I want to get back into our series in Joseph. So let’s take our Bibles and turn to Genesis 50 so you’re turning there. If you’re here for the first time tonight, we’re in a series of studies in the life of Joseph. We’re kind of on the back slope of the series, but we’re going to look for a few weeks at this incident between Joseph and his brothers upon the death of their father Jacob and how it puts the brothers into a tailspin, causing them to question whether Joseph will continue to show kindness as he did when Father was present. Will it be the key now that Father is absent? And that brings us to Genesis 50:15, preaching tonight on the subject saved without a doubt. Genesis 50: 15, “When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, ‘Perhaps Joseph will hear us and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him.'”
“So they sent messengers to Joseph saying, ‘Before your father died, he commanded saying, thus, you shall say to Joseph, I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin for they did evil to you. Now please forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father.’ Then Joseph wept when they spoke to him. Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face and they said, ‘Behold, we are your servants.’ Joseph said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. For am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant that for good in order to bring about as it is this day to save many people alive. Now, therefore, do not be afraid. I will provide for you and your little ones.’ And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.”
Saved without a doubt. On July 2nd, 1937, the aviator Amelia Earhart and her flight companion, Lieutenant Commander Fred Noonan vanished just off we believe Howland Island in the South Pacific. They were attempting an around-the-world flight in a twin-engined Lockheed airplane. And as far as we know, the last radio contact with the United States was through a naval vessel and Ms. Earhart transmitted a message that consisted of two terse and in some senses, terrible words, position doubtful. That was the message that was last transmitted by Amelia Earhart, position doubtful. Now we know in the field of aviation those words spell disaster and what holds true for the pilot holds true for the Christian uncertainty and doubt and lack of assurance of one’s position before God is a killer.
Lack of assurance kills our joy, robs us of our peace, cuts the nerve of our effectiveness and causes our peace and passion to dissipate. Someone has asked the question, is there anything better than being saved? Now that’s a loaded question and the answer is yes. There is something better than being saved and it is being saved and knowing that you’re saved. Second question, is there anything better than being saved and knowing that you’re saved? Loaded question, yes. And it’s this being saved and knowing that you’re saved and knowing that you cannot lose your salvation. God wants us to live in full assurance. He wants us to know that we’re saved without a doubt. And so tonight and succeeding Wednesday nights, I want to answer the question, can one be sure of heaven while on earth? Or is it the lot of the Christian to live their life with their position before God in a state of doubt?
Now, before we get into the text and its context, let me just go a little further by way of introduction and say when it comes to this question to simplify it, theological thought comes down to two categories. There are those who are certain you cannot be certain, and there are those who are sure you can be sure. Now, that’s to oversimplify it a little bit, but for the most part that’s where opinion is divided. There are those who are certain that you cannot be certain about your relationship with God, your forgiveness of sins, your home in heaven. That would be true of Roman Catholicism. Protestants believe that justification is an act of God whereby as you and I put our faith in Jesus Christ alone, we are declared to be righteous. Christ’s righteousness and perfections are credited to us, and at the moment, you and I repent of our sin and put our faith in Jesus Christ, God declares us to be righteous.
He gives us a position in the Lord Jesus Christ that assures our salvation and security and that state and that experience of justification is instantaneous and irrevocable, but that is not true of Roman Catholicism. If you fully understand Roman Catholicism, justification is a process that begins in the act of baptism as grace is infused and that grace can be added to through the sacraments of the church and pious deeds that grace can grow so that you are being made righteous. And the hope is that at some point at the end of your life, you die in a state of grace and acceptance before God. But the problem with justification being a process, you’re never sure where you are in the process. In fact, according to Catholic theology, you can undo the grace of God through mortal sin, it kills off the saving of facts of grace administered through the sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church.
And so the Catholic is always in a state of uncertainty. Ask Catholic friends and ask Catholic families, are they sure that they’re going to heaven? And for the most part you’ll get an if and you’ll get a but. And that’s true of their theology. In fact, let me quote the Council of Trent, which was a gathering many, many centuries ago of Catholic theologians and they stated this, “If one considers his own weakness and it’s the fact of disposition, he may well be fearful and anxious as to the state of grace as nobody knows with the certainty of faith, which permits of no error that he has achieved the grace of God.” They’re certain that you cannot be certain, and what’s true of Roman Catholics is true of those who fall into the category of Arminianism.
