Thomas Brooks’ Heaven on Earth, Part 1

Well, let’s go on and I think in a timely way to look at assurance of salvation, because he’s like, oh, please, how do I know if I’m a Christian? It’s like, wow, I’ve got all this sin in my life. And that’s where the sweetness, I don’t think there’s any group that has done as good work on assurance of salvation as the Puritans. I mean they’re just excellent, excellent, careful thinkers on assurance. And there’s no book I think that does as good a job as this one, Heaven on Earth. Heaven on earth. So, look at the outline I’ve given you. Thomas Brooks says, “Assurance is a believer’s ark where he sits Noah-like, quiet and still in the midst of all distractions and destructions, commotions and confusions.” Isn’t that beautiful? Assurance is your ark, right? And you can sit there in the midst of a storm-tossed life and world, peaceful.

Now, I talked to Jeremy today, my secretary, and he said, do you really think Noah was sitting placid and peaceful on that ark? I said, well, I don’t know, but it’s an image, anyway. I mean, I certainly would rather be on the ark than out of the ark. All right? I mean, so it’s much more peaceful in the ark than it was out of the ark. So anyway, it’s a good image. And in the preface, he tells us the nature of assurance. Now, the first thing he does, what Brooks does, is he talks about the nature of the state of grace. What that means is being a Christian, that’s a Puritan way of saying being born again, being a Christian, being in the state of grace. Or Luther would put it being justified by faith apart from works of the law, to have this justification to be regenerate, a child of God.

That’s what we mean. Now, to be in a state of grace is to be miserable no more. It is to be happy forever. A soul in this state is a soul near and dear to God. It is a soul, much loved and very highly valued of God, and it is a soul housed in God. It is a soul safe in the everlasting arms. Isn’t that sweet to just be safe in God? To be safe in the everlasting arms? That’s the state of grace. But what he says that one of the foundational ideas here is that assurance is actually in one sense, separate from that. It’s a separate thing. It’s connected definitely, but it’s separate. The additional blessing of knowing that you’re in a state of grace, that’s what we call assurance. “The being in the state of grace will yield a man heaven hereafter, but the seeing of himself in this state will yield him both a heaven here and a heaven hereafter,” and that’s why it’s called Heaven on Earth.

Heaven on earth is assurance to know that you’re going to heaven when you die. That’s assurance. “It will render him doubly blessed, blessed in heaven and blessed in his own conscience.” And so, he gives us a definition of assurance. “Assurance is a reflex act of a gracious soul whereby he clearly and evidently sees himself in a gracious, blessed and happy state. It is a sensible feeling and an experimental discerning of man’s being in a state of grace.” In other words, you feel and know of yourself, I’m a Christian, I’m forgiven, I’m going to heaven when I die. I’m a child of God. To feel and to know that, that’s what we’re talking about when we talk to, talk about assurance. And of his having a right to the crown of glory. And this rises from the seeing himself, the seeing in himself, the special peculiar and distinguishing graces of Christ in the light of the Spirit of Christ or from the testimony and report of the Spirit of God.

Heaven on earth is assurance to know that you’re going to heaven when you die.

One of the great things that I think a pastor can do, a careful-thinking pastor, is to describe what these graces are. What are the marks of regeneration in a soul? What does God do when he saves somebody? What can we look at inside ourselves to say, I know that he has saved me. I see these things in my life. What are these graces? We’re going to talk about this in Brooks. He gives us a good list of these marks of regeneration. We’re talking to Scott Markley when we were talking about, we go out with these tracts and all that, but it seems like one of the tracts we need to write is: what are the marks of regeneration? Because we go out there, and everybody’s a Christian. Everybody. Everybody you meet and even when you start talking about theia, peculiarities and particularities of the gospel, trusting in Christ and repenting, and “Oh yeah, I’ve done that. I did that. I do it all the time,” or whatever. I don’t know.

They just have these ways of talking. It’s like they’re not saved, but you can’t get at it. And so, one of the things that the Puritans did so well is say, what does God do in a soul when he saves them? What are these marks? Well assurance is to know what they are and to see them in yourself, to see those marks in yourself. That’s assurance, and it’s something the Spirit of God does. So therefore, really talking about two different things but very much related, justification and assurance. Do you see that, the distinction between the two? To be justified means that God has declared you not guilty of all your sins, that you are totally forgiven, you’re seen in Christ, you’re seen as righteous as Christ. You can’t have a better standing before God than you do, can’t.

That’s justification, right? Assurance means you know that you know it. It’s true of you. You see the difference there, the distinction, okay? And so, it says it is one thing for me to have grace. It is another thing for me to see my grace. It is one thing for me to believe, and another thing for me to believe that I do believe. It is one thing to have faith and another thing to know that I have faith. Assurance flows from a clear, certain, evident knowledge that I have grace, okay? Now, what are the blessednesses of assurance? Well, many, it’s a rich state to be in. “Assurance is the beauty and top of a Christian’s glory in this life. It is usually surrounded with the strongest joy, with the sweetest comforts and with the greatest peace. It is a pearl that most want.” Want, I think there, means lack. Puritans used the word that way. “It is a pearl that most, lack a crown that few wear.” It sounds a beautiful thing, but it’s not a common thing.

