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Father we thank you for this morning. Thank you for The many blessings that you shower upon us. We think of Especially your son the Lord Jesus Christ his life His death his resurrection. Father the fact that you would open our eyes by the work of your spirit to the truth.
That we need Jesus Christ. Father we praise you for that. We thank you for gathering us here. We would pray for those even still on the road this morning that they might arrive safely. Father we thank you for a nice Warm building to meet in and all the blessings that we have pertaining to that Lord.
We pray that you would bless our time of Fellowship and study as we look to your word see what it says About you about us and about the work you have done and are doing in us in Jesus name. We pray amen well greetings from California.
We've been talking about the perseverance of the Saints or the preservation of the Saints. Once saved always saved, you know I like to say that everybody that I've ever met anyway, who's a Christian is at least a one-point Calvinist because they have this idea that even Even if they don't believe in the sovereignty of God and salvation even even if they believe it's a joint venture.
They believe that once you by your free will place yourself in Christ, which is not right by the way. But once you do that that God is obligated to keep you so this is the one point of Calvinism that people Usually like even non Calvinist will say yes, I believe once saved always saved.
I believe that once I commit myself to Jesus that God is obligated to keep me. So we've been talking about it for the last few weeks except for last week. Thank you pretty for teaching last week while I was Obeying the Lord in California.
It was a blessing to be there by the way, but we've been talking about What it means to be in Christ and the the perseverance of the Saints related to that in fact. We spoke a few weeks ago about God's love for the elect being firmly rooted in His love for his son.
God's love for the elect is firmly rooted in his love for his son. Now, why is that? Can you think of a scriptural reason that that would be true? Is there a place in the Bible that talks about being or us being the objects of God's love?
Because we are in Christ, I think I think we could we could say that. Yep, I think if we read that we would see that I was thinking of another place. What what's that? Okay, I Think we could get that out of Romans a to I mean, I'm thinking about something.
That's like it basically just says what I just said. Let me see, let me see if I could be more Exact. Is there any place in the Bible where it says before the foundations of the world God chose us in Christ.
Is there any place like that in the Bible? Ephesians chapter 1. Thank you. I knew we'd get there and It's so important that we stress the importance of being in Christ. You know the idea that It is our free will That would somehow obligate God is is a just a scriptural non-starter.
I'm gonna read a few verses in Ephesians chapter 1 starting in verse 3. 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 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.
In him we have Redemption through his blood the forgiveness of our trespasses. According to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight. Etc. Etc. Etc. Here's my point.
You won't find as we've discussed in many occasions. You won't find there our choice our Freewill choice as it were to be placed in Christ. What we see instead is the sovereign decree the sovereign choice of God the Father before the foundations of the world and because it is his plan.
Because it is his design. Because it is his will. From before the foundations of the world to the very end as we would see in Romans 8. To keep us in Christ. That's our security. He chose us. He redeems us he preserves us.
And so we're looking at the preservation of the Saints their perseverance as It's often said. We were talking about the perseverance being a work of the Holy Spirit. We could go further in Ephesians 1 and we would see his seal.
In fact, I was just talking about that on a Friday night the idea of a seal being the the ancient. I'm looking at my fingers like where's my ring? He would wear a ring that had a seal on it. And he would take the hot wax and they would seal by the way professional tip-tie your shoes.
Just stepped on my shoelace. He would he would place that seal. To seal a letter they would seal the wax and it would have his imprint on it. Now who could open that letter? The person that was intended for.
What do you suppose would happen if somebody else opened that letter? What's that a black guy with the signet ring? Becky's always about violence. Have you ever noticed that? Do you think somebody would be punished if they took a letter sealed by the king and Just unauthorized open it if they weren't the person it was addressed to.
So here's the point. The point is when the Holy Spirit is Said to be the seal. Our seal he's placed on us as the seal. God's seal upon us means. Nobody has the authority. Nobody has the power to interrupt that seal to remove that seal to open the letter as it were.
We are sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the end. We will remain Sealed. We will remain marked or remain owned as it were by God. No one can take us out of his hand. Moving on let's talk about The perseverance being the work of the Holy Spirit our perseverance being the work of the Spirit.
