We turn to God's Word this morning, to Isaiah chapter 26, and also Lord's Day 7 of the Heidelberg Catechism, question and answer 21 on true faith. It's been some weeks since we've been in the catechism, but this morning we hope to look at the second part of question 21 or answer 21, dealing with that assured confidence Isaiah 26 and then Lord's Day 7. In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong city. Salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. For he bringeth down them that dwell on high. The lofty city he layeth it low even to the ground, he bringeth it even to the dust. the foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor and the steps of the needy. The way of the just is uprightness. Thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just. Yea, in the way of Thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for Thee. The desire of our soul is to Thy name and to the remembrance of Thee. With my soul have I desired Thee in the night. Yea, with my spirit within me will I seek Thee early. For when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Let favor be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness. In the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly and will not behold the majesty of the Lord. Lord, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see, but they shall see and be ashamed for their envy at the people. Yea, the fire of thine enemy shall devour them. Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us, for thou also hast wrought all our works in us. O Lord our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us, but by thee only will we make mention of thy name. They are dead, they shall not live. They are deceased, they shall not rise. Therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them and made all their memory to perish. Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord, thou hast increased the nation. Thou art glorified. Thou hast removed it far unto all the ends of the earth. Lord, in trouble have they visited thee. They poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them. Like as a woman with child that draweth near the time of her delivery is in pain and crieth out in her pangs, so have we been in thy sight, O Lord. We have been with child. We have been in pain. We have, as it were, brought forth wind. We have not wrought any deliverance in the earth, neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen. Thy dead men shall live. Together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust, for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee. Hide thyself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation be overpassed. For behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth also shall disclose her blood and shall no more cover her slain. Thus far, turning also now then to Lord's Day 7, page 34 in the back of your Psalter. Question and answer 21, what is true faith? True faith is not only a certain knowledge whereby I hold for truth all that God has revealed to us in His Word, but also an assured confidence which the Holy Ghost works by the Gospel in my heart, that not only to others, but to me also, remission of sin, everlasting righteousness, and salvation are freely given by God, merely of grace. only for the sake of Christ's merits. Beloved congregation, in our study of the Heidelberg Catechism, we, as mentioned, continue to look at this topic of faith. Faith is, as defined by our catechism, two things. First, a certain knowledge a certain knowledge whereby I hold for truth all that God has revealed to us in his word. But then there is that second component of this definition of true faith, and that is an assured confidence, assurance. It's a grace that many, if not all, believers have struggled with. Very few of God's people are fully assured at all times during their lives. That's because of their own sinful hearts. It's because the devil is active, wanting to sow doubt, to discourage, to pull you away from the path of life and peace. And for some of God's people, assurance feels like a distant glimmer of light far away. so unreachable. But what is this assured confidence then that the catechism speaks of? Who is it for? And how can we get it? What does it look like? Let's examine this morning the theme and assured confidence and we'll see four questions as we do so. First, we'll define it. What is an assured confidence? Then second, third, and fourth, we'll ask three questions about it. First, is it possible to lack an assured confidence and yet be saved? Third, or second question then of the three, is it preferable to lack an assured confidence? to ask it positively, is it desirable to have an assured confidence? And then the last question is, is it predictable to lack an assured confidence? Can you predict through various things if you will lack or you can expect to lack this assured confidence? So first then, what is an assured confidence? What is assurance? Well, J.C. Ryle, in his little booklet on this subject, which I will be referring to throughout the sermon, says that assurance is not merely a feeling. There's more to assurance