Skip to content Strengthening The Hope of Your Salvation May 15 · 1 hr 1 min ...more
May 15, 2025 · 1 hr 1 min · The Greatest
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Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub serves as president of Pastor Jeff Ministries, a national and global ministry designed to equip believers and challenge them to take
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The Assurance of Salvation 0:00 Heard amen, amen. When I was 18 years old, I got saved at a young life camp. It was clear to me the moment that I gave my life to Christ, I went from being what I thought was a a good0:12 kid who thought I was going to heaven because I was a good kid and I attended church, to being someone who recognized that I was dead in my sins, that I needed to be completely forgiven, and I needed the Lord Jesus0:23 Christ to do it. And I remember at that camp they invited people to stand to their feet. I think I was the first 1 up off my feet and they let you go around the room. And I remember saying these words, this week I0:33 committed my life to my lord and savior Jesus Christ. And when I said those words, I began to cry not from my eyes but from my heart. Like, I knew I was being regenerated. I wouldn't have called it that at the time. I0:44 just knew something was happening that was cleansing, that was real, that was new. It wasn't like a little tear here and there that I dried with a Kleenex. It was like a snot bubbling, shoulder shirking cry for about the0:56 next 2 hours where I knew that I knew that I knew that Jesus Christ was my personal lord and savior. My life had changed. The young life leader came to me on the bus and told me, hey, everything you just experienced and1:07 all the emotion that you have right now, even when that changes, Jesus Christ is still your lord and savior. And I believe that in the moment I did, and I even believed it a couple days after. But do you know for about1:17 the next 5 years, I kept hearing a lie of the enemy, and it went something like this. How do you know you're really saved? And how do you know that what happened there wasn't just an emotional experience? And if you1:26 really were saved, then why are some of the sins that you had before you were a Christian still in your life? Now I didn't recognize that as the voice of the enemy. I thought it was just kinda internal processing. But1:37 what I find is that many people who are saved don't realize that they're truly saved and have the hope of their salvation. So they're always wondering this question, am I in or am I out? Am I in or1:49 am I out? I used to say before I was saved, I always hoped I died on a good day. Because I knew there were days if I die today, I know I'm not going to heaven. But there were other days I thought if I died, maybe I got a1:59 chance. After becoming a Christian, God wants you to know no matter what day it is, if you belong to him, you're his and you are going to be with him forever and ever. And 1 of the things God wants you to2:11 own if you're a believer is the hope that comes with the salvation that you have. You see, Jesus Christ came as God's 1 and only son who died on the cross for all your sins. He rose from the dead2:23 after being in the grave for 3 days, and he offered life to all who believe in his name. And if you've turned from your life of sin to a life in Christ and you believe on Jesus Christ alone, you have salvation.2:35 Now here's the thing, how do you grow in the hope of your salvation? How can you get to a place where you're not questioning it anymore? And I wanna let you know, it's okay to come to church with doubts. It's okay to2:46 come to church with fears. It's okay to wonder, am I really saved, and how do I know if I'm really saved? But God also wants to provide the answer to you. Last week, we came out of a section that was really challenging2:56 because as he was talking to a group of people in the congregation, he let them know that there's some people who have come right to the precipice of trusting Jesus Christ as Lord, but they don't trust him as Lord.3:07 They've had an encounter with him. They've had an experience with him. They think it's all good, but get to a place where they apostate the faith. Apostate doesn't mean changing churches. It doesn't mean I'm going3:17 through a rough patch. It means saying out loud and living your life as if Jesus Christ be cursed. I don't want him anymore. I want nothing to do with him. Don't talk to me about that Jesus stuff. And what he told3:29 us, this silvering passage in Hebrews chapter 6 was that when that happens in the life of somebody who's not a believer and they've had every opportunity to trust Christ and they reject him, they3:41 crucified to themselves the son of God all over again. And Jesus says when that happens, it's impossible for them to come back to repentance. It's sobering. You say, well, when does that happen? I don't know. I don't3:53 know. I just know that God has a timing for those things and it does. And so what he goes on to do is he talks like a good pastor. And here in Hebrews chapter 6 starting in verse 9, that's the