Sproul says we do believe for all those Who are saved. There's an indelible mark the seal of the Holy Spirit as I was saying Sproul says to overcome our weaknesses. God not only Gives us his word about our future.
But backs up the Spirit by giving us. And I mentioned this word the earnest of the Holy Spirit. So that's how we can know it's the work of the Spirit. We talked about the The Father we've talked about the Son.
Now we've talked about the Spirit. Our future is guaranteed by the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit. The confession says our perseverance depends upon the nature of the covenant of grace. From all which ariseth also the the certainty and infallibility thereof.
Let's look at Hebrews 6 Verses 13 18. Hebrews 6 verses 13 to 18 and if somebody would read that please well I tie my shoe. Hebrew 6 yes go ahead mark. Yes anybody ever testified in court and the judge said tell the truth or.
It's always always about violence. I love Becky. When you testify in court They they do what what do they do? You have to swear in the Bible. Still why do they have you swear in the Bible? Okay? The Bible says don't lie.
There's one greater than yourself. It's a reminder that there's somebody greater that you are promising to tell the truth in front of right. And that's what he's getting at here if we want to establish our credibility.
We have to promise by somebody greater than Ourselves, so I'll say By you know Mike Abendroth somebody greater than me. I will I will vow to tell the truth, right? Don't laugh the idea being that there is a greater authority to which I am Bound when I when I make that oath when I make that obligation.
Now if God is going to make an oath who does he then? Obligate himself to it says that right in Hebrews 6 right there is nobody greater than him. So if he wants to establish the truthfulness of what he's saying if he wants to make some kind of guarantee That he is absolutely telling the truth, and who is he take an oath by?
Himself right let's go to Genesis 15 and let's kind of witness that for ourselves. Abraham really wanting to know that he can I I wouldn't say he's doubting. What I would say is he wants an affirmation.
You know I mean this is just kind of going on and on and on and and it's like Lord Are we really still in this thing? You know are you still? Obligated to keep your word. Starting in verse 8 Abraham says or but he said to.
But he said O Lord God How am I to know that I shall possess it the promises that he's been made he said to him? This is God speaking to Abraham he says bring me a heifer three years old a female goat three years old a ram three years old a Turtle dove and a young pigeon and he brought him all these cut them in half and laid each half Over against the other.
But he did not cut the birds in half and when the birds of prey came down on the carcasses Abram drove them away. So here's the picture. He's cut these birds in half. This is a covenant. This is typical covenant kind of ceremony these animals are cut in half and Abrams chasing the Carry on the the birds of the the scavengers.
Chasing them away to keep them away from the dead carcasses and so here here if we're to like you know I'm gonna make you people the right half of the carcasses and you people the left half of the carcasses and here's the Row right down the middle.
Perfect, right? Bet you weren't thinking that way this morning that when you got up you're gonna be a carcass, but here you are. Verse 12. As the Sun was going down a deep sleep fell on Abram and behold dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.
Then the Lord said to Abram know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and Will be servants there and they will be afflicted for 400 years. That doesn't sound that great to you realize what?
Yeah the offspring at this point he doesn't have any offspring. Verse 14. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve and afterward they shall come out with great possessions as For you you shall go to your fathers in peace.
That means you'll die. You shall be buried in a good old age and they shall come back here in the fourth generation. For the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. Here's the key. When the Sun had gone down and it was dark behold a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces on.
That day the Lord made a covenant with Abram saying to your offspring I give you this land from the River of Egypt to the Great River the River Euphrates the land of the Cainites the Kenizzites The Kadmonites.
Sounds like a battery. But the Hittites the Perizzites the refeem the Amorites the Canaanites the Girgisites and the Jebusites here's the point. He wants to make an oath. God does to demonstrate the veracity of what he's telling Abram and The absolute certainty of it and so he takes an oath by himself.
When he cuts that covenants notice that Abram doesn't walk down the road because that's what should happen. We've talked about suzerain vassals before that's not Sue Ziran, but suzerain it means a suzerain vassal meaning the ruler and the underling the King and the Lord, you know, I mean that there's there's a ranking here one who is mighty and one who is less.
They would typically walk down the middle and they would cut this deal and so if either one varied the or violated the terms of the contract the the Covenant then what happened to those animals. The idea that they were cut in half and killed would happen to the violator.
