1689 London Baptist Confession (part 34)

Our Father in heaven, we come before you this morning thankful, thankful

that you are a God who saves sinners, who reaches down

to us as it were, transforms us, takes us, shapes us,

restores us, brings us to new life, grants us new hearts,

new thoughts, new desires.

And Lord, then you keep us.

You take up residence within us.

You warn us against sin.

You lead us into righteousness.

Father, you change us.

You conform us to the image of your Son.

And Lord, today as we look to your Word, we just pray that you would

grant us greater joy, greater understanding, and a

greater love for you and for what you have done and are doing.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Well, we've been talking about the London Baptist Confession of Faith for just a couple weeks.

Talking about the preservation or the perseverance of the saints,

what does that mean?

Well, in part it means that no matter how badly you sin, if you are saved,

you cannot sin so badly as to be unsaved.

So God preserves us.

We persevere.

We talked about the examples of Peter and Judas and

about how though they each sinned grievously, Peter denying

the Master even after Jesus told him, you're going to deny me three times before the cock crows.

And he goes on and does it.

But when he recognizes what he's done, he is grieved.

He repents.

I mean, we see his repentance by virtue of his life afterwards.

And then on the other hand, you have Judas Iscariot who betrays Jesus and is

so overwrought eventually by sorrow, by guilt, that

he commits suicide.

The difference between the two, of course, is that Judas Iscariot was never saved, never came

to saving knowledge of Christ, even though he was with Jesus for three and a half years.

So just as an aside, when people say, and I say this often, but just think about this for a

moment, Judas Iscariot was with Jesus for three and a half years.

And at the end of it, he betrayed him.

So when an atheist, so -called atheist, says to you, if God would just show himself

to me, I would believe him.

If I could just see God, I would believe him.

I think Judas Iscariot is probably the greatest argument against that.

Judas Iscariot saw the miracles.

He heard the words of Jesus Christ up close and personal.

He was sitting right across the campfire from him.

Or if Jesus was preaching, he's probably sitting in the front row.

You know, just kind of like, oh yeah, this is so good.

And at the end of three and a half years of living with Jesus, he betrays him.

Unbelievers don't believe because of the hardness of their heart, not because God hasn't revealed enough to them.

Okay, so we ended last week, we were talking

about how Jesus intercedes.

You know, we say, Pastor Mike's been talking a lot about having a mediator,

right?

We need a mediator.

We need an intercessor.

Well, what does it mean that Jesus is a mediator, that he's an intercessor on our behalf?

Who's he interceding with?

Okay, he intercedes with the Father.

Thanks for coming in, Corey.

Because otherwise it would have been absolute silence.

He's like my Ed McMahon.

For those of you old enough to know who Ed McMahon is.

Some of you are like, isn't he the guy who did the, like, Publishers Clearinghouse?

No, that's not Publishers Clearinghouse.

It was him, but that's not what he was known for.

Okay, interceding.

And we read last week, John 17, 11 to 12.

So, just so that you guys, I know that you probably stayed up last night reading it.

And I'll tell you what I love about this right now.

I print these notes at home.

You know why I do that?

Two reasons.

Number one is because I use better quality paper than we have here at the church.

That's number one.

Number two is, I can print in color without feeling guilty.

Because the color printer here, or the color copies cost a lot more.

And at home they are all the same.

So it doesn't matter.

And I underline this in 17, 11, 17 chapter, John 17, verses 11 and

12.

And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world.

Talking about the disciples.

And I am coming to you.

He's praying to the Father.

Here he is interceding.

Listen.

Holy Father, keep them in your name.

Hold on to them.

Keep them.

You know when you see something like, and we are going to see this later on in the sermon.

In your name.

In my name.

What does that mean?

Keep them in your name.

I feel like I should be doing charades.

Two words.

First word.

Okay.

Keep them in your name.

Any thoughts about that?

If I said, for example, the name of

God is akin to his word.

