God’s Word, - the Bible, - is the measuring rod; it indicates what is expected from the believer.

Established in the Word of God is the standard and requirement necessary to be a child of God.

What the Bible says is of far more importance than a church’s creed or catechism, - the Word of God is paramount simply because it is … the Word of God.

So what does it say about the subject of assurance?

Can you be sure of your eternal destiny? Can you be sure that Jesus Christ has washed away your sins? Yes, on the authority of Scripture I believe you can be sure.

II Tim. 3:14  But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; 15  And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Well then, where do we start? We start at the passage that tells us, all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Rom. 3:23,24)

Now, we have no problem understanding v.23, - all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God

Each of us knows the reality of sin, we know we have offended the holiness of God, and stand before Him judged unrighteous, … judged a sinner.

What is the consequence of being found in such a state? The Word of God tells us again, the wages of sin is death.

That is the penalty of sin, and ignoring God. … and what kind of death are we talking about here? … spiritual death,

The Bible describes us as having been dead in trespasses and sins, - without any feelings for God, without any feelings to raise ourselves out of the sinful state, and without any capability to turn to God for salvation.

But then the Bible tells us that not only have all sinned, and come short of the glory of God but also there is the standing before God, - being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

The Word of God tells us of our sinful state before God, and also how God in free grace acted in order to redeem us on to Himself through the merits and work of His Son.

	Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, was what Paul told the Philippian jailer,
	Rom. 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
	Paul emphasised to the Church at Thessalonika, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

The Bible says that if you believe in Christ sincerely and hold nothing back you will be saved, - God makes a covenant with you and He will never ever allow you to be lost.

The infallible Word of God assures you that if you come to Christ in saving faith He will not turn you away, and He will put His seal upon you … and you are eternally His.

I remember when I became a Christian I wanted to tell everyone, - I ordered up about 500 tracts and I went round the doors in my housing estate and I put them through the letterboxes (I was only about 11 or 12).

I wanted to tell other people about Christ, … and isn’t that the way it often works? You are so excited about becoming a Christian that you are afraid of nobody or nothing.

There is an overflowing joy inside you that brims over and affects your whole life.

You love reading the Word of God. You love prayer. You love coming along to the church meetings. You live for God.

Now, … I also know that many a one makes a profession of faith and is bubbling over for a time,

Jesus spoke about this type of person, … He described the seed that fell upon the stony ground, - he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while:

How do you know you don’t belong to that company?

Well, because if you belonged to that company your sin wouldn’t bother you, - you would find ways of making excuses for it.

Whereas if you have been born again by the Holy Spirit of God your sin would be repugnant to you; it would bother you so much that instead of trying to find excuses for it you would be standing up against it to fight it.

… And what a battle it might be! But you fight it, … and you fight it until you win. You don’t give up. You have God on your side. You have the Bible to support you, and you have the presence of God on earth, - the Holy Spirit, - to strengthen you.

You know, I believe the Holy Spirit hardens you against sin, - you come to hate it, despise it, loathe it; you are at a loss to understand what attracted you to it in the first place.

That is the reality of the witness within, - there has come about such a change in your life that it can only be explained as a consequence of God reaching down and saving you from sin. He has changed you, and you are able to say,

Heb. 10: 39  we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

And He saves you from sin in order to give you a new lifestyle, and you are never the same again, old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

And no-one can argue you away from it because you have it from the Word itself and the witness inside.

I guarantee you, - I promise you, - that the devil will notice you have become a Christian, - I am 100% sure of that!

He will leave you alone at the start, - he’ll not bother you, because he would be wasting his time.

He sees that in the will of God you have made a decision for Christ, and he knows that you wouldn’t listen to him if he came along and tried to deny your experience.

And he leaves it for awhile, … but you be very sure, he will creep up on you, - the slimy, dirty snake that he is, - and he will confront you, … be very sure of it!

How do you stand up against him?

Yes, you can tell him that you had an experience with God, … and he will laugh at you, … he will call you an idiot, and he’ll mock you; he will try to make you feel … that size!

And the more you listen to him the more confident he will become; and the more confident he gets the more likely he is to do you damage, spiritually speaking.

“What can I do?” Aye, what can you do? Can you do anything? Yes, you can! Here’s what you do, … seek the strength and help of the One who stood up against Him and won the victory on your behalf.

You remind him Whose you are, - you remind him Christ shed His precious blood on the cross of Calvary to save you.

Remind him he’s defeated and you are on the victory side.

Tell him you are fed up with listening to him and mention the Name of Christ.

You tell him how precious Jesus is to you,

	Christ searched you out in the same way the shepherd sought the sheep,
	Christ found you and saved you and brought you home, and there was great rejoicing in Heaven among the angels the day you were saved,
	God put His mark upon you, - a mark that the devil or no-one can remove from you,
	And God promised you that He would neither leave you nor forsake you, and that you are His.

You remind the devil of these things, - but don’t spend too long with him; and when you have finished, run to Christ and seek His face in prayer,

… because it is only because of what Christ did for you that you are able to stand against the devil.

You can’t stand against the devil on your own; on your own you are no match for him.

But when you stand with God, upon the Word of God and the witness inside, well then, the devil is no match for you!

The devil is heading towards hell, - he is going to burn forever, - and he deserves all the horror that God is able to muster against him in that place,

But the person who is truly born again of God will never feel its heat.

What does it mean to be saved? It means … to have the assurance within that Jesus has saved you from sin.

When you consciously pursue and strive after the ways of God I guarantee you will come up against all the doubts and opposition from the devil, - I promise you!

But you keep on making every effort, as Paul puts it, that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; 16  Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

Don’t let the devil get the better of you by telling you lies, or casting doubt on your salvation, - resist him, the Bible says, and he will flee from you!

But you have got to be strong, not in your own strength, but in the strength of God.

You have not got to be trusting in yourself, but turn to the Word of God;

	Get to know how the Bible instructs you to stand up to the devil.
	Get to know how the Bible tells you to have the victory, and enjoy the victory in Jesus.

And you will find that the Word of God strengthens your witness within, - you know that you are saved, and when the devil comes along and casts doubt, … rebuff him and send him away.

Don’t listen to his lies and all the accusations he casts up to you.

Stand up to him, … stand up to Him on the Word of God, - that’s why it’s important to know what the Bible says, and you have got to study it.

And when you study it and when you know of the witness within it has an effect on your will because you know you are Christ’s.

Remember the old hymn,