Grosey's Messages

1 John 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. 2:29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him. 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Assurance is an important ingredient in a stable emotional state. Do you have a full assurance of faith?

Is your hope good and firm and reassuring?

Assurance.. what are its opposites? Shame. Anxiety and fear. Apathy. Assurance puts a sprng in one’s step and a smile on one’s face. Its opposite brings displays itself in dread and the debilitating emotions. Which would you rather have? Which would you rather be?

Shame

We sing : “I’m not ashamed to own my Lord, Or to defend his cause, Maintain the honour of his word, The glory of his cross”

Jesus said Mark 8:38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

‘What is shame? Is it not a sense of unfitness, a sense of defilement, a sense of self-dislike, even contempt, because we feel we are not worthy? Therefore, its manifestation is a desire to hide. John suggests this in the Greek word he uses, which is rightly translated "shrink in shame," to hide.

Do you remember the first manifestation of this in the Scriptures? In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, after the Fall, hid from the Lord God as he walked in the Garden in the coolness of the day. God called out "Adam, where are you?" {see, Gen 3:9 ff}. Adam at last acknowledged the call, and the Lord said, "Why did you hide?" And Adam said, "Because we found we were naked." That is symbolic, suggestive. They were naked, i.e., they had nothing besides themselves, nothing to show for being alive, just them, we they were, that's all. Unfruitful, unproductive, no purpose beyond themselves, waste. If Jesus were to come right now, would you have "confidence" or be "ashamed." It is nakedness that causes shame, and that possibility is set before each of us. The one thing that is absolutely certain about your existence and mine, as a believer, without any doubt whatsoever, is that one of these days we will stand before the presence of the Lord Jesus. ‘Ray Stedman

In that day every hidden thing will be revealed. Jesus said in Luke 12:2-3, "For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops." Who you really are is not what you look like or sound like on Sunday morning. Who you really are is what you think, say or do when no one is else is around. In that day all the things you hide so well right now will be brought to light. That hidden pornography habit will be revealed. That clandestine adulterous relationship you hidden so well will be made known. Those under-the-table fraudulent business deals will be on the table. Those hot checks, tax short cuts and bills you skipped over will come out. All our lies, deceit, dishonesty and infidelities will be laid bare in the blazing light of Christ’s holiness. Our secret prejudices, hatreds, bitterness and unforgiving spirit will be disclosed. The demeaning and defaming comments we whisper shall be shouted aloud. The real you and me will be made known.

Anxiety

I was so nervous in turbulence one time, that I called the flight attendant over and I asked, "miss, how often does one of these things crash?" And she said, "usually only once." So many things about airplanes and airports: why do they call the building the "terminal"; why do they have to say, "we're preparing to make our FINAL DESCENT..."?

Anxiety causes a majority of illnesses.

1) Ulcer - if don't have one, you're not trying hard enough.

2) "Nerves" - not nervous system, but emotional one.

And the Cure is often sought in drugs.

1) Valium was most prescribed drug in 1970's.

2) Mylantum (stomach ulcers) is most prescribed. These help symptoms, but are not a cure they are only a cover-up, treating the symptoms not the cause.

Time magazine recently said: “Black statistics of murder, suicide, alcoholism, and divorce all betray anxiety. And not just these but also innocent everyday acts – the limp handshake, the second pack of cigarettes or the third martini.”

Are you prepared for the second coming? No as a Christian it makes me anxious. I know there is a judgement for believer’s coming. 2 Cor 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or bad.

Apathy pathos.. emotion.. unemotional.. so flat that we can’t get excited about anything.

Apathy.. a deadening of our feelings because of the darkness of our soul.

Sometimes we get so depressed by it all we just become apathetic. You know… chagrined. Cheesed off! Cheesed off means we become apathetic. We become cheesed off from our anxieties.

We become cheesed off from our Shame.

And we stop having assurance and hope. We don’t look forwards, we look backwards.

