 So, with that said, I'll begin at verse 1, reading verses 1 and 2 and get into the introduction and into our study. Paul begins to close Romans in chapter 16 by saying, I commend to you, Phoebe, our sister, who is a servant of the church in St. Creole, that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints and assist her in whatever business she has need of you. For indeed, she has been a helper of many and of myself also. And so in chapter 15, the apostle Paul had spoken in verse 32 of his hope to come to see the Romans. And verse 25 of the same chapter indicates that he would not make an immediate departure to see them. So, in light of this, in light of the fact that he's not making an immediate departure to see them, he begins in this chapter to speak concerning a sister whom he refers to by name. Her name is Phoebe. The name Phoebe, for those of you who like to take notes, it simply means, it speaks of bright. That's what Phoebe means. And so he's recommending to them a sister named Phoebe. That's what he's saying in verse 1, I commend you, Phoebe, our sister. So he's recommending, the word command and recommend is basically the same word. And so as we're going to go through this final chapter, it's interesting how Paul begins to close his letter by mentioning members of the church, and he does so by name. When you go through the list of names, he mentions 35 people in the book of Romans in the letter. He's speaking of 35 who are members of the church there. They were a church family. They were people that he could speak and mention their names and the people would know them. And so he begins here by commending or recommending someone. Now let me give you a little brief insight into that. The practice of recommendation or commendation was very early in the church. It was an early church practice. Why would you make a recommendation? Why would you commend someone? Why would Paul here in chapter 16 say, I commend you, Phoebe? Why would he do that? Well, he did that because he was safeguarding the church. You see, they would make their commendations or recommendations. They would do that so that the church would not welcome in false teachers or honor people who shouldn't be honored. You see, in the early church, false teachers had begun already to rise up. And we see these things later on. We'll see it in the same chapter, how Paul begins to give warnings concerning this even here in the book of Romans. Now when you begin to look at the ministry of Jesus and remember with me that he gave warning to his people, even before the church had actually been birthed on Pentecost, but Jesus gave warnings from the beginning, Matthew 7, verse 15, for example. He said, watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly, he said, they are ferocious wolves. So even as he was ministering on earth prior to the birth of the church, he was already warning the church about false teachers. When you read your letters, and I can give you a lot and I'm not going to, I'm only going to give you a few, but when you read your New Testament, the epistles are filled with warnings about false teachers. Second Peter, chapter two, verses one and two, the apostle says there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. When John was writing the apostle John, second John, chapter one, verses six and seven, he said, this is love, that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. I say this because many deceivers who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Paul, when he was speaking to Corinthians, in second Corinthians, actually wrote in response to an accusation that had been made against him, and he said in second Corinthians chapter three, verses one through three, are we beginning to commend or recommend, commend ourselves again, or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? He went on to say, you yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result, he says, of our ministry, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts. You see, the false teachers who had infiltrated the Corinthian church in second Corinthians and Paul was speaking of them, he's saying, do I have to recommend myself? As so many do. Remember in first Corinthians chapter four, I believe around verse 16, he said, though you may have 10,000 instructors yet you have but one father, I begot you in the gospel. So he's speaking concerning his relationship with them, and now he's saying, do I have to recommend myself? The reason church in Corinth exists is because I planted that church. And so already there was movement within the confines of the body of Christ within the first several years of its inception to bring in false doctrine and to bring in false teachings. And so he's making a recommendation, he's commending to them, Phoebe, she's someone worthy of trust is what he's saying. And so in verse one, he speaks of her and he speaks of her as a servant there. He says it's a servant in verse one of the church in Sancraea. And so Phoebe served in Sancraea, which is, if you were looking at a map, it would be located in modern Greece. It was located seven miles from Corinth. It served as a port for Corinth. And he speaks of her as being, notice this, a servant of the church. There are many commentators who would say that means that she served as what would be called a deaconess. The deaconesses were servants in the church that were chosen out of the most spiritually mature women of the church. They ordinarily were women who had born children, which gave to them an added experience in pain. Just kidding. It'll take you a moment, you'll get it. Now