“Assurance is not the essence of a Christian. It is required to the wellbeing, to the comfortable and enjoyable being of a Christian, but it’s not required to the being of the Christian. A man may be a true believer and yet would give all the world were it in his power to know that he’s a believer.” Now, I have heard speakers say something like the following, “99% sure is 100% lost.” A speaker who’s spoken in our pulpit recently has said that kind of thing. Is it true? If you’re not a hundred percent sure you are a hundred percent lost?

Well, what would Brooks say? At least I don’t know what you would say, but what would Brooks say? We’ve already seen one page of what he would say. He would say that’s utterly false. You can definitely be justified and be going through circumstances in your life. He probably through your own sin or whatever, but just various things where your assurance is pretty low. You see what I’m saying? And I think therefore assurance very much waxes and wanes. Assurance very much comes and goes. Assurance is very much like the stock market, whereas your justification, your position with God is nothing like that at all. Can’t be. You see that, don’t you? You’re either justified or you’re not, but your assurance really does wax and wane. It really does get stronger and weaker. Yeah, Peter would too, and that’s a good thing. Okay, that’s a good thing.

I think 2 Peter 1:10 is exactly about assurance, says, “Be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure.” Well, what is that? Work on assurance. That’s what we’re doing with Heaven on Earth. We’re working on assurance. So, he says, be diligent, be hasty, be zealous. Work hard that your calling and election would be sure. And so therefore, justification absolutely is not by works, but assurance is very much connected to works. Do you see that your assurance is going to go down if you start sinning? And if you keep sinning, your assurance will keep going down and may even accelerate down. And if you continue even more to harden your heart, your assurance may bottom out. You may not even know that you’re a Christian at all, and yet you are. And then you’ll start to bounce, and you’ll start to say, what am I doing?

Like the prodigal son, you’ll come to yourself, you’ll say, what kind of life am I living? You’ll weep bitterly like Peter did that night, and you’ll come back. And you’ll start to repent if you’re truly born again, right? So, what I’m saying is that this assurance, it does come and go. There was yeah, question. Yes, it is a form of unbelief. It is a form of unbelief. It is, and he’s going to talk about that. But we are to some degree unbelievers. We, do you believe everything that you should about God? Is your faith strong? Jesus says, “If you have faith like a mustard seed, you can throw this mountain into the ocean” (Matthew 17:20-21, paraphrase). I mean, my goodness. To me, you look at the things that people like George Mueller did by faith, and I wonder if I even have faith when I look at that.

He’s actually going to, Brooks is going to talk about just the depression that comes when you look either at the commands of God and the kind of lifestyle that we should have or just the performance of other very mature Christians, And we say, oh, I’m nothing like them. I must not be a Christian. And so, we’ll talk about that. But yeah, that’s connected to in some way to unbelief. Okay, so this is just the preface. We’re not getting through all this tonight, but that’s all right. I knew we were going to do more of heaven and earth next week. Let’s start with proofs that assurance is even possible. Let’s start there.

Now I come from the Roman Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic background, okay? Now in the Council of Trent, which is their official response to the Protestant reformation, they utterly, unequivocally denied that assurance of salvation was possible. As a matter of fact, if anyone said they had assurance of salvation, let them be accursed. That’s what they said. And the reason they said that is that they were semipelagian. Semipelagians basically, say that man is essentially free, essentially born good, learns how to do evil in his life. And at any moment has freedom to say yes or no to sin. Arminianism is a semi-pelagian position. We’re going to talk later about how assurance absolutely cannot relate to Arminianism. They will not encourage you to have assurance of salvation. They’ll tell you not only is it impossible, but it’s not even desirable that you should have assurance of salvation. You need to keep cranking it out, brothers and sisters. And they think that if you have assurance, you’re going to use it for sin. And so, they’ll keep it away. And just like the dog races where that rabbit runs around, it’s like just keep you running because if you ever get the rabbit, the race is over.

I mean then they’ll realize I’ll never run again because it wasn’t worth getting. But anyway, the rabbit’s always just ahead of the dogs, and so that’s the Arminian kind of view. It’s like, got to keep’em running and that’s the whole thing. Assurance is not only not possible, it’s not desirable. The Roman Catholic version or view has that same approach. So, what we have to do, say, okay, we’re talking about assurance of salvation. Is it even something we should have? Is it biblical to know for sure that you’re going to heaven when you die? Is this biblical? Yes, it is. It is, absolutely. Well, let’s look at it. It gives us 10 assurances. See, the Puritans never did in two steps what they could do in ten, alright? So, I mean it’s much better then if you can do it in 20, that’s even better. Alright, so he gives us 10 ways that we can know.

First, Romans 8, the basis of assurance. Romans 8:32-34, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also along with him graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus who died — more than that, who was raised to life–is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” And we could go on. The end of Romans 8. Let me ask you a question. What is Paul through the Spirit laboring to do to you there? What does he want you to have? He wants you to have assurance. Could it even be denied? You read Romans 8 and say, this has got to be the assurance chapter and it is, I mean, “nothing in all creation, height or depth or anything else in all creation will be able to separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).