While Abram goes into a deep sleep. He's sleeping during this and what happens. It's the torch and the flaming oven that go walking down the aisle. So to speak it's God Who goes walking down the aisle and what God's saying is may if I don't keep my word to you Abram may be done to me.
What is done to these animals? That can't happen. He's taking an oath the highest oath he can take. He wants to assure Abram that he can count on the promises of God. Sproul says this without the promise of God we have nothing.
You ever think about that if God's not Truthful if we can't rely upon God then we have nothing at all. It is one thing to believe that God exists or to believe in God. It is quite another to believe God and the Christian faith is about believing God.
He says it's not gratuitous or blind faith. It is not a rational or absurd faith because the more we learn about the character of God, what do we see? The more reliable he shows himself to be. Our perseverance or our Preservation doesn't rest upon us but upon the covenants God made.
God in his grace initiates our Salvation and accomplishes it accomplishes it. God in his grace applies our salvation and preserves it. We think about it this way. What is election? You know, what did you do to deserve God's choice of you?
Nothing. It's all of grace. What did you do to deserve the imputation that is to say the accounting of Christ's Perfect life to your account. What did you do for that? Nothing. It's all of grace the indwelling and sealing of the spirits.
What did you do to deserve that to merit that and the answer is nothing. We are Preserved or we will persevere because of grace because he has promised to keep us the next section of the Confession of faith says this and though they may talking about believers through the temptation of Satan in the world the prevalency of corruption remaining in them.
Even believers have it says there the prevalency of corruption remaining in them. What does that mean that you have a prevalency of corruption? Do you ever think of that about that? I have a prevalency of corruption in me Andrew we're tainted by our sin nature, right?
Even though we're regenerated even though we're redeemed. There still is that what pastor Mike likes to call harm art illogical hangover. That is to say a remaining effect of sin. So the prevalency of corruption remaining in them and the neglect of means of their preservation.
Okay. Fall into grievous sins and for a time continue therein in grievous sins. Whereby they incur God's displeasure and grieve his Holy Spirit. Come to have their graces and comforts impaired. Have their hearts hardened and their consciences wounded hurt and scandalize others and bring temporal judgments upon themselves.
Yet shall they renew their repentance and be preserved through faith in Christ Jesus to the end. What what are they saying here? What are the ancient? Divines here the wise people who wrote the Well, the Westminster Confession of Faith that the Baptist wisely stole from them.
What are they saying here? Have you ever known a Christian who fell into serious sin so serious that you weren't even sure they were saved. You ever heard of a pastor or a famous person who fell into serious sin you go.
I don't even know if that person could possibly be saved. I think most of us have and that's what the Confession of Faith is saying here that people can fall into Serious sin even sins that make them and others wonder if they were ever saved at all.
Could a person who really did that could they actually be saved? And the answer is possibly. Ultimately, this is not about a weakness in God. But it's about a weakness in us. Sproul says this he says Satan does not limit his temptations to pagans.
He works overtime with his minions against us. So that we have to deal with his temptations as well as those of the world. I just wanted to put the word minions in there and I did for a number of reasons one is it makes you think of those funny little things, but also.
You know, I I hear people say or you know, they'll post on Facebook. Facebook is fun. Post on Facebook that Satan is really after me. Well is Satan after you what's that? Not likely. I Don't want to go into a major dissertation about the nature of Satan, but is Satan everywhere all at once.
No is Satan all-powerful. No. Is Satan likely afflicting you personally. Probably not. I think he's got bigger fish to fry. He might send, you know, like for me. Yeah, I don't know his third cousin once removed Julius or something, you know.
After me, all right. But he's not gonna he's not he's not gonna waste his own personal time on some small fry. So I I'm like I always kind of wince a little bit of that. I understand that we you know, if Satan if Satan were working against you, what would he be doing?
Anyway? Would he be you know overheating your car? Satan's after me. I got a flat tire. I Demon of you know road nails. No Satan and his minions, how do they want to? Discourage you is it by you know physical problems my washing machines broken.
