Open the Bible

Colin Smith: How then can you grow in faith? How can you make progress? We desire that you'll all have the full assurance of hope. Now how can each one of us, wherever we are in terms of our experience of the journey, how can we know more of this assurance, this joy, this confidence in regards to our own relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ?

Steve Hiller: Welcome to *Open the Bible* with Pastor Colin Smith. Colin, those are some pretty big and relevant questions that just got thrown out. You know what my question to you then is going to be.

I know what you're going to ask me. You're going to say, what's the answer? And I'm going to say this is what the program is about. The entire message today answers these questions. We're in the book of Hebrews, and we're in chapter 6, and we're looking at the subject of assurance. It's a really important, wonderful, and very, very practical subject. How can I have greater confidence that I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ?

Hebrews 6 gives some very clear directions as to how we can grow in our confidence that we really are His. So I hope that the program today is going to be really encouraging, especially for the Christian who sometimes doubts and says, well, I believe that Jesus is a great Savior, but I'm not really sure if I'm one of His. Here's how you can grow, and it's all in Hebrews chapter 6.

If you can, grab a Bible and join us there as we actually go to a chapel service at Taylor University where Pastor Colin was the speaker during their spiritual renewal week. Here he is as we continue the message, "Doubting."

Colin Smith: Why is it that some people struggle with doubt and with various fears in the Christian life more than others? Why is it that the degree of assurance that Christians experience varies significantly? There are a number of factors, and I think you may find it helpful just to give them some consideration.

The first is that your temperament will in some degree likely affect your experience of assurance. Some people find it very hard to be sure about anything. If that is your nature, then it should not surprise you that you find it difficult to be sure in regards to your salvation and that you have many questions about yourself and that you find yourself doubting.

And then secondly, how you came to faith may affect your experience in regards to assurance. Some among us here tonight will have a very clear, marked, and decisive conversion. You know where you were, when it was that you came to faith in Jesus, and there was a marked difference between the person you were before and the person you have become since your coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

But for others of us, and this would be true also in the experience of many, your story is much more gradual. God formed faith in you over a period of time, and you can't pinpoint a decisive moment, and sometimes that bothers you. It makes you wonder, am I the real deal or is there actually something missing from me?

Now, if that's your position, then it's very important for you to remember that your simple and very gradual conversion is a miracle of grace. So thank God for what He has done in your life and resist the temptation to compare your story with the more dramatic experiences that others of your brothers and sisters may have had.

And then thirdly, trying to identify some factors as to why experiences of assurance vary, a third factor very obviously is that the strength of your faith will be a factor in your experience of assurance. Remember that Jesus spoke about great faith. "I've not seen such great faith in all of Israel," He said in regards to the centurion. And then once to the disciples, He said, "Oh, you of little faith."

So the more your faith grows, the more assurance you are going to enjoy. Growing, strengthening faith will lead into a greater experience and joy in regards to assurance. Now how then can you grow in faith? How can you make progress? We desire that you'll all have the full assurance of hope.

Now how can each one of us, wherever we are in terms of our experience of the journey, how can we know more of this assurance, this joy, this confidence in regards to our own relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, let me point out these three things very simply from Hebrews chapter 6.

First, there is a life for you to pursue. Verse 10: "God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for His name in serving the saints as you still do." We saw earlier that the writer of Hebrews was confident that these believers were genuine Christians. "We feel sure of better things in regards to you." Now why was he sure of better things?

Well, this verse is telling us. God is not so unjust as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown in serving the saints as you still do. So the writer is sure that these people to whom he is now speaking, though they may have many doubts, they really are true Christians, genuine believers. Why?

Because he sees the marks of it in them: their work, their love, and their serving of the saints. He sees the fruit of genuine faith in their lives, and that's why he's confident that they're not drifting and they're certainly not defiant. They may be doubting, but they are true believers. They have genuine faith, even if they do not have great assurance.