to develop that for just a second, Paul and 1st Timothy had given the qualifications of those who were referred to as deacons or table-waiters. And after speaking of the deacons, he made mention of the wives of the deacons and he said it this way. In 1st Timothy 3, verse 11, he said, their wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers, but temperate and trustworthy in everything. And so he's speaking of or commending a woman named Phoebe that many commentators would say because she's referred to as a servant of the church, that she served the church there as a deaconess. Women normally minister to other women. They would be separated from the men for that kind of ministry. It was a time in the culture, and it was wise at that time as it is to this day, to maintain propriety. So the women would minister to the women. And so he's speaking of her in verse 2 and he says, receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints and a sister. So when he speaks and says, receive her, that word I've shared with you already means to welcome her, show her the respect that is due to someone who selflessly serves Jesus. He's saying, receive her properly, receive her lovingly because that's what Christians are to do. And that's a way we're to treat one another. And it's especially proper when it comes to selfless servants. You see, there's a love and there's a respect that you're to show them. And you do it not because they're so cool or because they're so whatever, you do it because they're selfless. Whom do you honor in a church? You will honor a selfless servant. You give honor where honor is due. And there's a love and there's a respect that you show them and you show them love and respect for their work's sake. In 1 Thessalonians 5, 12 and 13, Paul said it like this. He said, we ask your brothers to acknowledge those who work diligently among you, who preside over you in the Lord and give you instruction in love. Hold them in highest regard because of their work, live in peace with one another. And so you show honor to where honor is due. And she was one who should be honored and that's what he's saying. And so as he speaks of her and says you need to assist her in whatever business she has need of, because she's a person worthy of such respect, he begins at that point to move on. And from verse three to 16, he's giving greetings. Now I'll read it. I wasn't going to, I'll read it. Greet Priscilla and Apola, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus who risked their own necks for my life to whom not only I give thanks, but, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise, greet the church that is in their house. Greet my beloved eponet, eponetus, who is the first fruits of a care to Christ. Greet Mary who labored much for us. Greet Andronicus in junior, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners who are of note among the apostles who also were in Christ before me. Greet Amplius, my beloved in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Sickus, my beloved. Greet Appellus, approved in Christ. Greet those who are in the household of Aristobulus. Greet Herodian, my countrymen. Greet those who are of the household of narcissists who are in the Lord. Greet Trefina and Trifosa who have labored in the Lord. Greet the beloved purses who labored much in the Lord. Greet Rufus chosen in the Lord in his mother and mine. Greet Ascintratus, how would you like to have that name? Or Flagon, sounds like flim, Hermes, Trobas, Hermes and the brethren who are with them. Greet Philologus and Julia, Narius and his sister and Olympus, all the saints who are with them. Greet one another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ greet you. Oh, those are hard names, man. Hard names to even pretend to pronounce. I can't share with you a whole lot about a lot of these, but I'll touch on a few things because it's worthy of doing so. He begins in verses three and four to speak of two people. They're fairly well known to those who are reading their scriptures, Priscilla and Aquilob. He refers to them as dear friends and fellow laborers in the gospel. Now Paul originally came into contact with them years before when he was in the city of Corinth. It says in Acts 18, one through three, after these things, Paul departed from Athens, went to Corinth. He found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife, Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome and he came to them. So because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked for biocupation. They were tent makers. And so there was a time in the early church when men like Paul and Apostle would also work with his own hands and produce income. And he was a tent maker, which tells you something about Paul that you wouldn't know from his testimony. But it says right here, biocupation, they were tent makers. And so he was dear friends with these. He calls them fellow laborers. And notice in verse four how he says that they had risked their own necks for my life. Now these beloved friends had put their necks on the line. They had risked their lives for Paul. Nobody knows exactly when this would have taken place, by the way. It may have been during a riot that had endangered Paul's life recorded in Acts 19 when he was in the city of Ephesus. The city was in an uproar. Paul wanted to speak to those who were so upset he was taken away. And so these are people whom he's speaking of who had risked their lives for him. What is it Jesus said in John 15, 13, great love has no man than this that a man lay down his life for a friend. So he greatly loved