,743 --> 01:16:03,721
They turned their back on the
realities of the faith itself.

1033
01:16:03,721 --> 01:16:09,871
That's like the sin that is
unto death in 1st John 5.

1034
01:16:09,871 --> 01:16:12,103
You say, "What's that sin?"

1035
01:16:12,103 --> 01:16:17,329
Well, listen, if you let 1st John speak,

1036
01:16:17,329 --> 01:16:24,825
what is it in John that
is a sin unto death?

1037
01:16:24,825 --> 01:16:35,905
1 John 2:17-19 says, "They went out from us
because they weren't of us."

1038
01:16:35,905 --> 01:16:38,808
Again, that's the falling away.
They went out from us. (P)

1039
01:16:38,808 --> 01:16:42,539
Listen, if a person falls into sin,

1040
01:16:42,539 --> 01:16:45,590
where it's like, "No, I'm turning
my back on the whole thing."

1041
01:16:45,590 --> 01:16:49,183
You close the Bible. "I'm
not reading that anymore.

1042
01:16:49,184 --> 01:16:54,030
I'm going back. I'm going
back to the way it was."

1043
01:16:54,031 --> 01:16:57,686
With the Jews: "I'm going
back to my old religion.

1044
01:16:57,686 --> 01:16:59,484
I'm turning my back on Christ.

1045
01:16:59,484 --> 01:17:06,508
I'm going back to the Judaistic deal here,
that my forefathers have known.

1046
01:17:06,509 --> 01:17:09,995
I'm done with this. I'm out of here."

1047
01:17:09,995 --> 01:17:11,721
This is the sin unto death.

1048
01:17:11,721 --> 01:17:13,777
They went out from us. They went out.

1049
01:17:13,777 --> 01:17:16,175
They left the church.
They turned their back.

1050
01:17:16,175 --> 01:17:18,333
This isn't a person who stumbled.

1051
01:17:18,333 --> 01:17:20,336
But you see, the devil's
right there to say that.

1052
01:17:20,336 --> 01:17:23,869
The devil is right there to say to
people who are trusting Christ,

1053
01:17:23,869 --> 01:17:25,123
"Well, look, you had that thought."

1054
01:17:25,123 --> 01:17:27,326
Or, "You fell into this sin too many times.

1055
01:17:27,326 --> 01:17:29,447
You've committed the unpardonable sin.

1056
01:17:29,447 --> 01:17:32,276
You've had so much light,
and you did that?"

1057
01:17:32,276 --> 01:17:35,146
But you have to see,
this is aggravated. (P)

1058
01:17:35,147 --> 01:17:39,625
Or you go to Hebrews 10:26, "If
we go on sinning deliberately

1059
01:17:39,625 --> 01:17:41,850
after receiving the knowledge of the truth,

1060
01:17:41,850 --> 01:17:44,190
there no longer remains
a sacrifice for sins,

1061
01:17:44,202 --> 01:17:46,196
but a fearful expectation
of judgment,

1062
01:17:46,196 --> 01:17:49,252
and a fury of fire that will
consume the adversaries.

1063
01:17:49,252 --> 01:17:52,118
Anyone who has set aside the law
of Moses dies without mercy

1064
01:17:52,118 --> 01:17:54,172
on the evidence of two or three witnesses.

1065
01:17:54,172 --> 01:17:56,591
How much worse punishment, do
you think, will be deserved

1066
01:17:56,591 --> 01:17:59,560
by the one who has trampled
under foot the Son of God?"

1067
01:17:59,560 --> 01:18:01,569
See, it is a trampling.

1068
01:18:01,569 --> 01:18:04,368
It's like, "No!"

1069
01:18:04,368 --> 01:18:09,579
It's like, "Yes, I'll walk on that.
I'm out of here.

1070
01:18:09,579 --> 01:18:11,549
I've heard the truth and you know what?

1071
01:18:11,549 --> 01:18:14,214
I would really rather
have my other religion,

1072
01:18:14,214 --> 01:18:17,272
or I'd really rather have my
other sin, and I'm out of here.

1073
01:18:17,272 --> 01:18:19,347
I'm turning my back on it.
I'm falling away.

1074
01:18:19,347 --> 01:18:22,239
I'm trampling on this blood of Christ.

1075
01:18:22,239 --> 01:18:25,305
I'm profaning the blood of the Covenant."

1076
01:18:25,305 --> 01:18:28,550
It's outraging the Spirit of grace.

1077
01:18:28,550 --> 01:18:33,054
It's like you come face to face
with this, and there's defiance.

1078
01:18:33,054 --> 01:18:37,591
"I'm out of here. I'm going away.
I don't believe this.

1079
01:18:37,592 --> 01:18:41,117
I think this is all a crock.

1080
01:18:41,118 --> 01:18:45,151
I want my sin. I want whatever..."

1081
01:18:45,151 --> 01:18:47,842
They went away. They go back.
They bailed out.

1082
01:18:47,842 --> 01:18:54,087
They're gone. They've turned
their back to Christ. (P)

1083
01:18:54,088 --> 01:18:57,157
I mean, we've seen this happen,
where somebody's like,

1084
01:18:57,157 --> 01:18:58,952
"Yes, I've come face-to-face
with the truth,

1085
01:18:58,952 --> 01:19:05,166
and the reality is, "I want my
homosexuality. I'm out of here."