And so verse 11: "We desire that each one of you will show the same earnestness to have this full assurance of hope until the end." Now notice the phrase, "show the same earnestness." In other words, this assurance is a goal for you to go after. It's something for you to pursue. It is a life to which God calls you and you will grow in assurance as you pursue the life to which God is calling you.

And the more the distinguishing marks of a genuine believer grow and develop in your life, the more confident you will be that you really are one of Christ's sheep. And the Apostle John, as some of you will know well, draws out this theme: the distinctive marks by which a genuine believer is known.

For example, 1 John 2:3: "By this we know that we've come to know Him," you see that's assurance there, "if we keep His commandments." 1 John 3:14: "We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brothers." That's a distinguishing mark of a person who has genuine faith. Or 1 John 4:15: "Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, well, God abides in him and he in God." So here again is a distinguishing mark of a genuine believer.

At this point, someone may well be thinking, I'm not sure this is going to help me, because I do love other Christians but probably not as much as I should, and I've certainly got a long way to go when it comes to keeping God's commandments. But please remember, friends, that these marks of grace are here to help us.

You may not be able to see them in the degree to which you would like in your life, but if you can find even one of them in your life, then you have reason to say, by God's grace, I am one of Christ's sheep. Jesus said, "By their fruits you shall know them." How many blackberries do you need to find on a bush before you could say with some kind of confidence, that's a blackberry bush?

It's not a hundred. You pick one, you taste it, you say, that's a blackberry bush. So you can see even the beginnings of evidence of these things in your life. You've got reason for encouragement. That's what's been given to us here. It's reason for encouragement. Are you seeking to follow Christ? You say yes. Well, you must be one of Christ's sheep, because He identifies His sheep as those who follow Him, and this is what you most want to do.

Do you love your brothers and sisters in Christ? Well, if you have even the beginning of love for your brothers and sisters in Christ, the life of Christ must be in you, because the scripture says that this is how we know that we really belong to Him. Do you want to live a life that is pleasing to God?

Remember, defiant would say, absolutely not, I don't want anything to do with that. But if you're here tonight and you're saying I really do want to live a life that is pleasing to God, well, how did that come about? I'll tell you how it came about. The Holy Spirit has got hold of you and He indwells you, and He's producing that desire in your heart.

Steve Hiller: You're listening to *Open the Bible* with Pastor Colin Smith, and we've been looking at how you can grow in faith and assurance and seeing how there is a life for you to pursue. We'll continue to look at this in just a moment.

But if you miss any broadcast in our series entitled "Faith That Lasts," you can come and listen online. Our website is openthebible.org. You can stream the program or download an MP3 for free. Again, that's at openthebible.org. Another way to listen is through the *Open the Bible* app. You'll find that for free at your App Store, and it's basically listening on demand whenever it fits your schedule. Or you can order a copy of this entire series, "Faith That Lasts," on CD. Ask about that when you call us at 1-877-OPEN-365. That's 1-877-673-6365, or you'll find ordering information online at openthebible.org.

Well, I have just a moment. I want to let you know about a new podcast that is just released this month. It's called *Hike Through the Bible*, and Pastor Colin takes us on a 50-podcast journey all the way through the Bible story from Genesis to Revelation. It's for anyone who wants to understand the Bible story better and love Jesus more. I hope you'll check it out. You can look for *Hike Through the Bible* anywhere you get your podcasts or visit our website, openthebible.org/hike.

*Open the Bible* is able to make this program, the podcast, the app, everything we do available because of your generosity. So thank you for giving to and supporting this ministry. You can give a gift online at openthebible.org or over the phone when you call 1-877-OPEN-365. Let's get back to the message. Again, here's Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: Now, remember, the questions we're dealing with here are not how you can be saved, but how you can be sure, and they are very different questions. This is important. You are saved by grace through faith. Salvation is God's gift to you and your part is simply to receive it with hands that are open. That's what faith is: a hand open to receive what God freely gives.