these people because he said they risked their lives for me, demonstrating their love for me. They at one time had lived in the city of Rome and now they've returned. In verse five he speaks of the church that's in their house, so that gives us insight. He tells us that there is a home fellowship. It's pastored by Aquila. In 1 Corinthians 1619 it says the churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord with the church that is in their house. So they're a good example of a husband and a wife serving the Lord together after pastoring in Corinth. They returned to Rome and they're still ministering. And the church met in their home. That's because in the beginning of the history of the Christian church there were no church buildings. They would meet in homes for worship and ministry. We're going to see that this upcoming Sunday when we look in the book of Acts chapter 12 you'll see. That was a common practice at that time. There were no church buildings but they would meet in synagogues or in homes and they would meet in lecture halls and that's how it went. And that was the way it was in the early church and that's something by the way that continues even into our century, into our time because our fellowship, our fellowship when we started as a church began in a home. Just the way it was true in the early church's history we met in homes and then we began to rent schools and ultimately then we purchased property for meetings. Well that's how it was in the early church. Now in verse five he speaks of his beloved epineatis or epineateus who he says is the first fruits of akea. In other words he was the first convert in Corinth and was very dear to him. Now just for a sight he may have been the son of a man named Stefanus. Why do we say that? Well 1 Corinthians 16 15 I urge you brethren you know the household of Stefanus that it is the first fruits of akea and that they have devoted themselves to the ministry of the saints and so this is a man who may have been the first convert in Corinth and so he says greet him. Notice verse six, greet Mary who labored much for us. When he says labored much greet Mary because she has labored and served Christ to the point of exhaustion. These people may not realize that service to the Lord is exhausting. Some of you know this. Those of you who attend the Tuesday morning service that we have with with John teaching the men you know that some get there early five o'clock or so and they begin working at five. They don't have to do that but they do. So they get up early, they prepare meals for the guys and when everybody's left you know belching and with toothpicks in teeth and go home these guys stick behind. They clean everything up and then they begin their day. And so ministry is labor. Ministry is a lot of people don't realize it but it can be something that is physically not only physically but obviously emotionally and obviously in every other way possible exhausting and serving the Lord includes that. Because of this Paul actually would give exhortations to those who serve Christ to remain strong. In chapter six verse nine of Galatians he said it like this. He said let us not grow weary while doing good. For in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. To the Corinthians first Corinthians 15 58. Therefore my dear brother stand firm let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that you're labor in the Lord is not in vain. The work of the Lord the labor of the Lord give yourself fully to that work. And so he's saying greet Mary she's labored much for us. Andronicus in Junia in verse seven may be a husband and wife team. They may have been blood relatives but not necessarily. What's interesting again and I'll read it to you. When it says greet Andronicus in Junia my countrymen and my fellow prisoners. They may very well have spent time in imprisonments. They served sentences in prison also. Not all of Paul's imprisonments are given in detail in scripture by the way. In second Corinthians chapter six verse five Paul speaks of beatings and imprisonments. And riots and hard work sleepless nights and hunger. So he can he's esteeming them because he says they were saved before I was. Now in verses eight and nine at this point various names are mentioned. Paul calls them beloved he speaks of them as fellow workers or that they've been approved and so those are names that are those are he's going to be giving names that they they fit this. In verse 10 the household of Aristobulus. Aristobulus again is the grandson of Herod the Great. He may have been converted or had members of his household who had been. And then in verses 11 through 16 he gives various names who won't touch all of them. Herodian he speaks of him he was a fellow Jew but he may have been related. But these people notice are in the Lord. They labored in the Lord. They're chosen in the Lord and their saints. And so the fact that he sends greetings to so many reveals and I'm going to develop this when we come to a conclusion. Personal relationships. Your friendship matters to you. Get involved serving with other people who love the Lord. This is really something I could take a long time on. I'm not going to I'm tempted to but one of the ways that a person can make friends is to serve alongside of somebody else. That's one of the basic ways you do. When I was a young young pastor I didn't have any that I would refer to as my friend. And I began to pray and I asked the Lord Lord would you please bring someone into my life it could be my friend. I was sharing with the Mexican pastors just this last week and I said the loneliest