Or if I said the name of God is akin to...

If the son is praying to the father, keep them in your name.

Then he goes on to say, well, we'll get back to that in a second.

Which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me.

I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost, except the son of destruction, Judas.

That the scripture might be fulfilled.

Okay.

On your behalf, or I think we might even go so far as to say this.

How about this?

For your glory.

Right?

That you might be praised.

That your name might be praised.

And so when we see that, keep them in your name.

This is Jesus praying to the father.

And we think, okay, now we talk about a mediator.

We talk about an intercessor.

Here's Jesus pleading with the father.

Here they are.

Here are the ones that you gave me from before the foundation of the world.

I cared for them.

I'm leaving.

Now keep them.

Does that sound like something that is going to happen?

When the son asked the father to do something, does that sound like something that is going to happen?

I think the answer is yes.

R .C. said this.

We persevere only because God, in his grace and power, preserves us.

Right?

Persevere, preserve.

In and of ourselves, each one of us is capable of serious and radical...

I'm going to fire my secretary.

It was me.

Because I misspelled serious.

I don't know how you misspell serious.

Serious and radical falling.

Sinning.

We are capable of full and final falling if left to ourselves.

And what he's saying is, if it was up to us, we could apostatize.

We could leave the faith.

We could become unbelievers.

Go from believers to unbelievers.

He goes on to say, but God does not leave his people to their own devices.

The Lord intercedes for us constantly.

We have a mediator.

We have an intercessor, Jesus Christ, who is constantly praying for us with the

Father.

What?

Keep them in your name.

Constantly praying.

The son to the father.

Let's look at John 10, 27 -29.

John 10, 27 -29.

And would somebody read that please?

John 10, verses 27 -29.

Yes, go ahead, Mark.

Okay, just focusing there on the end.

I mean, obviously, again, another statement about the sovereignty of

God and salvation.

But look what he says at the end.

No one is able.

No one has the power.

No one has the capacity to snatch them out of the Father's hand.

No one can steal them.

No one can remove them.

Well, what does that mean?

Back up to verse 28.

I give them eternal life and they will never perish.

And no one will snatch them out of my hand.

The son says no one will take them out of my hand.

The son says no one will take them out of the Father's hand.

It sounds like, to go with the hymn writer, we're safe and

secure from all alarm.

We have the Father.

We have the Son protecting us, keeping us, guarding us.

Let's look at John 6, 39 -44.

And would somebody read that please?

John 6, 39 -44.

Thank you, Will.

Again, we see the sovereignty of God and salvation.

Jesus says no one can come.

No one has the same verb.

No one has the capacity.

No one has the power.

Just as nobody had the power to remove the elect, the sheep,

Christians out of the Father's hand or out of the Son's hand.

No one has the power to come to Christ unless the Father who

sent Jesus draws him.

And then notice what he says there.

And I will raise him up.

Who?

All those whom the Father has drawn.

No one can come except for who the Father draws.

And everyone that the Father draws, Jesus says he will raise up on the last day.

There are no lost sheep.

There are sheep who stray, but there are no lost sheep.

All that the Father draws, Jesus says he will raise on the last day.

Everyone, looking back even further in the passage there, Everyone who looks on the Son and believes

in him shall have eternal life.

And I will raise him up on the last day.

Same group.

Who is it who looks on the Son?

Those who are drawn.

Who believes in him?

Those who are drawn.

God goes first.

Men respond.

And they are kept.

Why?

By the power of God.

The power and the will of God.

The determination of God.

Thoughts or questions about that?

Anyone think they have the power to jump out of the Father's hand?

I see a hand right here.

Okay.

What about that?

Does Jesus draw all people to himself?

He says he will.

What does that mean?

Okay.

All the Trinity is involved in salvation.

The Father draws.

The Holy Spirit convicts.

And Jesus draws when he's lifted up, right?

What does it mean, though, when it says that he draws all men?