Arminianism is a theology that puts the accent on man’s choice of God rather than God’s choice of man. And again, I’m oversimplifying things, but Arminianism teaches that our salvation is dependent upon our will exercising faith in Jesus Christ, they underscore not the will of God in election but the will of man in exercising faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And again to admit a certain oversimplification where that leads you is this if man chooses God rather than God choosing man, then if man exercises his will bringing him into a relationship with Jesus Christ, he can also exercise that will to undo that which he is himself already willed. In fact, Arminians admit that. Listen to Daniel Whedon an American theologian and recognized spokesman for Methodism, “In full consistency with that doctrine of human freedom and responsibility which pervades our theology, we maintain that in so much as we are free in first performing the conditions of salvation so we are free in the continuance or listen cessation of that performance.”
That’s why if you look at classical Pentecostalism or Methodism or aspects of The Holiness movement, you’ll find that they do not believe in eternal security. And while we have to admit historically that Jacob Arminius himself did not teach this doctrine explicitly but left the question open, modern Arminianism teaches that you and I can lose our salvation, that we can’t be certain that we are certain. There are those who are certain you cannot be certain, but there are those who are sure you can be sure, and I would argue that’s not a denominational position. Some people would argue, well, that’s what Baptists believes or that’s what Calvinists believe and so on and so forth. But I want to hopefully convince you and anyone who listens through our media ministry that this isn’t a denominational distinctive. This is a biblical doctrine. The Bible wants us to be certain about our position doesn’t want us to be doubtful about our position, our assurance and our knowledge of our security, and God is founded on the immutable promises of God’s word. It’s rooted in the perfection of Christ’s finished work and everlasting sacrifice on our behalf.
We are secure because Christ’s righteousness has been imputed to us. A position has been established before God in union with Jesus Christ and that is instantaneous upon faith and irrevocable. The God who has begun a good work in us will perform it. It’s based on His will, not my will. Of course, I have a responsibility to respond to all that God is doing in my life, but God doesn’t do things by half measure and He doesn’t leave His work on unfinished and when salvation is a work of grace and a work of God from start to finish, you and I can be sure the ground upon which we stand and upon which our faith settles in Jesus Christ. In fact, there’s a whole book in the Bible that wants us to be sure that we are sure. Go to 1 John 5:13 at the back of 1 John there hangs the key to the whole book and the whole intent of the book and the purpose of the book is this.
“These things I have written,” says John, “that you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” God wants us to be sure about our salvation and security. In fact, throughout this book you’re going to find John arguing for that confidence and that settled certainty in the part of the Christian. He says in chapter 2 and verse 5 of that first epistle, “By this we know that we are in Him.” Chapter 2 and verse 13, “I have written to you children because you know the Father.”
Verse 2 of chapter 3, “We know that when He appears we shall be like Him.” Chapter 3 and verse 14, “We know that we have passed out of death and unto life.” Chapter 4 and verse 13, “By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us.” God wants us to know that we belong to Him. Eternal life is not an issue that He wants clouding our minds with doubt and something He desires for us to be clear about in our hearts. That’s God’s intention for us. That’s God’s desire for us. In fact, I like what Steve Lawson says in his commentary in 1 John, he says this, “God does not want you to be a question mark all bent over in doubt with your head hung low. Rather He wants you to be an exclamation mark standing erect with your head held high, strengthened by a God-produced confidence in your faith in Him.”
I hope this miniseries on the midweek studies will help you and I to be an exclamation mark and if we have come in a question mark by God’s grace, may He straighten us up into an exclamation mark. Someone who like Paul is persuaded that nothing will separate us from His love. Someone like Paul who’s persuaded that that which we’ve committed unto God against that day is something you and I can be sure of. I want to tell you this. As I say, this is not a denominational distinctive, this is not a Baptist belief.
