Skip to content Guaranteed Assured Faith Dec 2 · 49 min ...more
Guaranteed Assured Faith
December 2, 2024 · 49 min
Discover how to have unwavering confidence in your salvation, based on the truth that Jesus Christ is our sole savior.
Series Stay The Course December 2, 2024 · 49 min · Stay The Course
Discover how to have unwavering confidence in your salvation, based on the truth that Jesus Christ is our sole savior. ...more Show the full description Show less Discover how to have unwavering confidence in your salvation, based on the truth that Jesus Christ is our sole savior.
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139K followers
Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub serves as president of Pastor Jeff Ministries, a national and global ministry designed to equip believers and challenge them to take
139K followers
Assurance of Salvation 0:00 And amen. I wanna talk to you today about how you can have the assurance of your salvation. I wanna talk to you about how you can have the assurance of your salvation. We've just started a new series0:11 called Stay the Course, and last week we talked about what real saving faith was. That real saving faith is believing that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. That he and he alone is the only 1 who can0:23 save you from your sins. That God the father sent the son to be the savior of the world. And who did he come for? He came for dead, wicked people. If you don't see yourself as dead and wicked, you have no need for a0:35 savior. It's only when you recognize that you're dead, and that you're dead apart from him, and that you're wicked in your sin, you have a need for a savior. And by placing your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, you can0:46 be saved. When we turn from our sin and turn to Christ, we can be saved. And yet, for so many people, even in the church who have done that, they live without an assurance of their salvation.0:58 Assurance means this, you know that you know that you know that you know that you're safe. Nobody has to tell you that you're safe. You you know deep down that you're safe. And even if you would say, I know that I'm1:09 safe. There's a lot of people around you that they don't know that they know that they know. They'll ask you questions like this. How do I know that I'm really saved? I mean, I prayed the prayer like 4 35 times. I just1:20 am not sure. And there's a number of reasons why people don't experience the assurance of their faith. Some people attend church where the holiness of God is put on display, which is great, but there's no grace to1:30 accompany that. And so they leave every week feeling like, I'll never measure up. There's no way I'm good enough for God. Other churches preach the grace of God. No matter what you do, God loves you, but there's no1:40 you're just living in your sinful life asking for grace, but you don't feel good because you're not living the life that God requires. Some people have an oversensitive conscience and they they say, I got saved, but I1:46 just feel so bad when I sinned and maybe I'm not really saved anymore. All these different kinds of1:58 things. And we could highlight several of them. But what I want you to know today is that you can walk out of here with guaranteed assurance of your faith. And how is it that you can have it? And I'm not talking about2:08 just in your head. I'm talking about in your experience that you know that you know that you know that you've been saved. And there's nothing more important than that. Because if you live this life knowing that you know2:20 that you know, you'll live different. You'll make decisions different. You'll raise your family different. You'll live your job different. Everything will change in you because you know that the God of the universe is2:29 walking with you. And so today, I wanna talk about guaranteed assured faith. How you can have it, and if you have it, how you can share that with other people. And to do that this morning, we're gonna be in the book of2:40 second Peter chapter 1 starting in verse 5. And while you're turning to second Peter chapter 1 and verse 5, let me just set it up. Because last week when we talked about salvation, we talked about these divine and2:50 precious promises that God has given us, and how he's given us everything we need for life and for godliness. That in Christ, we have it all. That when we're born again, God has given us everything3:02 we need for this life. And with that in mind, let's jump ahead. Let's read verses 5 through 11, and then we'll unpack them together. He says, for these he has granted to us his precious andGrowing in Faith 3:13 magnificent promises, so that by them to you you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Verse 5. Now for this reason also applying all diligence in your3:25 faith, supply moral excellence. And in your moral excellence, knowledge. And in your knowledge, self