All Things Together For Good: Chap. 7 Pt. 3

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All Things Together For Good: Chap. 7 Pt. 4

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Alrighty, so we're in chapter 7 and that's on effectual calling.

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So we've talked about a number of things last week. We were talking about, started off talking about the method

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God uses in calling sinners. The means is by the Word and by the

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Spirit. They talked about the variety of methods. Sometimes it's tougher, sometimes it's more gentle.

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We kind of grow up in a Christian household and we're just always exposed to the Word. And so the

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Lord uses different ways to reach different people. And then we were talking about the properties of the effectual calling and we didn't quite finish.

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We mentioned how it was a sweet call, how it was a holy call, an irresistible call, a high calling, a gracious call, a glorious call, and a rare call.

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And we have one more left to talk about and then we'll move on through the chapter.

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So this was the last paragraph from last time. Number 8. This call is an unchangeable call.

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God's gracious gifts and calling are irrevocable. That is, as a learned writer says, those gifts which flow from election.

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When God calls a man, he does not repent of it. God does not, as many friends do, love one day and hate another.

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Or as princes who make their subjects favorites and afterwards throw them into prison. This is the blessedness of a saint.

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His condition admits of no alteration. God's call is founded upon his decree and his decree is immutable.

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Acts of grace cannot be reversed. God blots out his people's sins but not their names.

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Let the world ring changes every hour. A believer's condition is unchangeable and unalterable.

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Amen and praise God. Alright. I don't want to skip ahead yet.

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So what do we understand about this? What is he referring to here?

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He's actually kind of referred to two of our favorite doctrines in the effectual calling, right?

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He's talked about irresistible calling, right? And we see this effectual calling has to do with the irresistible grace.

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And now what is he talking about here? This unchangeable call, right?

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Perseverance of the Saints, or as R .C. liked to call it, the preservation of the Saints. And the preservation makes it more clear that it's

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God who is working. The call being unchangeable. This is of God.

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God is calling us to himself. He knows who we are. He knows what we're going to do. It's not as if he calls us and then, oh,

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I had no idea that they were going to do that. Nope. They're right back out of the kingdom. No.

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So we are grateful for this property of the effectual call. We discussed beforehand the man's condition.

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Deplorable. Sticks out of my mind. Man's condition apart from Christ, apart from that effectual call, is a pretty sad state.

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We are in our sins and not desiring God. We never would have called on God if he wouldn't have called on us.

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We did not have the power to go to him and we would not have the power to cling to him.

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It's only because he gives us the power. He guards us through faith.

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As we've discussed, you know, going through 1 Peter, we are the guarded heirs, right? The inheritance is kept for us and we are kept for the inheritance.

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And so that's everything that he's saying here regarding the unchangeable call. Does anyone have any questions about this?

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Again, for most of us, this is probably very familiar territory. But any questions or comments about it before we move on?

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No? Okay. So the end of our effectual calling is the honor of God.

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That we should be to the praise of his glory. He who is in the state of nature is no more fit to honor

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God than a brute beast can put forth acts of reason. A man before conversion continually reflects dishonor upon God.

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As black vapors which arise out of moorish grounds, cloud and dark in the sun, so out of the natural man's heart arise black vapors of sin which cast a cloud upon God's glory.

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The sinner is versed in treason but understands nothing of loyalty to the king of heaven.

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But there are some whom the lot of free grace falls upon and these shall be taken as jewels from among the rubbish and be effectually called.

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They may lift up God's name in the world. The Lord will have some in all ages who shall oppose the corruptions of the times, bear witness to his truths, and convert sinners from the error of their ways.

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He will have his worthies as King David had. Those who had been monuments of God's mercy will be trumpets of his praise.

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These considerations show us the necessity of effectual calling. Without it there is no going to heaven.

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We must be made fit for the inheritance. As God makes heaven fit for us so he makes us fit for heaven.

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And what gives this fitness but effectual calling? A man remaining in the filth and rubbish of nature is no more fit for heaven than a dead man is to inherit an estate.

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The high calling is not in a thing arbitrary or indifferent but as needful as salvation.

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Yet alas how this one thing needful neglected. Most men, like the people of Israel, wander up and down to gather straw but do not mind the evidences of their calling.

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I wonder how far

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I should go here before we ask some questions. We'll read a little further.