This is a biblical doctrine. If you go from the first book in the Bible to the last book of the Bible, if you listen to the authors of Job and John and all in between, you’re going to find that this is the case. God is no hireling shepherd and God is no prodigal father. In fact, go back to the first book in the Bible in Job 19:26, and what does Job say? “I know that my Redeemer lives,” he knows his flesh is going die and turn into dust, but he also holds like this hope with a certain confidence and certainty that someday he will stand on the earth.
You’ve got John’s writings as we’ve just quoted, but you also have Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:1 and 6 where he’s talking about the possibility of death or the prospect of death. He knows that his earthly tent is going to be folded up. It’s a metaphor for the fact that he knows someday his body is going to die and corrupt. But he says this, “We’re confident of this while we’re in the body, we’re absent from the Lord. But I’m confident also of this that if I’m absent from the body, I’m present with the Lord.” He uses the word confident. John says, “I know Paul says I’m confident.” Paul says elsewhere, “I’m persuaded.” From Job to John the first and last writers of the sacred page there is a no so kind of faith, no walking of a tightrope. God doesn’t want us to be doubtful about our position.
That’s what brings us now into the context of Genesis 50 because we come into the context where Joseph’s brothers are doubting, having second thoughts about their relationship with their brother and their brother’s relationship with them. Their father has died according to verse 15. And the full implication of that has dawned on them. They begin to wonder if their father was like a buffer between them and Joseph and Joseph loved them more because he loved the father even more. And now that that reason to love them has gone, will Joseph continue to love them? That’s where we’re at. And I think this story concerning a physical family will connect some dots for us in relation to the same kind of questions that are raised within God’s spiritual family.
Did Jacob play piggy in the middle and now that he’s gone, will Joseph wreak revenge upon them? Like the prodigal they couldn’t accept forgiveness. They came to this idea that it was expecting too much to really believe despite 17 years of evidence to the contrary that Joseph really loved them and would continue to love them. So as we unpack this story, there are two things I want us to consider. The evolution of their doubts and then the resolution of their doubts, the evolution of their doubts and the resolution of their doubts. Let’s make a start just to start tonight on the first of those thoughts, the evolution of their doubts, the Bible tells us that after the burial of their father, Jacob, the brothers past fears were resurrected. Okay. You know their initial fear back in chapter 45 when Joseph reveals himself, they’re thinking the worst, they’re anticipating the worst and they are more than pleasantly surprised when Joseph tells them not to fear and Joseph basically tells them that he’s about to forgive them and so they can find forgiveness for themselves.
But those fears are revisiting them. They are caught in the fear that Joseph will seek now his pound of flesh. And I think there are a few factors as it relates to the evolution of their doubts concerning Joseph’s forgiveness and favor. I think it may be the case that they remembered a certain part of their family tree and their family history because if you go back into life of their own father, Jacob, back in chapter 27 and verse 41 of Genesis, you know that Jacob deceived his father and his brother Esau was robbed of his rightful inheritance. And here’s what we read in Genesis 27:41, “So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him.” And I read this, “And Esau said to his heart, ‘The days of mourning for my father are at hand, then I will kill my brother Jacob.'”
Déjà vu. Okay, Jacob’s now dead. And they’re thinking just as Esau bided his time in his attempt to kill Jacob, Joseph has bided his time and we have reason to doubt our salvation. We have reason to doubt the genuineness of his words and the certainty of our deliverance. So I think they remembered and then they reasoned. They were living in a culture where it was an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. And so this is probably too good to be true now that Father’s out of the way, it’s going to be an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. They probably even reasoned, you know what? If we were in his shoes, we would wreak revenge and they certainly reasoned that you know what, Joseph’s love for them was kind of vicarious and that his true love was for Jacob.
And now that Jacob was gone, Joseph had no reason to love them. I mean we say no more than that. We’ve established here that their doubts grow perhaps as they reflect on the past and certainly on the recent past. But let me go on a little bit of a tangent and I’ll come back to the brothers in a moment hopefully to conclude. But the Bible believes in doubt. Here we have a story in the sacred record, although physical in one sense it certainly has spiritual overtones and becomes a greater picture of the doubt that can fill the heart of a believer in terms of their relationship to God. And we need to acknowledge the Bible believes in doubt that the Bible brings before us again and again examples of those who struggled with this issue of faith and their relationship with God and the certainty of God’s forgiveness and favor.