You think, my question there is, what is Paul trying to do? And that will give you the clear idea that God’s giving you assurance. And that’s exactly where Brooks starts in Romans 8. It is clear that Paul intends his words of assurance to be generally for all Christians and not just for a special class of Christians, not just for super Christians. This is for us all, for all of us. And so, assurance is definitely possible because that’s what Paul’s seeking to give us in Romans 8. Generally in all, the purpose of scripture is to help believers obtain assurance. Not just Romans 8, but all scripture tends toward this direction, all of it. 1 John 5:13 says, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” You see that. Now I think the testing assurance book is 1 John. How do we know? This is how we know what love is. Or this is how we know and can assure our hearts in his presence, if we have love for the brothers. Or if we obey his commandments. Or there’s a certain series of things he does for us in 1 John so that we can assure ourselves. But the summation of it all, 1 John 5:13, “I’ve written this whole letter, not just verse 11 and 12, (like Campus Crusade’s tract gives the indication, it’s really the whole letter), I have written all of 1 John to you so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

That’s his purpose. I could expand that over the whole 66 books of the Bible. That is what the Bible is given to us for ultimately. Brooks put it this way, “It is the very drift and design of the whole scripture to bring souls first to an acquaintance with Christ, then to an acceptance of Christ, and then to build them up to a sweet assurance of their actual interest in Christ.” Isn’t that wonderful? That’s what scripture is here for. First, we find out who Christ is, then we accept him as our Savior, and then we’re fully assured that we have an interest in him. “Interest” means like we bought stock in the company. That’s the way the Puritans use that. To have an interest in Christ means you are in, you’re like whatever, share owner of Motorola or whatever. You know what I’m saying? You bought stock in the company you’re in, you’re a child of God.

So that’s what it means. So, the scripture’s given for that. Martin Luther in typical incautious statement, but I like it anyway, “I would not live in paradise without the word, but with the word I could live in hell itself.” Like I said, typically incautious, but we get the point. The point is that the word gives us everything we need. That’s what he’s getting at there. Alright, Brooks says, “In scripture, God has given us his word, his oath, his seal that our consolation may be strong and that our salvation may be sure. Now here is the nature of the agony that we have if we don’t have assurance,” listen to this, and this is very insightful I think on Brook’s part, “It is not enough to raise strong consolation in my soul, barely to know that there are mines of gold, mountains, of pearl, heaps of treasure, a land flowing with milk and honey. It’s not enough to know that such exists.” You can see why. Well, what good is that going to do me if I don’t have some of it, right?

“It’s not enough to just know that it’s out there, but I have to know, it is the knowledge of my interest that is ownership in these things that raises joy in my soul. To know that there are such things and that I have no interest in them as rather a vexation than a consolation to me. To know that there is a feast of choicest delicacies, but not a taste for me. That there are pleasant fountains and streams, but I must perish for thirst in a wilderness. To know that there are royal robes for others, but I must die in my rags. To know that there is a pardon for others, but I must be turned off the ladder of life.”

Such knowledge as this may will add to my vexation, but it will not add to my consolation. Isn’t that true? Well, what good is it to know that there is a feast at the wedding banquet of the Lamb if you don’t know that you have a place card and a seat at it? I think it actually would be a torment. And frankly, I think that even if there were no hell, if you were sustained in existence on the outside of the celebration of heaven, it would be tormenting enough almost. I mean this makes sense. Have you ever seen, for example, like pictures in 1975 of the people who are trying to escape from Saigon, and they’re holding onto the last leg of the helicopters, the last helicopter goes off. It’s not enough to know that there’s a beautiful country in America where there isn’t a civil war going on, and where you could actually set up and maybe prosper and have a good life for your family.

You need to know, am I on that helicopter? Because it just would torment me to know that I could have been and missed it. Can you imagine what it would be like even if there were no hell at all to miss heaven, to be on the outside, to hear the joy, the celebration and never see any of it, to never taste any of it to be on the outside? I think you can turn the whole thing around and say even if there were no heaven, to hear the screams of torment and know that I wasn’t there is joy and bliss enough. And so, every person in heaven has a double blessing. They missed hell as well. And every person in hell has a double curse. They missed heaven as well. Isn’t that terrible? When you stop and think about it, the people in hell, not only are they suffering torment, but they don’t get heaven either.

And so, for me, I think assurance must be, am I included? Is there some for me? Do I get some? And the question that you have to ask is, how can I know personally that I have a share in the kingdom? Not just, don’t tell me how great the kingdom is and how wonderful, and there’s full forgiveness, and that we can sit in Christ throne and all that. Do I know? How do I know that I’m included in that? Isn’t that the issue of assurance? And that’s what Brooks is getting at. Now, third proof first is that Romans 8 gives us this purpose of all scriptures: to help believers obtain assurance. Thirdly, many believers have obtained assurance, and they write about it in scripture. For example, Job, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God, I will see God I myself will see him with my own eyes and not another” (Job 19:25-27).

