Let us turn to Luke 17. I would like to talk about assurance of salvation today. This is a very delicate subject. We have to be very careful with what we say. We have to understand how critically important it is to not give someone an assurance of salvation if they are not saved. Robert spoke of this last evening. What could be worse than to tell someone that they have eternal life if they do not?
You will notice that when Mr. Camping gets calls on the assurance of salvation, he will not dwell on it for a long time. I have never heard him do a whole study on assurance of salvation. Again, we have to be very careful. When you look at this from all of its different angles, there is the possibility of a false assurance from something that you might hear. Mr. Camping will simply quote the verse from 1 John, which says, “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.” This is deep in and of itself, because we cannot keep His commandments. We can only keep His commandments if we are in Christ. When God looks at a true believer, He sees the righteousness of Christ.
So I would just like to look at verses that speak to this subject, and yet I feel inadequate. There are people here who have been coming to these conferences for years, most of you that I see. More than a few have been in the Word as long as I have or even longer and have a deeper understanding in a lot of things than I have. I just hope this will all be to the glory of God. We will just read the Scriptures; if God wills, He will work through the Scriptures. We will certainly look a little later at Romans 8:15, which is a very important verse as it pertains to this subject.
So in Luke 17:5, we read:
And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.
This is what we all want. We want a stronger faith. We want a rock-solid faith so that we do not have any doubts and so that we will have nothing to worry about.
Let us continue reading on here in Luke 17. At first, it seems like Christ avoids the question, like He sidesteps it and just goes on, but He does not. He gives a very complete two-part answer to the apostles’ statement, “Increase our faith.” We read in Luke 17:6-10:
And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you. But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
So He began by saying in verse 6, Luke 17:6:
And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.
Let us look at some verses that speak of the mustard seed. Look at Matthew 13:31-32. It says:
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
Look at Matthew 17. The disciples at one point were unable to cast a devil out of a man. Then we read in Matthew 17:19-20:
Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
Turn to Mark 4. We read in Mark 4:30-32:
And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.
I believe that the mustard seed is certainly speaking of Christ. We read about this where it says, “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” I believe that this is a parable speaking about the death of Christ. He is likening the mustard seed to Christ and He is telling them that except their faith is “as a grain of mustard seed,” they cannot do anything. Very simply, what He is saying is that it is the faith of Christ that is needed.
For all of you Family Radio listeners, how many times have you heard Mr. Camping quote Galatians 2:16 where it says that it is not our faith, it is the faith of Christ in salvation? We could certainly work through the Old and New Testament and just spend an hour on this principle; so let us just look at a couple of verses that say this.
We spoke of Acts 3:16 last night about how this man who had been lame since birth had his feet and legs restored. Peter and John did this and, of course, this was through the Holy Spirit. He says in Acts 3:13-16, where Peter is speaking of the restoration of this man’s feet and legs:
The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
What is the faith that is “of Christ” or “by Christ”? I am sorry, but I meant to bring my Interlinear Bible down with me to just read the literal translation of this. It makes much more sense, but it is just simply saying that it is the faith of Christ that has healed this man.
Let us go to Galatians 2:16 and read down to Galatians 2:20. Again, this is a passage that you are all familiar with, but it just says it so well. Galatians 2:16 says:
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Then it says in Galatians 2:17-20:
But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
We could go on and on in developing this; but, again, most of you are familiar with this principle. I just wanted to emphasize that this is the first part of Christ’s answer when they asked Him to increase their faith. In the first place, it is not our faith to begin with, but it is the faith of Christ that is imputed to us.
We could talk about our works in salvation and look at verses that the freewill people love to use, like Romans 10:9 where we read:
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
This is a verse that the freewill people love to use. It sounds so simple, but we have to read everything in the Bible about a specific doctrine and this word “confess” denotes much more than a simple acknowledgement with one’s mouth.
If we turn to 1 Timothy 6, we see this word used again and we get a better sense of what this means. In 1 Timothy 6:12, we read:
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
This is the same word. Here, we first find the verb form of the word, “professed,” and then the noun, “profession”; but it means more than just verbally acknowledging. It means that you are testifying in your behaviour that you are a child of God. You have “professed a good profession.”
When we read in Romans 10:9:
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
This word “believe” is the verb form of the same word that is translated “faith.” The Strong’s numbers are 4100 and 4102.