The Bible shows us again and again those who find themselves in a crisis of faith. Matthew 11, John the Baptist gets to a place right in his life where he even doubts the character and credentials of the Lord Jesus Christ as it relates to His messiahship. He sends word to the Lord Jesus, doesn’t he? “Are you the one or should I look for another?” He’s vacillating, he’s in and he’s out. Beautiful thing about that by the way, on the day that John said the worst thing he could have said about the Lord Jesus Christ. In reply, Jesus Christ said the best thing he ever said about John, none greater than born of a woman. What did you go out to see? You went out and you came face to face with a genuine prophet of God. What about Thomas the disciple?
He was working off the premise, believing is seeing. And so when the disciples tell him of seeing the resurrected Christ, he doesn’t believe it. He has to be convinced and Jesus appears to him and he’s been remembered ever since that as doubting Thomas, even one of the disciples doubted, struggled to gain their footing spiritually speaking and Jesus had to kind of rebuke John by inference and say, John, you know what? Blessed are those who believe and don’t see. Such greats as C.H. Spurgeon has struggled with doubt. I mean when we think about Spurgeon, we think about a man who preached to 6,000 people that crowded into his church every service.
On some occasions he preached to crowds as big as 23,000. He did that at one point in Crystal Palace in London without amplification. Amazingly, there were copies made of his sermons. Every single week 25,000 went into print and newspapers and single copies. But listen to these words from his own biography where sometimes he battled with doubt as great as he was and as widely used as he was. Here’s what Spurgeon said on one occasion, “I felt at that time very weary and very sad and very heavy at heart and I began to doubt in my own mind whether I really enjoy the things which I preach to others.”
Despite his incredible influence, he felt like an outsider. On another occasion, he said, “It seemed to be a dreadful thing for me to be only a waiter and not a guest at the gospel feast.” That’s encouraging if we can put it like that, defined, that even such a great as C.H. Spurgeon struggled with his relationship with God and the intimacy of it and the authenticity of it. The Bible believes in doubt, doesn’t encourage doubt, but it acknowledges it and realizes just as with Joseph’s brothers, you and I within the family of God can have our moments where our faith is shaken when we begin to question certain things. In fact, let me make a couple of distinctions, then make a statement and if time allows me just talk about the fruit of the doubt that evolved in the brothers’ hearts. But let me make a couple of statements regarding some distinctions you and I need to bear in mind.
We need to make a distinction between our security before God and our own experience and assurance of that relationship because the one is objective and unchangeable. The other is subjective and can be experienced in different degrees. And what I mean by that is when you and I put our faith in Jesus Christ by a miracle of God’s grace in an act of regeneration and justification, we were brought into union with Jesus Christ. The righteousness of Christ was imputed to us and instantaneously, irrevocably, we were given a position before God declared to be righteous in Jesus Christ. We were no longer in Adam and in condemnation we are in Christ and therefore in no condemnation, nothing’s going to separate us from His love. We’ve been sealed by His spirit. We have all the promises of God in the Bible which are yes and amen in Jesus Christ.
That is an non-controvertible fact. That is a forever truth whether we feel it or not, whether we’re assured of it or not, that’s the fact. And sometimes you and I need to realize that our assurance may waver, but even if our assurance wavers that ground under our feet are standing in Jesus Christ does never shake. You’ve experienced it in your own family where perhaps after you’ve had to chastise your kid or say something challenging to your teenager, they go off in a huff and they kind of give you the impression you don’t love me. And they may even doubt that fact and they may go up into their bedroom and rehearse that idea. My mom and dad don’t love me. I’m on the outside of this family, but downstairs in the living room, there’s no question in the heart of the mother or the father that the love for this child is unbreakable. The relationship is strong as before the incident, as after the incident.