person in church very often is your pastor. Who does he have to fellowship with? Who does he have to speak to? Who can he ask for prayer from? Who can he do that with? So very often he's isolated and so for me way back 40 plus years ago I said to the Lord I need somebody to be my friend somebody that can labor alongside me that I can love and trust and can carry the load that you place on my shoulders with me. And I served in the children's ministry though I was an assistant pastor. We would my wife Marie and I served in the children's ministry we actually took care of the infants and there was a little boy that was maybe maybe 11 months old and I used to have a full beard and his his father had a full beard and wore glasses and he was too little to know that I was better looking than his ugly father. And that little boy crawled up to me actually toddled he was already toddling and he wouldn't let go of me so I held on to him for the hour and a half two hours of the service I couldn't put him down he would cry so I held on to him and you know my David who was eight months old at the time did not like that and I still remember your own crawling towards me grabbing my leg and staring at this kid saying but I'm bigger I'm going to beat you up for this you know that kind of thing but that's how I met my first assistant Dan Renshaw that's how I met him taking care of his kid and that's how I made friends you will make friends when you're serving and you want to have a friend who serves you want to have somebody who serves alongside of you you want to have that and so he's speaking concerning this and that's how he's speaking of these people there notice again they're in the Lord they labor in the Lord they're chosen in the Lord he refers to him as saints and then as he's sharing this this gets to a point where I could easily go too long he says in verses 17 and 18 I urge you brethren note those who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you learned what's he say avoid them for those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly and by smooth words and flattering speech notice deceive the hearts of the simple I'm telling you I've had a lot of studies on this I could just start flying on it we have communion I have to be careful because I can this is one of my pet things he's issuing a warning to safeguard the purity of the fellowship it is written concerning those who are causing division in the church he's already spoken concerning division that has been caused over food and drink and now he's writing concerning the purity of teaching the purity of doctrine and that's because you behave in the way you believe your beliefs will always instruct your behavior what you do is what you really believe so when somebody tells you I believe this this and that and they do the opposite no they're telling you what they really believe even a child is known by their deeds whether they're good or evil so you can philosophically and intellectually and you can do all kinds of uh word use words in various ways to to try and and and say that you believe a certain thing but when your life does not line up then you're just not telling the truth you're you're deceiving and notice what he's saying he's saying in verse 17 note them that word note means to mark them out it speaks of being aware of them keep a close eye on these people why well because failing to guard against division and bad doctrine will destroy the church they're going to bring in doctrine teaching contrary to the things that they've been taught they're going to bring in and they did they're going to be bringing in doctrine that undermines the gospel of Jesus Christ they're false teachers and he says note them and avoid them that's what you do when bad doctrine invades you see if these people he's saying or their agents do not repent they need to be avoided in Titus 3 verse 10 Paul said warn a divisive person once and then warn him a second time and after that have nothing to do with him you see as a shepherd Paul's concerned that the sheep receive healthy feedings they're to receive the whole counsel of God they're to receive what Jesus had taught his men the apostles which is called apostolic doctrine in 1st Timothy 2 1 and 2 Paul said it like this he said you therefore my son be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus and the things that you've heard of me among many witnesses the same commit to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also you see apostolic doctrine or doctrine that comes from the from the spirit moving the hearts of the apostles apostolic doctrine is important because it is truth that makes you free Paul recognized himself as a trusted slave and he was carrying his master's message and he had said to the Corinthians in 1st Corinthians 4 verse 2 it's required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful now Peter had said that it's Jesus's words that are life in John 6 verse 68 Jesus had said are you going to also leave in and in John 6 68 the apostle Peter said Lord to whom shall we go you have the words of eternal life and because this is of such importance God's message is to be safeguarded in 2nd Timothy 1 14 that good thing which is speaking of the gospel that good thing that was committed to you keep the word keep means to guard guard by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us why is that important because false teachers bring false messages and false messages enslave the hero Jesus said the truth will set you free and a lie will bring you into bondage and a false teacher brings false teachings and by the way