Here in Romans 10:13, it says:
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Again, it can sound so simple.
Turn to Psalm 145. Psalm 145:18 says:
JEHOVAH is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
We are not calling upon Him “in truth” unless God is first working in us. It is then that we are calling upon Him “in truth,” because the Lord Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life.”
There is a lot more to each of these statements. God is teaching us to constantly compare Scripture with Scripture.
Let us go back to Luke 17 again where, first of all, we have this statement in Luke 17:6:
…If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea…
He is telling them that if they had the faith of Christ, then they could do this.
This is an aside and this takes us off on another track, but I wanted to just look at this verse for a minute. He said in Luke 17:6:
…ye might say unto this sycamine tree…
I do not exactly know what a sycamine tree was. It was a tree that resembled a fig tree. The word is sukaminos and it means something like a fig tree, but it is not a fig tree. This is why I believe that He is referring to the false church here. In a similar verse like this, He uses the word “mountain” instead of “sycamine tree,” where He says, “If ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.” In other words, you can bring judgment on it.
Turn to Matthew 17:19 again.
Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
Next, in Matthew 17:20, He does not say “this sycamine tree”; He uses the word “mountain”:
And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
God uses the word “mountain” often in the Bible to represent a kingdom. Again, He is speaking of judgment on the kingdom of Satan that is in resistance to the truth. It is very subtly the way in which He is teaching this here.
Let us go back to Luke 17 and get on our original subject. This begins the second part of His answer here. He says in Luke 17:7-8:
But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat?
He is establishing a picture here. These men are like men who are working for a husbandman or a farmer, and so He says:
But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink?
Plowing and feeding cattle are metaphors for doing the work of the Gospel.
Turn to 1 Corinthians 9. The Apostle Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit was speaking to the early churches and telling them that their ministers should be supported and fed by the congregation, and he likens plowing to doing the work of ministering. We read in 1 Corinthians 9:1-9:
Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord? If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord. Mine answer to them that do examine me is this, Have we not power to eat and to drink? Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas? Or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working? Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn…
He is quoting a ceremonial law from back in Deuteronomy 25. He is explaining it here. They wanted to muzzle the ox as it was being used to tread out the corn when they separated the grain from the chaff, but they were to let the ox eat of the grain. He is likening the minister to the ox as he works to get the Gospel out and to do the work of the Gospel.
Then in 1 Corinthians 9:10-11, we read:
Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?
So Paul is likening plowing to doing the work of the Gospel and getting the Gospel out.
Again, in Luke 17:7, He says:
But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle…
As you are giving out tracts and as people are giving of their wherewithal to a faithful ministry, as people are doing all of these different tasks at Family Radio like translating or working in the Shortwave Department, they are feeding cattle; they are feeding God’s people.
So He is saying here in Luke 17:7-10:
But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not.
He is saying, “I do not believe so.” It continues:
So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
I am convicted that He is telling them here that as we, as fellow believers whom God is working in while we are on this earth, willing and doing of His “good pleasure,” we suffer persecution and affliction. Everything is not a bed of roses. As a matter of fact, when salvation comes for most, life gets more difficult; we have trials.
But I believe that He is saying to them, “If I gave you more faith now, if I gave you that rock-solid perfect faith that you want to have, it would be like you are already at the marriage supper, like it is completed.”
I believe that we can even suffer with doubt at times. We see this in a lot of different ways. I have been talking to people here who are worried and who doubt their salvation. There is nothing wrong with this because we are all at different places. The Bible clearly teaches that we grow in knowledge.
So He really makes a point in Luke 17:10 when He says:
So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
This is also referred to as filling up “the afflictions of Christ.” As we are doing the work of God here on this earth, we are going to suffer trials and tribulations. We are going to sin. We are going to have other frustrations and pitfalls, and sometimes we are going to doubt.
We will look at some other things that speak about this, but we know why this is. This is because we are in a body that is still not saved. We are in a constant battle, and we lose some of these battles. God’s Spirit is in us. We have that perfect Spirit in us now, but yet we are fighting the flesh; and sometimes we lose these battles and this causes us to doubt.
On the other hand, God means for us to know that we are saved. It gives us more of a boldness in our witness. For example, let us look at 1 John 1. If anyone is struggling with their salvation, read through these Epistles of John. They speak very much about salvation and how it works and how we can know if we are saved. From the very beginning of the 1st Epistle of John, it says in 1 John 1:1-4:
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
What is he saying here? What is he talking about? He is talking about the Bible. These apostles were used to write the Scriptures from which we get our comfort and from which we get our assurance.
