Blessed Assurance [10-12-25]

October 12, 2025

Luke 12:1-12

“Blessed Assurance”

When roughing out the first part of Luke 12, I figured it would take one Sunday to cover these first twelve verses. Here we are, week two. We’re up to verse four and following. We’ll probably be ready to move on to verses thirteen through thirty-four on October 26^th. There is more here than met my initial eye. That, and today, we’re going to explore what I hope to be a fruitful sidetrack.

Here's where we ended last week: “Do not,” Jesus says, “do not fear those who kill the body.” Instead, Jesus says we are to rightfully fear the One who can cast us into hell. And who do you think that is? 

Who is the One who has authority to cast unbelievers into hell?

God. Yes, Jesus is telling us to fear God.

Let’s start with Luke 12:4-7:

“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and 

after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

There is a lot to unravel here in these short four verses.

Before getting down to specifics, here’s the umbrella question Jesus is asking:

WHAT IS TO BE FEARED MORE…BODILY DEATH OR ETERNAL DEATH?

As we affirmed last week:

“What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger…and if it does kill you, you will be with Jesus.”

Amen?

So, let’s get about the task, first of all, of talking about hell.

Point one, affirming a basic Biblical truth, hell is real. A simple internet search shows at least 33 Bible passages that talk about hell. Jesus talked about hell more than any other person in the Bible. While the ratio of talk about heaven and hell is about 3:1, Jesus nevertheless talked about hell dozens of times. Someone called hell the uncomfortable subject Jesus talked about with great frequency.

Which makes it incomprehensible how anyone who affirms Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness, grace, mercy, and heaven would reject the reality of hell. Yet some do. While that number is small, culturally, more people believe in the existence of heaven then the existence of hell. And, unironically, a majority of people who claim no specific Christian worldview, believe they will go to heaven when they die. Funny how that works.

Don’t get this wrong. Satan cannot send anyone to hell. Only God can. And we can overthink that observation. God doesn’t send anyone to hell. Unbelievers go there because it is the path they have chosen. God sends people to hell but He doesn’t send people to hell. God does everything He can to keep people out of hell. He sent His Only Begotten Son to die on the 

cross to keep you and me out of hell.

While our boxy, limited little brains will never fully understand the mechanics of it, all we need to do is accept the reality of hell because Jesus said so. Are you with me on that? Hell is real. And God will allow you to go there if you reject His free gift of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

Of course, God is loving and kind and merciful. Jesus says, in John 3, that “God so loved the world, He gave His only Son.” But God is also Holy and Righteous and Just. His love for us never overshadows those other attributes. These attributes exists together. In God’s Holiness, He cannot tolerate sin. In God’s righteousness, He is angry with the wicked and disobedient. In God’s justice, He must punish sin. If God failed to punish wrongdoing, He would be unjust. I hope that makes sense to you.

• Read Colossians 1

• Voddie Baucham Clip

Satan has neither the power nor the authority to send people to hell. As we 

look at the broader picture, hell is eternal separation from God. Satan can tempt. As Charles Spurgeon once observed, “Satan can make men dance 

upon the brink of hell as though they were on the verge of heaven.” Hell, the place of eternal separation from God, is, in a very real sense, a self-imposed exile. God doesn’t send anyone there. People choose that logical outcome of willful rejection of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Make no mistake. The reality of eternal damnation is frightening. We are right to fear it. We are right to share with unbelievers the plan for the only escape from eternal separation from God. God loves us so much that He sent His Son to provide payment for our sin. When Jesus died on the cross, he took our punishment upon himself. Jesus satisfied God’s righteous demand for justice. Because of his infinite, infinite worth, Jesus covered the debt we owed for our sin. All that remains is for us to confess our sin and place our faith in Christ’s death and resurrection. Salvation from eternal hell can be ours by grace, through faith.

Also, from Spurgeon:

“MORALITY MAY KEEP YOU OUT OF JAIL, BUT IT TAKES THE 

BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST TO KEEP YOU OUT OF HELL.”

So, yes, hell is real. It exists within the economy of God’s eternal attributes. It is the logical conclusion set up by God for willful rejection of His offer of free grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. Hell is by God’s design which someone freely chooses. Hence, Jesus’ warning in verse five.

I think we’re sometimes hesitant to speak of the bolder teachings of Jesus. Maybe it’s because we want people to like us. Maybe it’s because we’d rather be nice than honest. Maybe it’s because we’re not confident  defending the truth. Or it could be, to be honest, we’re frightened of the truth. Like a character said in an iconic movie scene, “You can’t handle the truth!”  But Jesus says unbelievers will be punished in hell. That’s the truth we’re talking about today.

Again, God has ordered the world in such a way that there is accountability. Here’s something you might want to write down:

Nobody gets away with anything.

Rejecting Jesus as Lord and Savior comes with consequences. Self-imposed consequences. Self-chosen consequences. God gives us both the warning and the way out.

Again, from John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

And then 1 John 4:7-11:

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

While the Bible is quite clear about the consequences of sin, it overflows with clarity about the way out. Grace and mercy flow in abundance from the cross. Our “hellish” journey through these first verses of Luke 12 have clarified and opened wide the gift of God’s love. You say, “Since hell is real, what is the way out?” Jesus makes that way out very clear. And John adds to it in 1 John 4:4:

“Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

What a wonderful affirmation that is. The good news is that the bad news is old news. Amen?

God knows everything. That’s why Jesus says we better fear God. Because God knows everything. But God also gives everything. He gave us the life of His son as our way out. God’s love is beyond measure. As John says, He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. God’s love is greater than sin and death. Why would anyone reject that? Why?

Let’s close with one last thought from Charles Spurgeon:

“If you can sin and not weep over it, you are an heir of Hell. If you can go into sin, and afterwards feel satisfied to have done so, you are on the road to destruction. If there are no prickings of conscience, no inward torments, no bleeding wounds; if you have no throbs and heavings of a bosom that cannot rest; if your soul never feels filled with wormwood and gall when you know you have done evil, you are no child of God.”

That is one of the most blunt, in-your-face statements I’ve yet to read from Spurgeon. But the stakes couldn’t be higher. It’s either eternal life in the presence of Jesus Christ…or eternal separation from God.

Make no mistake. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” If you have accepted the truth that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, you are wise beyond your years. If you already fear the Lord, He has your name written down in His book. So do not be afraid. God knows everything…and God knows you are His. Praise God that you know salvation in Christ. Praise God that He is gracious to you now and forever.

And together, the bold people of Covenant Church said:

SOLI DEO GLORIA…

To the Glory of God Alone