passage4:04 we're gonna look at today because now he's gonna talk to those who are genuinely saved, who do genuinely know the Lord, and answer the question, how is it that you can grow in the hope of your salvation? How is it you4:16 can know that you know that you know, and how do you grow in that in such a way where you never waver in that again? If you ever wanted to grow in the hope of your salvation, God has a word for you today. And I encourage4:25 you to open your bibles up to Hebrews chapter 6 starting in verse 9. And this is where the section transitions from those who have not trusted Christ to those of us who know him.4:37 Notice what he says, but beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you and the things that accompany salvation that we are speaking in this way. For God is not unjust so as to4:49 forget your work and love which you have shown toward his name in having ministered and instill ministering to the saints. And we desire that each 1 of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full5:01 assurance of hope until the end. So that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. For when God made the promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no5:13 1 greater, he swore by himself saying, I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you. And so having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. For men swear by 1 greater than themselves and with5:25 them an oath given as a confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way, God desiring even to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of his5:36 purpose interposed with an oath so that by 2 unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the5:48 hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast, and 1 which enters within the veil where Jesus has entered6:00 as a forerunner for us having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. And here in these verses in Hebrews chapter 6, he is now transitioning. He has6:12 now gotten finished talking to those in the congregation saying, hey, be careful because there's some of you here who have gotten close to trusting Christ, but you're not. And here's the warning, if you've experienced6:23 all the fullness of Christ and then reject Christ, that's a very, very bad thing. But he's gonna shift now, and he's gonna begin talking to the believers so they can strengthen their hope in their own salvation. And6:35 there's 4 ways that he's gonna talk about that today, and the first is this. Strengthening the hope of your salvation occurs when? Here's how it occurs. It occurs when you demonstrate a genuine love for God and6:47 for the saints. When you demonstrate a genuine love for God and for the saints. In other words, when you're developing a love for God which translates into a love for God's people, That's 1 way that you're gonna grow in6:59 the hope that you have in Christ. Notice what he says, but beloved. I love those 2 words. I mean, last week's passage to preach, just to be honest with you, it's a hard passage to preach. Because you're7:10 telling people in a congregation where a majority of people love and know Jesus that, hey, there's some of you here that have gotten to the place where you heard all the truth, and you know Jesus died for you, and you7:21 know he was buried, and you know he rose and you like all those things, but you refuse to allow him to be your Lord and you're growing dangerously close to getting to a place where 1 day you reject him and if you do,7:32 there's no coming back. It's sobering. But notice how he starts this, but beloved, you who are chosen, you who are the apple of God's eye. I mean, when I read7:44 this, today in our church, you know, we're we're saying that message that there's some who come that don't know Jesus, but I but brave church, God loves you so much. That's the transition that you see7:55 here. But beloved, we are convinced. That means that we know of better things concerning you and things that accompany salvation though we are speaking8:07 in this way. Brave church, we we know there's better things for you. We we see the things that accompany salvation in you even though we have to speak in this way. Here's what we're talking about now. Now what are the8:19 things that accompany salvation? We could do a whole series on it. There's no possible way we could talk about every single thing that accompanies salvation. But what are a few? Well, number 1, when you trust Jesus8:30 Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sin, you're completely forgiven of all of your sin. God throws it away as far as the east is from the west into the deepest sea, never to bring it up again.8:42 He sends to you his mercy. Meaning, even though you don't deserve God's goodness, he's gonna lavish you with it. You experience his grace. It's by grace you've been saved through faith. It's not your own doing, it's a8:53 gift of God. It's God's riches at Christ's expense. How about this? The third person of the trinity, the holy spirit, comes into your life. He regenerates your dead soul. He transfers you from the kingdom of darkness9:05 into the kingdom