Turn to Romans 8. This is a key verse as it pertains to this subject. Romans 8:15-16 says:
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
How does God’s Spirit witness with our spirit that we are His children? It is through the Bible. Read the Bible. Stay in the Word and stay in prayer.
Look at John 6. This talks more about how the Spirit works. John 6:63 says:
It is the spirit that quickeneth…
It is the Spirit that brings life to us. We could do another study on how we must hear the Word of God to be saved. This is an integral and critical part of salvation. It continues:
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing…
Then He says:
…the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Romans 10:17 says:
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Again, faith comes by hearing. This is part of salvation. We grow and find comfort in the Scriptures as God witnesses to us through His Word. We study about how salvation works and we can identify with this. We can look back and we can say, “As the Bible lays out salvation and truth, this is what has happened to me.” We can say this.
We can also read all about this in the Psalms. As we read the Psalms, we can see that the writers of these Psalms were grieved with their sin and how they cried to the Lord for His salvation.
Another critical verse is 2 Corinthians 13:5. This is a verse that many of us are familiar with:
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
These words for “examine” and “prove” are two different words that both mean “test.” We are to test ourselves against the Word of God to know if we are saved or not. Just stay in the Word.
Again, this is the bottom line. No one can give us any formula for salvation. A person teaching the Bible can only point others to the Word; that is it. If it is God’s pleasure, then He will be working in someone to bring them to salvation.
Let us go back and read a little bit more in the Epistle of 1st John. Again, starting in the first verse of 1st John 2, we read in 1 John 2:1:
My little children, these things write I unto you…
This is really speaking of the Bible as he writes this Epistle to a certain group or to a certain person. One is identified as “the elect lady,” which is certainly speaking of the believers. But the Bible is for all of us; this is the way in which it is a living Book.
So we read in 1 John 2:1-3:
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
This is the verse that Mr. Camping will always use when someone is unsure of their salvation. There is a lot to this verse because we cannot keep His commandments. Even after salvation, we cannot keep His commandments perfectly because we have this fleshly body that still is not saved; and yet the Bible teaches us that Christ now lives in us if we are a child of God. The Lord sees the perfection of Christ in us. In this respect, we do not sin. Certainly, after we are saved, we turn from our sin and grow and put away this sin and that sin; and this verse can also apply to this.
In 1 John 3, let us start in verse 9. This just adds to what we just spoke about in 1 John 2. We read in 1 John 3:9-14:
Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
So here, we are to examine ourselves. Do we love the brethren?
Then we read in 1 John 3:15-16:
Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
This should be our growing mindset now: that we love our brethren and that we perceive the love of God. Christ is our example. Because He laid down His life for us, we are ready to lay down our lives for the brethren. We love the brotherhood.
We read this verse last night. It says in 1 John 3:17:
But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
We are to look at ourselves and examine ourselves. Do we have a desire, an ongoing and increasing desire to serve God in getting the Gospel out? This is loving our brother. If we love someone, we desire the ultimate and utmost good for them, which is eternal life.
Then 1 John 3:18-19 says:
My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.
Now look at verse 20, 1 John 3:20-21:
For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.
If our own hearts condemn us, if we are looking at ourselves and finding fault, God is greater than all of this. He is working in us. But, again, this is all part of self-examination.
Again, 1 John 3:21 says:
Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.
This is the word “boldness.”
If we turn to 1 John 4:15-17, it says:
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
Again, this word for “confess” is more than verbally acknowledging. It is professing. It is being a testimony by your behaviour. It continues:
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
The unsaved fear. They fear judgment. The saved, the elect, have no fear of this impending judgment. This is what this means.
Let me read verse 17 again and then verse 18. 1 John 4:17-18:
Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
This word “torment” is not the word for “tormented” that we have read in Luke 16. In Luke 16, it actually means “to be grieved or vexed.” This word actually has to do with punishment.
Again, 1 John 4:18:
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment…
He is speaking of the punishment of eternal death or judgment. “Perfect love” or salvation casts out this fear. Again, this is all part of self-examination.
