And so Father, we look up to God tonight and we desire your blessing as we study the Bible. It's a blessing to share prayer requests. It's a blessing to pray. It's a blessing to study the Word of God. And Father, we desire to be students of the Word that are growing in our understanding of the Bible. And thank you for a rich book like Hebrews that we can look at and study together. Just pray, God, would you give us ears to hear tonight? Thank you again that we've got the technology sorted. But Father, we just desire that you'd have your way tonight. I pray for liberty as I speak. I can't speak without your enablement. And Father, I have no ability except that which the spirit of God has given to me or you gave me naturally. And so I just pray, help me to use my tongue to glorify God tonight and speak as best I can the truth of the word of God in a way that is clear. and speaks to our hearts, and thank you for your help now, and thank you for what you desire to do. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. Amen, all right, so we're back at Hebrews 6. And with all of our book studies that we do, it's nice to do a little bit of a review. I don't know about you, we're studying Proverbs, we're studying Romans, we're studying Hebrews. I sometimes have to stop and think, okay, where am I, what book am I in? What's the context of, again, what we've been looking at? So let me just review Hebrews chapter 6 for us as we get started. Paul started verses one through eight, don't be, in apostate, okay? Don't be an apostate. You can't lose your salvation. But the danger is that you can sit and have good instruction from the Word of God, and have clear teaching from the Bible, and be brought into close proximity with the things of God. See the power of God, see the glory of God, and all these things, and yet sadly walk away without ever accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior. And if you turn your back on the only way of salvation, then you're hopeless. unless you repent of that and turn back to Christ. And so he warned of that danger, but Paul said to them, look, even though I've warned you about apostasy, I don't anticipate this in your life. I anticipate that the vast majority of you, as it were, are saved. And he speaks to them as a group, saying that he perceives differently in their lives. Verse nine, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. Even though I've warned you about apostasy, I anticipate seeing things that accompany salvation. I anticipate seeing real substantive fruit in your life. And then he tells them, look, God is aware of everything you do for the cause of Christ. Verse 10, for God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love which you have showed toward his name and that you have ministered to the saints and do minister. And Paul says that is commendable, that is great, that is fruit, that is evident in your life. And Paul didn't want it in just one life or two lives or one church or two churches. Paul desired it to be the reality of the body of Christ. And so verse 11, We desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end. Okay, so we want everybody to get this earnest Christianity that we talked about last week. And again, my apologies if anyone's watching these that aren't with us live, because that was missed and that was skipped. But we talked about earnest Christianity and being somebody that is a zealous believer. And like those who have historically followed after Christ or after God, verse 12, that you be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. So, okay, these people were earnest about their faith. It wasn't an aside. It was their life. It was what they, it was the very fabric of their being. It was not something they professed. It was something that they possessed. And so Paul was saying, in effect, if you've accepted Christ, you ought to be on fire for God. That fruit ought to be evident in your life. That work, labor of love, he says, show the same diligence unto the end, not slothful. And if that's the case in your life, I as pastor or somebody else as a spiritual leader in our church will look at that and say, you know what, praise God, I see great evidence of salvation in the life of that person. But if they're not like that, they just make a profession about Christ, but they have no passion about serving God, no real fruit in their life, there's going to be a question in our mind. Is that a person genuinely born again, or is there a very real danger that they will be an apostate? For that person themselves, as they look in the mirror, If they look in the mirror and they see somebody that has no interest in the things of God, somebody that just makes a profession of faith in God, but there is no real fruit in their life, that ought to concern them. They ought to stop and think about what Paul said. You can have all these privileges and yet turn your back on God. But if they have a life that backs up what they profess, they can look at it and say, hey, praise God, there's fruit in my life. I see the spirit of God at work in my life. There's growth in my life. And that gives them an assurance of salvation. It's what Paul's speaking about, that full assurance of hope, all right, unto the end. They've got that. So that's dealing with kind of assurance of salvation idea. You know, I'm not gonna be an apostate. I'm gonna be somebody that's very genuine and very real for God. And then as we come into the end of chapter