But your assurance will grow as you follow Christ in a life of love and in a life of service. So pursue the life to which He is calling you. Verse 11: "Show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." Go after following Jesus and your assurance will grow.

Second, there is a promise for you to believe. There's a life for you to pursue and there is a promise for you to believe. Notice what he says, verse 13: "For when God made a promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater by whom to swear, He swore by Himself, saying, surely I will bless you and multiply you."

Now the promise referred to here, the promise to Abraham, is the promise where God said, I will bless you and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. I'll bless you and in your offspring, singular, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. The offspring, of course, is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ, and so the blessing that is promised to Abraham belongs to everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, when you struggle with doubt, when fears gain a grip within your life, you will not find it easy to believe that God is for you. A little voice in the back of your conscience will keep going off like an alarm saying to you, God's out to get you. Anytime suffering comes into your life, you say, it must be that God's taking it out on you, and so forth and so on.

But God wants you to have full assurance in regards to His love towards you, and that is why He has guaranteed His promise of blessing in Christ with an oath. An oath. Verse 17: "So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise," that's us, "the unchangeable nature of His purpose, He guaranteed it with an oath."

Let's pause for a moment, try and take this in. God never needs to take an oath. His word is His bond. It's impossible for Him to lie. But we live in a world where people lie all the time and break promises all the time, and so it's hard for us to believe even when God speaks.

And so God did what we do. He did what we do when we want to establish truth beyond any question. He guaranteed His word with an oath. Now in a court of law, when you take an oath with your hand on the Bible, you call on God to witness what you are saying.

In taking an oath, what you're really saying, you put the hand on the Bible and you swear by Almighty God, what you're saying is this: let God Himself come down on me if what I say now is not true. That's what it means to take an oath. Now when we take an oath, of course, we swear by one greater than ourselves. That's why we swear in the name of Almighty God taking an oath.

But no one's greater than God. So when God takes an oath, He could only swear by Himself because there is no higher authority. What that means is this: God put Himself on the line for His promise. In effect, God said, let Me fall under My own judgment if I do not bless you.

Of course, you'll see immediately that in a very profound way, that is exactly what happened. That in Jesus Christ, God places Himself under His own judgment in order that the blessing that He has promised will be yours. And so Jesus Christ Himself became the guarantee of God's promise to bless you and through Him, you can be sure of God's blessing forever and forever.

So what this means is that your assurance, your enjoyment of the journey will grow as you believe God's promise, as your eyes are fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ. So pursue the life to which God calls you and believe the promise in Jesus Christ that God has given you, that's sealed right there in His cross. God is for you. He gave His own Son. How will He not also along with Him graciously give you all things?

And then the very last thing briefly is simply this: there is an anchor that will always hold you. Here's how assurance can grow, and especially if you struggle with many fears, here's what you need to feed yourself on. There's a life for you to pursue, there is a promise in Christ for you to believe, and there is an anchor that will always hold you.

Verse 19: "We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf." Now imagine a man standing on the bow of a yacht with a chain in his hand and you ask him what he's doing and he says, "I'm holding onto the anchor."

Well, you would say, "Wait a minute, isn't the anchor supposed to hold onto you?" And this is the point that is being made by Hebrews. In verse 18, God calls us to hold fast to the hope that's set before us, and we do this by trusting the unchanging promises that are ours in the Lord Jesus Christ.

But now Hebrews tells us that Jesus Himself is our sure and steadfast anchor. So remember as you are holding onto Jesus in faith, the bigger truth is that Jesus Christ in all of the strength of His might is holding onto you. That's your anchorage.

And notice that the anchor is behind the curtain where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf. In other words, the author is talking about heaven where Jesus is. Now an anchor, of course, normally goes down. This is a gravity-defying anchor that goes up, and so we are anchored to heaven itself. That's what we're being told by Jesus Christ and the very fact that He is there for us at the right hand of the Father.

