Sermon: The Spirit, Sanctification, and Security

The Spirit, Sanctification, and Security Romans 8 May 5, 2019 When I go to the mountains, the last morning I am there I invariably go outside for one last round of pictures of those majestic hills. Then, as we leave the area — when my car is about to take me out of view of […]

Sermon: Sing the Song of Security

Sing the Song of Security Romans 8:31-33 March 24, 2019 Most of us probably don’t feel as secure as we did a few years (or decades) ago. When I was 8-years-old my family lived just north of downtown Dallas (not a good neighborhood now, or then), and on a Saturday morning, I would tell my […]

Sunday Leftovers: 1 John and assurance

This morning we concluded our study of the book of 1 John. After 36 sermons, we’ve had a clear look at what John has to say about salvation, spiritual life and obedience, and eternal life and assurance. This morning’s final sermon is designed to help us remember the big picture and essential truths of the […]

Sermon: Are You Sure You’re Secure?

Are You Sure You’re Secure? A Summary of 1 John August 31, 2014 There are many reasons why people might not be sure of their salvation — Spiritual laziness Satanic attacks Trials or harsh circumstances (even having several young children at home so that the affection the mother had prior to children is replaced by […]

Sermon: We Know

We Know… 1 John 5:18-21 August 24, 2014 We don’t often like to admit it, but most of us are pretty ignorant most of the time about most things. We don’t know nearly as much as we’d like to convince people we do know. Our children ask us questions about the way things operate — […]

Sunday Leftovers: Be sure you’re secure

Many people struggle with assurance that they are secure in Christ’s salvation. There are many reasons why that may be (Don Whitney has an excellent chapter detailing some of those reasons in How Can I Be Sure I’m a Christian?). But as we near the end of our study of 1 John, there is one […]

Sermon: That You May Know Assurance

That You May Know Assurance 1 John 5:13 July 27, 2014 Everyone wants a sure thing. Bettors at a horse track are (vainly) searching for certainty. Couples standing at the altar of marriage would like a guarantee of a successful union. Parents would like a guarantee that the training they are giving their children will […]

Sermon: Love One Another (Pt. 3)

Love One Another, Pt. 3 1 John 3:19-24 February 9, 2014 Many people struggle with the question of whether or not one is saved. John Piper gets to the central issue about assurance when he writes: The most agonizing problem about the assurance of salvation is not the problem of whether the objective facts of […]

Sermon: Essential Truths for Assurance

Essential Truths for Assurance Selected Scriptures from 1 John 1-3 January 19, 2014 One essential for learning is repetition. Few of us memorize a Bible verse the first time we see it. We go over it again and again. We write it down, read it in our Bibles, review it on notecards, look it up […]

Doubting your salvation? Here’s some help.

Assurance of salvation is a doubt that pursues every Christian believer at some point(s) in his life. In God’s grace, there are biblical answers for those questions, and Don Whitney has produced an excellent work on assurance of salvation — How Can I Be Sure I’m a Christian? (which also is our book of the […]

Grab bag

Some helpful articles from around the internet: Jon Bloom offers “Seven Ways to Pray for Your Heart.” David Murray reminds us, “All things for good.” Sin too? All sin is evil. No sin is worth it. It’s always better that we not sin. However, sin is also part of the “all things” that God works together […]

Assurance of salvation and evidences of maturity

Virtually every believer will experience doubts about the reality of his salvation at some point. There are a variety of reasons for that doubt and lack of assurance: repeated sinful activity, ongoing temptation, or lack of discipline in spiritual essentials like prayer, Bible intake, and evangelism. Don Whitney also points out that another reason for […]

Questions to Unbelief

If to Jesus for relief My soul has fled by prayer; Why should I give way to grief, Or heart-consuming care? Are not all things in his hand? Has he not his promise past? Will he then regardless stand And let me sink at last? While I know his providence Disposes each event; Shall I […]

It’s worth reading

John Stott reminds us that there is value in reading passages that appear to be for unbelievers only (passages like Eph. 5:1-6). His words are another way of saying that we need the gospel every day. We live dependent on gospel truth every moment of our lives: It would be easy for Christians to speed-read […]

Sunday Leftovers (11/5/06)

The truth that a believer may have assurance and confidence in his salvation is rooted in the work of Christ. The believer’s confidence is not in being able to keep himself, but in the power of God and the sufficiency of Christ to keep him. This is why it is essential that the believer keep […]