so many of the false teachings that you hear today are appealing to your emotions and not to your intellect not to your spirit in the most proper way that it can appeal to you it's making you feel certain things and when you feel certain things you believe certain things in Galatians chapter 2 verse 4 it speaks of of false messages enslaving it says this occurred because a false brethren secretly brought in meaning they came in by by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus why that they might bring us into bondage false doctrine will bring into bondage before you know what i can't eat that i can't drink that i can't go there i can't do this i can't do that i shared with you recently and i'll just say quickly there have been times when the church has gotten so strongly legalistic to try and show we're not of the world that we've gone just so far telling telling men that even when it's 110 degrees outside you need to wear a suit and tie to be actually properly equipped to go to church and pastors have to look in a certain way and and and the women can't wear makeup and they can't wear dresses and they can't do their hair and and and they get so overboard on the external that they don't even cultivate the heart and it brings you into bondage and so you think you're better because you don't do certain things when in fact your heart is just as evil as anybody else's and so false teaching will make you proud and it also bring you into bondage it steals from you the joy of salvation and false doctrine is so bad listen to what paul said in galatians one eight and nine he said even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preach to you let him be accursed as we have said before so now i say again if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received let him be anathema let him be forever condemned let him be accursed that's how strong it is he says mark them out in 1st Timothy 1 19 and 20 he says hold on to faith and a good conscience which some have rejected and thereby shipwrecked their faith among them are hemenias and alexander whom i have handed over to satan to be taught not to blaspheme he mentioned names he said i have put them in this position that they may learn not to blaspheme well what are they actually doing notice verse 18 he said those who are such do not serve our lord jesus christ with their own belly and by smooth words and flattering speech what are they doing deceiving the hearts of the simple the innocent the naive they're deceiving them they love the attention that they receive they're trying to capture people's hearts and make them their own disciples when he spoke again of the glations in chapter 4 verse 17 speaking of these false teachers he said these people are zealous to win you over but for no good what they want is to alienate you from us so that you may be zealous for them that's what false teachers do we've had people who are false teachers that we have marked out to be honest with you here in the history of the church you can imagine over 42 years you're going to have people do that we've had them come into the bookstore and we didn't know they were coming into our bookstore this is when we had the bookstore opened more often during the day we had hired a young man who was a new believer to come in to minister by serving in the bookstore it was his job we did not know that this particular group of cultic individuals had started coming into our bookstore we were never told and after some time they convinced him that this church here was a false church that they were members of the true church and he ended up quitting his job and going off with them they do that they will enter in and they will do everything they can to to draw you away and that's exactly what happens he says and in what it is it's it's like they have spiritual scalps if you will that the picture of being victorious and taking prison as well that's what they do he says they want you to be zealous for them why do we want to go through the the whole council of god verse by verse so that we're thoroughly equipped for works of service in verse 19 and i think we're going to finish verse 19 your obedience has become known to all therefore i am glad on your behalf but i want you to be wise in what is good and simple concerning evil and the god of peace will crush satan under your feet shortly the grace of our lord jesus christ be with you amen so he appeals to their past obedience the reputation of doing that which is right he loves them he cares for them and so what he wants to do is he wants to protect their spiritual innocence he looks at them as if they're like his own daughter and he's a father he was the same way with the the Corinthians he said like a father has given his daughter to a man for marriage i'm protecting i feel the same way that protective love for you the funny thing about it is sometimes your daughters may not appreciate a father's jealous love for them and sometimes the church doesn't appreciate a pastor's jealous love for them either and they get upset but the fact is he wants them to retain their purity in christ and that's why he's doing this in verse 21 he now begins to close timothy my fellow worker and lucius jason and sassapader my countrymen greet you i tertius who wrote this epistle greet you and the lord gaius my my host and the host of the whole church greets you orastus the treasure of the city greets you and court is a brother the grace of our lord jesus christ be with you all amen now to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of jesus christ according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest and by the prophetic scriptures made known to all nations according to the commandment of the everlasting god for obedience to the faith to god alone wise be glory through jesus christ forever amen so he concludes now a couple of things he speaks of lucius jason sassapader he also includes his writer uh whom he dictated this letter through you noticed his name verse 22 i tertius who wrote this epistle now why would he he say who wrote this it's because paul dictated the letter and tertius was the one who was writing it for him it is commonly believed that paul had poor poor eyesight so he would dictate he and when he did sign the letters that he would sign would be larger than the average which was actually an indication that he had signed the letter how do i know that galatians chapter 6 verse 11 see what large letters i used to write to you with my own hand so he points that out now in 2nd Thessalonians Colossians 1st Corinthians he spoke of signing the letters in 2nd Thessalonians 3 17 he said it like this i paul write this greeting in my own hand which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters this is how i write and so that's what's going on he would make full proof that he was the one who was the the one god used to write that letter though he used the man here was tertius he's simply saying this is the way that you know i'm signing this myself and then he'd have these larger letters and finally he closes with a blessing he's blessing the god who is able to establish us who does so by his word in june 24 and 25 to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy do the only god our savior be glory majesty power and authority through jesus christ our lord before all ages now and forevermore amen one last thought and then we're going to pray one thing that sticks out in my mind is that he gave a list of 35 names that tells me that when he sent this letter to Rome he fully expected those 35 people to faithfully be there in the church that they were serving in that tells me that it's important for the body of christ to know one another right i had a meeting yesterday with i think between 20 and 24 pastors i have an oversight over quite a number of churches and 24 the pastor showed up yesterday for a meeting and in the meeting i was sharing with them and i'll say this quickly i was saying to them that they need to as pastors be careful to encourage the church to love one another because and i'll say it this way to you because it's it's possible to have a church with filled seats but empty people it's possible for people to show up to a bible study not because they want to know more about the kingdom of god but because something else is being given to them that they want to hear and one of the one of the i'm trying to find the right word to say it one of the sad realities of the church in the united states in the 21st century as i see it through my experience in pastor and ministry is that many times the sheep aren't being fed the gospel they're being fed a different diet and they don't even know it because somebody may open the bible and read it they think they're being taught it and in fact i have the sad experience of hearing many bible studies over the 50 plus years that i've been saved and over 50 years that have been teaching i've had the sad experience of being in more than one study where i i would sit there saying he didn't study that passage that passage doesn't say that you're stretching it to kind of cover your own opinion you're presenting something that you think but it's not what what paul said and i've taught pastors this you know in the 21st century we can we can use our own humor we can use our own illustrations as long as the word of god is rightly divided and i've said to pastors be very careful that if the apostle paul were seated before you as he went through one of his epistles that he would not in agreement that you're saying exactly what god intended you to say be careful don't preach to the people speak before the lord and expect god to annoying the words if they're his and if they're not you're not to speak them and paul is simply saying to us be aware be aware of what takes place in your church be aware of the people there and get to know each other show honor to the ones who serve greet the people know them serve next to them because the lord's returning and you want to be prepared and you want to take as many people with you as you can when he does come because the voice is going to come the trumpet is going to come and and we're going to go and and the dead in christ shall rise first and then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up with the lord with them and forever be with the lord and for that we ought to be prepared right i mean that's something we ought to we ought to be ready for and and how am i going to be ready i'm ready through the preaching teaching and living of the word of god and and at the end he's simply saying you know what love one another know one another say fern the word of god with one another serve god together the lord is coming soon be prepared and that's the way i want to close it if you don't have assurance then you need to ask yourself why why don't i have assurance before the lord because if you spend time in the word of god you're going to have the blessed assurance that jesus is yours and that you'll have eternal life because it was given to you it's the ones who aren't in the word of god and doing the word of god that question the relationship with god stay close to the lord because he's even at the door the time's coming soon