I have a hole in my roof. Now there's there's a great thought right? Do you ever think about that? Maybe Satan and the demons want me to succeed. I think that's right. Why because if I'm succeeding in an area where the Lord really would not have me to go then what's gonna happen.
Make a shipwreck of your soul by you know, here's here's what I say, you know, it's like sometimes I think when I get too full of myself in certain needle reduce psi, you know, my head is over inflated, you know.
If I'm going in the wrong direction if I'm getting too full of myself. Then what's gonna happen? I'm going to find myself relying less and less upon the grace of God and more and more on me Andrew. That's a that's a great point.
I mean, you know it is interesting because we we try to remind ourselves as Andrew was saying, you know of The gap that exists between us and God to keep ourselves humble right because he's great and we're not he's holy we're not you know, and all these things but Satan comes along and Somehow things shift and we think oh he's really focused on me and the answer is no he's focused on his war with God and we're just you know, Collateral damage as it were.
And and so he's influencing the world system and I think a lot of the temptations if they're not like over success. They are moral temptations, you know creating a corrupt Society one in which a sin is easier and easier to engage in.
Why would Satan well, I mean, this is almost a question. Why would Satan want us to sin? Karma. Okay, it discredits God it dishonors God. Why else I think Charlie just all called us rats here. The drowning rat syndrome, right?
So if one's going down, he'll he'll grab some others and drag them down to yes. Let me frame in another way. Are you encouraged or discouraged when you sin? Discouraged. I don't know anybody who ever thought wow.
My sin is really encouraging me today. So tempting us getting us to fall. Causing us to do then what doubt God ultimately? When the disciples said and and I like to I like to think about this a lot not because I think the disciples were bad guys.
But they said Lord we believe and then what. Help our unbelief the root of all sin and I say this and You know, you might think he's wrong. What is the root of all sin? It's unbelief if we really believe God.
If we fully believed, you know. If we were somehow if we could measure our scale zero to a hundred if we were at a hundred all the time. We wouldn't sin. So the reason we sin is because we don't believe as we should we don't have that full recognition of Who Christ is what he's done and a full gratitude for it at all point at all times.
Sproul goes on to say temptations and the remnants of our fallen corruption work against the Holy Spirit. Paul said we are at war with each or they are at war with each other. Our flesh that is to say and the spirits.
We still have to deal with the flesh and with the carnal desires that are still part of our life this is the. It's a spiritual warfare, you know spiritual warfare isn't how many of you read, you know this present darkness when you first got saved I Did what a horrible book, you know, I mean, I it's a don't get me wrong I think it's it's pretty well written fiction, but it's fiction.
It took me, you know a while to figure that out, but you know, I wanted to add it to the Bible when I was first saved now. Getting back to the confession of faith. What about temporal judgments? What about temporal judgments?
Sproul says there's a difference between God's punitive wrath and his corrective wrath. Punitive wrath corrective wrath anybody want to take a shot at that? What are the differences? Permanent and temporary.
Okay, I I can go for that corrective wrath is You know for redirecting so Punitive wrath is reserved for whom the lost the unsaved and corrective wrath is reserved for Believers. Let's look at Hebrews 12 verses 6 to 8.
Hebrews 12 verses 6 to 8 and if somebody would read that please Hebrews 12 6 to 8 if God doesn't discipline you one two things is true. You're perfect or you're not his and Since you're not perfect. You better hope that there's Discipline in your life, you know, even as we think about our our own Children I mean my children are obviously grown and beyond all that, but I see my grandchildren getting disciplined.
Part of me, you know winces. I just think oh, I don't like it. You know, that's my granddaughter my grandson and part of me Thinks what I'm thankful. Because I recognize as I hear their cries That they're loved.
When the discipline of the Lord comes into your life You should be thankful because it is corrective as Mark said it is to redirect us. It is to stop us from going in the direction that we're going. But it also shows that we're loved.
That God has said his affection upon us when we incur God's displeasure. He chastises us Excuse me and our hope is Not in our renewed efforts as good behavior or self-improvement. Our only hope is that we will be hidden within the folds of the righteousness of Jesus.
When we fall into sin, we incur the displeasure of God and he is angry with us. We grieve his Holy Spirit Excuse me and In this situation the Confession says this we have our quotes graces and comforts impaired.