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Take notice what a mighty power God puts forth in calling of sinners. God does so call as to draw.

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Conversion is styled the resurrection. Blessed is he who has a part in the first resurrection that is arising from sin to grace.

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A man can no more convert himself than a dead man can raise himself.

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It is called the creation. To create is above the power of nature. Okay. All right.

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That's a lot. Okay. So the end of our effectual calling.

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What is the end of our effectual calling? Lobbing softballs.

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It's an open book test, folks. Right up there. What's the chief end of man?

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I'll Right. Exactly right. Right. That's our our catechism question.

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One or two depending on which one you're reading. The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

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I think we would do well to remember the purpose we've been called for. It was man who destroyed paradise and yet God is bringing redemption.

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We are the beauty from the ashes. And he's talking about basically like the swamps, right? Black vapors out of moorish grounds.

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Cloud and dark in the sun. You know, sometimes you see an old movie or something like that. It's like the whole place looks like it's just a swampy, dark, destitute place.

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You know, there's nothing good that's gonna happen there. And yet when we when we fell in Adam, we put a pall over all of creation.

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Now all of creation is groaning. Now there's death and destruction in the world. All from man's sin.

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So we're not honoring glorifying God. We're running around. All our thoughts are evil continually to the point of if we're left to ourselves, if God decided not to save us, what would he do?

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What did he do in Genesis? What did he do with the exception of no one his family?

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What did he do with mankind? Utter destruction, right?

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There's coffee. You guys are tracking with me, right? You guys know these stories

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I'm talking about here. So that's us. Those who are not called don't honor and glorify

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God. He'll be glorified in them. He'll be glorified through his justice being accomplished when he repays each one according to their deeds.

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But for those who are called, who have this free grace, we really are. There's beauty from the ashes.

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God is, he's creating a new thing. There's a new creation.

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That's where we talk about the deconstruction language, the destruction of the heavens and the earth, and a new heavens and a new earth.

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This is what God is doing and he's doing it through his people. He's doing it through his church. And he will always have, he'll always have at least the remnant, but as we spoke about last time, when you think about Ezekiel and that that river that starts off as a trickle and then you can't even cross it by swimming,

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God is accomplishing his purposes. He's gonna have his worthies as King David had.

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Think of David and his mighty men, the people who were called to him. And yet, who remembers how the people are described who gather around David before he has his kingdom?

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You know the kind of people that were called, that were coming around to him? It was similar to in the

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New Testament. Not many wise, not many, you know, they were outcasts. They were the losers.

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Right, that's pretty much, yeah. That's the message way of putting it.

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But we can paraphrase it that way, yes. You know, they were the losers. They were the outcasts.

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They were the ones in debt. They were broke. They were just, they're on the fringe and they're gathering around David while he's on the run from Saul.

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I'm like, what a bunch of losers. And then I was like, oh wait, that's us. That's a picture of us being drawn to the true

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King who's going to have his rule and he'll be exalted.

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And so was David. David came into the kingdom and was the greatest king, right? And then we hear about afterwards, about the mighty men.

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You know, you hear about the thirty and the three and all these, you know. God made them that way and God is making us into his mighty, you know, we're ruling and reigning with Christ.

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And so this is the end of our effectual calling, is that we would honor God. And so this is the necessity of it, right?

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Who we are before Christ, we need the calling. We won't come to him.

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There's no going to heaven without it. So he's talking about making us fit for calling. He's recognizing that the calling comes.

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I mean, this is, these are core foundational doctrines that we believe, you know. There must be regeneration, you know, before you'll see conversion.

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Some people think, well, once they pray the prayer, then God regenerates them. No, he says they must be effectually called.

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The Spirit has to do the work. Any questions or comments about that? Again, I know it's, you know, this is pretty common, pretty familiar territory for us, but it's good to be reminded, you know, how needful this is.

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Especially for the church today to understand the need for the effectual calling. So many people are trying to do the outward call and trying to force, you know, they'll just pray the prayer.

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They'll just walk the aisle, you know, then we can get them in the seats, you know, and that's it, you know, but they're gathering straw and they're not actually accomplishing anything.

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So we need to recognize the need for the effectual calling and the evidences of the effectual calling.

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So this is a resurrection. Okay, now he says there's an objection, but, say some, the will is not dead but asleep, and God, by a moral persuasion, does only awaken us, and then the will can obey

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God's call and move of itself to its own conversion. Mm -hmm.