Now try and take this in these last moments. Right now, Jesus Christ, your risen Savior, is in heaven at the right hand of the Father and He is there for you. He died to save you. He lives to keep you, and He will never, never, never let you go.

And your entrance into heaven, brother, sister in Christ, is as sure as the fact that Jesus is already there. Your faith in Him may be very weak, but His hold on you is very, very strong, and your arrival in heaven does not depend on the strength of your faith or the depth of your assurance; it depends on the strength of your Savior.

One little story and then we're through. The first winter that our family ever came here from Great Britain, we decided after Christmas we'd go exploring and we went north from Chicago where we live, up into Wisconsin and stopped at a little place called Fond du Lac. It was absolutely perishing cold. Coldest I've ever been in my life, I think. 20 below zero.

We decided we'd get out and have a look, and our boys who were 10 and 8 at the time, got out and said, "Hey Dad, can we go on the ice?" And you've got to understand that parents aren't always concentrating and sometimes just say whatever they've always said before. And in the UK, there's ice, but it's usually pretty thin, and so we're always cautious.

So I said spontaneously, what I would always have said: "Yeah, sure, go on the ice, but be careful." And so these guys, being very obedient or being very careful and cautious, going out there and then their mother comes and then I'm coming and you know what happens next. Just over the brow of the hill, there's this 4x4 vehicle comes roaring with at least six students packed into it, right out into the middle of the lake.

Here we are, four foreigners. We didn't have a whole lot of confidence. We were absolutely secure, because security doesn't depend ultimately on the degree of confidence you have; it depends on the strength of that in which you put your trust. Your salvation, thank God, does not depend on the strength of your faith, but on the strength of your Savior.

Steve Hiller: What an encouraging truth that is. Your salvation doesn't depend on your strength but on the strength of your Savior. You're listening to *Open the Bible* with Pastor Colin Smith. Our message has been called "Doubting." It's really a message all about the assurance that we can have in a relationship with Jesus Christ, how we can know that our salvation is secure.

If you want to go back and listen to this again, you can do that when you come to our website, openthebible.org. You can stream the program or download an MP3 for free. You can also listen through the *Open the Bible* app, which you'll find for free at your App Store.

Well, what if you could go on a hike with Pastor Colin and go all the way through the Bible story, see how it all fits together and how it all points to Jesus? Well, now you can with the new podcast, *Hike Through the Bible*.

Yeah, and this is for everyone who wants to understand the Bible better and for everyone who wants to love Jesus more. In each episode, I'll read a chapter from my book, *Hike Through the Bible*, and then I'll discuss it with some friends. A new episode releases every week, and so you can take this hike at a gentle pace. In a year, you'll have covered the entire Bible story. I really hope that you'll join me on this journey, and it's not too late to get started now.

So you can subscribe to the *Hike Through the Bible* podcast for free wherever you get your podcasts, and you'll find more information at openthebible.org/hike. That's openthebible.org/hike.

Well, thank you, Colin. Thank you for listening today. For Pastor Colin Smith, I'm Steve Hiller. I hope you'll join us next time. This program is a listener-supported production of *Open the Bible*.

Colin Smith: Everyone has questions about heaven, but the question that matters most is how do you get there? Many people have the idea that if a person was to get into heaven, they'd get there by living a good enough life. Well, the thief on the cross hadn't lived a good enough life, and he wasn't in a position to start living a good life. But Jesus said to him, "Today you will be with me in paradise."

Well, if the thief could get into heaven, so can you. "Heaven, How I Got Here" is a compelling 60-minute film in which Stephen Baldwin portrays the thief on the cross in a one-person play. Many have found that this story opens their eyes to the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and to the hope of heaven.

You can watch the "Heaven, How I Got Here" film for free on the *Open the Bible* website. For more information, visit openthebible.org/heaven. That's openthebible.org/heaven.