Or that he will draw all men to himself?

Does that mean that all men are going to be saved?

I think we have to decide what all men means.

Because if everybody's drawn to Jesus and then...

And that's...

Is it salvificly?

Are they all saved?

No.

Are all men drawn to him, but some

aren't drawn savingly?

I mean, true or false, some people really don't like Christianity.

Some people really don't like Jesus.

So what does he mean when he says all men will be drawn?

When I am lifted up, I will draw all men to myself.

I think when he talks about being lifted up, what is that usually referred to?

Crucifixion.

What are the authorized notes saying?

1232, MacArthur says, Lifted up from the earth, this refers to his crucifixion.

So are all men drawn by the crucifixion?

I think the answer is no.

So I would fall back to just my guess, my

uneducated, ill -informed guess, having not really studied that passage this morning.

I would say that it's all kinds of men.

Men from all different kinds of backgrounds and nationalities and everything else, like what we're going to see in heaven.

Men from all kindred, tribes and tongues, ultimately will be drawn.

But when God the Father draws somebody, he does it irrevocably.

And we saw that in John 6.

Why?

Because whom the Father draws, Jesus will raise up.

That drawing, there are different kinds of...

Let's put it this way.

Is there a general call and an effectual call?

Yes.

When was Billy Graham's funeral?

Was it Friday?

I'm going to try to restrain myself a little bit here.

Franklin Graham did preach the gospel at that

funeral.

He did.

I was listening, and he did.

And he spoke of sin, and he spoke of hell, and he spoke of

what Jesus did.

And he also mentioned the crucifixion, which you have to,

the resurrection, you have to get to the resurrection, you don't have a gospel.

And then he did something, and I thought, a little strange.

Did anybody see it or hear it?

He said, you know, if you've just heard this message, and you believe it, and you want to believe, you know, you want to be saved

from your sins, he goes, write where you are.

I want you to, you know, not audibly, just in your mind, and then he gives them the sinner's prayer.

And I thought, it's the first time I'd actually seen, I'd seen a

number of things at funerals, sadly, but I think it was the first time I'd actually seen somebody,

maybe it was the first time, in a sinner's prayer, a silent sinner's prayer at a funeral.

But here's my point.

When the gospel goes out, everybody who hears it,

theoretically, has the capacity to respond.

Okay?

That's a general call.

But the effectual call is, when God, the Holy Spirit,

convicts of sin, as Pastor Bob said, and people hear the gospel, and it's as if

they're hearing it for the first time, and at that moment, it is effectual to them.

It draws them, it convicts them, and the Word of God saves them, causes them to

be born again.

So, when we see Jesus say something like, I will draw all men to myself, I think it is,

you know, that effectual call, not the general

call, meaning all men, everywhere,

universally.

So, with that said, any other questions or comments?

Okay.

Lenten confession of faith.

The perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will,

but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free

and unchangeable love of God the Father, upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of

Jesus Christ, and union with Him, the oath of God,

the abiding of His Spirit, and the seed of God within them, and the nature of the covenants of

grace, from all which ariseth also the uncertainty, or, I'm sorry, the

certainty and infallibility thereof.

What does that mean?

I can put it this way.

Your salvation doesn't depend on the man who runs, or the man who wills, but on

God who has mercy.

That's Romans 9.

If, you know, if there's ever a difficult question in Scripture, just tell yourself Romans 9.

It doesn't depend on their own free will.

Are you thankful that your salvation doesn't depend on your own free will?

I am.

I'm very thankful for that.

Because there are times where my will is not as strong as it should be.

There are times where my choices are not what they ought to be.

There are times where my thinking is not good.

Why is that?

We still have remnants of our sin nature.

There still are what one theologian called a harmatological hangover.

The effects, the noetic effects of sin.

You know, if you look at the Bible, right from the beginning to the, nearly

to the end, if you read through the Old Testament, you read about a lot of men who

had great experiences with God.