And I think that’s a helpful down-to-earth analogy of that fact that even at times where you and I sense a distance between us and God and some of that may be of our own making or if God should discipline us, His love for us doesn’t change. And so make sure in your mind you make the distinction between our objective security in Christ and our subjective assurance of that relationship which will fluctuate given our experience, our knowledge of the Word, unconfessed sin, that kind of thing. Another distinction we need to make is between honest doubt and willful unbelief. Doubt and unbelief are two different things. That’s why you can have doubting believers. It’s not the same as unbelief. Let me try and help you think that through because in the one that is honest doubt, you have faith struggling and we do struggle sometimes to strengthen our faith.
Didn’t the man in the gospel say to Jesus, “I believe, but help now my unbelief,” our faith can grow and if it can grow, it can also become weak and you and I can find ourselves in a place of honest doubt where our faith is struggling, but unbelief is different. Unbelief is skepticism triumphing, it’s a willful denial. It’s a willful rejection of what is otherwise true. Maybe I could put it like this. In the one faith is a patient wishing to get well in the other faith is a victim of willful murder. Someone deliberately willfully murders their faith and destroys their belief. That’s unbelief. But as I’ve counseled some within my own family as a pastor within the churches, I have met honest doubters come saying, “Help. I don’t want to be like this. I want to be stronger. I want to be sure about my relationship with God.”
And I think those things are important in terms of making distinctions. In fact, 1887 Henry Drummond, a friend of D.L. Moody, preached the sermon in Northfield, Massachusetts dealing with doubt. Here’s his words, I like these. “Christ never failed to distinguish between doubt and unbelief. Doubt is can’t believe, unbelief is won’t believe. Doubt is honest. Unbelief is obstinacy. Doubt is looking for light. Unbelief is content with darkness, loving darkness rather than light. That is what Christ attacked and attacked unsparingly. But for the intellectual questioning of Thomas and Philip and Nicodemus and the many others who came to him to have their great problem solved, He was respectful and generous and tolerant. But how did he meet their doubts? The church, as I have said, says brand him, Christ said, teach him. When Thomas came to him, denied his very resurrection and stood before him waiting for the scathing words and lashing for his unbelief, they never came. They never came. Christ gave him facts. Facts.” I like that. Let me make a statement having made some distinctions and it’s this that you and I will probably battle with doubt our whole life.
If you and I are in a position where we’re confident and clear about our relationship, that’s because our faith is keeping doubt at abeyance, but it’s going to be a constant battle. I like what Alister McGrath said in his book, the Sunnier Side of Doubt. He said, “Doubt is probably a permanent feature of the Christian life. A physician once remarked that life was a permanent battle against all sorts of diseases with good health being little more than an ability to keep disease at bay.” I thought that was helpful because to some degree we know that while we’re living, we’re dying, while we’re living, we’re aging and getting older. And to some degree, even in a state of health, it’s simply a state of keeping disease at bay. Disease is constantly fighting against our health. And even when we’re in a state of confident and clear faith, you and I can be sure that doubt is always trying to eat into that. And we’ll always be constantly battling with that for different reasons.
But let me say a couple of things quickly about the evolution of their doubts in terms of its fruit. As we look at the text both implicitly and explicitly, I think we see a number of things as it relates to the fruit of their doubt. And then next week we’ll look at the root of their doubt. What caused the doubt? We’ve kind of touched on it, but we’ll seek to clarify that. But how does this doubt work itself out? What does it look like in the life of these brothers? I think number one, it caused them to be joyless. It caused them to be joyless. This lack of assurance in terms of the relationship with Joseph took the smile from their face and siphoned the joy from their hearts. I would guess they looked pretty miserable and they acted out of a certain state of despair and despondency. Their faces were so long they could have tripped over their chins. No doubt about that. You see them here in a state of panic.
They’re worried, they’re joyless. The spark has gone out of their lives. I’m sure their wives noticed it back in the tents. Where are you? You’re somewhere else. They weren’t as engaged, they weren’t as enthusiastic about anything they did. And I can tell you as it relates to the physical realm. So the spiritual realm, when you and I lose our bearings in terms of our relationship with God, the first thing will go will be joy. You’ll be joyless. You’ll lack spiritual happiness because Psalm 32:1 says, “Blessed or happy is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” And when you and I know that we’ll enjoy that blessedness. But if we doubt that, then happiness and blessedness retreats.