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I think you're late in flowers. He's been around for a long time. No, this is a common, this has been a common objection, and here's the answer.

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To this I answer, every man is by sin bound in fetters.

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I perceive that you are in the bond of iniquity. A man that is in fetters, if you use arguments and persuade him to go, is that sufficient?

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There must be a breaking of his fetters and setting him free before he can walk. So it is with every natural man, he is fettered with corruption.

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Now the Lord, by converting grace, must file off his fetters, nay, give him legs to run to, or he can never obtain salvation.

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You know, fetters, talking about chains, right? We don't use fetters anymore, do we?

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We don't use the word as much, but he's in bondage. When Scripture talks about the man outside of Christ, he uses words like bondage, he uses word like dead, this is, you know, you can argue, you can try to persuade a guy who's in chains, get up and go, walk in newness of life, but they're still chained, you know, they're chained to their sin nature, they're chained to their rebellion against God.

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God has to release those bonds from him. We're no longer slaves to sin. That's what the Scriptures tells us, right?

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We're told in Romans, you know, consider yourselves dead to sin. We are dead to sin.

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Why do we have to consider ourselves? Because we forget. We act like we're still there, we don't have a choice, like, oh, you know, the devil made me do it.

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I was at the high point of my career, and, oh, sorry, is that too soon? You guys know what

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I'm talking about, right? Anyway, we'll talk later.

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You guys are killing me. Right, so we're in bondage.

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The will is dead, not just asleep. We don't need a little provenient grace, we don't need a little push.

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We need to be resurrected. We don't need the, you know, they talk about throwing the life preserver into the water to help to save you.

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You're drowning. Oh, I need a hand, and they just need to throw out that flotation device, and then you'll be free.

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No, you're at the bottom of the sea, dead. You have to be brought up, and you have to have new life put in you, and that's what

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God does through effectual calling. Use, the use of it.

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An exhortation to make your calling sure. Give diligence to make your calling sure.

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This is the great business of our lives, to get sound evidences of our effectual calling.

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Do not acquiesce in outward privileges. Do not cry as the Jews, the temple of the Lord. Do not rest in baptism.

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What is it to have the water and lack the spirit? Do not be content that Christ has been preached to you.

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Do not satisfy yourselves with an empty profession. All this may be, and yet you are no better than empty professors.

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But labor to evidence to your souls that you are called of God. Give diligence to make your calling sure.

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It is both feasible and probable. God is not lacking to those that seek

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Him. Let not this great business hang in hand any longer. If there were a controversy about your land, you would use all means to clear your title.

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And is salvation nothing? Will you not clear your title here? Consider how sad your case is if you are not effectually called.

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Hmm. Yes, please. Like I said, very simple.

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But even if you're doing it to verify within your own heart, where you stand with God, by doing so, however, you're laying that out, however that spells out in your life, you're going to be blessed even more.

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You know, so it's more than a reassurance, even though you might be doing it for that reason.

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In doing so, you become blessed. Amen. I agree.

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Any other questions or comments about this before we go a little further about how sad your case is if you're not effectually called?

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What is he saying here? You know, Jerry brought up a good, excellent point that to do this, to give diligence, to make sure you're calling.

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You know, I think he's using the King James or something similar. There in 2nd

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Peter, the ESV says, therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, right? So it's the same thing.

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Why is it feasible and probable? Why is it feasible and probable?

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It says give diligence to make your calling sure it is both feasible and probable. Well, the feasible aspect of it is by God changing your heart is going to be an outflow from that heart.

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So it's definitely feasible and it's probable because if you are saved or if your heart hasn't been changed, there's obviously not going to be any.

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But if it has, it's going to come out of the abundance of that salvation.

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I think somebody who asks the question, am I truly saved?

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Am I bearing fruit? That's a good sign that the spirit is indeed working in this heart.

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So, you know, to be examining yourself is necessary in a sense to continue bearing fruit.

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Yeah, so we have Peter says be diligent to make your calling sure. Does anyone else say anything like that in the

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New Testament? Work out your salvation with Peter traveling for his

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God who is at work with you, or to go into work for his good pleasure. That's Paul.

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Yeah? What chapter and verse? I know he knows.