six, Paul is speaking about the security that we have in our walk with God. Okay, security that's there because Paul is not seeking to make us waffle or be uncertain. Am I saved or am I not saved? He would have us be very secure in our salvation and certainly as he comes to At the end of this chapter, he gives us everything we need to anchor ourselves in this reality of our relationship with God. So he ends with some wonderful security for the believers, eternal security, all right? And so what we have, and now we're just gonna jump into it, we have the security of God's promise, okay? We have the security of God's promise. In high school, there was, I don't know, I suppose I was about 15, 16 years of age, I really began to doubt my salvation. And there was inconsistencies in my life, things that I wasn't really living for the Lord like I should have, and I began to doubt. Am I saved? Am I not saved? And God used 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 5 to assure me of my salvation. It says, Through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last times. Okay, my salvation is Secure because my salvation is secured by God. Okay, I put my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ But the the anchor point is is that promise that God has secured me in him It's what Jesus said when he said I got you in my hand. Okay, and then my father which is greater than me He's got you in his hand And so it's that promise of God's promise. And so the anchor of our assurance is fastened to the solid rock of God's word. What does God's word say about salvation? Well, the security of God's promise, God's promises are backed up by his name, okay? The promises that God's given us in his word are backed up by his name. And so it says in verse 13, for when God made promise to Abraham, Because he could swear by no greater, he swear by himself, okay? God made promise to Abraham. A promise is only as good as the source of the promise. There was a little girl, I've shared this story, and probably some are already thinking about what I'm gonna say, but there was a little girl when I was growing up that promised me a radio-controlled airplane. And I mean, I dreamed about it, I thought about it, I was excited about it, I thought about it, And I'm 44 and I still regret that I never got that radio-controlled airplane that she promised. But the thing is, and maybe she turned out to be a nice trustworthy lady, but in her childhood, She was a deceiver and her promise was no good because the source of the promise was not good. In contrast there was a young lady that I dated in Bible college and I asked her to be my wife and she said yes and she kept her word. You might know who that is. And you know a promise is only as good as the source and here So we see that this promise was from God. Now the illustration that Paul is using is of God giving Abraham a covenant, that covenant promise to Abraham found in Genesis verse 12. Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house unto a land, that I will show thee, and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. and I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." Okay, now God promised. The promise is as good as the source. God said it and God didn't just say it. God said it with an oath. He swore that he would do this as well. So we're gonna put that aside for a second. We'll come back to that secondly, but we're gonna talk about first of all the security again, of the promise. And so God's promise is anchored in his perfect and holy name. He said it, and therefore he will do it. So I could ask tonight, do you trust God tonight? Is God's word good enough? Is what he says sufficient? Yes, because the source is rock solid. Numbers 23 verse 19 says, God is not a man that he should lie, neither the son of man that he should repent. Hath he said and shall he not do it? Hath he spoken? Shall he not make it good? Is God's character something that we should question? And obviously the answer is absolutely not. I mean, God said it, God's gonna do it. He's gonna get it done. So we've got a promise, any promise in the word of God given to us by God, it is a rock solid promise. Therefore it is a secure thing upon which to to put our faith. Secondly, God's promises are specific. Okay, God's promises are specific. So, the Abrahamic covenant, that promise was very clear. It was first of all, God said, I'm gonna bless you, Abraham. Verse 14, saying, surely blessing, I will bless thee. It's just truly, you know, this is a true thing. Blessing, I will bless thee. Abraham was very successful. He was very prosperous as a farmer. He did well with the things that he did, but he didn't do well because he was gifted, although God obviously enabled him. He didn't do well because he's Abraham and Abraham's just gonna make a great success out of his life. Abraham was successful because God had said to Abraham, Abraham, look, I will bless you. And again, we know he was prosperous. He had to separate from Lot because their livestock was too many to be able to graze And so they had to separate. When Abraham went to fight against Cheddar Lammer in the north of Israel to rescue Lot and the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, the Bible says that he took 300 and 18 servants that were born in his house. I mean, this guy is a very successful man. I mean, he is prospering. And I can say this about Abraham, God allowed Abraham to see some of the fulfillment of the promise