Jesus said, didn’t He in Luke 10:20, “Rejoice that your name is written in heaven.” Again, the implication is as you and I understand, sins forgiven, transgressions covered, a name written in the Lamb’s book of life, the joy that comes from a secure love and a sense of well-being is there. But when that’s not there, it’s not there. You become joyless, you become fearful. This is certainly explicit in the text, joyless is implicit and I think the fruit of their fears. But in verse 19, Joseph says to them, doesn’t he here? “Do not be afraid.” He was very conscious that they were trembling in his presence. So much so that I believe that this story they tell of their father commanding certain things to be communicated that Joseph is fictitious. I don’t think Jacob said that at all. They were so fearful they concocted a story.
They come groveling to Joseph in verse 18 and they went and fell down before his face. It’s almost like the prodigal, you know, I’m going to go home. I’m going to offer myself as a servant. I’m going to gravel. Because you know what? We’re slow to believe grace and the prodigal goes home to find no, you’re not going to be a servant. You’re my son and your relationship with me is secure. But these guys were a bag of nerves and they had no fixedness about their faith. And it’s the same in the life of the believer. When you and I are not sure about our redemption in Christ and our relationship with God, we will become joyless.
We will waver, we will become anxious, unsettled, nervous in life, in marriage and ministry because when you and I are sure there’s a certain strength that’s given to us. Listen to the psalmist in Psalm 112:6-7, Psalm 112:6, “Surely he will never be shaken.” Speaking of the righteous man, “The righteous will be an everlasting remembrance. He will not be afraid of evil tidings. His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is established. He will not be afraid until he sees his desire upon his enemies.” But I think the old King James puts it, “His heart is fixed.”
But when you and I don’t have that assurance and fear grips the heart, we will be all over the place. Assurance brings security and certainty. They became joyless. That’s clear because they had become fearful and I think by implication again, they had become ineffective. I think you and I can be sure whether this is a momentary episode or something that’s played out over some weeks and months, which may be the case here, life was put on hold. They didn’t get round to doing very much. They didn’t focus on things too well because remember, they’re uncertain about their future.
And if you’re uncertain about your future, you can’t be productive in the present. You can’t be productive in the present if you’re uncertain about your future. And so I think decisions were put on hold. There were no new plans being made. What’s the point if it’s all going to come crashing down, as Joseph wreaks havoc in our lives and we encounter his payback, you see lack of assurance robs us of happiness and hopefulness and robs us of being helpful. We need to be sure about our relationship with God if we’re going to be effective in our walk with God or our work for God.
David had to be given that assurance right in Psalm 51. And as he comes to terms with the certainty of God’s forgiveness, he’s able to say, you know what? Then I’ll be able to turn sinners back to you. Jesus says to Peter, “Look after I’ve converted you, after you come back, then you’re going to strengthen the brethren.” But how would he strengthen the brethren if he’s in a state of uncertainty himself? The brothers had become tepid and the brothers had become timid. And you and I will live life more purposefully and serve God more eagerly and be more effective in all that we do. If we’re sure that we’re sure about God’s forgiveness and God’s favor for our lives, what encouragement it brings.
You may know this, but things began to slow down in the building of the Golden Gate Bridge, 1937 because as that engineering wonder was being constructed, and if you’ve stood on that bridge, it is a breathtaking experience both to stand on it or stand on either side of the banks and look at it. But a number of men had fallen to their death in the cold waters of the San Francisco Bay. And so it was making the workers rather tepid and timid and production began to slow down. And so the managers and the manufacturers of this bridge came up with an idea and they spent $100,000 to put a safety net under the sections where the men were working. Cost them $100,000. But it was a good investment because once that was constructed, it is said that production went up 25%.
A few men fell but they fell into the net. They didn’t fall to their death and with a sense of security, they were much more productive the same with you and with I. As we wrap up tonight, just making a start in this, we’ve looked at the evolution of their doubts. We’ve looked at the fruit of their doubts. Next week we’ll get to the root of their doubts. Let me just close with some, maybe just some basic reflections that you and I can reflect on. How doubt might be worming its way into our lives and working its way out into our lives. What might be some of those reasons? I think sometimes we doubt because of unrepentant sin and when you and I are unrepentant and not humble and broken about our sin, we grieve the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t cease to indwell us, but I think a sense of intimacy and His empowerment is not our experience.