of his beloved son in whom you have redemption and the forgiveness of sins. He indwells you. He baptizes you in the family of God. He fills you with his spirit so that Jesus Christ is with you always.9:15 You can experience his peace, peace with God through Jesus, his joy, his righteousness. You're adopted as sons and daughters into his family. You're completely justified just as if you've never9:27 sinned. You're co heirs with Christ and all of his riches, and he promises to set you apart and sanctify you and make you holy. And it's a promise that if you're saved, you're going to be sanctified and you're going to9:39 be glorified, that God will never let you go. I mean, those are just some of the things that accompany salvation, which are awesome things. You can't buy them. You can't pay for them, but they can be seen. And9:51 as you grow in a demonstration of a love for God and a love for his people, these things will grow as well. Notice what he says in verse 10. For God is not unjust. Did you know that?10:03 The devil will lie to you all the time. God's not fair. If God were good, then why are you having to and fill in the blank. God is not unjust. So as what? So as to forget your10:14 work and the love which you have shown toward his name in having ministered and instilled ministering to the saints. Work ministry. What's that another name10:26 for? Serve. Means you serve. And who do you do who do you do that for? For God. The love which you have shown towards his name. A love for God and a love for God's people.10:38 1 time when Jesus was on the earth, he was asked, what's the greatest commandment? I mean, there's the 10 commandments but then there's all these other commandments and which commandments are we to keep and which are the10:48 most important and how do I know? And what did Jesus answer in Matthew 22 37? That you should love the lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and all your strength. Second 1 like it,10:59 you should love your neighbor as yourself. In this, all the law is fulfilled. What was Jesus saying? He said, if you really know me, it's gonna translate into a developing love for my father, which is then11:10 gonna translate into a love for all of my people. 1 of the ways that you know that you're saved initially is that you'll have a heart for God that you didn't have before.11:23 You may have gone to church before, you may have been in a small group, you may have read your bible, you may have been deemed a good person, you may have had a high view of yourself. But when you get saved, going to11:33 church is no longer a have to. Being around God's people is no longer a have to. It is I must. I want to. I desire this. I want to worship my11:44 king. I desire the word. I desire to pray. I want more of this in my life. And as you develop that and grow in that, there will also be a love for other people. All of us prior11:56 to being saved have clicks. You know when we get saved, God blows up the click. I remember when I got saved at young life camp, I remember getting on the bus in Illinois to head the 12 hour ride to Minnesota. And12:08 when I got on the bus, I was about an hour in when I thought, this is the biggest mistake I have ever made. None of my circle of friends was on that bus. Nobody I knew was going to that camp. I was thinking, how did I12:20 get suckered into this? If I could have got off the bus and gotten home, they didn't have Uber back in the day, I probably would have taken an Uber home. I didn't wanna go. But do you know by the end of the week, after12:32 I trusted Christ, some of those same people on the bus that went to my high school, I never spent time with, I was closer to than some of the people I had known for 12 years. Why? Because God did a work in my heart. And12:43 because of my love for God, it translated into my love for other people. That happens when you get saved. 1 of the ways that you grow in the hope of the salvation is to continue to grow in12:55 your love for God and ask him to give you a deeper love for him that will translate into a deeper love for others. Have you ever prayed to God and say, God, I wanna grow my love for you, and Lord help me to love this13:06 person like you love them. Help me to show and demonstrate love to them in the way that you would if you were living in and through me. It's amazing that God's willing to do that, that God wants to use you as a13:18 conduit for him to show love to the world and how you speak and in how you live and in what you do. And 1 of the ways that you grow in your hope that you know salvation is real is when your love for13:30 God grows, that translates in your love for others. And God can do it with anybody. God can do it with anybody. If you're genuinely saved, he can teach you to love unlovable people. It doesn't mean you're13:41 gonna become besties. Now Now here's what I'm talking about. Because in church we form cliques. Because some of you are listening like, yeah, I get that. Going to point number 2, I'm good. I mean, I don't like that13:52 person and that's why when I come to Brave and they sit over there and I sit over here, but we're good. And I'm so excited about the new building because I hear there's an upper deck too, so whatever floor they sit on,14:02 I'm gonna sit on the other and we're gonna be just fine. That's what I'm talking about. God's not calling you to avoid people. God's calling you to pursue people because of the love in which he has for14:14 you. See, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. While we were still unlovable, Christ died for us. While we were still rebellious, Christ died for us. Therefore, let that love that God has for you14:26 translate into your love towards other people that are mean to you. Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. That is impossible without a love and growing devotion14:38 for Christ. The hope of your salvation, grow in your love for God, and grow in your love for God's people. Notice what he talks about. He talks about loving the14:49 saints, ministering to the saints. Now, if you grew up in the Roman Catholic tradition, many of you may think a saint is a holy person that lived a long time ago, and maybe there's a a relic or a statue for them in the15:01 sanctuary. But the new testament describes saints as anyone who's born again. If you've trusted Jesus Christ completely for the forgiveness of your sin, you're saint. I'm saint Jeff. You don't need to call me that,15:13 but that's who I am, and I know that's who I am. And God wants us to love his people. Not only are we called to love everybody, but we're called specifically to love his people. Jesus gave a new15:25 commandment on the night that he was betrayed in John chapter 13 34 and 35. Jesus said, has it not been written in your law? I said you are God's. Let's see. I'm reading the wrong15:37 thing. Let me get to the right page. He did say that in John 10 but that's not what we're talking about. John 13 is what I'm looking for. He says, a new commandment I give to you that you love 1 another even as I15:49 have loved you that you also love 1 another. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples if you have love for 1 another. When the world looks on and sees how do Christians treat each other and they can't15:59 understand how people of different pigmentation in their skin and different socioeconomic backgrounds and different neighborhoods and different political persuasions and all those different things, how can people like16:10 that get along and love each other? And you say, because Christ died for me and therefore he's called me to love everybody that trusts him too. Then the world looks on and says, I wanna get in on that. That's unique.16:21 That's not going on anywhere else than in the body of Christ. But notice this, he tells us also not just to love everybody, but specifically those who are Christians.16:35 6 verse 10, he says, so then while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people. Do good to all people and especially to those who are of the household of faith. What's that16:46 mean? Do good to everybody. If you're a Christian, love everybody. Love the unbeliever that's serving you food in a restaurant. Love the person that's helping you at the gas station. Love your neighbor that's unlovable.16:58 Love them all, but especially love those who love Christ. That's what he says. You say, well, I don't know if I can do that. You can't depart from Christ. It's impossible to love genuinely17:10 apart from Christ. Now how can we do that? First John 4 tells us. First John 4 19 says, we love. Why? Because he first loved us. If you're truly loved by God, then you can do this. Now if someone says,17:22 I love God and hates his brother. Well, I love God, I just hate him. I I love God, but I hate her. What does God say about that person? If someone says I love God and hates his brother, he is a17:34 liar. For the 1 who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him that the 1 who loves God should love his brother also. Well, I love17:46 God. I just don't love Christians. You're a liar. Because if you love the God of the bible, you will love Christians. That's what the word teaches. So while we're called to love the world, what should be17:58 going on in the church in some ways is a love fest. And I don't mean love because we need to redefine the word a little bit and make it biblical. I don't mean having this ooey gooey emotional feeling that18:10 all these people are my best friends and we just love hanging out every day, all day long. No. There's gonna be certain people that you click with a little better. There's gonna be certain people that you see the world18:20 with a little better. But when it comes to genuinely caring for people the way Christ would care for them, we're called to do that with every single Christian. And not just Christians that go to brave, and not just18:31 pastors that are up brave, but for the kingdom of God and those who are part of the family. Why? Because when you trusted Christ and Jesus is the only way and he gave you access to the father,18:43 anybody that has Christ that has access to the father is now what? Your brother and sister. It means we're family y'all. Are there problems in the family sometimes? This is the bigger