There are accounts of people in the Bible who doubt or fall. We are all familiar with what Peter did. How could he have done what he did when he denied Christ? He had spent three and a half years with Him and saw His miracles. At one time, Peter said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” He also said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.” Yet when it came right down to it, Peter had sworn and was cursing, “I do not know the man.” This is what Peter had said in his fear because God had taken His hand off of Peter. This is the way that this works. But, again, Peter fell and this caused him terrible shame that caused him to weep.
We are familiar with David in Psalm 51 when he was confronted with a horrible sin that he had committed with Bathsheba. We read in Psalm 51:9-12 where David says:
Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence…
These are the thoughts that are going through his mind as it finally dawns on him what he has done. It continues:
Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
When we sin and we realize that we have sinned, it takes away the joy of our salvation; and yet look at the rock-solid faith that David had when we read the account of him slaying Goliath. He had no doubts at all. At that time, he was probably an adolescent, though we are not sure. He had no fear at all as he went out to kill that giant; but he is here now pleading to God that He would restore the joy of salvation.
The Apostle Paul lamented over his sin. Look at Romans 7. He says in Romans 7:15:
For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
He is not doing what he wants to in that he is not glorifying God. He is doing what he does not want to do. He is sinning.
Then we read in verse 16, Romans 7:16-17:
If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
This is an important principle. It is the sin that is part of his fleshly body that he is still stuck with.
Then Romans 7:18-24 says:
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Paul is lamenting that he still lives in a body that continues to lust after sin.
So we grow in knowledge and people are at all different points. New people are certainly going to struggle more with sin, and yet God is working in them.
We read in 2 Peter 3:14-17:
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
But we know that this is not possible. If we turn to 1 Peter 1:5, it simply says that we are:
…kept by the power of God…
We are kept from falling, and there are other verses. Psalm 121 speaks of this, “He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.”
Let me back up and start from 1 Peter 1:3. We read in 1 Peter 1:3-5:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God…
This is the way it works. We are:
…kept by the power of God through faith…
Whose faith? It is by the faith of Christ:
…through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
It is God who holds us up; but in 2 Peter 3:17, it says:
Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
The Bible continues to exhort us and to encourage us, even though, ultimately, it is God who holds us up.
Then 2 Peter 3:18 says:
But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
We grow. We grow in this knowledge. Certainly, those who are weaker in the faith or those who are newer can have weaknesses and maybe more of a sin problem. But, again, it is all about self-examination and comparing ourselves against Scripture and just remaining in prayer that God would hold us up.
We talked about how this fear of the unsaved is the fear of judgment. This reminds us of the parable of the talents in Matthew 25. The one man hid his talent in the earth. The first two men who were given talents multiplied their talents. They brought in as many talents as they had been given. These talents speak of our wherewithal, whatever God has given us in ability or in other things and ways in which we might be used to do His work. He has given us all talents or abilities or wealth, and it is all to be used to His glory; and so the first two men brought forth fruit from their talents, but the third man only gave back what he had been given. This parable is a deep study in and of itself, but I believe that this man represents those in the church today, because we read in Matthew 25:24:
Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strowed:
He had a knowledge of God. When God was speaking in Isaiah of how judgment was going to be brought on the Israelites, they cried out, “My God, we know thee”; but it was not a knowledge unto salvation.
So this one man in the parable of the talents knows that God is a God of judgment “reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strowed,” which speaks to the sovereignty of God in both salvation and in judgment.
Then he says in verse 25, Matthew 25:25:
And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
He hid what the Lord had given him in this earth and concealed the Word of God from those whom he should have been bringing it to.
Then we read in verse 26, Matthew 25:26-27:
His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strowed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
There is a deep principle in this, too; but He is literally telling him that he should have at least put it in the bank where interest could have been earned on it. What this means in a deeper sense is that he could have at least given it to those who are doing the work of the Gospel so that there would have been “usury.” This word “usury” suggests an increase or fruit.
But this man had a fear. He had a knowledge of God, and yet he had a fear. This is the fear that the unsaved have, but “perfect love” casts out this fear.
Again, assurance of salvation can only come from God. There are no words that any teacher can say and there are no verses that he can cite that will give someone an assurance of salvation. God forbid! God forbid that any teacher should give anyone any hint that they are saved.
We simply stay in the Scriptures. We examine ourselves against the Scriptures. God witnesses through His Spirit that we are His children; therefore, we are to simply stay in the Word and we are to just encourage each other to stay in the Word and to seek God for this salvation.
Let us close.