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We have certainly enjoyed the meeting thus far. You continue to pray that the Lord will continue to bless us tonight to keep our focus in the right place on the right matters. To give praise to the right one. That's our purpose for being here tonight. Is to praise the Lord and give him all credit and set our eye upon him for just a little bit. And we can glean something that would be of a benefit to us and glorify to him as we go from this meeting back out into a cruel and a dark world. But knowing our Lord has made promises to us. And what I want to point to at this point in time, right before he ascended back to heaven, he had his apostles with him. Somebody mentioned, I believe Brother Chris mentioned that he gave them the charge to go and preach the gospel into all nations, no longer restricted to the Jew nation, but now all nations, and thank the Lord that he opened the door for us, Gentiles, that we also can receive the word of God, and that we can find the uh comfort and the uh glory to God in it. He made a promise there before he left. He said, I will be with you always. I will be with you always. That's a wonderful promise because at that point he was leaving this world. He had been with them for 40 days, he had walked with them. After his resurrection, he had allowed them to be with him, touch him, handle him, as we heard priest. They didn't just look upon him, they handled him. They were able to touch him and see that he wasn't just a vision, an apparition, or some other method of showing an image. He was a man that was resurrected from the dead, raised from a tomb after laying there three days and three nights, came from that tomb and has uh been seen of many witnesses after his passion, after he laid down his precious life for us, for you, took your sin and bore the guilt of that sin. He paid your price, the price on your head, he put upon himself, and he paid it to the full. The father who had been offended with the sin of man and the very necessity that justice for a thrice holy God that was required of him that a price had to be paid. It would take a man to come and die for man. Wasn't just animals, they didn't, they wouldn't count. They would not satisfy God's necessity. I can't emphasize that too much that God required perfection. He required full satisfaction to his holy law. But he sent forth his son, made of woman, made of the law, to redeem them that were under the law. That's not the law of Moses. If it had been the law of Moses, it would have started at Moses and come forward. But he paid the price of every elect child of God, even back to Adam, and forward for everyone that he did for know. Full satisfaction. Tonight, for just a little while, on that promise that he made, that I will be with you always. Do you know that means tonight? 2000 some more, whatever years and how many it's been since he said that, Brother Thomas. And you and you, every one of us, he's still with you always. And I trust, friends, that as we leave here tonight, he'll still be with us alway. And tomorrow it'll be just as true tomorrow, because the Lord is not slack concerning his promises. I want to. And you pray that the Lord will help me to bring forth something from this. I want to look at, uh, and I didn't pick this subject because it's mentioned in the lunchroom. Uh I want to bring to your attention four places in the scripture where Paul uses the word um assurance. And assurance. Now, it's one thing the Lord said that I'll be with you always. But I want you to see four places where Paul uses the word assurance, which is what we need to know about that promise, is that what he said was true and will be true until time is no more and he comes back the second time without sin unto salvation. Meaning, he's not coming to take care of sin, he's coming back to redeem you from the world. Your body will be harvested, as it were, from where it's been sown. It'll be raised and fashioned. And I have a full assurance, dear friends, that he's going to do that. So it struck me interesting that Paul would use this word assurance. One time he uses it in much assurance. Three times he uses it full assurance. I like the idea of assurance, but I really like the idea of much assurance. That means assurance and more. And then when we look at the other three, not just assurance, Brother Mike, but full assurance. When you look at that word assurance, it means entire confidence. I am entirely confident of what the Lord has delivered us from, and two, that I can tell you tonight with full assurance that the Lord has accomplished what he came to do. And the Lord is still ruling and superruling this world. He hasn't given up any power. He hasn't given way to any pressure at all. He, my friends, is on his throne, and you are in his kingdom. And I want us to look here in four places, and Brother Chris, I'll try to make this really quick because I want to hear good preaching tonight myself. Let's look at the first one over in the Thessalonian letter. Paul says this, knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God. I