than just feelings. It's not just that I feel. It's not a mystical sense that you can only experience if you happen to be one of those who are mystically inclined. Take the Apostle Paul. Paul was an objective, logical thinker. As you trace his logic through his letters, maybe think of the Book of Romans, how linear the logic is as he moves through those doctrines. You can see that Paul is very analytical, almost like an engineer. And it's interesting that he designed tents, didn't he? He made tents. He wasn't mystical or subjective in an imbalanced way. He speaks, yes, about the mystery of godliness and about the mystery of God, but that's not him waxing mystical. That's him speaking about things we don't understand as humans, but he's very, very objective. And yet Paul himself experienced much of this grace of assurance. He says, in one place, I know whom I have believed. And I am persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed to him against that day. He says in another place, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. Paul, you're a sinner. Paul, you were persecuting the church of Christ, and here you stand before the righteous judge. Yes, says Paul, because I'm assured that the blood of Jesus Christ has covered all my sins, and the Lord will be good and true to his promise. You see, it wasn't just feelings. It was biblically grounded conviction. Assurance, Ryle says, is a positive gift of the Holy Spirit He stowed, and this is very interesting how he says this, he stowed without reference to or regard for men's bodily frames or constitutions. Our constitutions are all different, aren't they? Some of us are more inclined to struggle with certain things or doubt or be more mystically inclined, With regards to that, Paul says, it's a gift of the Holy Spirit, a gift, he says, which every believer in Christ should aim at and seek after. The gift of assurance is defined by our catechism as the conviction that not only to others, But to me also, remission of sin, everlasting righteousness, and salvation are freely given by God, merely of grace, only for the sake of Christ's merits. And I hope that all of us, from catechism age and up, could repeat those words in unison with me. They are very significant words. I tell the catechism and confession students over again that Lord's Day 7 is a very important Lord's Day, and know it. Remember, if I wake you up at three in the morning, you'll be able to say it to me, young people. It's so important. Those words are packed full of truth. Another way of describing this, an assured confidence is to be convinced in your heart by the sealing work of the Holy Spirit that you are a child of God. To be able to say with certainty that in spite of who I am, My covenant God, in His superabounding grace, has forgiven all my sins merely of grace, only for the sake of Christ's merits. That He, yes, has adopted me into the family of God and made me an heir of salvation and a recipient of everlasting life. These are glorious things. That's what assurance is. It is to be able to grasp that with both hands in your heart by faith, by the Spirit's work. And when you can experience that in your heart, then that's a great blessing. Maybe you felt it. Maybe you know of times when you could say this with certainty. And maybe now you say, I don't feel it so much anymore. There was a time I was so sure when the Lord came over so strongly, and I was 100% sure that if I rest on those promises of God, it is sure. I am saved, like John Bunyan could exclaim after many, many months and years of doubting and struggling. But maybe it's less so now. And that shows, doesn't it, that there is an ebb and a flow of assurance in the experience of the Lord's people. But what does that say then about your spiritual condition just because you don't feel it one day? Think of a foggy day. When it's very foggy out and we say to each other, it's thick as soup out there, we better not have Bible class. You can't drive, it's not safe. You can't see. Can you see? You don't doubt your eyesight. You can see, but you can't see far. That's what faith without assurance is like. It sees. It's just foggy spiritually. And therefore it's helpful to understand that even though you may not have assurance, that does not therefore mean that you are not saved. Just as when you cannot see through that fog, that doesn't mean that therefore you cannot see at all. And so the point of the picture is to say that faith and assurance are related, but they are not essentially the same. You can't have a coin with only one side, but faith and assurance don't work like that. You can have one without the other. Wilhelmus O'Brackell, the Dutch Second Reformation pastor, he wrote, assurance and comfort are fruits of a strong faith. but do not belong to the essence of faith. It's very important to keep those two apart or you run into all kinds of problems. Many have feared that a lack of assurance automatically should question their faith, but this is not true. But now this leads us then into our second point where we wish to explore this idea a little further. Is it possible to lack an assured confidence? And