family so it means there's18:55 more problems. Right? But we're called to love everybody in the body of Christ. And if you wanna grow in your hope, if you wanna strengthen the hope you have of your own salvation, develop and demonstrate a greater love19:06 for God and a greater love for the saints. And I'm telling you, it's a prayer God will answer. God, I wanna love you more. Show me how to love you more. God, I wanna have a greater hunger for your word. Show me how to do19:16 that. Lord, bring some people in my life that can teach me how to pray. Lord, I don't even know how to do that. Lord, I'd love to learn how to evangelize. Lord, just teach me how to I wanna love you and I wanna do the19:25 things that you wanna do. And Lord, as you're doing that, can you give me a greater love for him? Can you give me a greater love for her? Can you show me, because it feels unlovable to me to love them, but show me what19:35 you would do if you were me. When you begin to pray like that, God will begin to use your life, and God will grow you. And as he grows you and you feel the changes inside of you, it'll give you the certainty of hope that19:45 you are definitely saved. Amen? The second way that you can strengthen the hope of your salvation, it occurs when you endure with great faith and patience. When you endure with19:57 great faith and patience. Now 1 of those words we really don't like. I'll let you figure out which 1 it is. Notice what he says in verse 11. He says, and we desire20:08 that each 1 of you show the same diligence. That's eagerness. So as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end. You say,20:20 well, it's hope. Hope is the certainty that something's going to be realized. Hope is I know it's gonna come true and I'm believing that. Bible says hope deferred makes the heart sick. Hope20:32 means I have the full assurance, not just I hope this works out. It's the full assurance all the way to the end of my life that I know that I know that I know that I belong to Jesus and I can't screw that up and no20:43 matter what happens, he's gonna receive me and love me. That's the full assurance of hope. Many Christians don't have that full assurance of hope. Some Christians think, I know God's taking me because the word of God20:54 says it, but boy is he gonna be disappointed in me when he meets me. That's not true. Jesus forgave all of your sins on the cross.21:07 Faultless before the father with exceedingly great joy. He loves you with an unconditional love. You say, well, why do I think that? Well, you have an enemy that's telling you all the time why you're not good enough for21:18 God. And why God doesn't like you anymore, and why God's disappointed in you, and how because you're a Christian now, you should have done better, and you could have done better, and if you would do that differently,21:28 then God would be Friends, when Jesus stretched out his arms on the cross and died for you and rose from the dead, when you placed your full faith and trust in him alone, all of your sin was forgiven and he embraces and21:40 loves you completely. Is that good news or what? I mean, that's awesome news. And that's the news we have in the gospel. It's the best news on the planet.21:52 He goes on to say, not only we'd have this hope to the end. Why? So that you will not be sluggish. Sluggish means slothful or lazy, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promise. He's22:04 saying, my hope for you is that you wouldn't get lazy in your faith. Why? Because when you lack the certainty of the hope of your salvation, you'll get lazy in your walk with Christ. You'll begin to think I'm doing22:15 something wrong, I can never get this thing right, it just doesn't work for me. I go to church and I hear the messages and I'm inspired, but it just doesn't translate into my life. It's not working for me. When you don't22:24 have the certainty of your hope, you get sluggish in walking it out. There's not an eagerness or a diligence or a want to or a desire. It's almost as if it's a have to and it's a have22:36 to and it's a have to and it's just not working for me. And he says, I want you to follow the examples of those who endured with great faith and great patience. It's just what it22:48 is. What I find is that for new believers, God does special things to let you know that he really is who he says he is. Sometimes as a new believer, God gives gifts to let you know that he's near. Perhaps it's a answered23:00 prayer for a friend, or perhaps you're praying for somebody who's lost and God uses you to lead him to Christ, or maybe it's that you tithe and God gives you an immediate monetary reward because you tithe. This guy in23:11 our church last week that had gotten saved a few weeks ago, and he said, you know, I felt prompted to to tithe, and I I started tithing, and I knew what he was gonna tell me. I I knew the story, and he went on to say,23:22 you know, wouldn't you know I got a check-in the mail this week for 4 times the amount. And I'm like, I know. That's what God does. That's what his word says he's gonna do. And I find that as new believers, God does a23:32 lot of that early