And so if you and I are feeling that distance with God, it’s because we’re not keeping short accounts with God. I think sometimes it’s because of spiritual laziness. Peter says, “Doesn’t He make every effort, give diligence to your faith, adding to it and making your calling into action?” Sure there are means to grace concerning our assurance. We’ll get into some of those over the next couple of studies, but we need to grapple with the promises of God’s word. We need to understand our justification in Jesus Christ. We need to understand the sealing of the Spirit. We need to understand the immutable nature of God’s character and therefore His commitment to His people. You and I need to pray. We need to be filled by the Spirit. We need to come boldly to the throne of grace with a heart and a faith of full assurance.
There are things we need to do and spiritual laziness leaves us vulnerable to the attack of doubt. Sometimes it’s the work of Satan because one of his titles in the Bible is what, the Accuser of the brethren, he likes to play with our head. He likes to dredge up our old sins and say, “How can you be a believer?” He had done that. He did that one night in the life of Martin Luther. If you go to a room in Germany, you’ll find a stain of ink on the wall because as Luther wrestled with Satan, he threw an inkwell at him. Not that he was physically there, but he rebuked Satan. He threw an inkwell hit the wall. And he went on to say that, “Those sins that you’re dredging up have been covered in the blood of Jesus Christ.” Luther’s not the only one that’s struggled with Satan as he comes to accuse, remind us of our old sins.
Sometimes it’s a loss of focus through trying circumstances and we’re driven by feeling rather than faith. And in a momentary feeling, we sense God’s absence. We become confused and disoriented. His life takes an ugly turn and it takes us a while to get our heads straight, to get to that place that Isaiah talks about where God will keep us in perfect pieces. Our mind is fixed or steady and sometimes we lose our focus in the midst of trying circumstances. And you’ll find those are the times when you begin to doubt and question and become anxious. And then one other thing, I think childhood conversion affects are assurance. I find this to be true in some counseling situations. The younger in life a person is converted, the more likely they are to doubt the veracity of that for a couple of reasons because to some degree the remembrance of that is difficult and often is confirmed by those that witnessed it rather than by the person dramatically or decidedly remembering it.
And also because their growth is a rather slower, less dramatic growth in grace. And to some degree they can’t measure these profound changes in dramatic aspects of conversion. It can eat away at their assurance and their faith and they begin to doubt whether it was real. Was it authentic? These are some of the causes of doubt. But may we, by God’s grace and through the means of grace and perhaps even this study, remind ourselves that God does not want us to be a question mark bent over in doubt with our head hung low. He wants us to be an exclamation mark standing erect with our heads held high, strengthened by a God-produced confidence and faith in Him saved without a doubt. That’s what God wants for each of us. Is there anything greater than being saved? Yes, being saved and knowing that you’re saved anything greater than being saved and knowing that you’re saved.
Yes. Being saved, knowing that you’re saved and being sure that you can’t lose your salvation. Lord, we thank you for the beginning of this study. We thank you. It finds an echo in each of our hearts because as we’ve been reminded tonight, we will all at some point battle with doubt. It’s a permanent feature of the Christian life. We live in a world of unbelief, constantly trying to press in upon us, rob us of our joy, make us skeptical about our faith or the authenticity of the Word of God. And Lord, we realize if we are to be in a state of spiritual health, we’re going to have to fight for our health. Like we have to fight for our physical well-being. We’re going to have to exercise ourselves on the godliness. We’re going to have to watch the intake of our minds and hearts.
We’re going to have to allow ourselves to be coached by the Holy Spirit, that He would put us through certain experiences of faith that will strengthen us and build spiritual muscle. God, we thank you tonight. There is a distinction between a lack of assurance and security. Even at those times when we have doubted Your love, there has been no doubt on Your part concerning Your love for us. But God, help us to be sure about the fact we can be sure these things are written, that you who believe in Jesus Christ might know that you have eternal life. Lord, we pray that agnosticism will be no part of our Christian experience and these things we ask and pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.