control. And in your self control, perseverance. And in your perseverance, godliness. And in your godliness,3:36 brotherly kindness. And in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For3:48 he who lacks these qualities is blind or short sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling and4:00 choosing you. For as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble. For in this way, the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ will4:12 be abundantly supplied to you. And there, the apostle Peter, through the power of the Holy Spirit, at the end of his life, as he's writing to believers, encouraging them how they4:24 can be assured of their salvation, really highlights 4 ways that we're gonna talk about this morning that you can have guaranteed assured faith. That you can live your life knowing that you know4:36 that you know that you know. So if people were to ask you, are you going to heaven? You would say, I'm a hundred percent. I'm more sure that I'll be in heaven with Jesus, than I'll make it through the day. I I I know4:46 that I know that I know. And how do you know that? He's gonna give us 4 ways. The first is this. To have guaranteed assured faith, you must tenaciously work to mature your faith in Christ.4:58 You need to tenaciously work to mature your faith in Christ. Notice what he says at the start of verse 5. He says, now for this very reason, for the very reason that you're saved, also applying all diligence in your5:10 faith. Well, what's all diligence? That's eagerness. That is making every effort. That is to grow, to develop, to advance, to continue, to do your best, to make sure, to ensure.5:22 When you're born again through repentance and faith, that's just the start. Now what the Lord is telling us through the Apostle Peter is, once you've gotten started, prioritize it. Give every effort to5:34 it. Give your life to this. Like, grow in this. Don't stop. Don't stagnate. Don't stay where you are. Make every effort to grow. When we're saved, we repent5:46 and we believe the gospel. We're saved from the penalty of sin. But did you know that God, throughout your life, wants to deliver you from the power of sin? Stay where you're at? That there's a growth track that he has5:56 for you. He's saying give all diligence to that. Grow in that. Learn how to live that out. And then 1 day, not only are we6:07 delivered from the penalty and the power of sin, but 1 day, when we meet Jesus Christ face to face, we'll be delivered from the presence of sin. Amen? There won't be sin in your life or in anybody else's around you, and6:18 the only thing you'll know is how to glorify God and love other people, and it will come as natural as breathing to you. Amen? And so wherever you are, when you begin this journey with Christ, make every effort6:30 to continue your journey in faith. Faith is not a 1 time decision to say, I believe Jesus died and rose again. That's your initial faith decision, accompanied by hundreds6:42 upon thousands upon tens of thousands of faith decisions for the rest of your life. So continue to grow. If you wanna have assurance of your faith, keep taking steps of faith. At Brave, we use6:54 the word bold. The b stands for being bold in your faith. It means take the next step of faith. If you think about your life as fully orbed, where is God calling you to take a step of faith? Is it in your family?7:06 Is it with your spouse? Is it as a single? Is it in your dating life? Is it in your job? Is it with your money? Is it in your career? Is it with your employees? Is it with your boss? Where do you need to trust God more7:16 now? And isn't it interesting when you hear the word of God proclaimed or you're reading or studying it for yourself that the Holy Spirit has a way of putting his finger right on where you need to take that step of7:27 faith? Here's what you need to do. Here's what you need to here's who you need to forgive. Here's why you need to forgive him. You need to bless that person, encourage that person. All those different things are taking7:36 steps of faith. Be diligent and be eager to take those steps of faith. Don't think of faith as 1 and done. I prayed that, I did that, it's over, now I'm gonna go live my life. No. If you wanna have the assurance of your7:48 salvation, continue to grow in it. And the reason for that is there's plenty of scriptures that will highlight the fact that if you're saved, you're saved. There's plenty of scriptures that will tell you that if you7:59 belong to God, you'll always belong to God. But what the Bible wants us to understand, what Jesus wants you to understand, it's not enough to just know in your head, it's he wants you to know it in your experience.8:11 Here's some verses that you can write down. In Philippians chapter 1 and verse 6, he says, Now to him who began a good work in you, may he bring it to completion until the day of Jesus Christ. In other words, what God8:21 started, he's