Welcome to the Thee Generation Podcast. I’m Bobby Bosler, and I’m speaking to you today from Menominee Falls, Wisconsin. I and my team just got back about a week or so ago from a very, very encouraging tour on the road with the war. We were in nine churches everywhere from Arizona to Alabama, and in those nine churches we got to invite well over 2,000 young people to come. The Lord gave us in those rallies well over 500 young people who came and heard the gospel, And of those that came and heard, I am so thrilled that 161 of them trusted Jesus Christ alone as their Savior. You know, one of the things that I absolutely love, that I love about doing what I do, is I get to look into the faces of young people who hours earlier had no idea whether they were on their way to heaven or not. Young people who maybe they actually thought they had a plan to get there, but really when it turns out, they were not on their way to heaven. And I was able to just simply stand up before them and show them what the Bible says about how you can know for sure that your sins are forgiven and that you’re on your way to heaven. I love it. I love talking to the young people many times when I talk to them afterwards. I’ll ask them, so tell me now, what are you counting on for your forgiveness of sins and eternal life? And they’ll look at me and they’ll say, Jesus. And I’ll say to them, anything else? And they’ll say, no, just Jesus. And you know, it’s a thrilling thing to hear that. And I’ll ask them then, okay, so if you died right now, where would you go? And of course they will, if they understand, they’ll say, I’ll go to heaven. And then I’ll ask them, well, hey, what happens if you died when you’re 90 years old and you don’t have a tooth in your head, where would you go then? And they’d say, well, I’d go to heaven. Then I ask them, what would have happened if you would have died yesterday? Where would you have gone then? And it’s neat to me just to see the contrast there where they, many times, their eyes fall down to the ground and they say, well, I’d go to hell. I’ll ask them, would you deserve it? And they’ll say, yes. Many times I’ll also follow up with this question, what did you think you had to do to get to heaven before you came here tonight? And boy, when I ask that question, I get all kinds of answers. Sometimes I get the answer, well, I really thought that I had to do good things and go to church to get to heaven. Or many times they’ll say, you know, I didn’t know. I didn’t have a clue. Sometimes they’ll say, well, you know, I knew that I had to believe in Jesus and count on him alone, but I’d just never done it. I’ve gotten all kinds of variations of those questions. But one of the things I love to see, as I love to see young people walk away with hope. Now, the word for hope in the Bible is a very important word, and we’ve talked about this on the podcast before. But the Bible word for hope is not just, oh, I hope so. You know, when I ask somebody, do you know for sure you’re on your way to heaven? And they say, I hope so. Incessantly, what they’re saying is they don’t know for sure. And that’s not the kind of hope that I’m talking about. The kind of hope that I’m talking about is the kind of hope we find in the Bible, which is a confident expectation of something that is still future. Now, did you know that God wants every one of his children to have confident expectation of the future when it comes to their eternal life? And really, that’s God’s plan. God wants for believers who are believing on Jesus, who have their sins forgiven, who’ve gotten eternal life to have confidence that they have eternal life. But you know, if you’re listening to this podcast and you’ve been a Christian for any length of time, I am sure that there have been some times in your life where you’ve wondered, oh, do I really have eternal life? Am I really? saved? Are my sins really forgiven? And unfortunately, what we call a lack of assurance is something that plagues many, many young people. Perhaps it plagues you, even as you’re listening to this podcast. And you know, whenever I talk to somebody, even young people right after they’re saved, and whenever I talk to somebody who’s struggling with this matter of assurance, one of the things I like to do is I personally really like to keep it simple. And there is one that I have found that is an incredibly simple take on this matter of assurance, and it’s Titus chapter 1 and verse 2. Here’s what it says. In hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. There’s a couple things just to explain here. What he’s saying is that you and I, we can have hope, that confident expectation about eternal life because there’s something about God that can give us that confident expectation. God, who is not able to lie, promised eternal life. That’s what can give us confident expectation. And yet that being said, sometimes we say, well, yeah, sure. I mean, I know that’s true. I know God wants us to have eternal life. I know he wants us to know that we have eternal life. But preacher, Why do I doubt so often? Briefly here, I’d like to give you three reasons why you and I doubt. The first reason is this, and it’s a really simple reason, and it really does cut to the heart of it, I think, in some ways. The first reason why I think we doubt is because we don’t think God means what he says. Now, we might not