And looking backwards we despond. When we despond we become apathetic. “Why should I share the gospel with others, they don’t care. Why should I attend church, they don’t care! Why should I care about anything?” Who the hell are you listening too when you think like this? Hell! The devil wants frozen apathetic Christians! That’s his goal. The Lord wants us to be looking forwards.

Apathy.. a deadening of our feelings because of the darkness of our soul.

Assurance = Hope

1. Hope is in God Our hope is to be in God and in God alone. Psalm 43:5 says, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God." God is our only refuge, resource, and hope. Psalm 78:7 says, "That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God." We can trust God for the future because of what He has done in the past and present.

2. Hope is a gift from God Second Thessalonians 2:16 says, "Our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father ... hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace." God grants men hope, confidence, assurance, and security in the future if they will accept them as a gift.

3. Hope comes from Scripture When you understand and believe the Word of God, you will have hope. Romans 15:4 says, "Whatever things were written in earlier times [the Old Testament] were written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope." If you don't believe the Bible, you will be hurting for hope and confidence in the future.

4. Hope is secured by Christ's resurrection We can believe God when He tells us we can trust in Him to have victory over death. But Christ's death and resurrection assure us all the more. We know by example that it is possible to conquer death. First Peter 1:3 says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to His abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

5. Hope is confirmed by the Holy Spirit Romans 15:13 says, "The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit." One of the ministries of the Holy Spirit is to convince the believer he has hope for the future.

6. Hope is a defense against Satan When the Holy Spirit confirms hope in the believer, it acts as a defense against Satan. The devil is always trying to make us doubt and worry about the future. He'll say, "How do you know you're really saved?" But when the Holy Spirit confirms our hope, we won't fall prey to Satan's attacks. First Thessalonians 5:8 says, "Let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and, for an helmet, the hope of salvation." Satan wants to spilt you wide open with his great broadsword of doubt, but you have the helmet of the hope of salvation to protect you against his blows.

7. Hope is to be continual The believer should never lose hope. Psalm 71:14 says, "I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more." The psalmist wrote this in his old age. He is an example to us because he did not lose hope through the years.

8. Hope produces joy Psalm 146:5 says, "Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord, his God."

9. Hope removes the fear of death When we truly hope in God and Christ, there is nothing to fear. Colossians 1:5 says the believer's hope is laid up in heaven. There is coming a day when we will meet the Lord and receive this promise: "You ... hath he reconciled ... to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in his sight, if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature that is under heaven, of which I, Paul, am made a minister" (Col. 1:21-23). Verse 27 says, "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of the mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." We have hope for the future because Christ resides in us now. In 1 Corinthians 15:20 Paul indicates we have hope because of Christ's resurrection. Christ is our hope, and the fear of death has been removed.

10. Hope is secure Nothing can take away the believer's hope. Hebrews 6:18 says, "By two immutable things [two things that can't change--God made a promise and He swore by it], in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." Our hope is secure because God established the oath. And because of who He is, we know he will never break it. He can't lie. Verse 19 says our hope is "an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil." Christ attached the anchor of hope directly to the throne of God. That's how secure our hope is!

11. Hope is fulfilled in Christ's return Titus 2:13 says, "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ." Jesus is coming; therein lies the fulfillment of our hope.

12. Hope is purifying Hope for the future has a tremendous affect on the present. First John 3:3 says, "Every man that hath this hope in him [Christ] purifieth himself even as he [Christ] is pure." John is saying hope in Christ has a purifying effect. Our hope isn't just theological; it's ethical--it has behavioral consequences. If I believe Christ is coming again and that I will be brought before His judgment seat, that will make a difference in the way I behave. Paul said there's a crown of righteousness laid up in heaven for all who "love his appearing" (2 Tim. 4:8). That means you love the Second Coming enough to do something about it.

1.Abiding Causes Us To Be Assured

Shame stops us being assured. Abiding causes us to be assured.

Abiding in Him John 15:  I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Stick close to the Lord!