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He's probably better than me on knowing the addresses. I'm like the writer in Hebrews. It's somewhere in Scripture.

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The Scripture says, I know what it says. If it's good enough for the author of Hebrews.

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Right, so you have that. You have Corinthians, his letter, the second letter to the Corinthians.

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Examine yourselves to see if you're in the faith, right? So we have these exhortations to people who are professing to be believers, right?

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I mean, they're reading Paul's letter. They're reading Peter's letter. They're having it read to them. So they're already under the means of grace of being under the preaching of the word.

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But they both give these similar exhortations. Why? I mean, we'll look at what

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Watson is saying. I'll make one comment to that. Let's, let's say you're in a situation where you're really down, right?

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Things just aren't going the way you think they should go. And you're struggling and all of a sudden that doubt starts creeping in.

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It's just like that. Like the old song says, count your blessings, right?

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Count them one by one. You know, once you start doing that, then examining, you know, what your life has been, what sin maybe you allowed yourself to fall into, or what have you.

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I think that that not only reassures you of the faith that you have, or shows you don't have, but it also, again, that extra blessing that you received by that recognition and giving glory to God for what he has done in your life.

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And the sanctification that's been occurring, that sometimes it might be small, it might be almost imperceptible.

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But over time, you're like, oh, wow, I remember I would have handled this situation entirely different, you know, a year ago or two years ago or five years ago.

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That can be an encouragement to us, you know, especially if we're feeling that doubt. Like, am I a believer?

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I blew it here, you know. But you start recognizing, well, what is my heart's desire? You know, I'm struggling with this, but I know

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God has been working on me. And so that can encourage me that he does, he has effectually called me, he has saved me.

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I need to continue, you know, moving forward, forgetting what lies behind, and looking to God to continue to give me the grace to obey him day by day.

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So, yeah, there's encouragement in that. You know, we do want to examine ourselves. We have to be careful, you know, the temple of the

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Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord. And yet God had no pleasure in them. You know, you think of Simon, the magician, right, who saw, you know, he was a great man and did great things.

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And then he, he believed and he confessed Christ. And he saw, like, you could just give up, you could just put your hands on someone and they're filled with the

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Spirit and they're speaking in tongues and all this. I'll pay you. I'll pay for that. And that's, you know, we had that verse before where he points out, like, you're in the bonds of iniquity there.

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You're in the gall of bitterness. May your money perish with you. Time to examine yourself and make sure that you just didn't believe once.

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You know, we have the parable of the sower. You know, you want to make sure that that's not your situation.

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This is why it's important, though, because if we have just given an empty profession, I mean, how many people are under the mistaken belief that they're actually right with God because they pray to prayer?

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You know, because there was some event and they went down, they raised their hand or they walked an aisle and someone told them,

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OK, you're a Christian now and they haven't darkened the door of a church since that day. There's been no change in their life whatsoever.

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He says it's no good to have the water if you don't have Christ, if you don't have the

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Spirit. And so we need to examine ourselves to make sure that we're not in one of those situations.

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But it's beneficial to us because you can't go wrong examining yourself.

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You know, if you're examining yourself according to the standard of Scripture, you're either going to find out I need to repent of my sins.

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I need to confess Christ. And they'll just be proof that you have been effectually called perhaps later in your life than you thought you were.

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Or it could be a situation where you're effectually called, you're saved, but you have sin in your life that needs to be dealt with.

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You know, it's why we we fence the table every Sunday when we take the Lord's Supper. Take stock.

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You know, we don't want to be eating and drinking judgment to ourselves. But when we give diligence to make our calling sure it's feasible because we have the standard of Scripture to see how easy is it to look and see.

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You know, we're told to be able to judge a tree by its fruits so we can examine ourselves and see if we're actually bearing fruit or not.

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And it's probable because, as you said, if you're not doing that, you're probably not saved at all.

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There's probably nothing going on if you're not, you know, we ask the question, do hypocrites care if they're hypocrites?

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The true hypocrite, you know, we can all be hypocritical at times. We can all act in a way that's inconsistent with what we know to be true.

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But does the true hypocrite who just professes to be one thing but knows that's not who they are, you know, do they care?

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Do they worry about that? Or they just, whatever. Questions or comments about that?

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That makes sense. It's feasible. It's probable. There are many false professors of the faith, but that's, it's not to their benefit.