without seeing all the promise fulfilled, okay? Because there's more to this promising, but God does that in our lives. When we've been given a promise by God, there are often things that we may not see the fulfillment of that, but we can rejoice in the little things. I got a bug flying in here. The little things that God is doing that encourages that, hey, you know what? God promised and God is working. And there's ways that I can be encouraged by that. With regard to the big picture of what Paul is speaking about, that security of my salvation, God gave us the earnest of our inheritance. He gave us the person of the Holy Spirit to encourage us that the rest of the promise, that ultimate fulfillment, when we stand in the presence of God, having left this life for eternity, until we get there, there's little ways in which we are seeing that promise fulfilled. But God's promise is specific. God said to Abraham, I'm going to bless you. Secondly, God said, I'm going to multiply you. Again, very specific. He says, multiplying, I will multiply thee. God said, Abraham, you're going to be a huge nation. He uses the illustration of the stars. in heaven. He uses the illustration of the sand upon the sea. If you can number that, so shall thy seed be. If you can number the stars, so shall again thy seed be. And yet for 25 years from that promise, Abraham had nothing to hang his hat on, not even a glimmer of hope that Sarah would conceive a child for 25 years. They were childless. And so God's word is full of promises that God's given to us. It's secure because the source is secure. But can I say this about the promises of God? Some are immediate, right? Salvation is immediate. If you call upon the name of the Lord, you'll be saved. That's immediate. Sanctification. We confess our sins. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That is immediate. Many times God will answer immediately, but there are some things that take time. It could be, you know, things that we're praying about of provision or direction or an unsaved family member. But there are promises in the word of God that we can grab a hold of, anchor our faith to and say, hey, but God is faithful and God has promised. Again, ultimately our salvation is gonna be fully realized in eternity. So Paul is speaking about live that life to the fullest, be an earnest believer, trusting in the ultimate fulfillment of what God is going to do, okay? But God's promises are specific. We know from his word what he will do. And then C, God's promises are received by faith. Okay, this is all under the first point that we're secure in the promises of God. God's promises are received by faith. So it says in verse 15, And so after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise, okay? Abraham, great man of God, great man of faith. I mean, in the hall of faith that Paul's gonna give in Hebrews chapter 11, but that was a life of faith and waiting upon God and really dying in faith, believing that God would ultimately answer the promise that he had been given. There's a great prayer warrior named George Mueller, and you well know his name, down in England, that was mighty as an intercessor, that saw God answer so many prayers. And not braggingly, he speaks about that, but with regard to five men that he decided to pray for their salvation. It says, in November 1844, I began to pray for the conversion of five individuals. I prayed every day without a single intermission, whether sick or in health, on the land or on the sea. And whatever the pressure of my engagements might be, 18 months elapsed before the first of the five was converted. I thanked God and prayed on for the others. Five years elapsed and then the second was converted. I thanked God for the second and prayed on for the other three. Day by day, I continued to pray for them and six years passed. before the third was converted. I thanked God for the three and went on praying for the other two." He says this, these two remain unconverted at the time he was writing this and really until after his death. The man to whom God in the riches of his grace has given tens of thousands of answers to prayer in the self same hour or day in which they were offered has been praying day by day for nearly 36 years for the conversion of these individuals and yet they remain unconverted. But I hope in God, I pray on, and look yet for the answer. They are not converted yet, but they soon will be." Okay, that's a statement of faith, is it not? They are not yet converted, but they soon will be. And these two men, sons of a friend of Mueller's youth, were still unconverted when he died in 1897. After having prayed daily for their salvation for 52 years, His prayers were answered, however, when both those men came to faith in Christ a few years after the great intercessor's death. All right? So, I mean, it was a future fulfillment that was coming, and he prayed on, and it was received by faith. Listen, God's promises are secure, the source is sound, but our faith has to obtain that which God has promised, and so we have security. in the promise of God. And then secondly, the security of God's oath. Okay, this is the second aspect, and we've already mentioned it, that God didn't just promise, but that God also swore with an oath. And just generally speaking, if a man, any man gives an oath, as long as the source is trustworthy, that oath is accepted. And that's what he says in verse 16. He says, for men verily swear by the greater, And