A Life Assured of Salvation

So, where are we in the book of Hebrews? Welcome back. I hope you're enjoying it. Title of today's message is A Life Assured of Salvation. What does a life assured of salvation look like? Well, this is the belief. Great inheritance. Just by bring you back up to speed where we are in Hebrews chapter 6.

If you'll remember, it's kind of like a parent. This pastor, pastoring is a lot like parenting. And we see this in this pastor's heart, wrote the book. First of all, he wants his audience to press on to maturity. Look at verse 1. Therefore, leaving the elementary teachings about the Christ, let us press on to maturity.

So he wants them to press on to maturity. Then he goes on in verses 4 to 8 to warn them of bad things that can happen. That's what a parent does. You want your child to go on to maturity, and then you spend a lot of your time warning them about bad things that can happen.

And that's what he does in verses 4 through 6. 4 through 8. For in the case of those who had once been enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word and the powers of the age to come and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put him to open shame.

In other words, there are those people who are cursed, those who are blessed, and those who are near cursed. And those who are near cursed are the ones. Who are turning away. They are suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. They are not advancing. They are not maturing. God intends for us to grow spiritually.

This life isn't just about the physical body, but it's about knowing the God who created you. And in a life, in a world without sin, that would easily commend itself to everyone. Yeah, there's a sun, there's a moon, yes, there's a God who created. Yes, there's good things that I see all around the is commending me to my creator, and what's more, that my creator wants a relationship with me.

But we live in a world of sin, and so that sin of unbelief, suppressing the truth in unrighteousness, is something the pastor here, the parent here, is warning against. And then he goes on in verses 9 and 10 to assure the beloved among the audience of the good things concerning them.

Isn't that what a parent does? I want you to go on to maturity. I want you to avoid the bad, and I want to assure you of the good things that are in store for you. And that's what he does in verses 9, beginning of verse 9. He says this: But, beloved, we are convinced of bad.

Things concerning you and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. So he's saying, we know good things, things accompanying salvation are going to be true of y'all. And that's what he's, that's where he is. And then that takes us into the verse this morning.

Look at verse 11 again. And we desire that each one of you, in light of the fact that you are assured of these good things, assured of things that accompany salvation, he goes on, and we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

So, what is he doing in verses 11 and 12? He's motivating them to greater diligence in the matters that matter. What about you? What are you diligent about today? Are you diligent in the matters that matter? Are you diligent about the things of faith? And that's what he's doing to this congregation.

He's motivating them to greater diligence in the matters that matter. And he does so, he does so by laying out several characteristics of a life assured of salvation. What kind of life comes out of an assurance of salvation? Well, that's what we're going to look at this morning.

There are characteristics of a life that is assured of salvation. It's a very different kind of life than a life that is not assured of salvation, doesn't want salvation. If you're thinking there is no salvation, or if you're thinking, well, maybe there is salvation, but it's not for me, that you're going to live a very different life than those who are assured, who take God's promises at face value, internalize them, take them in as your inheritance, your life will be very different.

I've used the analogy before. I know that I'm married to Nancy. I'm not just thinking that her love might be committed to me, but that it has been committed to me. So we're able to build a family and life together upon the assurance of one another's love. That's a very different kind of life than if we're still in that dating scene trying to hope.

And I think that's where a lot of people live their Christian life, not really inheriting their inheritance. And so. I want you to see five characteristics this morning from these texts. And I'll do it. It is a shortened sermon. At ease. I want to talk to you about five characteristics of a life assured of salvation so that you will be motivated to live it, to live it more purposefully and diligently.

So those assured of salvation, first of all, will be diligent in ministering salvation. Look back at verse 11. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence. We, I think Paul and Luke, but we are desiring, that is, we are eagerly wanting each one of y'all, each one, every one of you who names the name of Christ.

We are desiring that each and every one of you show, that is, demonstrate, put on display, the same kind of diligence, the same kind of haste, the same kind of zeal, the same kind of enthusiasm, devotion that once characterized you, the same kind. Remember, that same level that the church had done in the past.

He's calling them to a diligence in ministry, in ministering salvation. That they had done in the past. And it showed up in the way they loved others who named the name of Christ. And we read about that in Hebrews 10. I read it before, but I'll read it to you again.

Hebrews 10, verse 32 says, This: But remember the former days when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one.

There was a diligence in ministering to the body of Christ, even though it cost them personal properties, even though that put them in the crosshairs of persecution and even state confiscation of properties. They had that kind of diligence, that kind of zeal. They had been diligent in the past, and so he's saying, and we desire that each one of you show the same diligence.