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It's actually just further condemnation. You know, what did Jesus say to the

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Pharisees, to the lawyers? Are we blind too? Well, because you say you see, then your sin remains.

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If you were blind, it would be forgiven you. But you know, right? So labor to evidence to make sure that your souls, that you're called, right?

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There was one more thing I wanted to mention. Oh, yeah. If there's a controversy about your land, oh, it would have been great to be in a period in time.

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Everyone had land that this analogy would work for everyone. If someone said that your land wasn't yours, that boundary, you know, you would do everything in your power to say, no, no, no, this, this is mine.

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This is my property. This is my inheritance for my children. This is my, this is mine.

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You know, we have, if you have to have to go and get a mortgage today, you know, you got to get that title insurance.

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You know, someone's got to go and dig through the paperwork to see, does anyone have a claim on this land?

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It's important. It's vital. You don't want to, you don't want to be getting yourself into a mortgage, you know, thousands and thousands of dollars and someone else comes up.

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Sorry, that land is all mine. You know, now you're paying rent to me or, you know, get out.

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Right. But how much more important is our salvation? Don't we want to make sure that the land that we're claiming, the

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Sabbath rests, you know, the inheritance. This is all the Old Testament was that they would have their inheritance.

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They would have their plot of land and there was there was undeniable, indisputable proof of it. And yet that was a type of the

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Sabbath rest that we have, the inheritance that we have. Don't we want to make sure that we have this inheritance that we think we want to make sure that we're we're clearing that case.

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There's no questions. Right. Because how sad it is, the sad reality, if we're not effectually called, says if you're not effectually called, you are strangers to God.

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The prodigal went into a far country, which implies that every sinner before conversion is far off from God.

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At the time you were without Christ strangers to the covenants of promise. Men dying in their sins have no more right to promises than strangers have to the privilege of freeborn citizens.

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If you are strangers, what language can you expect from God? But this I know you not.

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If you are not effectually called, you are enemies to God, alienated enemies.

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There is nothing in the Bible you can lay claim you can lay claim to. But the threatenings you are heirs to all the plagues written in the book of God.

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Though you may resist the commands of the law, you cannot flee from the curses of the law, such as our enemies to God.

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Let them read their doom. Bring here these enemies of mine who did not want me to rule over them and slaughter them in my presence.

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Oh, how it should concern you, therefore, to make your calling sure how miserable and damnable will your condition be if death calls you before the spirit calls you.

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Not mincing words here. Very blunt, very straightforward. We don't want that to be our situation.

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And so, this is a sad reality. Strangers, enemies.

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One second. Any comments on that? Any questions? You can resist the commands of the law, but you cannot flee the curses of the law.

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You know, think about how God's law applies. How desperately we need justice in our world today, in our own nation.

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And, you know, how corrupt is our system to, you know, let guilty people have very light sentences.

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And people who are not committing crimes according to God's standard are locked up. We've got everything mishmashed.

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It's all a mess. And yet, I think of people like, God's law, that was just for Israel.

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We'll tell that to the inhabitants of Canaan. Because they didn't have a relationship with God, and yet His law was a standard by which they were judged, and which

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He wiped them all out. The case remains, you know. Christ is the personification of the law.

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He held it perfectly, so He is the standard. But He obeyed God's law perfectly. And so, you say, they're judged by the law.

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You know, at times He says, well, Moses will stand up and condemn you. The men of Nineveh will stand up and condemn you, right?

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But you'll be condemned because you fall short of the standard of Christ. But the standard is perfect there.

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So, we want to make sure that we're not strangers. We want to make sure that we're not enemies.

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And this should also move us to care for those that we love.

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And we should be, you know, caring for our fellow citizens, and sharing the gospel with them.

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Recognizing there's no neutrality. It's not like, well, maybe they're in another religion, and God will find that acceptable.

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Because at least they believe in something. You ever hear that? You ever had a friend, like, had a sort of a family?

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I think they were a family by marriage at one point. But like, oh, you know, I tell my child, it doesn't matter what you believe, as long as you believe in something.

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What in the world kind of convoluted nonsense is that? But, blind question.

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But is there any hope of me being effectually called? I have been a great sinner. Answer. Great sinners have been called.

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Paul was a violent persecutor, yet he was called. Some of the Jews who had a hand in crucifying

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Christ were called. God loves to display his free grace to sinners. Therefore, be not discouraged.