on to let you know that he's there. But as you mature, God uses circumstances of challenge and trials to see if you'll continue to step in faith. He'll take you23:44 through times that seem dark, but Jesus asking you, will you keep walking? Now, Jesus made this clear in John 16 33. He says, in this world, you will have tribulation. Now this is a good place for me to pause just in23:55 case you've been lied to and you thought that since you trusted Christ, it was gonna be like a love boat cruising off to heaven and everything was gonna be perfect for you. Let me tell you, Christian, in this world,24:04 you're gonna have trouble. There's gonna be tribulation. And the reason it's called that is because you can't choose what your tribulation is gonna be sometimes. Sometimes there's gonna be challenging trials and24:14 circumstances that come your way. You have absolutely no control over them. You can't do anything about it. You didn't do anything about it to get into it, and you can't do anything about it to get out of it. And I got24:23 good news for you. God's the 1 that unfolded all of that before you, and he thinks it's good. The challenge is good. Do you know why? Because it's in those seasons where God's asking you, do you still trust24:34 me? 23 starting in verse 4. So even though I walk through what? The valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you24:46 are with me. Sometimes it seems as though if God God kind of turns off the lights in our life, even though he's the light of the world, we're not experiencing that light. We're not feeling that light. And the enemy lies24:57 to us and says this, if God is so good and God's the light of your life, then how come your life's so dark right now? And here's your answer. Because he loves me so much.25:11 And if I'll still trust him, when I'm not experiencing him. The Bible says we walk by faith and not by sight. I have good news for some of you this morning that are going through a hard time.25:22 God unfolded all of that before you because he's growing your spiritual muscles. And all he's asking you to do is continue to take a step of faith. Will you trust him that way? And here's what I'm talking to. I'm25:34 talking to you people here today, or maybe you've been in this season before, and if you're not, you'll be in it. So pay attention. Where when you go through a hard time, somebody gives you a glib answer. Say, man, I'm25:45 really going through a hard time. What do I need to do? And they'll say this, read your bible, pray, attend church, be authentic, get in a small group. And your response from your gut will feel25:57 like saying, I'm doing all those things and it's not working. You ever had that experience? If you haven't, you will. That's what he's talking about. Now what is faith? Hebrews is26:09 gonna tell us in chapter 11. What we do not see. And without faith, it's impossible to please God. Well, how do I get this faith? Well, faith comes through hearing26:21 and hearing through the word of Christ. Romans 10 17 tells us that. So when the word of God is proclaimed or you're reading the word, God is speaking to you. He's bolstering your faith. That's why if you're in a church26:31 where the word of God is faithfully proclaimed, you'll hear God. You'll be stimulated to do something, but there's more than just knowing what to do. It's actually doing something. James, the26:43 half brother of Jesus talks about this in his epistle. He says in James 1, 2, and 3, he says, consider it all joy, my brethren. When you encounter26:55 various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its perfect result so you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing. So when27:07 you go through a tough time, here's what the Bible tells you to do. Count it joy. Like, we have a way of celebrating good things in our life. They come naturally. The birth of a child, the marriage of 227:19 people who know Christ, a pay raise, a new job. But it's not as natural to us when that child we've been waiting for dies 227:31 minutes after it comes out of the womb. Not as rejoicing as when you're trying to work out your marriage and it ends in divorce? Not as good when you get overlooked by people that aren't as good as you for the27:43 job that you rightly need? Here's what God says. Hey, when that happens, like, count it all joy. That's really good that it happened to you. Here's why it's good because God is developing your spiritual muscles and he's27:54 developing endurance in your life so you'll be perfect and complete. You won't be lacking anything. So he says in James 1 22, but prove yourselves doers of the word, not merely hearers who delude themselves. And he says28:05 in 2 17, even so faith if it has no works is dead. What's he saying? He's saying, when you hear the word, will you continue to walk and will you continue to endure even when you're28:17 not experiencing the goodness of God in the moment? See, I think those situations are the times where God's actually taken off the training wheels. And God's kind of letting go of the seat, and you28:29 feel like you're wobbling, and you don't like it, and it's uncomfortable, and