going to finish. Or how about 1 of my favorite passages, as Jesus is talking in John chapter 10 about being the good shepherd and how the sheep know his voice. In John chapter 10 verses 28 and8:33 29, he says, and I, Jesus, give eternal life to them, and they will never perish, and no 1 will snatch them out of my hand. My father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no 18:44 is able to snatch them out of my father's hand. I and the father are 1. What is Jesus saying? For those that I grant eternal life to, I hold in my hand. And those I grant eternal life to, my father holds in his hand.8:57 And no 1 can take believers out of my hand. If you've been given the gift of salvation, you cannot lose it. So the Bible teaches you belong to9:08 Jesus. Or how about this verse, First John chapter 5, verses 11, 12, and 13? It doesn't get any clearer than this in the New Testament. First John chapter 5 verse9:20 11. And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his son. He who has the son has the life. He who does not have the son does not have the9:32 life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you will know that you have eternal life. Now he's talking about knowing, he's not talking about knowing here. He's talking9:41 about knowing in your experience of the person of Jesus that you'll know that you know that you know that you know. So the scripture teaches it, but there's more than just hearing it, there's putting9:53 it into practice so you can experience it. Amen? And he's saying, be diligent about continuing to take steps of faith, because the more steps of faith that you take, the more you will see Jesus10:04 show up. Think about this verse. Most of us think of salvation as a decision we make, and then we get to go to heaven. But that's not the gospel. The gospel says in Colossians 1 27 that the gospel is Christ10:16 in you, the hope of glory. Did you know that when you are born again, when you repent of your sin and trust Jesus, that the holy spirit of God comes in and dwells you? And Romans eight:nine says, if you do not have the10:26 spirit of Christ, you are not of Christ. Every believer has the spirit of God indwelling them. That's the good news. The gospel is God in you. No other faith even comes close to saying that's what the gospel10:38 is. It's Christ in you, the hope of glory. And that's why everything in the Bible is all about taking what God has put in you and working it out. That's why Philippians 2 12 says, work out your salvation with fear and10:49 trembling. Don't work for your salvation. You can't earn your salvation. You can't get yourself saved. But if you are saved, and the spirit of God is in you, work that out. Let the spirit of God have11:01 his way with you. As we say in this pulpit all the time, Jesus did not come to be resident, but president. Let him have his way. Let him rule your life in every single area. Amen?11:14 And it's really interesting because what we recognize is, is when the Holy Spirit comes into your life, he doesn't make you do anything. He will prompt you. He will direct you.11:26 He will convict you. He will clarify things. He will show you things, but you still have volition and will to choose whether you're gonna partner with what he does or not. So the spirit's spirit's11:38 power is only unleashed in partnership with my willingness. If I choose not to, if I'm listening to a message and the Holy Spirit prompts me, I need to forgive somebody, or I need to be more11:50 generous with my money, or I need to go encourage somebody, doesn't mean I'm automatically gonna do that. I can not listen to what he says. I can do what the bible calls I can grieve the holy spirit. He's wanting me12:02 to do what Christ wants, and I don't wanna do what Christ wants. And all of us have a testimony where at times we've grieved the holy spirit. I can resist the holy spirit. The bible tells us not to resist the holy12:11 spirit. It tells us to resist the devil, and he'll flee from us or oppose the devil. But sometimes, the holy spirit's been prompting us for a long time to do something, and we're like, I am not doing that. That's12:23 resistance. I can resist him. And if I resist him long enough, I can quench him. Yeah, I can silence that voice in my life, because I'm just gonna do my own thing until I'm ready to come back to him and say, okay, I'm12:35 willing to do what you want me to do. And this is why the grace of God is so important. We talked about multiplied grace and peace last week, but the way it gets multiplied is God wants to give it to you, but you have to12:45 respond to it. The Apostle Paul said it this way in First Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 10. In first Corinthians 15 verse 10, Paul was talking about how powerful the grace of God was. He said,12:57 by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace toward me did not prove in vain. Paul says, the only reason I'm able to do what