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You see a golden cord let down from heaven for poor, trembling souls to lay upon. Lay hold upon.

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Simple question and answer. But, I mean, that's something that we can encourage people. When people talk about, oh, I can never go to church.

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You don't know, you know. Burst into flames when I got there. Everyone who comes in the church is a sinner.

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You think we walk in perfect? No. We're all in need of forgiveness. You know, people, we compare ourselves to each other.

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Oh, I'm so much worse than him or I'm so much better than him. The reality is,

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Paul, Paul was a murderer. And he went chasing the bride of Christ, putting them in jail, trying to get them to blaspheme.

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If he can be forgiven and used by God, who's saying that they're worse sinner than Paul?

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So, there's encouragement to be found there. You can still be affectionately called, even if you were a great sinner.

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But how shall I know I'm affectionately called? He who is savingly called is called out of himself.

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Not only out of sinful self, but out of righteous self. Not having my own righteousness.

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He whose heart God has touched by his spirit lays down the idol of self -righteousness at Christ's feet for him to tread upon.

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The true Christian denies not only sinful self, but righteous self. He becomes moral and pious, but he does not trust to his morality or piety.

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Noah's dove made use of her wings to fly, but trusted to the ark for safety. This is to be affectionately called when a man is called out of himself.

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Self -renunciation is the first step to saving faith. That's an interesting point.

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And I think, you know, I think that's one of those things, too, where, you know, him being a

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Puritan, and he's probably surrounded, you know, by a culture that was not as twisted as ours has gotten to be.

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And yet, how many people, you know, who are outwardly moral, because it wouldn't just, it wouldn't be socially acceptable to be immoral, right?

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So people's, their sin nature is curbed somewhat by the presence of all these believers. But they're not saved.

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But do they think they're a good person? Do they think they're right before God? Because, hey, I'm, you know, that guy over there,

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I'd say I'm about as good as him, you know. When we compare ourselves to ourselves, and that's easy, right?

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Because there's always going to be faults that we can say, oh, see, I'm not that bad. So this is interesting.

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He's talking about not only of our sinful self, not laying down our rebellion against God, but laying down our self -righteousness before God, thinking,

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I'm good enough, you know. I think God would say, yeah, you know,

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I think you're good, be that way, you're bad. He goes, no, to be moral, to be righteous, if you're counting on that for your salvation, you're just as lost as the pagan, you know, who's sacrificing children to Molech, truly.

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They're both headed for hell, you know. One may have more sins to answer for, but hell is hell.

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We're not counting on our morality or piety, but we are keeping score.

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We are looking for the fruits, as we said earlier. We want evidence of fruit.

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We want to be encouraged by how we've improved our behavior in different situations over time.

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So we're keeping score. But we're not using that as our

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Christ did all the work. It's not us.

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Right. Well, right now

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I'm trying to keep score. I just want to make sure that that's okay. No. Maybe it's a matter of semantics.

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I'll look to, you know, if someone wants to help me out with that. But that's not how

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I would say it. To say, I'm seeing if I have fruit. You know,

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I mean, I understand kind of the gist of what you're saying. How was I doing a year ago compared to how am

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I now? Am I seeing more fruit? Am I seeing myself dying to myself?

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Am I seeing progress? Am I seeing fruit? So I could see that. And again, as you said, that's not what's saving us.

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Our fruit, our progress and sanctification is evidence that we've been effectually called.

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But it is only the effectual call that's saving us. It's Christ saving us with what he has accomplished.

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So we're not looking to our righteousness to see if we're saved. I wouldn't say keeping score.

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Maybe it's semantics. You know, so I don't want to discourage you with it. But you know what I mean? Jerry and then

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Mike. Yeah. From a business perspective, okay, you have a standard. And in that standard, you have requirements.

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And those requirements, you're going to set objectives to reach those standards or those requirements.

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To know if you are reaching them or not, you have to keep data. And to know you take that data, you're going to measure that to see if you improve.

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I think that from a biblical perspective is what Steve is talking about. He's not talking about score as if it's something he's gotten pluses for doing something.

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But what he's saying is he's measuring to see if he's improved, if he's grown, if he's matured.

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Am I right, Steve? Because that's what you get. Yeah. Mike. I think a good standard would be in terms of self -examination is like, you know, am

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I struggling in this area of my life? Am I trusting more?