And the question that you have to ask is, how can I know personally that I have a share in the kingdom?

Isn’t that the point? I will be there. “How my heart yearns within me.” That is a great statement of assurance, right? He says, I know even though I’m going through a really tough time right now in my life, in the end I will see God in a resurrection body. No less, Old Testament believer. Here’s a guy that just knew God, and he knew that death could not be God’s final word on the human body. And so, he believed in a physical resurrection. And so even the worms are eating my body in my flesh, I will see God. That’s assurance, isn’t it? Or how about Paul 2 Corinthians 5:1, “Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.” Those are words of assurance. I’m going to have a house.

Now he’s talking about a resurrection body there, but he’s saying my body’s getting destroyed outwardly. I’m perishing, but I’m going to get something later on. We know it. He says, 2 Corinthians 5:1, we know, or in 2 Timothy 4:7-8, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day. And not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” Paul’s got assurance of salvation there. He knows he’s going to get something; he’s going to get this reward. Or Asaph., for example, Psalm 73:25, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

He says, when I die, I’m going to see God. He’s my portion in heaven. I’m going to have him. Or David, Psalm 16:11, “You have made known to me the path of life; you’ll fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” That’s assurance language, isn’t it? And there’s many other examples. Fourthly, God has promised assurance to his people. Brooks gives us Psalm 84:11, right? “The Lord is a sun and a shield; the Lord gives grace and glory; no good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Is assurance a good thing? Yeah. And I really have a hard time knowing how you can live a good Christian life without it. If you’re really not sure whether you’re going to hell or not. I mean, I don’t know how you could call that a good life. But he says no good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.

Assurance of salvation must be one of those good things. And it is Ezekiel 34:30, many other verses like this, “Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and that the house of Israel are my people, declares a sovereign Lord, you my sheep, the sheep of my pasture are people, and I am your God declares the Sovereign LORD.” And then John 14:21, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” Verse 23, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” That’s assurance, isn’t it, to have the indwelling Father, Son, and Spirit? Because he also says of the Counselor that he’ll be in you. The world cannot receive him, but the Spirit will be in you. And so, we have Father, Son and Spirit within us, making their home with us and showing themselves to us. That’s assurance. It’s clearly promised in John 14 and other places too. And the beautiful thing is God keeps his promises. So, he has promised assurance, and he will do it. 2 Corinthians 1:20 says, “All of God’s promises, they’re yea and amen.”

“Now the springs of assurance, fifthly, the springs of assurance are in the saints.” What you need for assurance is in you if you’re a child of God already. Later on, I’ll give it to you right from the start here, the image of Hagar. Remember who’s fleeing out in the desert? Remember? And she thinks she’s going to starve and die of lack of water in the desert. And she’s sitting right near a spring. You remember? Genesis 21? And Brooks says that’s the way many Christians are in assurance. Everything they need is within them. John 4:13-14, Jesus said springs of water will well up within you. “Whoever drinks of the water that I give him will never thirst, but the water that I give him will become with him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” And so, you have within you the springs of assurance. “Already faith is a spring out of which flows the river of assurance,” at Brooks very insightful here. “Faith is an appropriating grace. It looks upon God and says with David, ‘This God is my God forever and ever and shall be my guide unto death’ (Psalm 48:14).” This is speaking of faith. Now, “It looks upon Christ and says with the spouse, ‘I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.’ It looks upon an immortal crown and says with Paul, ‘Henceforth is laid up for me a crown of glory.’

“Faith looks upon the righteousness of Christ and says this righteousness is mine to cover me. Faith looks upon the mercy of Christ and says this mercy is mine to pardon me. Faith looks upon the power of Christ and says this power is mine to support me. Faith looks upon the wisdom of Christ and says this wisdom is mine to direct me. Faith looks upon the blood of Christ and says this blood is mine to save me.” That’s what faith does. Faith appropriates, it’s passive. It receives what God has to give. And so therefore, if you are a believer, you have faith by definition. And therefore, you have already the spring of assurance. Justification is connected to assurance. They’re not the same but they’re related. And so, we go, and I think most new believers have an immediate assurance because that’s what happens when you’re justified. I’m talking about as the journey goes on, your assurance can sadly bottom out.

So also, a good conscience is a spring of assurance. 1 John 3:21, “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God.” Isn’t that an important verse? What do you mean if? What does that mean, if our hearts do not condemn us we have confidence before God? What does that mean? (audience) We don’t. We begin to doubt. And so how do we do that? By defiling our consciences. And there’s only one thing I know that defiles my conscience and that’s my own sin. Nobody else’s sin can defile my conscience. You know what I’m talking about, okay? I mean somebody else, no matter how close they are to me, cannot defile my own conscience. I’m the only one who can do that. The devil can’t defile my conscience, but I can. And when my conscience is defiled, what happens to my confidence before God? It goes down the tubes. Not all the way, but if I continue and harden my heart, it’ll go lower and lower; it’ll keep going. And so basically the deal is, and Brooks puts it very well here, a good conscience and good confidence go together. It says very plainly in Hebrews 10, I think it’s verse 36, “So do not throw away your confidence, it will be richly rewarded.” How do we throw away our confidence before God? It’s that nasty three letter word again, sin. It’s the only way you can throw away your confidence. He says, don’t throw it away. Stand firm, don’t sin. Your confidence will be richly rewarded. Good things come from a solid assurance, right?