come out and say it, but ultimately, when we look at the promise of eternal life, some folks can look at it and think, oh boy, I don’t know. I just don’t know. It just seems too easy. Oh, I don’t know. I mean, maybe God really isn’t going to give me eternal life. And really what ends up happening in essence is folks doubt the truthfulness of God. I remember I was in Byron, Georgia a number of years ago. One of my team members was dealing with a young man and the young man, he wouldn’t get saved. And I asked the young man, why won’t you get saved? And he said, I just don’t think I’m ready. And I said, well, why don’t you think you’re ready? And long story short, essentially, he told me he wasn’t, he believed that he was a sinner. He believed that he deserved hell, but he also believed that Jesus died on the cross for his sins. And I said to him, it sounds like you’re ready to me. And he said to me, he said, well, I’m just not sure if he’ll do it. He said he wasn’t sure he would do it. And I looked at him across the room and I said to him, so you’re calling God a liar. And I remember he looked at me shocked that I had said that. And he said, preacher, that’s kind of harsh. And then as it dawned on him, he realized, and he said out loud, but you know what? You’re right. You know what, young person, if God says it, that settles it. It doesn’t matter how you feel. It doesn’t matter how you feel, whether you feel like God is going to do it or not, the fact of the matter is God cannot lie. God always means what he says. I think the scripture says somewhere, God is not a man that he should lie, nor the son of man that he should repent. God will always do what he says he’s going to do. Young person, the reason of doubt, not being sure if God really means what he says needs to go because God always means what he says. Second reason why I think sometimes we doubt is this one. And this is really, I think where it gets, gets to many of us. We’re not sure if we’ve done it. We’re just simply not sure if we’ve really done it. Maybe you made a decision as a very young person. Maybe at the moment of your decision, there was a whole lot that you didn’t understand. And I find so many times, this is where many, many, probably some who are listening are, you look back to that time of decision and you think, man, I just don’t know if I did what I was supposed to do to be saved. Now, let me just say this real briefly. The Bible is incredibly clear on what a person needs to do to be saved. We don’t need to complicate it. We don’t need to throw in all of this jargon and overcomplicate the salvation decision. The salvation decision is simply outlined in Acts 16, verse 31, where it says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Briefly, let me break those into three elements. Number one, the action is believing. The action is not going out and doing a bunch of good things. The action is believing. Now, it’s important to understand what believing is. Simply put, believing is counting on something. It’s relying on something to do something for you. Okay, so the action is believing. Second, the object is Jesus. So what it is that we’re counting on, what it is that we’re relying on to do something for us is Jesus. We’re not counting on Buddha to get us to heaven. We’re not counting on Muhammad to forgive us our sins. We’re not counting on our church or on a baptism or in a ceremony or even a prayer to get us eternal life. We’re counting on Jesus. And really, might I add, on Jesus alone. And that’s another thing that sometimes folks get complicated in their minds. You know, they think, okay, well, you know, sometimes folks will think, well, I need to count on Jesus. And in addition to that, I also need to go to church and pray this certain prayer. And I need to get baptized. And if I do all of those things, I’ll be saved. But those are the wrong objects. What a person must do is they must believe, which is simply to count on something or relying on something. What they need to rely on or count on is Jesus and Jesus alone. And then thirdly, there is a result. The result is salvation. And that’s telling us what they’re counting on Jesus for. I want you to know what I’m counting on, young person. I’m counting on Jesus alone for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Listen, folks can count on Jesus for a lot of different things. They can count on Jesus to get them out of a jam with their parents. They can count on Jesus to get them out of a financial crisis, to get them out of trouble with their school leadership. But I want you to know that the ultimate purpose of dependence, the focus of dependence is counting on Jesus for forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and deliverance from the consequences of their sins. And really, young person, what you need to do is if you’re struggling, wondering, well, did I really do it or did I not do it? Ask yourself this question. What am I counting on for forgiveness of sins and eternal life in my heart right now? And young person, if you’d say like the song says, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. If Jesus and his sacrifice for you on the cross are the only things that would count in your mind to get you to heaven, Young person, can I tell you, you’re a child of God. You have made the salvation decision. You don’t need to doubt, because if Jesus is the