Maybe they had a theophany like Isaiah, or

Moses.

But something all those men have in common is sin.

They all sinned.

They all stumbled.

And I know they're thankful that their perseverance did not depend upon their own free will.

I mean, imagine that.

You know, if you have the capacity to jump out of the hands of God, you would do it.

And, you know, people from time to time will say that they don't like the doctrine of election.

But the confession of faith says that it, our salvation

or our perseverance depends not upon our own free will, but upon the immutability, that is to say, the unchangeable

nature of the decree of election.

And then I love this flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father.

Is that how we think about election?

Well, that's true.

And that's what Ephesians one says, right?

Before the foundations of the world in love, he predestined us.

Election is not some cruel, arbitrary choice.

It is God for loving his people, setting his affections upon

them.

And once he does that, as the confession says, it's immutable, it's unchangeable, it's irrevocable.

It does not change.

And we should take a special comfort that our

perseverance is not dependent on our free will.

I mean, as I said, even after regeneration and sanctification,

we have enough sinful desire remaining to make a shipwreck of our souls.

When talking about the fact that people don't like election, the doctrine of election, the doctrine of

God's free choice, R .C. said this, he said, it is really based upon

this, the character of God.

The doctrine of God's immutability is not just an abstract concept from which

logical deductions can be made.

It is part of the revelation of the word of God, which tells us who God is and what he

is like.

We could put it this way, we could say, God is a God who chooses, who elects.

And we could say it this way, God is a God who loves.

We understand that God is love, right?

Well, what's the nature of his love?

Is it, I mean, we talked about this last week, is God's love emotional?

Is it something that ebbs and flows?

No, it's steady.

It's sure.

It has, even as R .C. says here, he has an eternal purpose in his

love.

And he is executing his eternal purpose, his plan of salvation for his people, for the elect.

R .C. says this, he says, having made that decree from all eternity, in other words, choosing people, he is

not going to change his mind.

He's not going to look at us and think, oh yes, from all eternity I chose you in my son,

in Christ, but now I realize I made a mistake and I'm going to unchoose you.

That's not God.

It's not what he does.

Our perseverance is also anchored in the free and unchangeable love of God the Father.

Sproul says he will not change his mind, his heart or his disposition because he is a loyal

covenant God.

God's love is firmly rooted in his character.

Let's look at 1

John 3 1 -3.

1 John 3 1 -3.

And if somebody would read that please.

1 John 3 1 -3.

Gary, thank you.

Now let's just kind of rework verse 1 a little bit, kind of putting ourselves in there.

See what kind of love we have for the Father, that we

should be called children of God and so we are.

Our love for the Father is what makes us the children of God.

It's like the kids in the orphanage who choose a set of

parents and that's how it goes.

That's not how it works at all, right?

The parents go to the orphanage and they choose the kids.

Now I'm sure they like to choose them all, but that's not how it works.

Sproul says this is a love that will not let us go because it is a love that is eternally

and unchangeably loyal.

It is loyal.

We are as children.

Imagine if we think about our own kids, for those of you who have

kids.

You don't, no matter what they do, you don't say well I don't love you anymore.

There might be difficulties, there might be great difficulties with your kids.

Let me tell you there might be great difficulties with your kids.

I mean I remember one scene in our household that I compared to Moses breaking the tablets, you

know, and I got to play Moses in

that scene.

Thank you very much.

There might be great difficulty, but you never stop loving your kids.

Why?

Because they're your kids.

How much more when God sets his affections on us does he then say you know what, that's just

too much.

I can't take that anymore.

No.

Why?

Because it's not on our merits in the first place.

It's because we are in Christ.

So the idea that God could somehow un -choose somebody or un -love somebody is

to say this, that God looks at us and is so revolted by what he sees that he's going to un -choose

us.

Here's the problem, when he looks at us what does he see?

Jesus Christ because we are in Christ.

So he's never going to look at us and say that revolts me because he's not going to turn away from the Lord Jesus

Christ.

