True and False Assurance

A Sermon on True Assurance from Ephesians 6:10-13

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Scripture

Ephesians 6:10-13 ESV KJV

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against …

Sermon Description

Why is true assurance so central to the Christian life? Followers of Christ can and should know that they are now children of God and have been set free from sin and death. But, as Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains in this sermon on Ephesians 6:10–13 titled “True and False Assurances,” there is a false assurance that leads to death. This is when people who do not know Jesus and who do not believe in His gospel are blinded by the devil and tricked into believing that they are saved. All Christians must examine themselves to see if they truly know God. Many in the church have given only an intellectual assent to the gospel, while others are so caught up in an emotional experience that they have deceived themselves. The answer is to look to Scripture and its main descriptions of what it means to be a true Christian. This sermon contains the timeless message of the need not only of salvation, but also of a true and biblically grounded assurance that should give all of God’s children a lasting and steadfast hope in Jesus Christ.

Sermon Breakdown

Christians are meant to have assurance of salvation and know the joy of their salvation.
The devil tries to rob Christians of the joy of their salvation through his wiles and subtle attacks.
The devil first tries to give Christians a false assurance and peace through a hurried and forced conversion without a true change of heart. This results in an artificial and superficial faith.
Characteristics of a false assurance include:
No radical change or new life, just a modification of the old life.
Never troubled or questioned about one's faith. Always perfectly content and self-satisfied like the Laodiceans.
A great dislike of self-examination. They preach against examining one's own faith.
Their lives do not correspond to their claims. They lack the marks of a true faith like humility, wonder at God's grace, and a desire for holiness.
They believe there is nothing more to attain and are completely self-satisfied. They do not hunger and thirst for righteousness like true Christians.
When the devil's attempt to give a false assurance fails, he changes tactics. He becomes an accuser and tries to make Christians doubt their salvation by shaking their foundation.
The devil cannot rob Christians of their salvation, but he can rob them of the joy and assurance of their salvation through his wiles and attacks.
Christians can lack assurance of salvation because of the devil's wiles, even though they are truly saved. The devil tries to make them as miserable as if they were not Christians at all.
The sermon will continue by exploring how the devil applies his wiles to rob Christians of the joy of their salvation.

The Book of Ephesians

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.