the answer then is yes, in light of what we've said. It is possible to believe and yet not be assured of that. Never may we say that unless you have assurance you can't go to heaven. We can't say that. Now that doesn't mean assurance is not desirable, as we'll see later, but it's not essential to salvation. It's been said that as a fleck of gold is truly gold, so a fleck of true saving faith is truly faith that will save. You ever noticed how in the Gospels when our Lord is interacting with people who are putting their trust in him and he commends them, he commends ultimately their, the Lord's work in them, he says, he never says, thy assurance hath saved thee. He always says, thy faith has saved me. It is faith that the Lord uses as the means to bind the sinner to Christ savingly, not assured confidence. And therefore, it's very possible to be a genuine child of God and to struggle with that reality all your life at the same time. To ask the question, as many have, am I his or am I no? and yet go to heaven. Remember the man who said, Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. He was not assured, yet he believed. The Puritan Thomas Watson, he writes that a letter may be written which is not sealed. Now you have to think of in those days, the king would write a letter and he would place his seal upon it. So it was absolutely sure this was written in the king's name. And he says, a letter may be written which is not sealed. And so grace may be written in your heart, yet the spirit may not set the seal of assurance upon it. And that could be a great comfort for those of you who may be struggling with assurance. Ryle writes that a child may be born heir to a great fortune, and yet never be aware of his riches. He can live childish, die childish, and never know the fullness of his possession. And so also a man may be a babe in Christ's family, think as a babe, speak as a babe, and though saved, never enjoy a lively hope, never know the real privilege of his inheritance. His justification is sure. It doesn't change. There are no degrees in it. All who are saved, their justification is the same. It's like a binary switch. It's on or it's off. And when the Lord saves by faith, that justification happens in His sight. You are made righteous in Christ and that switch goes on. But sanctification is that which is like a slider, like a dimmer switch. and it slides up and down, and it has degrees. And in some, it's fully bright. In others, it's very dim. And it goes up and down. There are reasons for that. But justification is the light switch. Sanctification is a slider, a dimmer switch. Some of you may be able to relate to fears and doubts and struggles. You fear deceiving yourself. You maybe are constantly checking yourself in light of that, fearful to venture too far just in case you may be deceiving yourself. Others of you may feel the genuine power of sin in your life, and you wonder, how genuine is my faith really? My spiritual life? Or maybe you don't feel certain joys or experiences that you're looking for, emotions. You think it has to just feel right Or else it can't be sure. How should you handle those thoughts in light of this? Well, let's start with the first one, the deceiving yourself. How do you know if you're deceiving yourself? Well, the first thing to check, and it's very helpful, is if you are afraid of deceiving yourself, then you probably are not doing so. Because those who do deceive themselves, they move on very quickly from that. And I don't give it a thought. And also, if examining yourself as to your state of grace leads you to flee back to Jesus Christ, back to the Lord, to focus on Him, and to desire to love and to fear and to obey the Lord more, then you're also not deceiving yourself, and you're in the right place. The second one we mentioned, you feel the power of sin in your life. You wonder how genuine your spiritual life really is Turn to Romans 7 and think about what Paul wrote there He talks about the power of sin Remaining sin in his life. He is led to cry out wretched man that I am who shall deliver me And then you should remember that the Lord at times allows his people to be tempted and tossed by sin, and that is also to teach you to lean more on him and not to depend on yourself. Because the reality is, we daily offend in all. We're sinners. The question is not, do I sin? The question is, where do I go with my sin? What do I think of my sin? Do I bring it to the Lord? Does it lead me to sorrow and to seek pardon? Do I hate sin more? Do I try to fight against it by His grace? If that is so, then your remaining imperfection should not disturb you or rob you of a hopeful confidence in the Lord's saving work for you. And you should remember that His great work of salvation in your soul, it's progressive, and it does not at any time, not even once, depend on your feelings. It depends on the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you're simply looking for a feeling, if you're searching for joy you once had, you're looking in the wrong places because it's not joy you should be looking for. It's the Lord Christ and the comfort of his face, which will