Jesus is perfect and righteous and holy and we're wrapped in his robes.

It's in him that we are the children of God.

If it was based on our own merits, then sure, eventually, you know, no matter how good we were, let's say

for the first, you know, 18 -20 years of my life I was perfect, which, no.

You know, and then what?

At like age 25, God would go, well, you know, you're doing really well here Steve and I can really

attach myself to you emotionally and everything, but now I can't because you've gone too far.

We would have no sense of security whatsoever, but that's not the God of the Bible.

He doesn't pick us on our own merit.

He picks us on the merit of Christ and for his own glory.

Yeah, I really like that for another reason to, you know, what Charlie was saying about

God can't be shocked.

Everything that happens is in his decree and, you know, it doesn't surprise me or anything.

Well, again, the difference between us and God becomes apparent

because as a parent, where there are times where my kids might do something that shocked me.

Yeah, you know, I, you know, I, did I ever think they would do that?

Well, no, and I don't have an immutable decree from

the foundations of the world either.

Right?

So, yeah, that's an excellent point.

God is never taken aback by what we do.

He's never shocked at what we do.

Uh, you know, certainly we could see that the Holy Spirit can be grieved by what we do,

but these are not things that catch him by surprise.

to do.

Okay.

God's love is firmly rooted in his promises.

And I'm going to say that again.

His love is rooted in his promises.

Let's look at Romans 8, 35 to 39 familiar passage.

And I've highlighted just a few things because I can put them in red, you know, when I, when I print them at home and I

like that Romans eight

versus 35 to 39.

And if somebody would read that, please.

Romans 8, 35 to 39.

Yeah, go ahead, Corey.

Amen.

I mean, comforting words indeed.

And there are just a couple of things I want to highlight because Paul goes on at great length and talk about how

nothing can separate us from the love of God.

And look how he says this, who shall separate us from the love of Christ

in verse 37.

We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

And again, in verse 39, no one will be able to separate us from the love of God

in Christ.

Jesus, our Lord, the love of God is fixed.

Nothing can change that.

Again, if we look at Ephesians one, he did, he said it upon us before the foundations of the world that does not

change throughout all time.

That's comforting.

Nobody loves me.

I mean, Facebook reads something like this.

Most of the time to me, nobody loves me.

Nobody cares about me.

Nobody who is loved by God should ever post that.

I might say, you know, something like when life gets difficult, I focus on this one fact,

the God who created the universe loves me.

The God who created the universe set his affections upon me, humbled himself, came down

to earth, lived a perfect life, died the death that I deserve, and then was raised on the third

day.

That comforts me.

I can never be separated from the love of that God ever.

Nothing can never do that.

I don't read many Facebook posts like that.

I'd like to.

Sproul says this.

The Bible nowhere uses the expression unconditional love.

There are preachers who announce indiscriminately to people.

God loves you unconditionally.

Is that true?

Here's a hint.

If the Bible never says something, it's probably not true

because of God loves everybody on the planet unconditionally.

What does that mean?

Everybody's going to heaven when we all get to heaven.

I mean, we should just walk around and all link arms and we're going.

Does he love anyone unconditionally?

His son, Gary.

Okay.

How can you say that?

Gary, how can you say that?

Those he's called, how can you say that?

Because no one can pluck them out of hand.

Here, let's just combine these two thoughts.

If he loves Jesus Christ unconditionally, right?

Then doesn't he love everyone who is in Christ unconditionally?

And you know what?

If there were conditions for us being in Christ and then God loving us, well, then what would those conditions

be?

How would we meet those?

There'd be works.

They would be things that, you know, Jesus Christ, his perfection, his death, his

resurrection.

That's not enough.

There's something else you have to do.

Otherwise, I don't love you.

God says, no, we're in scripture.

Jesus did it all.

Being in Christ is everything.

I like what Sproul says here.