1086
01:19:05,166 --> 01:19:07,175
And they're gone.

1087
01:19:07,175 --> 01:19:09,899
Or there's people who go
back to the old lifestyle.

1088
01:19:09,899 --> 01:19:13,198
"This is just... I'm gone."

1089
01:19:13,198 --> 01:19:17,222
But there's a defiance there.

1090
01:19:17,223 --> 01:19:23,121
I remember when I was first saved.

1091
01:19:23,121 --> 01:19:29,565
It was like I had this mindset
that if I thought this thought,

1092
01:19:29,565 --> 01:19:33,114
like if I had a bad thought
about the Holy Spirit...

1093
01:19:33,114 --> 01:19:37,656
And I remember being in my
apartment, on my knees,

1094
01:19:37,656 --> 01:19:41,084
with my head against the
wall, holding my ears,

1095
01:19:41,084 --> 01:19:42,938
because I didn't want
to think this thought.

1096
01:19:42,938 --> 01:19:45,483
And it was like I was being
bombarded by this thought,

1097
01:19:45,483 --> 01:19:48,869
and I didn't want to think this
thought, and then I thought it.

1098
01:19:48,869 --> 01:19:51,606
And then the devil is right there
to say, "Ahhh! You committed it.

1099
01:19:51,606 --> 01:19:53,407
Now you're hopeless. Now you're miserable.

1100
01:19:53,407 --> 01:19:55,045
Now you can't be saved."

1101
01:19:55,045 --> 01:19:58,862
And it's like, "Aah!" (P)

1102
01:19:58,862 --> 01:20:08,263
But thankfully, the Lord was much more
powerfully working in my life than that.

1103
01:20:08,264 --> 01:20:12,010
Again, where do you go? Back to the cross.

1104
01:20:12,010 --> 01:20:20,996
Back to the doctrine of justification
by faith, that He saves sinners.

1105
01:20:20,996 --> 01:20:28,232
And I found greater hope in that, than
misery in what the devil was telling me.

1106
01:20:28,232 --> 01:20:32,057
That's where the peace and
rest are gonna be found -

1107
01:20:32,057 --> 01:20:35,254
going back to the cross,
keeping our eyes on Christ,

1108
01:20:35,254 --> 01:20:36,953
resting and trusting;

1109
01:20:36,953 --> 01:20:43,093
coming with our sins, even if they're
repetitive, and confessing them.

1110
01:20:43,093 --> 01:20:45,243
And Scripture says He's faithful and just.

1111
01:20:45,243 --> 01:20:47,474
You see, we got to take
Him on those promises.

1112
01:20:47,474 --> 01:20:51,646
It doesn't matter as a Christian
how many times you fall.

1113
01:20:51,646 --> 01:20:56,480
Those promises are true,
that if you will go to Him,

1114
01:20:56,480 --> 01:20:59,654
He's faithful and just to
forgive you your sins.

1115
01:20:59,654 --> 01:21:03,933
The blood of Jesus Christ will
cleanse you from all that.

1116
01:21:03,933 --> 01:21:06,462
And we have an Advocate. (P)

1117
01:21:06,462 --> 01:21:11,242
Listen, no matter how many times you sin,

1118
01:21:11,242 --> 01:21:18,056
Jesus still says, "Come unto
Me, I won't cast you out."

1119
01:21:18,056 --> 01:21:22,143
No matter what you've done, if you
go to Him He won't cast you out,

1120
01:21:22,143 --> 01:21:26,393
because that promise is always
good no matter what else is true.

1121
01:21:26,400 --> 01:21:27,363
It is.

1122
01:21:27,363 --> 01:21:31,408
There's no other promise
that undoes that promise,

1123
01:21:31,408 --> 01:21:33,629
that if you go to Him you'll find rest;

1124
01:21:33,629 --> 01:21:36,006
if you go to Him He won't cast you out;

1125
01:21:36,006 --> 01:21:38,971
if you go to Him His blood will cleanse.

1126
01:21:38,971 --> 01:21:41,940
Those promises are true all the time.

1127
01:21:41,940 --> 01:21:45,988
That's the heart and soul of our salvation.

1128
01:21:45,988 --> 01:21:48,572
Don't let the devil rob
you of those promises.

1129
01:21:48,572 --> 01:21:50,108
Those need to be in your mind.

1130
01:21:50,108 --> 01:21:51,799
"No matter what he's saying to me,

1131
01:21:51,799 --> 01:21:55,280
if I go to Christ, I know
He will not cast me out."

1132
01:21:55,280 --> 01:21:58,093
And if He's willing to say
to a church at Sardis,

1133
01:21:58,093 --> 01:22:01,404
"Look, you've been living this lie.

1134
01:22:01,404 --> 01:22:10,329
You have a name, and the
whole thing is false.

1135
01:22:10,329 --> 01:22:16,245
Just repent. Repent."

1136
01:22:16,245 --> 01:22:22,484
I mean, it's amazing how
longsuffering He is. (P)

1137
01:22:22,484 --> 01:22:29,710
Father, I pray that you'd very
much encourage our assurance.

1138
01:22:29,710 --> 01:22:34,735
Help us to ward off the
stratagems of the devil.

1139
01:22:34,735 --> 01:22:37,813
We pray that you'd equip us with truth.

1140
01:22:37,813 --> 01:22:40,513
And we ask for it all
in Christ's name. Amen.