lead to joy. If you end in Him and focus on Him, that's faith in action, and that's faith that will produce and grow the fruit of assurance. What about the third one? If you just don't feel right, you just don't feel it. Well, maybe that's because, think of this scenario. One day, you're feeling quite right before God. And if you're honest, that's because if you trace back the reason for that, it's because you've had a good day. You've been able to accomplish many things, also for God's kingdom. You're thankful for that. Others have perhaps benefited from your service, your labors, your gifts, whatever it may be, and you're thankful for the way that your day went, this particular time in your life maybe is going, and you feel quite good about that. But then another day comes, and you have a bad day, and you lose your temper, and you fall into sin, and you are grumpy, and you're short-tempered, and on that day you don't feel so good anymore. You feel you've lost that sense of assurance. What's the problem with this scenario? The problem with that scenario is that the assurance that is felt or perceived is founded on the wrong thing. It's driven by your particular feelings at a certain time. The foundation is yourself. And that is actually to base your assurance on your own works. It's based on how good or acceptable or how sanctified you feel. But that is the wrong basis for assurance. Assurance has its basis not in how I feel, but it has its basis in what God says. The promises of God are the foundation, the basis for this assured confidence. Very important to remember, or we get into all sorts of problems spiritually. Well, so then it's possible to have faith without assurance, but is it preferable? We enter that in our third question. Is it preferable to lack an assured confidence? And the answer to this is no. I trust that's obvious. It's preferable to have an assured confidence. It's far better. But why? Why is it a good thing to have a sense of assurance? Well, three reasons. First, because it brings great peace. I'm going to take these from Ryle. It's very helpful. And I would encourage you to read his booklet again at some point after this to refresh your mind. It's so true. Assurance to have it brings great peace. There is great peace in knowing that I have in heaven an inheritance incorruptible, isn't there? A crown of glory that fadeth not away. That there is a time coming that nothing and nobody here on earth can take away. especially in times of crisis, in times of persecution, the church has been immensely comforted by this truth. Fear not them which are able to kill the body, and when they're done that, they can do no more. Fear Him, who is able to kill both body and soul. And take your comfort in Him, who has all things in His hands. It says right in the chapter that we read, the prophet is Speaking in verse 14, they are dead, they shall not live. They are deceased, they shall not rise. He's speaking also of the nation and the trouble of the nation. But then in verse 19, God comes through and he says, thy dead men shall live. Together with my dead body shall they arise. That's a beautiful prophecy about the resurrection of Christ. What comfort there is in the fact that even though they kill the body, he will rise the body, raise the body again, and give his people eternal life, body and soul. There's such comfort, such peace in that. Consolation. Ryle says this, assurance, my brethren, goes far to set a child of God free from painful bondage and mightily ministers to comfort. It gives him joy and peace in believing. Listen to this, it makes him patient in tribulation, knowing these things. It makes him contented in trial, calm in affliction, unmoved in sorrow, not afraid of evil tidings. It sweetens his bitter cups. It lessens the burden of his crosses. It smooths the rough places on which he travels. It lightens the valley of the shadow of death. It makes him feel as if he had something solid under his feet—a sure friend, by the way, and a sure home in the end. He feels that the great business of life is a settled business. Debt, disaster, work, and all other business is by comparison small. Do you realize that that's why when Paul and Silas were in prison they could sing? They weren't enjoying that physically or mentally. They didn't know what the future could hold, but they were singing praises to God at midnight because the Lord so assured them that they were contented in trial and calm in affliction. It's the first thing, it gives peace. But the second reason why assurance is so desirable is because it leads to great usefulness. The Lord desires that his people would be useful in his kingdom and he's given you gifts, beloved. He's given you graces and bestowed on every one of us gifts according to the measure of the gift of Christ and the fullness of Christ. But if there's a constant battle going on in the heart about whether or not I'm actually in the Lord and there's all this struggle constantly going on, it is easy to see how all the energies are focused on that and not towards serving the Lord. It is easy to see that those gifts will then at best be stunted. Raoul uses the