an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. And so you swear by a greater power. I swear by whatever authority is over you that this is true, that this is fact. And generally speaking, that's acceptable. We accept this in a court situation. You know, do we not, if somebody gets up, they swear on the Bible or swear by some other power that what they say is going to be the truth and that is accepted. If they violate that, that's perjury. Our members of Parliament are sworn in at Westminster. They have an oath that they give of allegiance to the Queen. And so it says on the website, if you can look it up, MPs take the oath by holding the sacred text in their uplifted hand, the Bible, and saying the words of the oath. I, say your name, swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors according to the law, so help me God. Okay, so I mean, that is a sober thing to swear. And in swearing, it brings before us as men, the soberness of the responsibility before us. You know, this is a sober thing that I'm stating, I'm gonna state it very clearly and very accurately. But it also calls on the higher power to hold them accountable if they do not keep their oath. It's putting themselves in jeopardy saying, I'm asking God to take care of this. God can't swear by anybody because nobody's higher than God. So when God swears, God swears by himself because God holds himself accountable for what he has promised. God did this with Abraham, and you notice in verse 13, it says he swore by himself. Well, where did he swear by himself? Genesis 22, 15. The angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time and said, by myself have I sworn, saith the Lord. For because thou hast done this thing and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, it was at the sacrifice of Isaac, right, that God had asked Abraham to do. that in blessing I will bless thee. Here's the covenant promise again. And in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is upon the seashore and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. Okay, that's an Abrahamic covenant. It's a promise given by God. It's secured not just by promise but by oath, God himself holding himself accountable. Why is that important to me? Because my salvation is in the Abrahamic covenant that God gave. You remember it says in Genesis 12, three, "'In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.'" Okay, that's you, that's me. It's secure, God promised it, and God swore that this would be the case. And so generally speaking, we're talking about men accepting an oath from a sinful man, but we ought to embrace the oath of a holy God, a God that has stated very clearly that this would take place. We entered into contracts with men pretty easily. And we take it as a matter of fact. If they'll sign their name, they'll promise that we accept it. Again, how much more when God has said it. And so our soul security is carefully articulated by God. God has taken great pains, as it were, to make it abundantly clear that this is secure. Verse 17. It says, wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath. And you ask, why did God give an oath? Why didn't God just promise? Why did God go to the pain of having to state it so very, very clearly? Well, what's it say? It says, willing more abundantly I mean, it's God saying, I want to make this very, very clear. I want this to be beyond a shadow of doubt that you understand that this is so, so very clear. I do this sometimes as a dad. I might get online, as I've done in the past, and I might book a holiday. And I'll come to the kids and say, you know what? I've booked a holiday. And if it was something extreme, you know, that I was able to book, say, hey, we're gonna fly to United States, we're gonna go to Disney World for a week. And it's not happening. Don't get excited. You know, but say I could say that with my kids, I'm sure I would have to look them in the eye and say, I swear. that this is the truth. I did this. I have done this. What am I doing? I'm trying to take something unbelievable and make it very secure in their heart that this is absolutely true. You know, God has done that. Has he not with salvation? God's word and the promises of God and this promise that God gave in the oath that he swore and all the promises since then that God has given his word. Romans 10, 13, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Acts 16, 31, they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house. John 3, 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. God has made it abundantly clear because he has a desire to make that so very evident for our security. And so our soul's security is carefully articulated by God, but then our soul security is established in our relationship with God. Okay? Our soul security is established in our relationship with God. So what does it say in our verse? To show unto the airs a promise. Okay, God wants to make it abundantly clear to whom? To those that are going to inherit from him. Okay, to go back to my illustration about a holiday, you know, I told my kids, I swear, this is true. Imagine a neighbor kid is standing there as I tell him, we're going to Disney World, this is gonna be great, I swear, it's truth. And that little kid's looking at me with big bug eyes, and I look at him and say, but not you, buddy. You're not going unless I'm really a loving person that is very wealthy. And I can say, hey, I care about you as well. I'm gonna include