only thing you’re counting on, you’ve got eternal life. So first, the first reason why we don’t have assurance, the first reason why we doubt is we’re just not sure God means it. Well, God means what he says. He cannot lie. Second, we’re not sure if we’ve done it. We’re not sure if we’ve fulfilled our end of the deal when it comes to the promise. Well, young person, if you’re counting on Jesus alone for your forgiveness of sins and eternal life, you’ve got it. But third, the third reason why we doubt is because we don’t feel like we have it. You know, young person, I want you to know that sometimes the things that we do in life make us feel like God is a million miles away. I may be talking to some young people, maybe within the last hour or two, you just looked at something on your phone you know you shouldn’t have looked at. And it’s not the first time it’s happened today. Maybe there are some of you who are listening And you’re involved in several activities under the radar That your parents don’t even know about It drives you nuts inside You know it’s wrong But you’re having too much fun to let it go Maybe there are some young people who are listening You’ve taken things that don’t belong to you Maybe there are some who are listening You’ve been cheating regularly on your schoolwork Maybe there are some who are listening You’ve broken the rules of your home and you’re doing your very best to hide it. Can I tell you, young person, if you’ve got hidden sin in your life, you’re not going to feel like you’re saved. You’re not going to feel like you’re saved. Now, that doesn’t mean you’re not. But young people, feelings are not necessarily what’s true. And if you’re here and you’re doubting and you just do not have that confidence that you’re a child of God, and yet in your heart you’d say, but wait a minute, I’m counting on Jesus alone. that’s what I’m counting on why do I still doubt and it’s because you don’t feel like you’re saved and the reason why you don’t feel like you’re saved is because you’ve got garbage in your life that’s putting a wall up between you and God oh don’t get me wrong if you die you’ll go straight to heaven my friend and you will stand before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ and he’s going to have a few words with you oh you may have eternal life but the reason why you don’t feel like it is because you’ve got sin that you’re harboring. A young person, can I tell you this? The first step, the first step to feeling like you’ve got it is first to recognize God means what he says. Second, just take a look. What am I depending on? But thirdly, if you want to get your feelings to align with the facts, deal with the garbage in your life. See, some of you, you doubt because of the patterns of your lifestyle. And I’ll tell you, some people don’t really help with their preaching because they’ll tell you, oh, if you’re doing this and doing this and doing this, you’re not saved. That’s not true. A Christian can do just about any horrible sin as anyone else can. But I will tell you, those things are the reason why you don’t feel like you’re saved. Listen, the solution for some of you is not to get saved again. The solution for some of you is to get right with God. Uncover your sin for mom and dad. Unload the truck. Some of you, maybe you came to our youth summit last year, and maybe when I preached on Thursday night last year, you dealt with a bunch of junk, and man, you felt closer to God than you’ve ever felt in your entire life. But when you went home in a moment of weakness, in a time of temptation, you got back into that stuff, and you got plunged once again into the depression that often comes with somebody who’s not right with God, and you’ve been wondering and doubting about all kinds of stuff. Can I tell you, friend, You don’t need to get saved again. In fact, if you get saved again, you’re going to muddy the waters. You need to get right with God. God wants to use you to turn the world upside down. But here, you’re not even sure if you’re saved. And it’s because you’re dabbling in the dumpster out back, so to speak. Can I tell you, young person, God has so much more for you than that. And it’s time you, like the prodigal son, stopped wallowing in your sin and came back to the Father and got those things right. And I guarantee you, he’ll welcome you with open arms. He’ll give you a sense of purpose and a vision for your life. And he’ll use you. He’ll use you. Young people, this matter of assurance is a foundational issue. God wants every one of his children, he wants them to know that they’re a child of God. You know, I recognize that here at the end, this has kind of turned into somewhat of a little bit of a heavy episode, and that’s not my intention. but young people I think sometimes we need it to be said to us straight you know God wants to turn your your life upside down and use your life to turn the world upside down and this is an issue you need to get surrendered to the Lord and you need to depend on him to give you the grace to go and to get right with mom and dad and with the teacher and with any other people that you may be hiding stuff from. Young people, I want to assure you that my heart in this episode is to see you be able to say with Paul in the book of Titus that you have hope of eternal life because God, who cannot lie, promised it before the world began.