Stand firm, don’t sin. Your confidence will be richly rewarded.

And so, a love for saints is another spring of assurance. It should be, 1 John 3:14. Sorry, it’s a typo there. “We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers.” And then as our brother mentioned earlier, the Spirit of God actually commands you to be assured, commands you toward assurance. Where? 2 Peter 1:10, “Therefore my brothers be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.”  Spoudazo is the Greek word. It means use all possible haste and speed, right? Be very diligent and serious in this matter of assurance. Do everything you can to make your calling in your election sure. Right?

So that if you’re commanded to do something, then I would think we should have it, right. So, the Catholics and Arminians are wrong. If God’s commanding us that we should make our calling and election sure, then surely assurance is one of the good things God has for us. And it’s possible to attain. So, the focus of the command is be sure that you’re called, be sure that you’re elect. Now the command implies that assurance takes great effort. You say, now wait, I thought we weren’t saved by, we weren’t saved by works. No, I said you weren’t justified by works, salvation’s bigger than justification. Did you realize that you actually have to work in your Christian life?

How many of you knew that you had to work in your Christian life? All of you do because you were justified years ago, and it’s been hard work ever since, right? Is it hard work to get up and have your quiet time? Is it hard work to put a besetting sin to death? Is it hard work to memorize scripture? Is it hard work to fast on a fasting and prayer day? Yes. Is it hard work to listen to me? Yes, it is absolutely, but it’s of some benefit, and so you do it. These things are hard work. But they come with, it comes with benefit. And he’s saying, do the work! Because as you do the work in your Christian life, your assurance is going to go up and up and up. It’s going to get stronger and stronger, alright?

We are, my goodness, out of time. Okay, with your permission, I’m going to go quickly through the final ways that we know. And you can read the details. The Lord has given us means whereby we can obtain assurance. 2 Peter 1:5-8 gives us these, “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness, and to goodness knowledge, and to knowledge self-control, and to self-control perseverance, and to perseverance godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Also, the commands to self-examination are a means to the end of assurance.

A man ought to examine himself before eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. Did you do that on Sunday if you were here for the Lord’s Supper? I hope so. That’s an important time. And I’m not acting as a pastor there. I’m a man before God, getting myself ready to take the Lord’s Supper, lest I eat and drink judgment on myself. You see? And so, you have to be very serious in that. So, examine yourself and even more to the point, I think, 2 Corinthians 13:5, it says, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you, unless of course you fail the test!” So, you’re supposed to test yourself to see whether you’re Christian or not. So that implies that assurance is one of those things that is given to us. And then the Lord’s Supper is related to assurance. One of the main purposes of the Lord’s Supper is the ongoing assurance of saints, right? That’s why he gave it. We’re not going to be eating the Lord’s Supper in the kingdom. We’re going to be having the wedding banquet of the Lamb, but assurance comes from the Lord’s Supper. We look back to the death of Christ. We look around to the body of Christ and we’re part of it. We look ahead to the second coming of Christ. These are assurance things.

And then also the relation of assurance to rejoicing in the Lord. I’m going to stop on this one. Many scriptures portray or command Christians to be lavishly rejoicing in their salvation. Listen to Matthew 5:12. “Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven from in the same way they persecuted the prophets who are before you.” How can you do that if you don’t have assurance of salvation? If you don’t even know whether you’re going to go to your reward, right? You get persecuted on earth, but you’ll never get it because you’re going to spend eternity in hell. How could you possibly obey this command, “Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven?” If you never get there, how can you rejoice here on earth? It doesn’t make any sense to teach that there’s no assurance of salvation. How could you obey this command if there’s no assurance? Rejoice and be glad because when you get to heaven, you’re going to get a big reward. Well, how do you know? I don’t know if I’m going to get there. Well then how can I rejoice? I can’t. It doesn’t make any sense.

Or this one even more pointedly, Luke 10:20: “However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Don’t celebrate that the demons run out when you say, “In the name of Jesus, I command you to come out.” Hey, that’s big and showy, but what really matters is your names are written in heaven. Rejoice about that. You see the point. If assurance of salvation is not permissible, if assurance of salvation is not allowable as the Arminians and Roman Catholics tell us, then how could this verse be here? Rejoice that your names are now today written in heaven and will never be erased. Romans 5:2, “We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” How can you do that if you have no assurance? Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always; I will say it again, rejoice!” 1 Peter 1:3-5, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade, kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this, you greatly rejoice.” How can you do that if you have no assurance? Well, we can have assurance. We can. We must have assurance. It’s a gift from God. 1 Thessalonians 5, “Be joyful always.” And so, this is great evidence and proof that there must be assurance of salvation.