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Am I able to serve more? Am I able to do more good?

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And it's obviously from abiding in Christ.

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It's abiding in his word. And that shows that it's a different thing rather than self -righteousness is if you're self -righteous.

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In a sense, keeping score would be kind of like, you know,

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I'm still doing the same things but not for the right reasons. I guess, like, it has to come from abiding in Christ.

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And that produces not trusting himself.

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I know Ashley has a, what's that? I don't know where I was going. He's like, you get the gist.

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I'll let Ashley make a comment. We also want to keep in mind, you know, when we think of score, we're thinking of data, we're thinking of these things.

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There are things that we can see in our walk as far as, well, you know,

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I handled this situation better. I handled that situation better. But we also want to be careful that we're not just looking at, like, well, what did

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I do, right? Because you can have someone who, you know, they go to jail, right?

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They committed a crime. They've committed lots of crimes. They got caught for one of them. And they go to jail. And then, you know, they get out.

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And they're kind of rehabbed somewhat. They do community service. And they're doing things better.

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You know, people who, as they've gotten older, they're not saved.

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But they recognize, last time I gave that guy what he needed, I went to jail.

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So I'm not going to do that, right? So you want to make sure, what's my heart attitude, you know?

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We also want to be looking at what is God doing in me as far as not just what my outward actions are, you know, but also how am

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I thinking? Am I thinking differently than I used to? Is my heart changed towards God, towards people?

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Is there growth there that, you know, some things you can't see. You know, some things are conspicuous.

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Some things aren't. You know, but we want to have a comprehensive kind of look at ourselves.

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I was going to say, like, maybe not measuring it by, like, the things that you do that are right.

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But more so measuring it by if you've been obedient to something versus being disobedient.

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Because God requires us to do. It's like, when someone requires you to do something, you don't get to pat, you know, pat yourself on the back.

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Like, oh, see, I did this. Right. I mean, while we're supposed to do that to begin with, like, something that we are supposed to be doing to begin with, not, like,

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I guess an additional patting ourselves on the back for doing something. Does that make sense?

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We are unworthy servants. We've only done what we were expected to. Pastor Jensen? I remember you had to go listen to R .C.

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Stroll on a sermon that he did on Perseverance of the Saints. And he went through a whole bunch of stuff.

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You know, as difficult as R .C. does, and very logical, and very critical, and all. When he came down to the bottom line, he says, here's the bottom line.

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You want to know if you're truly saved if you love God. Amen. And somebody said, well, how much?

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He said, do you love him at all? Yeah. Because that's really the bottom line.

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You can do things out of road. And I think you actually said it very well. Are you doing it for fear of punishment?

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Are you doing it from a change in the heart attitude? And I think that's one of the biggest things.

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And only you can really know that. Yeah. Yeah, if you really examine yourself and try to figure out, why am

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I doing those things? I mean, because we can put on a good show for others. We can try to look good. We kind of know what to expect.

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People talk about speaking Christianese. What's our heart attitude?

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And so we're going to end it right there. That's perfect. Right on time.

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As Pastor Jensen, pointing out R .C.'s role, said, do you love God? And only you can know if you love

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God. Are you doing things out of a motive for loving God? Or is it just convenient? Does it work out well? That ties into, if you love me, you can keep my commandments.

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Yeah, so if you do love God, you will see fruit. You will see obedience. There's a difference between doing those things to keep yourself out of hell and doing them out of love for God.

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Amen. So, you know, salvation is not insurance.

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Right. It's not fire insurance. It's do you love God? It's not about hell, although you will escape that judgment.

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It's about loving God. That's exactly what it's about. Has your heart, has the inclination of your heart been changed to move towards God?

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Yeah, I mean, because you can hear the gospel. I mean, there's people who have heard the gospel and people who, I mean, we're image bearers.

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We have a sense of right and wrong, good and evil, you know, and out of guilt and out of fear, you know, we can try to do the good things to try to stay on God's good side.

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But is it just out of fear? Are we just trying to escape hell? Just hoping that, like, oh, please, you know, or are we actually motivated by love?

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So love will save us from our sinful rebellion. Love will save us from our self -righteousness as well.

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All right, so we will talk about number two next time. We'll close in prayer and we'll go on to the next part.