Keep up that diligence. What was happening that was dampening their diligence? Some of them had gotten to where they were forsaking even the assembly. What was taking place? Well, there were these mass defections. We've already looked at this. There were these mass defections going back to Judaism. The very Judaism that crucified Jesus.

Now, imagine for a moment you're ministering among the Hebrews, you're excited about the things of Christ, and Christ is being proclaimed, miracles are happening, things are happening. And then all of a sudden, persecution starts turning up, and all of a sudden, you start seeing people turn away. But they're not just, it's like Caleb and Joshua.

You remember when they got to the promised land, and then they're like, we're going back to Egypt. Think how demoralizing that would be to a minister. Think about how Moses and Joshua and Caleb felt, after seeing all that God had done, you came all the way over to the promised land and you were to go in and take it, but instead of going forward, you say, we're going back to Egypt.

You're turning back. Imagine how discouraging that would be. Well, that's exactly what's happening in Hebrews. Hebrews churches. People are turning back to the very Judaism that crucified Jesus, or they're. Turning away from the faith all together. And so, you know what happens when ministers within a church lose their zeal?

The light of the community goes dim. And so, what this pastor is doing is he's wanting to encourage the ministers. We should encourage ministers, those who minister among us. That is what keeps the light burning bright. But those who are assured of salvation don't let the negative spirits and discouragements all around them get them down.

Because they're assured of salvation. They're first of all assured of their own salvation. And that makes them assured of others. Makes them assured of what God is doing in the world and what God is going to continue to do. Listen, friends, if God can save me, you know what I know?

He can save anyone. I know that from, because I know salvation. And if he can save me, he can save anyone. And not only that, if he is willing to save me, guess what? He is willing to save anyone. And that is. Why? I keep ministering. And I love ministering more today than I did yesterday.

I am sure. And that is the outcome of all of those who are assured of salvation. They are assured of this, and they are assured that God will continue to say, and so they continue in that diligent ministry of salvation. Second characteristic of those assured of salvation is that they will grow in assurance of salvation.

Look back at verse 11. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance. Notice there's in verses 11 and 12, there's the word so. It shows up twice. You can circle those because you can see how it lays out the text.

And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence, number one, so that you will realize the full assurance of hope until the end. And then verse 12, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises.

So you can circle the word so and see the two reasons. And I'm going to draw four characteristics out of these two reasons. But notice, so as to realize the full assurance, to realize something, to the end, we want you to be diligent so that, to the end, that you will come to a full assurance.

We want to assure you, we've already assured you in verse 9, we know things that are going to accompany salvation are going to be true of you. We assure you of that, and we want you to grow in assurance. We want you to be diligent, diligently continue to minister among the body, don't detach from the body, but to be more engaged in the church, because that's what we do in the church.

We talk about the things of Christ. We see the work of Christ. We see him at work. I see things. I see the faithful as I minister among here and associate with y'all. I see y'all facing and overcoming challenges that I could never overcome myself. And I watch you guys.

I watch the faithful day in and day out. I hear your testimony. I see God transforming lives. And I see the faithful being faithful. And it encourages my heart and gives me a greater assurance of what God is doing in my life. Full assurance to complete the full is to complete the condition.

That's what it means, full. To take something to full is to complete the condition. Greater assurance and greater assurance will lead to greater diligence. Do you see the circle here? Greater diligence leads to greater assurance, which in turn leads to greater diligence, more assurance, to full assurance, and greater diligence in gospel enterprises.

Look at so as to realize the full assurance of hope. Of hope. What is hope? Hope is a good expectation. Hope is a highly favored outcome. So we call people to faith, much of what we do as a church. We call people to have faith in God and to have hope.

So what's the difference? What's the difference between faith and hope? Well, faith has an object in view. God is the object of our faith. Hope deals with the good things that He has promised. So we have faith in God who has promised good things. Things and hope is in the promises themselves.

So, when you're talking about assurance of one's salvation, we're talking about faith, God is able to save you, and it also involves hope. God has promised to save you, and this is what His salvation ultimately looks like: heaven dwelling with Him forever. So, here's the pastor's desire: full assurance of hope, an absolute certainty that you are going to enjoy the most favored outcome.

You let that settle in your heart, and it will impact the way you live your 20s, and 30s, and 40s, and 50s. You see, the diligent grow in certainty of God Himself, they grow more and more certainty of His character, His ability, and His willingness to save. So, let us grow in the assurance of the salvation that the Bible articulates to us.

Let us grow in faith in the God of the Bible, that He knows who He is, and He knows how to communicate. To us, and let us grow in the hope of the things that he has promised. Third, those assured of salvation will finish their tour of duty well.