The last one is just that God makes distinctions between the righteous and the unrighteous throughout the Bible, the good and the wheat and the chaff. If you can’t tell the difference between whether you are one or the other, then those verses don’t make much sense, do they? So, assurance of salvation must be possible. Now, next time I’m going to talk about why this is true.

Namely why assurance is not cannot be for Arminians. What are Arminians? People who focus on human decision on free will. You came to Christ of your own free will, of your own free will you stay in Christ? Therefore, I want to ask you, how do you know your free will going to be working well 10 years from now? Is that an engine that’s going to take you to heaven? How’s your will doing? Is it doing well? Is it one of your friends, or is your will somewhat like a rebellious horse that needs training all the time? The fact of the matter is we’re kept by God’s grace. Assurance is not for Arminians. Assurance is for those who understand the grace of God as it’s given to us in Christ. Alright, let’s close in prayer. (prays)

“Assurance is a believer’s ark where he sits, Noah-like, quiet and still in the midst of all distractions and destructions, commotions and confusions.” Preface:  The Nature of Assurance
A.   The Blessings of the State of Grace
“To be in a state of grace is to be miserable no more; it is to be happy forever.  A soul in this state is a soul near and dear to God.  It is a soul much beloved and very highly valued of God.  It is a soul housed in God.  It is a soul safe in the everlasting arms.”
B.    The Additional Blessing of KNOWING You’re in a State of Grace
“The being in the state of grace will yield a man a heaven hereafter, but the seeing of himself in this state will yield him both a heaven here and a heaven hereafter; it will render him doubly blest, blest in heaven, and blest in his own conscience.”
C.    Definition of Assurance
“Now assurance is a reflex act of a gracious soul, whereby he clearly and evidently sees himself in a gracious, blessed, and happy state; it is a sensible feeling, and an experimental discerning of a man’s being in a state of grace, and of his having a right to a crown of glory; and this rises from the seeing in himself the special, peculiar, and distinguishing graces of Christ, in the light of the Spirit of Christ, or from the testimony and report of the Spirit of God…”
D.   Two Different Things:  Justification and Assurance
“It is one thing for me to have grace, it is another thing for me to see my grace;  it is one thing for me to believe, and another thing for me to believe that I do believe; it is one thing to have faith, and another thing to know that I have faith.”
“Assurance flows from a clear, certain evident knowledge that I have grace…”
E.    The Blessedness of Assurance
“Now assurance is the beauty and top of a Christian’s glory in this life.  It is usually surrounded with the strongest joy, with the sweetest comforts, and with the greatest peace.  It is a pearl that most want, a crown that few wear.”
“Assurance is not the essence of a Christian.  It is required to the well-being , to the comfortable and joyful being of a Christian; but it is not required to the being of the Christian.  A man my be a true believer, and yet would give all the world were it in his power to know that he is a believer.”
NOTE:  Some Christian speakers have said “Ninety-nine sure is one hundred percent lost.”  Brooks disagrees!
I.  Proofs that Assurance is Possible
A.   The basis of assurance
Romans 8:32-34 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all– how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?  Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died– more than that, who was raised to life– is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
It is clear that Paul intends his words of assurance to be generally for all Christians… not just for a special class of Christian
B.    The purpose of Scripture is to help believers to obtain assurance
1 John 5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
Brooks:  “It is the very drift and design of the whole Scripture, to bring souls first to an acquaintance with Christ, then to an acceptance of Christ, and then to build them up in a sweet assurance of their actual interest in
Christ.”
Martin Luther:  “I would not live in paradise without the Word, but with the Word, I could live in hell itself.”
Brooks:  “In Scripture, God has given us His word, His oath, His seal, that our consolation may be strong, and that our salvation may be sure.”
CLEAR STATEMENT OF THE AGONY OF NO ASSURANCE:  “It is not enough to raise strong
consolation in my soul, barely to know that there are mines of gold, mountains of pearl, heaps of treasure, a land flowing with milk and honey, but it is the knowledge of my interest (i.e. ownership) in these things that raises joy in my soul.  To know that there are such things, and that I have no interest in them, is rather a vexation than a consolation to me; to know that there is a feast of choicest delicacies, but not a taste for me; that there are pleasant fountains and streams, but I must perish for thirst in a wilderness; to know that there are royal robes for others, but I must die in my rags; to know that there is a pardon for others, but I must be turned off the ladder of life… such knowledge as this may well add to my vexation, but it will not add to my consolation.”
C.  Many believers have obtained assurance
[Job]  Job 19:25-27  I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.  I myself will see him with my own eyes– I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!
[Paul] 2 Corinthians 5:1 Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
2 Timothy 4:8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day– and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
[Asaph] Psalm 73:25-26  Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
[David]  Psalm 16:11 You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
D. God has promised assurance to His people
Psalm 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
Ezekiel 34:30-31  Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Sovereign LORD.  You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign LORD.‘”
John 14:21, 23  Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”…  23″If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
God keeps His promises!  If He has promised to assure us of His love for us and of our grace in Christ, He will keep His promise!
2 Corinthians 1:20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
E.  The springs of assurance are in the saints
1.   Faith is the spring out of which flows the river of assurance
Every true believer therefore has the well already opened up within them
Brooks:  “Faith is an appropriating grace; it looks upon God and says with David, ‘This God is my God forever and ever, and shall be my guide unto death.” (Psalm 48:14)  It looks upon Christ and says with the spouse, ‘I am my beloved’s and his desire is toward me.’ (Song of Songs 7:10)  It looks upon an immortal crown, and saith with Paul, ‘Henceforth is laid up for me a crown of glory.’ (2 Timothy 4:8)  It looks upon the righteousness of Christ and saith, ‘This righteousness is mine to cover me.’  It looks upon the mercy of Christ and saith, ‘This mercy is mine to pardon me.’  It looks upon the power of Christ and saith, ‘This power is mine to support me.’  It look upon the wisdom of Christ and saith, ‘This wisdom is mine to direct me.’  It looks upon the blood of
Christ and saith, ‘This blood is mine to save me.’”
2.   So also hope is a spring of assurance… in its very nature
3.   So also a good conscience is a spring of assurance
1  John 3:21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God
Brooks:  “A good conscience and a good confidence go together.”  “As an evil conscience is attended with the greatest fears and doubts, so a good conscience is attended with the greatest clearness and sweetness.”
4.  So also love for the saints is another spring of assurance
John 3:14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers.
Sadly, we are thirsty for assurance and have these springs within us!!  Like Hagar sitting by a spring while dying of thirst (Genesis21:15-19), so are we!
We have the “springs of water” opened up within us (John 4:14)… so let us drink! F.  The Spirit of God exhorts to assurance
2  Peter 1:10 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.