I do is Christ. He's given me grace. It's by grace I've been saved through faith. It's13:09 not my own doing, it's a gift. And however, what does he say next? But I labored even more than all of them. I worked at this. I prioritized this. I was allowing the13:20 spirit to come out of my life in every instant. I was letting Christ lead my life in all relationships. I labored more than any of them, but not I. Rather, it was the grace of God that was with me.13:33 So even when I'm prioritizing my relationship with Christ, it's Christ that's working through me. That's the gospel. The gospel is not about making bad people good or good people better. The bible the gospel is about13:43 making dead people alive, and then those people who are alive in Christ through the Holy Spirit, allow the Holy Spirit to take over all sorts of areas in their life, and rule and reign in ways that you wouldn't have13:55 allowed to happen before. And that is what's called growing in your faith. That's why I pray every time before I preach, that you would hear the Lord and whatever he shows you, you would by faith put it into practice.Christ-like Virtues 14:07 Because I could preach this message today. And some of you need to go home and make a change in your marriage. And some of you need to go home make a change in your dating life. And somebody need to go home and make a14:16 change with your finances, and somebody need to call somebody on the phone and ask their forgiveness, and somebody need to go forgive somebody else. You hear all of those things even when I don't say any of those things14:25 because the spirit of God is showing you what you taking a step of faith looks like. Amen? You need to prioritize that. You wanna go and grow in Christ when the Lord shows you what to do? Just do it.14:37 You don't need to pray about it. You don't need to ask all your friends. You don't need to call people on the phone. Hey, should I forgive that person? Yes. Generous with my money? Yes. Should I be more kind to other14:46 people? Yes. Prioritize your faith. Make it central to all you're doing in your life. That the 1 centrality of what you're gonna do is take steps of faith and continue to grow. Amen?14:58 Now with that as a baseline for what you're going to do, this is how you can begin to experience more and more of the assurance of your faith. So it starts with tenaciously working to mature your faith and it15:10 continues. If you're gonna have guaranteed assured faith, you must pursue a variety of Christ like virtues. You must pursue a variety of Christ like virtues. And15:21 what you're gonna see here is a list of 7 different things. Now, I don't want you to think about it as, oh my goodness, here comes the list. This, then this, then They're not stacked. They're not like stair steps. Notice15:33 what the Bible says. It says this in verse 5. In your faith, supply. He's gonna talk about supplying things. That word supply means to add. The15:45 Greek word has the idea of choreography, or what you're gonna put together. Like, all of these things need to be part of your life. It's not working on 1 of them, and then the next,15:57 and then the next. If faith is central, all 7 of these things are coming out of your faith. You can work on them all simultaneously. You want to grow in each 1 of these. As you grow in each 1 of these, you're gonna know16:09 in your heart that you belong to the Lord. You're gonna see a difference in your life as you prioritize. So let's walk through these 7. Now Now, the first 5 of these 7 are gonna be about your relationship with the Lord.16:20 Because remember, just to keep things simple, in Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 4, Hero Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is 1. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind. Law?16:31 What is it? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And the second is like and love your neighbor as yourself. You can sum up the entire Bible understanding this, that ministry,16:44 service to the Lord is relationships. It's a relationship with God that translates into relationship with everybody else. You get your relationship with God right that translates into relationship with everybody else,16:53 you got the whole thing. So these first 5 of the 7 are gonna be about your relationship with God. So So what he's gonna say is, in your faith, he's gonna supply what? Supply moral excellence. 