example of two immigrants who come to a new land. You know that the government of Canada used to do this. You'd be invited to come to this great country and settle it. You were given several acres, a plot of land. They would provide you a shovel, a rake, some tools, and you would get a pig and a cow, and you would be given everything you needed to start a homestead. Now imagine if two pioneers were to come here and set to work. But the one sets to work to cultivate his land. Day after day, he's making progress. He's clearing trees. He's getting rocks out of the dirt, the ground. He's plowing. He's seeding. But the other one, after an hour of cutting the first tree down, he leaves. And the neighbor wonder, where's he going? And he comes back a few hours later, and he says, yeah, I was just in the central office down in the main town. I just wanted to make sure the land was really my own. Maybe there's been some mistake. Maybe, after all, there's some flaw in the legal paperwork, and it's not actually mine, and I'm wasting my time. The next day, again, he goes back to the town hall, and he inquires to make sure that the land is really his. And he's falling way behind. The other guy, he's already got his crops are coming up out of the ground after some time. But the first one, he's still cutting trees down, never sure of his title. Which of these two men, Ryle asks, will have most progress in a year's time? Who will have the most usefulness? The answer is obvious. Being able, by God's grace, to labor in the Lord's kingdom with humble faith and trust in what God has promised will lead to great usefulness. That's why assurance is a good thing. Third, the third reason assurance is desirable is because it leads to greater holiness. That's because the more you experience the nearness and the loving kindness of the Lord, the more you sense how good God is, the less you want to offend him, and the more you'll want to serve him. You'll want to preserve the sense of his favor. Nearer, my God, to thee. Still closer to thy side I press, for near thee all is well. And then sin comes knocking, and God gives grace to say no, to reject sin, to be honest, to be open, to be fair, to hate all manner of evil. John writes, every man that has this hope in him, what does he do? He purifies himself. Why is that? Because we're so good at purifying ourselves on our own? No, but God gives grace to purge sin, to put it out the door. Why? Even as he is pure, to be like him. And so there's a direct link between assurance and holiness and growth in grace. And that's why assurance shouldn't be something we say, well, at least if I'm saved, good enough. No, we should, as Ryle says, every believer should aim and seek for assurance and pray for it. And so assurance is to be desired. It will increase in holiness. It will get you walking closer to God. It will keep you from ways of sin. It will give you greater views of heaven and the glories to come. It will give you courage and boldness to stand and to witness. It will enable you to bear the afflictions of life. It will enable you to live a fruitful life. It will make you useful in the Lord's service, and it will yield great peace. That's what we read from Isaiah 26, verse 3. Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee. And the word for mind there is whose thought, whose thought processes is stayed on thee. And you know, that's why And I speak now to every one of us, because we all are affected by this in this society, and especially our young people, but also our older ones. That is why it's so important that our minds be focused on God. Where's your mind all week? And I'm not saying that's just this generation, but this generation is special. Because if you get a moment, and if I get a moment, we pull our phone out of our pocket, and our minds are focused on all kinds of things. And so quickly, a generation rises up that doesn't know anything of meditation and of thinking in the mind on who God is. And that's why fathers, and I include myself, we can so quickly fail to model that. And also to, we were called to gather our children and our family around and to meditate in the things of God for five minutes, 10 minutes. It's a great blessing to set our minds on the things of God. That leads to great peace. Great peace, the psalmist says, have they who love thy law. Oh, how desirable these things should be for us. You know how patient God is with us when we don't desire them as we should. Well, maybe you say, what can I do then further to have this assurance? In our fourth and final question, we ask, This question, is it predictable to lack an assured confidence? And the answer to that is yes. There are indicators that you can evaluate in your own life that will tell you whether or not you're going to be able to or near this assured confidence. And these three things are a skewed doctrine. I'll get into each of these. Skewed doctrine, second, slothful devotion, third, stubborn disobedience. Skewed doctrine, slothful devotion, and stubborn disobedience. The first, then, is skewed doctrine. You know, a doctor, we know this very intuitively, a doctor can predict, and for that