you in this, right? So the promise of everlasting life and the promise of eternal inheritance through Abraham and through Christ and Calvary and the death of the Lord Jesus Christ and his resurrection is secured by me entering into a relationship with God by faith, right? And the Son of God and what Jesus Christ did on the cross. John 1.12 says, When somebody gets saved, praise God, they become a child of God. Why is that important? Because it's only the children that inherit, right? And so I have an inheritance. I mean, Paul goes to pains to talk about this in Romans, in Colossians, here in Hebrews, emphasizing that inheritance that we have, that we are heirs of God. And so we're secure in that, establishing that relationship with God and something that God swore is true. And then our soul security, is grounded in the unchangeability of God. The security of that is also grounded in the unchangeability of God. So God desires to show us as his children, what's it say at the end of the verse? The immutability of his counsel. And so he confirmed it by an oath. Immutability means unchangeability. In other words, God is saying, this is not something that is going to change ever. This is something that is absolutely foundationally secure. Malachi 3.6, for I am the Lord, I change not. I am God, I do not change. God's word does not change His promises. do not change. You know, this year is a year of change. I wish Barack Obama was running for president, right? Because he ran on that idea of change. Hey, this has been the year of change. Nothing has been solid. We've got COVID regulations and I guess deregulations. Right. I mean, all these different things happening. Our furlough plans as a family. Are we going to go back? Is it going to work? You know, how is it going to work? All the changes that had to take place there are flight plans. I don't know if I said this, but our flights on the way there and our flights on the way back were both changed. Brexit or no Brexit? That is the question, or deal or no deal? That is the question. It's all changeable, but God doesn't change. And so as we come... to this promise that God has given, this oath that God has given, is secured because God is unchanging and God has made it abundantly clear this is the real deal, this is what it's about. If you're an heir of God, this eternal salvation thing is secure. And so we have security in the promise of God. We've got security in the oath of God. And then thirdly, we've got the security of our experience of salvation, okay? We've got the security of our personal experience of salvation. Now this could be past, it could be present, or it could be future, right? It could be something I have done, something I'm gonna do right now, or something that in the future I will do. But that experience of salvation secures this as well. And so the security of our experience of salvation, so we can fully trust God for salvation. We can fully trust God for salvation. Verse 18, says that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie. Okay, let me help discern what is the two immutable things. Well, what have we talked about? God's promise and God's oath. Okay, God didn't just promise, but God swore that this was true. And so those two unchangeable things that it speaks about in which it was impossible Can an agreement get any more certain than that? God promised, God swore, God can't lie. I mean, what's what's there to doubt about that? I don't like fine print. You know, you might have a warranty and then the item breaks and you read the fine print. It's got to be in the original box with the original tags bought from a registered dealer, you know, and who knows what other, you know, fine print might be there. Listen, when somebody gets saved, they don't have to read the fine print. They could run that read if it as the Bible speaks about the word of God is abundantly clear about salvation, Romans 5, 8, but God commended his love toward us in that while we are yet sinners, Christ died for us. So somebody tonight, maybe they're not saved, could look at this and say, I can enter into that very solid agreement with God. God promised, God can't lie, and God swore that this is true and they can take it by faith and experience it and there's security in that experience because they can fully trust God for salvation. And then secondly, We can fully rest in God for salvation. In which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation. And so, you know, in life there's a lot of people needing security. They don't have comfort. They don't have consolation. They don't have peace. They're in turmoil. Their life is messed up by sin. They have no clue about eternity and the security of knowing for sure that they're saved, but they can have it because it's found in Christ. They might have strong consolation. This past week, one of the nights, I don't know if Mac remembers this or not, but he had a bad dream in the middle of the night. And I went in there, you know, and I, you know, he had a bad dream. And so I said to him, would you like to sleep in our room? Yes, I want to sleep in your room. So make him a bed, you know, on our floor. And he comes in and he rests. Why? because he has the confidence that mom and dad are there and mom and dad are watching over him. Listen, somebody can't flee to God. God is a rock. God has promised salvation is secure in Jesus Christ and his death, his resurrection, their life's in turmoil. They don't have peace, but God