They will finish their tour of duty well. If we think of life as a tour of duty or a race to be run, then an assurance of salvation is necessary to live the kind of gospel-centered life that God wants us to live. Like I said, there's a kind of life that comes out of faith in the God of the Bible.

And there is a kind of life that comes out by unbelief or suppressing the information about the God of the Bible. Notice that expression at the end of verse 11, and this is where I dialed in on this characteristic. Until the end. We want you to see the same, show the same diligence so as to realize full assurance all the way to the end of your life.

To the end of the race, to the end, is what it says. To the end, to the conclusion, to the terminus point. And this terminus point could be the end of one's life or the end of one's ministry or collapse. Collectively, as a group, that Immanuel Baptist Church would run its course to the very end, that we would be diligent, remain diligent, and fully assured of who Christ is, and all the way to the very end, ministering salvation, all the way to the end of our life, or to the church age, into the church age, whatever that terminus point is.

The emphasis is that those who are assured of salvation are going to finish their tour of duty well. They're going to run their race well. Like I said, there's a whole different stride by one who believes and is assured of salvation and the one who is not. You see, life is about persevering.

And I think a lot of us have a warped sense of what perseverance means. We think, well, if I can just get past the finish line, and we think of most of the races that we see, and we exhaust ourselves to the point where we can just barely cross the line.

But that's not what perseverance here is talking about. It's about growing stronger and stronger with each stride, more assurance, stronger and stronger, until you finish strong. Not barely just getting across the line. I mean, think about Caleb, 80 years old, going into Edith. There he goes. He's 80 years old.

Look at him. Go. He's 80 years old and he's just strong to the end. That's the kind of perseverance that this pastor has in mind as he exhorts the Hebrew audience. So those assured of salvation will be diligent in ministering salvation. They will grow in their assurance of salvation and they will finish their tour of duty well.

And number four, they will not be slow in following the way of the faithful. They will not be slow or sluggish in the faithful way. Look at verse 12. So that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who, faith and patience, inherit the promises. There are several observations we can make here about the faithful way.

Faithful way is in view here. Number one, it's not for the sluggish. So that you will not be sluggish. So that you will not be lazy, dull, lacking zeal. You remember, look back at. Chapter 5 and verse 11. You remember, he interrupts himself. We're all in this one big parenthetical interruption.

He wants to preach about Melchizedek and Christ in the lineage of Melchizedek. Look back at verse 10. Speaking about Christ, he's made perfect, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. Concerning him, we have much to say, and it's hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing.

There's that word. You have become sluggish. I want to tell you about the high priestly ministry of Christ and what he is doing now, but you're so sluggish in spiritual things now. And so he takes a parenthetical moment and he exhorts them to be diligent, diligent in matters that matter.

And one of those matters is listening carefully to the promises of God and recognizing who Christ is and what he is doing now. And he's going to return to that theme. And so what he's doing here in verse 12 is like he's exhorting them not to be slow or sluggish, but to be quick to hear, quick to respond, diligent, like those who have walked this faithful path in the past.

Be imitators. So the faithful way is not for the sluggish. The faithfulness is not the way to be the way. Way, another observation is that it's a way of imitation. Look back, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators, that you will mimic, that you, and this is the sense of taking the same path, not that you mimic everything about somebody who's gone on before, but that those elements of their lives that was faithful in the faithful way, that faith-bearing capacity live life like they did in matters of faith.

When Abraham, when God said to Abraham, go, guess what Abraham did? He went. That's it. He was quick to go, quick to listen. That's the path we're to imitate. I think it's important to also say that he's talking about these saints, and he's going to list them in chapter 11.

You're not to worship the saints, you're not to pray, you're to imitate the faithful pattern that they went down. And don't be slow in it. Those who are assured of salvation are quick to resonate with the faithful that we see on the pages of Scripture and we say, That is how I want to be.

But notice also, third observation about the faithful way. It's not for the sluggish. It's a way of imitation. And third, it's a way of faith and patience. It's a way of faith and patience. Look at that. So that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those through faith and patience.

Confidence in God, God's ability, confidence in His Word. So it's a life of confidence, but also patience. What is patience? The ability to suffer long, to quietly wait, to rest while waiting. How good are you at waiting? Well, however good you are at waiting is an indication of the level of faith you have because they go together.

The reward of assurance is more assurance, which leads to full assurance, which enables a person to wait upon the Lord. If you're assured that God is going to do what He's saying it's going to do, that then all the things promised he will certainly do and beyond, it enables you to wait in whatever kind of struggle or difficulty or perplexity that you're facing today.

You see, mature faith isn't rattled by time or strain or by delay or difficulties. Patience is a good gauge of your faith. If you're unable to wait, you have a faith problem. Fourth element, the fourth observation I want to make about the faithful way in this verse, is that it is the inherited way of life for the faithful.