117:05 of the ways that you're gonna know that you're saved is when you start supplying moral excellence. Moral excellence was a Greek word for outstanding goodness. If you were exceptional at equality, you were considered to17:17 have moral excellence. It's really overall goodness. The way I would say it in our vernacular is there's demonstrable difference in your life now than when you first got saved. If you17:28 have moral excellence, you're living differently in the different areas of your life than you were prior to getting saved. I remember I I was preaching at a church in my hometown17:40 when I was in my thirties. It had been about 12 or 13 years since I was in high school. And as I finished preaching, I came down off the platform and I was greeted by a guy that I played high school baseball with.17:52 And he was standing there with his wife. And I looked at him and said, hey. And I told him his name. And the first words out of his mouth were, what in the world happened to you? I'm like, what18:04 are you talking about? He goes, you're not the same guy I went to high school with. And I won't tell you what he told his brother I was, but he was looking at me and I'm like, well, Jesus, because for the last 12 years18:13 since I met you, I've been trying to take steps of faith with him. Not perfect ones, but I'm definitely different than I was when I knew you. And my thought life is different than when I knew you, and my behaviors are18:24 definitely different than I knew because I'm different now. If you're truly saved and you take steps of faith, you won't look the same 10 years from now that you do now. You can't. It's called growing in Christ,18:36 and there's demonstrable evidence for you and for people who have known you, you're different. That's moral excellence. It's pursuing the virtue of Christ. I wanna be more Christ like.18:48 Do you have that in your life? Because if you begin to have that in your life increasingly, you'll know he has a hold of you, because you start making decisions that you say, I would have never made that decision before.18:58 I would have never done this before. I wouldn't have gone that way before. I wouldn't have handled it this way before, but because Christ is in me, I'm different now. And that's a testimony for every true believer in19:09 Christ. Amen? It's moral excellence. So that's 1 of them. Starting with your faith, take steps of faith in moral excellence. Notice what else he says. He says, and in your moral excellence, knowledge.19:20 Knowledge is not just cognitive. Knowledge is understanding and experiencing the person of Jesus Christ. Knowledge is not a classroom. A classroom is different than experience. You19:32 can take a class on golf and shoot par every single time without ever picking up a club. But if you go pick up a club for the first time, you won't shoot par. I have 2 children that have gone through driver's ed that19:44 aced it. I can attest, just because you ace driver's ed in a classroom does not mean that you know how to drive. Right? What he's talking about here is you can go to church your whole19:55 life and pack yourself with knowledge, but if you don't put it into practice with experiencing the person of Jesus, you can't grow. It's growing in Christ. It's not how much you know, it's how20:07 well are you demonstrating that. That's why I loved being a youth pastor, because I loved watching teenagers walk with Jesus in a way that their parents weren't even walking with Jesus, and they were more mature in the20:19 faith than their parents. Even though their parents may have had more biblical knowledge, they had more experiential knowledge of the person of Jesus. So I'm here to tell you, it doesn't matter your age, it matters how20:29 you put into practice what the Lord shows you. Amen? That's growing in knowledge. Pride is when you're around somebody and they make you feel bad for your lack of biblical knowledge. Don't hang out with people like that.20:40 That's prideful. Knowledge puffs up. Love builds up. Get around people that encourage you to grow with the person of Jesus. So in your moral excellence, knowledge. Then he says now,20:52 and in your knowledge, self control. Self control. In Galatians chapter 5, it talks about the fruit of the spirit. There's 1 fruit, it's 9 sections. Love, joy, peace, patience,21:04 kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control. I miss gentleness. Gentleness too. But self control is the last 1. This understanding of self control was used for athletes, for self restraint,21:16 self discipline. Paul used it in first Corinthians 9. He said, I beat my body and make it a slave. If you're walking with the Lord, there will be times and there will be evidences that the Holy Spirit is restraining you21:28 from doing something, saying something, watching something, thinking something in a way that's different than what you would have done before he was resident in your life. It's an element of the fruit of the spirit. And21:39 self control really isn't self control. It's spirit control over yourself. Because it's Christ in you that's doing the work. It's the spirit of God that's restraining. It's the spirit of God21:51 that's withholding. That's why you do not need to pass out condoms in high school and tell students, oh, nobody's gonna be a virgin till their marriage. Just protect yourself. That's garbage. And the reason it's garbage22:02 is for the believer. The spirit will control