promised, God swore, God can't lie. They can run to God and rest in God. So if somebody still is anxious, they can find that security in God. in that experience of salvation. Psalm 62 6, he only is my rock, my salvation, he is my defense, I shall not be moved. What is that? Strong consolation, right? Strong consolation, that strong comfort that God gives through the experience of salvation. And so, We can fully rest in God for salvation and we can fully take hold of salvation from God. We can fully take hold of salvation from God. It says, who have fled for refuge. to lay hold upon the hope set before us. This person is not a casual professor, but they are a confident possessor. They are not somebody that just professed faith in Christ. They are somebody that has run to the rock, grabbed a hold of salvation in Christ, and taken it to themselves. Salvation comes when man earnestly seeks it from God. You know, somebody that really gets saved is somebody that is, there's a level of passion, a level of earnestness about it that I need this from God. Like a refugee that's seeking asylum in a safe country. They don't arrive casually. They arrive with passion and earnestness pleading for security in the land of freedom, right? They are there because they need a refuge. And that's the same with somebody that comes to Christ. There is a earnestness about it, but very really, they take hold of Christ and possess Christ. They take God's gift and they receive God's gift. Oh, for those that would flee like that, right? That refuge that is so very real and so very strong. And then we can fully possess salvation. We can fully possess salvation, verse 19. says, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. This hope that I have of eternity and everlasting life and that realization of that life in Christ, which we've talked about before, hope in the Bible is not, I hope this will happen. It's that confident expectation. I know this is a fact. God has revealed this to me. I have received it. And so this person fully possesses this, the anchor of their soul is out. It's on the rock that is sure and steadfast. Sure is secure. Steadfast is unmovable. Paul knew this. Paul had himself experienced this taking of God's salvation. I could ask everybody, is your soul secure? I mean, is there a steadfastness about your salvation? If you've truly been born again, there ought to be that confidence in your heart that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. I love witnessing to people, and as I'm speaking to them at the end or towards the end of our conversation, to look them in the eye and say, share my testimony and tell them, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if I died, I'd spend eternity in glory with God because I know that I'm saved. And I know that I possess Christ. And that ought to be our confidence. That ought to be the reality of what Paul is speaking about. That this is not something that I just profess, but this is something that I possess that is very real and very tangible and very secure. And so in conclusion as we kind of look back at what we've considered tonight. We are secured by God's promise. The source of that promise, that God has said this. We're secured secondly by the oath. I mean, he not only promised this through Abraham and to us, he verified it and said, I will hold myself accountable to this. He couldn't swear by anybody greater, so he swore by himself. And then we are secured by our experience of salvation, that we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, that we have done that, that we have grabbed hold of this hope, that we possess this hope in Christ. And I trust tonight that if that is not your experience, like we just talked about, it could be in the past, somebody got saved. It could be present. It could be tonight that somebody bows their head and puts their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and their soul is no longer anxious and afraid of eternity and hell. They have that security of that relationship in Christ, or it could be future. And our prayer would be if somebody doesn't get saved tonight, that they'll continue to follow along and say, by the grace of God, I wanna get saved. But for us that are saved, our security, we have assurance of salvation, but the security of our assurance is God. what God said and his oath and his promise. All right, let's pray and ask the spirit of God to bless the word of God to our hearts tonight. Father, we thank you for the grace that we've had to come to the word of God and thank you for the book of Hebrews. And Father, I pray that we would be earnest Christians. That'd be very obvious that we're passionate about the things of God, that it's real, that it's not just a profession. But that is genuine. Father, tonight I pray maybe somebody is struggling with the assurance of salvation. Maybe they find that their security is in the promises of God and what God said. Father, all we have to do is take it by faith and believe it. Father, it's easy to believe when it's promised, when it's given with an oath, and God can't lie. And so Father, secure us in you. Help us to have on firmly the helmet of salvation so that we can be a good soldier for the Lord Jesus Christ. If anybody is not saved, we pray tonight would be the night of their salvation. Father, that they'd be born again, that they would flee for refuge to Christ and lay hold upon the hope that is there in Christ. And it's in his name we pray, amen.