you would have never chose this situation, and you don't ever want this situation again. But Christian, who is mature, listen to me. Isn't it28:38 true that when you go through a season like that, and you come out the other side, that there's something in your gut that says, I know Jesus in a way I never knew him before. I love God in a way I've never loved him28:50 before. That was so awesome that you strengthened my spiritual muscles, God. Now don't ever do that again. Isn't that true? Because we wouldn't choose trials. We29:02 wouldn't choose suffering. That's why God chooses those things for us. Which means this believer, if you're gonna grow in your hope, know this, perhaps you've done nothing wrong for the reason that you're suffering.29:13 Perhaps you've done nothing wrong for the tribulation and trial that you're enduring. Perhaps it's because of God's great love with which he has for you to grow your spiritual muscles. I mean, the book of Romans29:25 highlights the same thing in chapter 5. In Romans chapter 5 starting in verse 3, he says, not only this, Paul says, but we also exalt in our tribulations. You know what exalt means?29:37 Rejoice. He says in Philippians, rejoice in the Lord when, Paul? Always. I'll say it again, rejoice. And rejoicing when our circumstances stink.29:49 But the Bible says, if you want to grow in your hope, rejoice even when things aren't good, and it will grow the hope and certainty of your salvation. Because when we exalt in our tribulations30:01 knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance, that's the word for endurance or steadfastness. And perseverance produces proven character and proven character produces hope. God's trying to grow your character which30:13 will give you hope in him. And hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the holy spirit who was given to us. It means this, no matter what30:25 you're going through, keep staking steps of faith and be willing to endure all the way to the end. That's what he's saying. Don't give up. Don't quit. When it's30:37 hard, that's when the enemy sounds the loudest. That's when his lie sounds the clearest. And here's what you'll hear. If your God was so good, then why? Fill in the blank. Here's30:49 why. Because God wants to teach me how to rejoice when this isn't going good. And God wants me to learn to depend upon his goodness when I can't see his goodness with my own 2 eyes. And oh, by the way, God is good31:00 and this world never promised me everything good, but I'm looking forward to the day, Satan, when you're thrown in the lake of fire and I live in the perfect utopia with Jesus, and my God is good, and I'm yearning for31:11 that day. That's why God doesn't make this world perfect for me. Because if this world is perfect, I'd never wanna go. But because God's so good, he ensures us that your world will never be perfect on this31:23 side of heaven. Isn't that good news? Rejoice. Some of you need to rejoice today. Not because of your circumstances, but in spite of them. Amen?31:38 This is what God does for us. I mean, faith produces obedience and obedience produces faith and faith produces obedience and obedience produces faith. And as that goes on, you build endurance, you build life,31:50 and you know you can do it. And when you see people endure with great faith, even when things don't go well, haven't you seen that stimulate your faith and your hope?32:03 Almost 20 years ago, I ran the Chicago marathon for what I believe is my last time. And the word run is an exaggeration for effect. I steadily plotted, I jogged and all these different kinds of things.32:15 But this 1 was different. I had really trained well. I was about 30 pounds lighter than I am right now. I would go out and run 20 miles at a time. I was going to do a sub 4 hour marathon. I knew I was but on that day, it32:24 was 92 degrees in Chicago the day I ran. They ran out of water, I felt miserable. Some of you runners know there's certain days you feel good, certain days you don't feel good and it kinda changes, I had all that. But32:36 this day was like miserable and lousy and I saw my wife at the halfway point and I said pray for me, I'm not doing well. And at mile 13, I was telling my buddy that we had run with for 6 months, like, you just need to32:47 leave me. Just go on. I I don't know if I'm gonna finish. And he started quoting top gun to me like, you never leave your wing man and all these kind cool quotes for about 3 miles. And finally at mile 18,32:59 he looked at me and said, you wouldn't leave me, would you? And I said, if you'd told me for 3 miles to leave you, you bet I would. So he left and I'm there by myself saying, God, what in the world is going on and why33:10 would you have me feel this miserable in Chicago? I just wanted to quit, but I kept steadily plotting plotting, and wouldn't you know it? About 5 minutes later, I saw this guy laying down on the ground in the marathon,33:22 and it was different than the other ones I'd seen because of dehydration. This guy had blood coming out of his mouth, and I knew he wasn't doing well, and they were beginning CPR on him. And I was prompted