want to hear some assurance of that election. Assurance of that election. Knowing, brethren, your election of God. People say that I don't believe in the doctrine of election. You just better throw out Paul's words right there because he's already issued here a statement of the election of God. God made choice before the world began, and he accomplished that when he came to redeem his people from their sin. Knowing, brethren, your beloved, uh my beloved, your election of God. For our gospel came not unto you in word only. It did come in word, for the Christ, it came in three forms of word. It came in the word, which is the living word, it came in the written word, and it comes by the Holy Spirit, and it comes in the spoken word. And so the word it came not in word only. It didn't just come in written letters or spoken words, but it came, they said, but also in power. There's power in the word that God spoke. Now it's not intellectual power, my friend, it's supercharged by the Holy Ghost, in which he said, I will be with you always. How is he going to do that? Because he said, I'm going to go away, but I will pray to my Father, and he will send to you another comforter. That Holy Ghost, which he's promised to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, that to believers, my friend, he sends the Holy Ghost still today, which teaches us the things contained in the word. You see, I can speak the words, but I can't make the miracle. It's going to take one that has the wherewithal to take it from my breath to your heart and strike it with that miracle of the gospel being preached to the poor. But he told John, the poor have the gospel preached to them. Do you know that's still happening in this day and time? We've heard it today. We've heard it among our brethren. Even now, Brother Chris, we still hear the word of God being preached, and the gospel is touching the heart. I know it happened because I felt it, my friends, when Brother Bass was up here. He was preaching things that got much assurance in the word that he preached. He preached the word of God and it went out from him and it came into us and it struck that heart and that miracle energy of the Holy Ghost in you. My friends was touched by him, by the feelings of the gospel, and your soul was fed. When he said, Come unto me, all ye that labored heavily, and I will give you rest. He gives us rest through the gospel message still being preached among his people. Even in this modern age, among the depths of depravity all around us, there are rays of light of the gospel being preached among his people. Why? Because he sends the Holy Ghost. It came not in word only, but in power. In power, the power of that word, my friends, and in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. I'm going to tell you, my friends, whenever the Holy Ghost takes that word of God and touches your heart, my friends, it leaves in there that that twinge of much assurance. It builds us up, it edifies the child of God. It is our eat and our drink. He said, He that eateth my blood, my flesh, and drinketh my blood hath everlasting life. That's the food, dear friends, that your soul so desperately needs. You need to feel that full assurance of the word that was given. So there is much assurance, much assurance in the word. That's the first one. It comes in the word. But then I used, I read over in the Colossian letter, and he uses it here in the second chapter. Second chapter, he uses it in connection to knowledge. The full assurance of knowledge. Knowing, my friends, the Word of God. To read the Word of God, to pray about it, to meditate upon it, to give yourself to it. And I'm not just talking to the preachers. I'm talking to every single one of you. Get your book and read it. And pray about it. Read something and then meditate upon it. And you beg the Lord, show me what that means. Ponder it like Mary did in her heart, the things concerning Jesus. Ponder it and think about it and glean like Ruth did by the fields of Boaz. Glean that handfuls of purpose that comes through the Word of God. The Word, my friends, brings about through the Spirit. That Holy Ghost has been promised. Remember, he said, He will speak of me. That Holy Ghost will teach us the things of the Spirit. Believing what the Word of God says. Hearing it and believing. That much assurance comes in knowledge. I'm going to tell you, friends, spiritual knowledge is power. That's the power that he spoke about, that the word came not in word only, but in power. That knowledge that we glean and we hear about. And then all of a sudden, in my life, I begin to see events that come into my life. And they touch my very day-to-day. And I look back and I see where God has been. So many times He has walked with those steps of mine and He's carried me, as that poem says, about the footsteps. Why did this just one set of foot? I carried you in that whole time. That is true, friends. In those depths of time, that valley, that the lily of the valley carries us through those low places. Our shepherd, dear friends, to