1.  Greek word implies
a.    all possible haste and speed
b.   all manner of seriousness and diligence
2.   Focus of command:  be sure that you are called, be sure you are elect
3.   Command implies assurance takes great effort
Brooks:  “The riches, honors, languages, and favors of this world cannot be obtained without much trouble and travel, without rising early and going to bed late, and do you think that assurance, which is more worth than heaven and earth, can be obtained by cold, lazy, heartless services?”
“There are five things that God will never sell at a cheap rate:  Christ, truth, his honor, heaven, and assurance.”
Hebrews 6:11-12  We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.  We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
G.  Means to be used to obtain assurance
1.  The fact that God gives MEANS to the end of assurance shows us He intends us to have it
2 Peter 1:5-8  For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2.  The commands to self-examination are a means to the end of assurance
1  Corinthians 11:28: A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
2  Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you– unless, of course, you fail the test?
H.   The Lord’s Supper as related to assurance
1.   One of the main purposes of the Lord’s Supper is ongoing assurance of the saints
2.   In the Lord’s Supper, Christ’s people are reminded to look back to Christ’s death and ahead to His return, and thus assure themselves that they are part of the body as the piece of bread they personally eat is part of the loaf
I.      The relation of assurance to rejoicing in the Lord
1.   Many Scriptures portray or command Christians to be lavishly rejoicing in their salvation
Matthew 5:12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Luke 10:20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Romans 5:2   And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
1 Peter 1:3-6   Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade– kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.  In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
1 Thessalonians 5:16   Be joyful always
2.  These commands are impossible to fulfill without assurance of salvation
J.     The clarity of Scripture on the difference between the righteous and the wicked
1.   Scripture makes a constant broad difference between
seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent;  the righteous and the wicked;  saints and sinners;  sons and slaves;  sheep and goats;  lions and lambs;  wheat and chaff;  light and darkness
2.   These distinctions would mean nothing if it were impossible for people to tell which category they belong to
By all these ten arguments it is clear that it is possible for believers to achieve a solid assurance of their salvation
But…
K.   Assurance is not for Arminians
1.   The doctrine of free-will salvation leaves no possibility for assurance… it actually would plead AGAINST IT
2.   Arminians (and semi-pelagians like Roman Catholics) feel a full assurance is HARMFUL to the Christian… making the Christian lazy and over-confident, leading toward freedom to sin
Brooks:  “Arminians are not ashamed to say that God may crown a man one hour and uncrown him the next.
II.  Weighty Propositions Concerning Assurance
A.   Seven reasons why God denies assurance for a time to some believers
1.   For the exercise of their grace
Brooks:  “What use would there be of stars if the sun did always shine?  Why, none.  Why, no more use would there be of your graces, if assurance should always be continued; therefore the Lord, for the exercise of His children’s faith, hope, patience, etc. is pleased, at least for a time, to deny them assurance, though they seek it by earnest prayer, and with a flood of penitent tears.”
2.   To keep them in the exercise of those spiritual duties which are most costly and contrary to the flesh and blood
[such as mourning, repenting, self-judging, self-loathing, self-searching]
3.   To convince them more clearly and fully of the exceeding bitterness of sin
4.   Perhaps they seek assurance more for themselves than for God’s glory
5.   To make assurance that much sweeter and more valuable, so they will more highly prize and protect it, and use if better for God’s glory
6.   That they be kept humble and low in their own eyes
7.   That they may live clearly and fully upon Jesus Christ, that Jesus Christ may be seen to be all in all
B.    Words used in Scripture to express assurance
1.   Persuasion
Romans 4:20-21 Yet [Abraham] did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
KJV Romans 8:38-39  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
KJV 2 Timothy 1:12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
2.   Knowledge
1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
1 John 3:19 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence
1 John 3:24 Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
1 John 5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
3.   “Full assurance of understanding”
KJV Colossians 2:2 That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ
4.   “Full assurance of hope”
KJV Hebrews 6:11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
5.   “Full assurance of faith”
Hebrews 10:22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
KJV 1 Thessalonians 1:5 For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