An inheritance. What is an inheritance? It's a verb here, the ones inheriting, the ones sharing in, the ones coming into possession of. What are they coming into possession of? The very way that has been handed down to us. That becomes our inheritance. So back to my question. What do we as Christians, or let me ask this question, what do we as Christians really inherit in this lifetime?

What is our inheritance? Well, the answer is at the end of verse 12. The promises. And that brings us to the fifth characteristic of those who are assured of salvation. Notice that those who are assured of salvation will be diligent in ministering salvation. They will grow in assurance of salvation.

They will finish their tour of duty well. They will not be slow in following the way of the faithful. And all of this because they have already inherited the promises. Let me show you this. There's a question here, first of all. What do they inherit? What does this text precisely say they inherit?

Do they inherit the things promised or the promises themselves? You see the difference. There's the things promised, and then there's the promises themselves. What do we really inherit in this lifetime? Well, they're both. Turn to 11, verse 39, and let me show you something. 11, verse 39. He's just talked about this great company of the faithful, including Abraham.

He says this: and all of these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised. They hadn't received the things promised. Now, look back at verse 17 of chapter 11. By faith, Abraham, when he had was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son.

So, think about what chapter 11 is saying about Abraham. He had received the promises, and yet had not received the things promised. And so, the promises themselves, and that's what grammatically it's saying, plain and simple here: so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who faith and patience inherit, who the ones who are now inheriting the promises.

What are the promises? Something assured, something announced, something declared as true. So, what is full assurance of your salvation lead to? Inheriting the promises. There is a connection between those who are fully assured of salvation and those who bear the fruits of salvation. There's a connection. One takes God at His word.

God, I've come to you. You said you will not cast anyone else, so I have come, and I believe. I'll take you at your word. You promised to never leave me, never forsake me. I believe you. And this is what he is assuring them in chapter 6 and verse 9.

But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, things that accompany salvation. So here is our inheritance. The promises are intended to impact the way we live now. The things promised will certainly be ours. We are like a 20-year-old who's gotten news that we have an inheritance, an incredible inheritance, far more than could ever be earned.

A great fortune, a great estate, a great name. So, why in the world will we spend our lives trying to establish a great fortune that's only going to wither away and/or establish a great name when all of that is given to us in Christ and is given to us for eternity?

That is coming. Those things we will realize in their fullness. But until then, what we Who we are is we have received these promises and we live in light of their Abraham was to go, so he went. Does your life this morning? Let me just get really personal, does your life reflect a life of somebody who has inherited the promises of God?

Or is your life characterized by one who denies the promises of God or who doesn't believe the promises of God or somehow thinks that they don't apply to you? There are a lot of people who are anxiously discouraged and disillusioned among us. And I'm talking Christians. As I said, I spend much of my time trying to help believers believe, help inheritors inherit their inheritance.

Let me tell you what happens in the hearts of the anxious and disillusioned among us. God is not your problem. Your faith is. You do not need God to make more promises to you. You need to believe the ones that He has already given to you. God wants you to go on to maturity.

He warns you against bad things that can happen. He assures you of the good things that are to come. And he motivates you to matters that matter, to be diligent in matters that matter. We should all be maturing in confidence and assurance in the things that God has promised.

Like I said earlier, in a world of no sin, that's what we would all be doing naturally. But sin stems from an unbelief. Chapter 3, verse 12. Take care, brethren, that there not be any one of you, in any one of you, an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.

Sin stems from unbelief, and unbelief stems from an evil heart. Unbelief is the way of evil, and that is the way that God is calling us out. Start believing God and receive life. A life assured of salvation is our inheritance. And that's the kind of life that's worth living.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we just thank you for these words that have encouraged us. They're not intended to put anyone down or isolate anyone. They are intended to call us to greater degrees of faith and to turn our hearts to you, Father, to those who are not sure of their relationship with you and who want to have a relationship with you this morning can cry out to you, believing.

The unbeliever can become a believer and choose to believe and ask for you to help their unbelief. And so for those among us who are discouraged on many levels, disillusioned, and have served many various forms of idols in our lives, Father, we ask for you to forgive us and to help us to be diligent in the matters that matter.

So, Father, we just thank you for this word of exhortation and encouragement. We thank you for your great love. And Father, we just thank you that you welcome all. You are there with open arms and you receive and you bless and you encourage. And so it's because of all of that, Father, we can rejoice this morning and entrust our children to you.

Not only can we entrust our own lives, but we can entrust our children and children's children to you. Father, we thank you. We thank you for these truths. In Jesus' name, amen.