know him and to look upon him in the things of the life and how that power touches us, and we're delivered in so many events. That knowledge of that and that remembrance of those deliveries, those deliverances, that knowledge brings about much assurance. And I remember back, he said, I will be with you always. I will be with you always in the hospital. I'll be with you on the job. I'll be with you when you're being cast down, when somebody's treating you in a very ugly way, I'll be with you there. Why? Because he understands what you're going through. Don't you remember that your Lord was despitefully used? He was treated so ugly. He was treated so despitefully. Even my friends, while he hung upon a cross delivering you from their sins, they walked by and they wagged their heads at him. You think he doesn't remember and know what you're going through? If you're being reviled, he was reviled and reviled not again. Through that knowledge, through that knowledge, my friends, we find much assurance, much confidence. We glean confidence from knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and the things that he's done for us. So the word is a source of great full assurance. Let's come over to Hebrews, two more places. Two more places. The sixth chapter of the book of Hebrews, we find that he'll mention full assurance again. He says six and eleven. And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence. Diligence is a require is a necessity. That we come diligently. Not only in convenient times, not just when I need something, but when I see the blessings of the Lord, come diligently. Seek him, somebody mentioned it, uh seek, ask, and knock. That's three action items that we can find. And when we when you do that, when you seek, ask, and knock, he answers in much assurance. Follows that. Watch here. As he's talking about this full assurance, he says that you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope. Hope is a source of full assurance. Now the word we attribute to the Lord Himself. He is the word of God. That knowledge, that knowledge, there is no knowledge except He gives that knowledge. We attribute that knowledge that we find full assurance in. That's all about Jesus Christ Himself too. And He gives us that knowledge. He gives us that revelation. He asked the brethren one time, whom do men say that I am? Some said this, some said that. Then he said, Whom do you say? And my friends, there's where that knowledge comes into play that we have been given that revelation. Like Peter did, whom do you say that I, the Son of Man, am? Peter spoke up and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now that's an important profession that Peter made. But what's more important is to understand where he got it. Jesus said, Blessed art thou, Simon, for flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee. But my Father, which is in heaven, hath revealed that to you. My friends, that knowledge of who Jesus was and what he was, that so blessed condition, can is only attributed to God Himself showing you something. Do you know, my friends, if your profession is the same, Brother Chris, as Peter's was, it's blessed art thou, brother Chris. Flesh and blood hadn't revealed that to you, but my father, which is in, if you say that Jesus is the Christ, and I'm not just talking about saying it in your mind and in your word, but my friend Peter, that was coming from deep inside Peter. He had an experience there, my friends, that was telling about what was already put in him. Flesh and blood had not already, but my father, which is in heaven, that's who told you, Peter. That's who revealed that to you, and that's who revealed it to you. So, my friends, we understand that knowledge, but now he's brought the issue of hope. And hope, my friends, I attribute to the Lord Himself. He is that hope. That it's Christ in you, the hope of glory. So there's much assurance in that existence of hope in the child of God. That hope that dwells within you, my friends, that dwells up when the Lord visits us. We're found uh in that hope. Let's look at what he says in that sixth chapter about this great hope that we have. And this has been a subject on my mind lately, and I've tried to talk about it, but let's come down to the uh uh to the 18th verse, and it says that by two immutable things, and that it was impossible for God to lie. I'm glad he said that, that it's impossible for God to lie. So when he says, I am with you always, he cannot, it's impossible for him to lie. Peter says, in hope of eternal life, or Paul said, in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. He cannot lie. So, my friend, there's much assurance in these things. Listen. As he says, by two immutable things, that is impossible for God to lie. We might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold, to lay hold upon the hope set before us. That hope has been set before you, child of God. Believe, my friends, upon this great hope that dwells within you. It's not a wish, it's not a fond of thought that it might have, but it's a hope that