Abiding In His Word 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you,

Abiding in Righteousness 1 John 2: 28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. 29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him

Abiding In Prayer. First John 3:21-22 says, "If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatever we ask, we receive of him." And 1 John 5:14 says, "This is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us; and if we know that he hear us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him."

2.Acceptance Causes Us To Be Assured

Anxiety stops us being assured Acceptance causes us to be assured

1 John 3 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God,

A Word Of Amazement!

A Word Of Attention Keep beholding. Proverbs 23:7 says, "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he." What do you think about most? What dominates your mind? Whatever you think about the most is what you're becoming. We always move toward what we're focusing on. If you want to become like Christ, you think about Him. Fill your mind with the Word of God

A Word Of Admiration For Undeserved Love

Ashamed of Jesus! yes. I may, When I’ve no guilt to wash away;

No tear to wipe, no good to crave, No fears to quell, no soul to save.

A Word Of Admiration For Unselfish Love

A Word Of Admiration For Unique Love

During the Great Depression, department store chain founder J.C. Penny suffered tremendous financial losses. He worried about them to the extent he had a nervous breakdown. He was institutionalized for months. His doctors were unable to do him any good. Mr. Penny grew progressively worse. Finally, one night he decided he was about to die, so he wrote farewell notes to each of his loved ones. The next morning, however, J.C. Penny was still breathing. He could hardly believe it! He woke up and heard music. Struggling out of bed and into his robe, he walked down the corridor until he found a group of people having a prayer meeting. They were singing: Be not dismayed What e're betide God will take care of you;

Beneath his wings of love abide, God will take care of you.

J.C. Penny remembered that song from his childhood. It awoke within him an overwhelming sense of the care and the concern and the love of almighty God. Suddenly he realized that God did care! That he could cast his anxieties and worries upon God, that God would take care of him!

A belief that was once dead was alive again! After that experience, healing came rapidly to Mr. Penny. His doctors marvelled and could not explain it. J.C. Penny was soon well and went back to business. He lived to be 95 years of age! During his long life he never forgot the old song that enabled him to replace his fear with faith, and to trust God with his worries!

3.Anticipation Causes Us To Be Assured

Anticipating His Appearance Destroys Our Apathy

Apathy.. a deadening of our feelings because of the darkness of our soul.

1 John 3:2 Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure.

In 1989, a terrible earthquake in Armenia killed 30,000 people. Among those uninjured were a man and his wife. Their son, Armon was in an elementary school that collapsed. The father had always told his boy that he would come to him if there was trouble. At the school he worked tirelessly removing debris. After 38 hours he heard Armon’s voice and with the help of other rescue workers freed his son and several other children. Armon said, "I told my friends you would come because you had promised. I told them you would always be there for me. I knew you would return" (Great Stories, v.7, i.25, p.11). The consistent theme of the NT is that Jesus is returning for His children. He said in Jn.14:3, "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." Until then, like Armon, we are to watch, wait and tell others about our Father.

Armon didn’t know when his dad would come, he simply had complete confidence that he would come. We don’t know when Jesus will come, so we must be ready. In the Olivet Discourse in Mat.24-25, Jesus taught this in The Parable of the Talents. He said in 25:13, "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming."

"Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure."

If you know someday you'll be like Christ, that builds within you a desire to become like Him now. We all operate on the basis of motive, and knowing that Jesus is coming ought to motivate you. Just before Jesus ascended into heaven He told the disciples that they would be His witnesses (Acts 1:8). As the disciples watched Him ascend, two angels appeared and said, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner" (Acts 1:11). Why did the angels say that? To motivate the disciples to serve Him because He is coming back. Our lives ought to be purified by the knowledge of His return. When Jesus comes back, what would you like Him to find you doing? Serving Him and loving Him should be your answer. If you believe He is coming to give you rewards and make you like Himself, that is motive enough to make you purify your life.

Assurance is Hope. Are you a hopeful Christian or a despondent despairing Christian?

Its your choice!

# posted by Groseys messages @ 10:17 AM