you. The spirit can get you to say no. The spirit can get you to say yes to the things of God. But apart from the spirit, you can't. As you walk with Jesus, there will22:14 be evidences in your life of the restraining power of the Holy Spirit, where in a moment you will realize, I know he's with me because I wouldn't have handled it that way before. Couple decades ago when I was living in22:25 Illinois, I remember being at the DMV. Anybody here work for the DMV? God bless you if you do. And I remember waiting in line, and the way that my brain works is when I'm watching things that22:37 aren't organized or working well, it bothers me and I start thinking about solutions for people I don't know. And I started putting it together in my mind what they needed to do and how they needed to do it differently.22:48 And the line that I was in had the guy that needed the most help, by far. And by the time I got to the front of the line, I was ready to tell him exactly what he needed to change to make my life better.23:01 But I didn't because I felt like it's not right to do this. And I handed him my driver's license to get my new 1 and he looked down at it he said, hey, you're the guy that preaches at Northwoods all the time, aren't you?23:14 Yes, I am. Glad I didn't say anything. Thank you, Jesus. Do you know what I'm talking about? And I find at different times, there's just a restraining power on my life, like,23:26 don't go there on your phone. Don't look at that. Don't think that saw it. Don't hang out with people like that. It's different now than it was before because I'm open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and how he's23:38 leading my life. Not perfectly, but what? Increasingly. Because I wanna be more like Jesus, and the Holy Spirit's job is to magnify and manifest Christ in my life. That's the spirit self23:49 control. And in your self control, what? Perseverance. Perseverance. The Greek word is hupomene. It means to remain under, in context of24:01 a burden, a trial, and a difficulty. Can I tell you this? Burdens, trials, and difficulties are the ultimate litmus test to give you the assurance that you're truly24:13 in the faith. Let me say it another way. If you are truly a believer, you will go through burdens, trials, and tribulations in ways that you would have never ever expected. I'm not24:25 talking about consequences. I'm talking about trials. A consequence means you did something and you earned something for what you did. So if you stole from a store and you got arrested, that's not a trial, that's a24:35 consequence to your bad behavior. A trial is when I'm doing what God wants, I'm honoring the Lord, I'm doing it his way, and all of a sudden out of nowhere, this thing comes in like a wave and hits me, and I24:47 think to myself, I would have never guessed in a million years I'd be going through this right now, in my marriage, with my health, with my finances, with my family, with whatever it is.24:59 Like, there's no way. And it's really, really hard. And hupomene, perseverance means this, you'll know that you know that you know you're a Christian because when hard times hit, you press25:11 into Jesus even more, not less. That's the evidence. I mean, you think through your life as a Christian when you've gone through those hard times. Was it you dropping to your knees saying, Jesus help. I can't get through25:23 this without you. Because if you don't have the Lord, here's what happens when you face a trial. You try to fix it or you run away from it. And you're done with anybody that caused you problems. Breaking my heart, but I25:33 am not gonna stop25:45 trusting and loving you in some way. Even though I don't see it right now, I know this is for my good, and boy, that's hard for me to say. And I'm not leaving you. Bring me through this. That's who Paulmanay. That's25:56 perseverance. Grow in that. That's why I do not I do believe we have a prospering God and a blessing God and an encour I believe that, but not a hundred percent of the time. If you're a26:08 Christian, you will experience trials, you will experience burdens, and you will experience tribulations. It's a promise. Anyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. That's you and me. You26:20 live fully for Jesus. It's gonna be hard at times. Perseverance is evidence that you have the assurance of your salvation. And in your perseverance, what? Godliness. Godliness. Godliness is your religious piety. It's26:32 living out the faith and having reverence for God in all areas of your life at all times. It's when you start prioritizing the things of God, not because you have to, not because you should, but because it gives you26:41 great delight and joy. True. I want to be in church because it's a delight. I want to read my Bible because it's a delight. I want to pray because it's a delight. I want to trust the Lord with my26:53 finances because it's a delight. I want to lean more on