to do this33:30 thing to just go over and pray over him because I didn't know what to do medically. So I wheeled around and started praying for this guy, praying for this guy, praying for this guy until the medics came. When the medics33:40 came, I got up and left, and I kept hearing this voice, Jeff, the most important thing in this life is being prepared for the next. Most Most important thing in this life is being prepared for the next. I prayed over33:49 that guy as he died. He died right on that road. And because I was there, I ended up calling his pastor up in Michigan the very next day asking him, you know, what was going on. He wouldn't take my phone34:01 call because he thought I was asking for an opportunity to preach. And I told his secretary, I'm like, no, just tell the pastor that I was praying over Chad when he died on Ashland Avenue yesterday and I need to talk to34:10 him. So he took my call. And I said, I was praying over him yesterday, and here's some of the things that I encountered. He goes I said, was Chad a Christian? He's like, oh, yeah. He goes, will you come to the funeral34:19 and tell your story? He goes, have you talked to his wife yet? I said, no. I don't I didn't know if he was married. I didn't know anything about him. Yeah. She's a believer. She ran in the race too, but she got rerouted34:29 because the race got canceled. So she wasn't there with him. And her biggest disappointment is she wasn't there praying over him when he died. So would you come tell the congregation you were praying over him when he34:38 died? Said, yes. So my wife and I went up, told the whole story about what had happened. Now, when we got to the funeral and it was packed because this guy was a policeman, so there were 300 policemen in34:50 full garb, white gloves, the whole thing. I saw on the front row, a woman and 3 kids with all their hands up in the air worshiping God. And the pastor told me, that's his wife,35:02 and those are his children. And they worshiped during the whole funeral service. Do you know what that did to my soul? As we got to know them later that day, it was evident that their faith was in Jesus Christ. They knew35:13 that their husband and their daddy was with Jesus, and that while they were saddened and while they were disappointed, they knew life was gonna go on. And they were excited for where he was. That's impossible35:25 without the spirit of God. And isn't it true when you see somebody who's going through incredibly difficult things that still keeps Jesus Christ first place place, it stimulates your heart?35:42 Life difficult? So that all the people in your sphere of influence that are watching you can see that you put Jesus Christ first and that he's Lord and people say, if they can get through that when they're going through35:53 this, I want who they have. That's why you go through trials. That's why you go through sufferings. And if you haven't had them, they're coming. You will. And it's not because you've36:05 done anything wrong, it's God preparing you in this life for what's to come so that when you cross the finish line of faith, you will be exhilarated. You know that day because I had to stop and they they paused the36:17 race at mile 18 and I had to walk the last 6 miles, how tired I was when I got to the end? I didn't do it in 4 hours. I mean, I was sitting there on the side like I'll just take a bus and then somebody came up and said,36:28 okay, this guy write his name down and do not finish. I'm like, you ain't writing my name down boy. I'm I'm finishing this race. So I walked the whole thing and when I crossed the finish line that day, I mean, I started36:38 weeping. 6 hours and 11 minutes later. Because what? I'd cross and it was over. Friends, in this life, you will have tribulations, but when you cross over from this life to the next, all36:50 your tribulations are gone. There will never be any more tribulations. There'll never be any more relationship challenges. There'll never be anybody that speaks bad about you. There'll never be gossip behind your back.36:59 You'll never have a financial crisis, a health crisis, or a relationship crisis. Everybody gets along, it's perfect harmony forever and ever. Amen and amen. Isn't that good? So if37:11 you have trials in this world and you have difficult things going on, it's just to wet your appetite because what's coming is way better. That's what he's talking about. That's why the apostle Paul said in Philippians 3,37:21 forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on toward the goal upward call of God, the prize of God in Christ Jesus. And that's what he was looking forward to. So you can strengthen your37:33 hope of your salvation by growing your love for God and others by enduring with great faith and patience. And patience means long suffering. Endure with long suffering. It's a fruit of the37:44 spirit. And then he said this, a third way you can do this is you can strengthen the hope of your salvation. And that occurs when you trust God and his promises. When youShow more In this video 0:00 The Assurance of Salvation
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