He says, the last thing an unbeliever needs to hear is that he does not need to meet any conditions to

be right with God.

Why would that be the last thing an unbeliever needs to hear?

Why won't you hear pastor Mike or any of the elders here get up on the pulpit and say, God loves you unconditionally.

Charlie, Charlie,

they have to feel the weight of the law before they have the deliverance of grace.

They have to understand their sinfulness, their need for Christ before they get the good news, the bad news

before the good news.

Sproul says, when God saves us, he saves us no matter what, no matter how much I let him down or how

much I fail to persevere on my own.

He has given me a love that will not let me go.

God's love for the elect is firmly rooted in his love for his son.

Sproul says this.

I don't know why anyone who looks to Christ and understands what he has done for him would ever worry about losing

his or her salvation.

The only way we could lose our salvation would be if our savior got lost somewhere, or if he mislaid

his righteousness or if he stopped loving us, or if he decided to sleep in tomorrow morning rather than to pray

for us.

But those things will never happen.

They are totally foreign to the character of Christ.

Our salvation is sure because we have a sure mediator.

It's his perfection, his righteousness, his work.

This is all his chosen ones need because the love of the father for the son is perfect.

And every saved person is in the sun.

Let's go ahead and look at it.

I've referred to it a number of times.

Let's look at Ephesians one.

And I put these, I highlighted some things in blue this time because I don't want to, you know, burn out all my

red ink.

Ephesians one verses three to seven.

Again, this is familiar.

I'm going to go ahead and read these, but it's familiar, but just listen to how

Paul emphasizes this truth.

Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in

Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose

us in him, that is to say in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should

be holy and blameless before him in love.

He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ,

according to the purpose of his will to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has

blessed us in the beloved, that is to say in Christ.

And then again, in verse seven, in him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness

of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.

We can go on in chapter one, but it's a, it's enough to say this, that our

position in Christ is all we need.

That is enough for us to, I'll just say it

this way.

Our merit is in Christ.

Our salvation is in Christ.

Everything that we have and hope for is in Christ.

And our salvation is secure because of Jesus Christ.

Our perseverance is also a work of the Holy spirit.

R .C. Sproul says this.

We do believe that for all who are truly saved and are regenerate, there is an indelible

mark of the seal of the Holy spirit by which we are sealed for eternity.

And as I read that and I thought about it, and that's also an Ephesians one, by the way, I don't know if I, I didn't,

I didn't use any fancy ink for that.

I, I, I think maybe is it a verse 14?

Is it 14?

I heard a 14.

13.

Okay.

We have the, we have the seal of the Holy spirit.

And I thought here, let me ask you this.

Who supposes that any human being can remove

the seal of the spirit.

If we understand, you know, the seal in ancient days, a monarch, when he was going

to stamp an official document or may, when he was going to close a letter and they would take some wax and they

would, you know, how could you tell it was from the King because it had his Royal seal on there.

And that's the idea.

We have that Royal seal, the seal of the Holy spirit upon us.

Now, who do you suppose can remove that?

Really?

Do you think you could just kind of pry it off of yourself where, wherever it is, or

that someone else can remove it?

RC says this, he says to overcome our weaknesses.

God not only gives us his word about our future, but backs that word up by giving us the

earnest of the Holy spirit.

The Holy spirit is present in us and is given to us by the father in his promise to

finish the work of redemption.

And he did this whole thing about, you know, earnest money.

What is earnest money?

Anybody know what earnest money is?

Larry down payment.

It's a, it's a, but it's even more than a, a down payment because it kind of gives you

the idea that I'm serious about this.

I mean, sometimes I remember on one occasion, at least that I put a down payment on something and then got my money back.

But earnest money usually is yes, a down payment, but also with the

idea that maybe you don't even get it back.

But when he's talking about the earnest of the spirit, he just means this is our, this is God's

promise upon us that we are

irrevocably his.

Okay.

Good question.

It's interesting that you raise the word dispensation.