Jesus because it's a delight. I'm doing the things that he requires, not because I have to, but doing the things that he requires not because I have to, but because27:01 I desire to. I wanna be in a cadre. I need to be around other Christians. It's a delight. I wanna be at permanence because it's a delight. I I want to express the things God wants me to express not because I have to,27:12 because I want to. That's when you know that you have Christ like virtues. And these 5, moral excellence, knowledge, self control, perseverance, godliness, he says grow in those. If you have faith, have faith in all of27:22 those. Continue to grow in those, because each 1 of those will give you evidence that you know that you know that you know that God is at work in your life. Outpouring of what the first 5 do. If the first 5 are going27:31 towards the Lord, the the last 2 are going towards others. He says, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness.27:43 It's the word Philadelphia. Fileo is love. It's brotherly love. Adelphos is brother. Fileo is love. Philadelphia, it's brotherly love. It's the warm, affectionate love you27:55 have for your family and your friends. If you truly love God, you will truly love God's people. 1 of the evidences that you know that you're born again is that you'll go from thinking church28:07 people are just weird to loving those weird people and realizing that you're 1 of them. That's evidence that you've been born again. Like before I was born again, I would go to church. I'm28:19 like, what's wrong with this? It's weird. Christians are weird. They're nerdy, weird people. Then you get born again and you start becoming friends with those nerdy, weird people, and you're closer to some of them than28:30 you are to your own family because they share Christ in a way that your family doesn't. It's brotherly love, it's brotherly affection. That's why the church of God is called a family of believers. We love 1 another like28:41 that. That's that warm affectionate feeling. 1 of the evidences that you have Christ in your life is you will begin to love other people that you once thought were unlovable. And then what does he say? He says,28:53 And to brotherly kindness, or brotherly love What's he say? Love. That's a different word for love. That's agape love. Agape love is the highest form of love. It's the committed, sacrificial,29:05 selfless, I'm not feeling it, but I'm gonna love you anyway love. It's the kind of love Jesus had when he died on the cross. When Jesus died on the cross, it wasn't brotherly love like, oh, this is fun. This is warm.29:16 That wasn't that. It was a committed, sacrificial, selfless love. Agape love is the kind of love that you have in a marriage. It's the kind of love that you have with your kids. It's not, I love you because, it's, I love29:27 you in spite of, and whether I feel like it or not, I'm gonna love you. Agape love is when Jesus says, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. I get asked this question all the time as a pastor. Pastor29:37 Jeff, Jesus tells us to love everybody. Here's my question. Do we have to like them? The answer is you have to agape them. You may not feel like liking them, but you29:48 demonstrate love towards them regardless of how you feel about them. It's not taking counsel of your feelings, it's doing the right thing. It's loving your enemies, it's praying for those who persecute you. It's blessing30:00 them with your mouth and your generosity, even when they treat you poorly. And only a believer in Christ can do that. And that's evidence that you're walking with the Lord when you have agape love.30:11 Amen? And these 7 things put together, it's loving God in greater capacities, and loving others in greater capacities. That's all it is. So add to your faith and grow in these things. And don't be overwhelmed.30:23 Because I know some of you, you're you're you're so sensitive. Okay. All 7. Which 1 do I do? Just pick 1. Let the Holy Spirit show you a way in which you can grow. And life is fully orbed.30:35 Right? I mean, some of you are sitting there, where am I gonna find unlovable people? Where am I gonna find difficulties and circumstances? They're coming. I promise you. You can't escape them. God's sovereignly weaving30:46 people and circumstances into your life so that you can put these into practice, and when you do, you will know that you know that you know that you're more like Christ, and you'll be assured of your salvation. Amen?30:57 That's what he wants you to do. So tenaciously work to mature your faith and then pursue a variety of Christ like virtues. The the v in brave is virtuous. It's moral excellence. It's growing inShow more In this video 0:00 Assurance of Salvation3:09 Growing in Faith14:07 Christ-like Virtues30:59 Confirming Your CallingThe Most High Rules Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub Nov 1
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