matter, we can all predict, that you're going to get lung cancer if you continually chain smoke. We can predict you're going to get scurvy if you never eat vegetables. A general can predict a complete defeat in a battle if his soldiers don't obey their superiors. You'll have chaos. Very simple predictors. And so these three things invariably predict that assurance of salvation will be lacking. Skewed doctrine. When we fail to see that the salvation that God has worked is the work of God. and the work of God alone. We touched on this earlier, but let me just open it up here again. Not even one shred of our salvation depends on us. As soon as we start to play that game, as soon as we get involved thinking that if I do this and if I do that, then my salvation will be more sure, then I will be more acceptable to God, then the Lord will give me that assurance. We are on the wrong path. The moment the work of salvation begins to rest on our shoulders is the moment our assurance is lost. The Roman Catholic Church decries and denies assurance of salvation. Why? They say that it leads to presumption and makes for all kinds of sinful people. But Rome is not being honest. when it says that, and that's his official documentation. The reality is that the Church of Rome has no room for assurance of salvation because its poor adherents are by virtue of its skewed doctrine of justification forced to continually bear the weight of their own salvation. And the moment they do something wrong, their entire salvation is cast into jeopardy and they have to start all over again. What kind of comfort is that? What kind of assurance can that ever yield? None. That's bondage. The gospel is that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. Yes, even the chiefest sinners can be saved by His work. The gospel is, for by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, not of yourselves, not of yourselves. It's the gift of God. That kind of understanding of salvation leads to hope, it leads to joy, it leads to assurance, because you can rest in something outside of yourself that will never change in spite of who you continue to be as a sinner in this world. The second predictor for a lack of assurance is slothful devotion. Child of God, if you neglect God, His Word, His service, His prayer and meditation, the sacraments, you'll begin to slip. It's impossible that one who is far from God should nonetheless hold in the bosom of his heart a warm, strong, encouraging conviction that all is well with my soul. It doesn't work that way. No more can you stay warm on a cold night when you're sitting 40 feet away from the campfire. You can be warm spiritually. You stay far from God. Slothfulness and devotions is a predictor of lack of assurance. Each one of us is the best judge of where we are in that department. Maybe we need to get on our knees and ask the Lord to help us get back on track. Because you need his help to draw you back to him. to show you what you've missed, to uncover your sin to you, and to warm your heart spiritually. Ask the Lord for His Holy Spirit to come to draw you back. Ask for His favor and His nearness again, and begin with diligent devotion to seek Him, to serve Him. You go to the doctor, and you're all stiff and sore, and the doctor asks you, well, what have you been doing? And you say, nothing. I've been sitting at a desk for 170 hours a week, or whatever it may be, or 80 hours a week working. What's the prescription? Is he going to give you some pills? No, he's going to tell you to go exercise. And therefore, exercise yourself unto godliness, Paul says. God will bless it. And may He bless it with an increase in that assured confidence that you may, perhaps in your case again, be able to say in your heart, but not only to others, but to me also, remission of sin, everlasting righteousness, and salvation are freely given by God, merely of grace, only for the sake of Christ's merits. And then the third, lastly, the third predictor of a lack of assurance, very briefly, is stubborn disobedience. And simply put, that is living in sin. It should be obvious, glaringly obvious, but it's so real. Sin is disobedience to the divine command. Raul says if you must keep your besetting sins and can't make up your minds to give them up, if you shrink from cutting off the right hand and plucking out the right eye when required, I will engage or I will guarantee you will have no assurance. People of God, ye that love the Lord hate evil. See the opposite? If you're going to love the Lord, you have to hate evil. If you're going to love evil, there's going to be no assurance. May God bless these words. Let us remember the words of Augustine. He said, we have no rest until we find our rest in him, this peace. So wander no more into the depths of your own heart, looking for a basis for assurance, if that's what you've been doing. Lock your sights on Him who has promised. Faithful is He that promised, who also will do it. We often use that in terms of office bearing and our callings in life, but oh, how true that is spiritually. If He has promised, that work He has in you begun will, by His grace, be fully done. Amen.