The, the question is, what about the old Testament saints?

Did they have the same operation of the Holy spirit as we had?

Well, let me ask you a question.

Having thought about this and studied it a little bit,

how do you suppose it is that someone like Samson gets to be in

heaven?

Because we read in judges 13 to 16, that the Holy spirit rushed upon Samson,

right?

But there's nothing in his life that indicates he

loved God.

I mean, you could read the whole thing, four chapters.

It didn't take that long.

And you will see sin after sin, after sin, after sin, after sin, after sin, after sin, nothing but

pride, arrogance, and sin in his whole life, lots of lust, but nothing

redeeming.

So what is it about Samson's life?

That would suggest that he was indwelt by the Holy spirit,

that the Holy spirit was at work in him, convicting him of sin and everything else.

What about his life?

And I think the answer, I mean, I listened to a reform preacher one time say that Samson was

backslidden.

And I looked at him and I thought, okay, I thought you were reformed, you know, what's all,

because there's nothing in his life ever until,

in fact, let's just, well, maybe close here, but, um, this idea, the Holy spirit,

it, let me ask you this.

If the Holy spirit worked in a different way in the old Testament, then how would

anybody grow with regard to righteousness?

I think there is a difference in the, uh, in the new Testament.

We don't really have time to develop that.

Uh, there's a, the main difference would be Pentecost.

But if you look at judges chapter 16,

and I'm going to start reading

verse 25, because Samson is at this point in prison and he's tied up and,

uh, the Philistines have him and they're celebrating in front of Dagon, their fish God.

And, and verse 25, they're having this great big party because they've, they've got their number one enemy.

And there he is, there's Samson and he's miserable and they're happy.

Verse 25.

And when their hearts were married, they said, call Samson that he may entertain us.

So they called Samson out of the prison and he entertained them.

They made him stand between the pillars.

And Samson said to the young man who held him by the hand, let me feel the pillars on which the house rests that I

may lean against them.

Now the house was full of men and women.

All the Lords of the Philistines were there.

And on the roof, there were about 3000 men and women who looked on while Samson entertained.

Then Samson called the Lord called Yahweh and said, Oh Lord God,

please remember me and strengthen me only this once.

Oh God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.

And may I tell you, I would challenge you go home and read judges 13 to 16.

And you will see that this is the only time that there's any humility

at all in Samson.

I think this is the moment when he gets saved and Samson grasped

the two middle pillars on which the house rested.

And he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left on the other.

And Samson said, let me die with the Philistines.

Then he bowed with all his strength and the house fell upon the Lords and upon

all the people who were in it.

So the dead, whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed during his life.

Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah

and Eshtal in the tomb of Manoah, his father.

He had judged Israel 20 years.

And here's the point again, nothing redeemable about

Samson, nothing good about Samson.

And yet he is in when, and eventually pastor Michael get here, he is in Hebrews 11 in the

hall of faith celebrated.

Why?

It's not because he lived a godly life.

It's because God is a great savior who does great things.

Through fallible, sinful men and women, even men

as sinful as Samson.

Now, did the Holy spirit work the same in the old Testament as he does now?

I mean, there's more to say about that than can be said in less than about three hours.

I, my, my short answer is I think they're a very similar operations,

if not the same.

So with that said, we need to close father.

Thank you for your word.

Thank you for the preservation of the saints.

What a glorious truth.

This is to know that you cannot turn away from us.

You cannot love us less and you cannot love us more.

You love us fully, not because of who we are, but because of who

Jesus is.

And because you have placed us in Jesus, or we thank you for the Holy

spirit and for his seal.

For the work of the Trinity, father, son, and Holy spirit in the

lives of believers.

What glorious truths these are and all again for your glory.

You do these things.

You make these promises.

You tell us these things, not so that we can feel good, but so that we can worship

fully and freely.

Our great God and savior father.

We praise you for this in Jesus name.

Amen.