dwelleth within you and is in you and is the is hid there within you. And cannot be touched, cannot be removed. He says, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul. There's full assurance in this hope, my friend. That's an anchor of the soul. And we know what anchors are for. They're to steady, they're to make sure a ship. They're assured that ship is staying right there where the anchor is supposed to be. But this anchor, my friends, doesn't go downward. It goes upward. This anchor tie is tied in you. Christ in you, the hope of glory. But it's also, listen, to where that anchor goes, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. That's a sure. That's full assurance. It's both sure and steadfast, which entereth into that within the veil. This, my friends, is an anchor that goes upward, upward to the very throne of God, where he, our Lord, that said, I'll be with you always, he sits at the right hand of the Father in that place of acceptance, right here by my right side. You have done well, son. And that anchor goes and enters into that within the veil and steadies you and holds you firm. There's nothing that can take you away from this anchor. It's anchored in you and in him. But you know, sometimes I've mentioned it like this. Sometimes I'm like a fish frailing on the line. I'm unsure. But my friends, that anchor's there. To lay hold. To lay hold upon that anchor of the soul and be steadied and find the full assurance of that hope. That hope is not a whim. It is a surety. Sure and steadfast. Sure and steadfast. Anchored to that. I like the word that. Anchored into that within the veil. What is that? That is the finished work of your Savior that laid down his life. He said, No man taketh my life from me, I lay it down for my friend. No greater gift can any man give but that he lay down his life for his friends. That's where your full assurance is, is in that anchor of the soul. Hope within you. One more place, and Brother Chris, I'll get out of the way in the tenth chapter. 10th chapter. Over to the 20th. Make sure I'm in the right chapter here. Paul is writing here about the blood of Christ. Having in the 19th verse, he says, having, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into that holy, holiest by the blood of Jesus. Now look, we're looking for full assurance. We're looking for an assurance that can be broken. One that we have full, complete confidence. When you leave out of here tonight, my friends, go with full confidence in a Savior that has shed his own blood. And here's just how sure it is. He says, Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. And having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith. In full assurance of faith. Having one heart sprinkled from an evil conscience and with bodies washed with pure water. Let us lay hold. You have full assurance in that he is faithful. We can draw near by the blood of Christ. You have a right. You have been given access. Access by his blood. That's the power in that word that was given. The word was made flesh, and by the blood of that one, you have access to him. You can draw near to him. And my friends, you can draw near in casting your care upon him. You can go with full assurance, full assurance, with full confidence that I can enter into that place where he is. I can enter into that holy place where he is, that place of mediation, where he can take my thought, my concern, my needs, my fears, my bondages of this world. He can take those things and he can wipe them away. He can give us the relief and the full confidence. He can say, Child, go with full confidence. I've got this. I've got this. I'm yours and you're mine. Go with full confidence in faith. In faith. What is faith? Hebrews chapter 11, 1 says, now faith is the substance of things hoped for. There's a tie between hope and faith, and that faith is the substance. It's the underlying strength of it. It's that hope is on, laid on that hope. Our faith, my friends, is not an empty gesture. It's not a frame of mind. It's not some ideas of the flesh. It's not wisdom of this world. It is spiritual. It is faith, that substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. How do we believe? We believe on the evidence of faith. We walk with him by faith and not by sight. We trust in him by faith, in hope, and the understanding on the word of God with full assurance that he said what he meant. I will be with you always. And he is still with us alway. My friends, if you're touched by a spiritual blessing, if you're touched by a spiritual thought, if you see him in a spiritual way, and you feel that love of God, that is the evidence in faith, that evidence of things not seen. I can't see the love of God by the natural eye, but I can feel it by the spiritual heart. I can feel my Savior near. I can see him as evidences of my life. And I can trust him not only for what he's done in the past, but I can trust him with full confidence, in full assurance that he'll walk with me tonight and tomorrow. And you go with that full assurance, and that full confidence. I thank you.