C.    True believers are saved even though they lack assurance
1.   Assurance independent of saving faith, but intimately connected to it
2.   Assurance waxes and wanes based on holy obedience to God’s commands
D.   Six reasons why some do not attain assurance
1.   An argumentative spirit, siding with the old man against the new, and with the flesh against the spirit
2.   The exceeding littleness and weakness of his grace
Brooks:  “The weakest Christian is as much justified, as much pardoned, as much adopted, and as much united to Christ as the strongest…, though he cannot make so much advantage and improvement of his interest and propriety as the strong Christian, who has a greater degree of grace.”
3.   The resurrection of old sins
Brooks:  “Upon the risings of old sins, the soul begins to question all, and begins to expostulate the case: Surely my estate is not good, my pardon is not sealed… surely my repentance was not sound, my sorrow was not sincere; the blow, the wound I gave sin was not mortal…. Thus, these new risings of old sins keeps many a man’s soul and assurance asunder.”
4.   Falling short of that perfection (maturity) which the Word commands and which older saints have attained
Brooks:  “Ah!  says such a soul, surely I have no grace!  Oh how short do I fall of such and such righteous rules, and of such and such precious Christians!”
This comparison can lead some to discouragement and a loss of assurance
5.   Fears and doubts caused by corruptions in the soul
The heart naturally doubts the word of God, and the imperfect sanctification of the heart can leave “smoke” of doubt smoldering in some ways, causing the soul to attack itself when God is not
6.   Not searching, examining, “ransacking” his soul
Brooks:  “There is gold in the mine, and men might find it, if they would but dig and search diligently after it.  There is grace in the heart, and you might see it, if you would but take the candle of the Lord and look narrowly after it…. What!  Is there no sighing, no complaining, no mourning under the sense of sin, and the want of divine favor?  Surely if you search, you will find some of these things; and if you do, prize them as jewels that are more worth than a world.”
E.    God requires some believers to wait long for assurance
1.   God gives this grace of assurance as He sees fit… and not in equal measure to all
2.   Some believers have to go through much more suffering for the same level of assurance
Brooks:  “Again, God delays the giving of assurance not because he delights to keep his children in fears and doubts, nor because he thinks that assurance is too rare, too great, too choice a jewel to bestow on them; but it is either because he thinks their souls do not stand at a sufficient distance from sin, or because their souls are too taken up and filled with creature enjoyments as that Christ is put in an outhouse, or else it is because they pursue not after assurance with all their might…”
F.    Assurance may be possessed and afterwards lost
1.   Justification and saving grace cannot be lost
2.   However, assurance CAN BE
Brooks:  “These two lovers, grace and assurance, are not by God so nearly joined together but they may by sin on our side, and justice on God’s, be put asunder.”
This explains why so many Psalms depict God as standing “far off”
Psalm 10:1 Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
Psalm 27:9 Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior.
Psalm 30:7 O LORD, when you favored me, you made my mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed.
Psalm 38:1-6 O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. 2 For your arrows have pierced me, and your hand has come down upon me. 3 Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; my bones have no soundness because of my sin. 4 My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear. 5 My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly. 6 I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning.
Psalm 42:5 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
Brooks:  “Blessed Hooker lived nearly thirty years in close communion with God, without any considerable withdrawings of God all that while; and yet, upon his deathbed, he went away without any sense of assurance or discoveries of the smile of God…”

G.  Assurance is a personal matter
“The certainty and infallibility of a Christian’s assurance cannot be made known to any but his own heart”
1.   Vital to understand this… many are greatly disturbed theologically when some seemingly regenerate people “fall away”
2.   Parents especially vulnerable to this problem… deeply desiring our children’s salvation, we can be easily deceived
“Assurance is that white stone that none know but him who has it (Revelation 2:17)” H.  Nine special seasons when assurance is enjoyed:
1.   At conversion
2.   Before engaging in hard or dangerous service
3.   During times of waiting
4.   During times of suffering
5.   During “hearing and receiving” times
6.   During times of personal afflictions
7.   During seasons of prayer
8.   Before conflicts with Satan
9.   After conflicts with Satan

III.       Hindrances to Assurance, and How They May Be Overcome
IV.      Motivations for Christians to Seek Assurance
V.        Ways and Means of Gaining Assurance
VI.      The Differences Between True and Counterfeit Assurance
VII.    Answers to Several Special Questions about Assurance