In other words our hope of heaven is obscured our comfort our Confidence in where we are going is lessened. Goes on to say our hearts are hardened. Why sin does that and our consciences wounded you know it as a Child of God what happens when you sin when you're well, let's put it this way when you sin a few things happen.
You are Discouraged. I already should be. Your conscience is afflicted. Your confidence in your Security is reduced. There may even come a point where you question your salvation. These are all good things and you say well, how can they be good because if those things weren't happening?
That would be a sign of Not being saved at all. But Sproul notes the longer we continue in sin what happens if you just continue and continue and continue to sin. What happens to your your mind. What happens to your confidence in Christ.
What happens to. As the Bible would say what happens to your heart it hardens. I Think that's a good question. You know our how does that work? Are we just desensitized to it, and I think you know we might.
Let's turn to James for a moment verse 12 of chapter 1. Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial for when he has stood the test He will receive the crown of life with or which God has promised to those who love him.
Verse 13 let no one say when he is tempted. I am being tempted by God for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts. No one and Here's the key verse 14, but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
Then desire when it can is when it has conceived gives birth to sin and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death and what we see With David Bathsheba Was instead of you know basically turning the channel Shutting it down right away.
He just kept going right he kept letting The temptation proceed in his mind and plan further and further and further until ultimately. You know his The the full blossom as it were of his sin Occurred and it wasn't until Nathan confronted him that he was convicted.
Well. What was happening there? He was step by step hardening his heart by giving in to the temptations right and as his heart became hardened his sin became more Bold more outrageous you know from thinking about adultery to actually Arranging it and then to cover up That and the fact that she was unpregnant Killing arranging the death of Uriah the Hittite and all of that because He didn't initially just say I can't believe what I'm seeing.
You know I'm going somewhere else. So step by step, and that's the that's the process, and that's you know the hardening of heart that we're talking about. Is that answer. What happens when. Well I don't even have to ask the question when somebody stumbles.
It affects other people, it's kind of like the drowning rat. Oh wait. We'll put it a little nicer. Other Christians are hurt other Christians are Scandalized are afflicted when this kind of thing happens.
It's not just us Individually and in you know in the case of David what happened the whole nation suffered as a result. The good news though is that there's no sin that we can commit. That will not be forgiven if we are in Christ, and you know even just thinking about David.
What happened. You know is the end of the story that David just died an adulterer and went to hell the answer is no. David is a remarkable story of the grace of God. Because he confessed and you know the Bible would tell us that he had a You know he was a man after God's own heart that he understood the depth of his sin and sought forgiveness so In that sense he's a good example.
There is no sin that we can commit that will not be forgiven if we are in Christ. How do we know that because the Bible tells us that and if we have the Word of God on something That should be enough for us, right?
He has given us his word. That if we are in Christ, we will ultimately get to heaven and all of our sins will be forgiven. That's enough now our next topic that we will discuss for two minutes before we close.
If there are no questions about the preservation of the Saints. Next one is really related to it. It's assurance of grace and of salvation. Let me just read and we'll just introduce this although temporary Believers and other unregenerate men now we've been talking about how believers can fall into temporary sin.
Well. How about temporary believers? Although temporary believers and other unregenerate men may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions of Being in the favor of God and state of salvation.
Which hope of theirs shall perish. Yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus and love him in sincerity. Endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before him may in this life be certainly assured. That they are in the state of grace and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Which hope shall never make them ashamed? Now Sproul goes on and he says some people have a false sense of assurance. Others have genuine assurance and some have no assurance at all. Sproul gives four categories.
That I think fit all people. People who are not saved and know it. What sort of people would those be people who are not saved and they know it? People that claim to be atheists, that's the first group that came to my mind and I would totally agree with that.
They're they're fine. They think right they knit they think Christianity is folly. In fact, we could say the Word of the Cross is foolishness to them. The second group is people who are saved and yet have no assurance.
They worry about their salvation, even though they are in fact saved. Third group people who are saved and have assurance and the fourth group is People who are not saved. But think they are they have assurance, but they're not saved.
Such thing such a thing ought not to be but it happens. The Bible tells us it happens. Now, how can we be sure of our salvation? Well first Sproul goes into the people who are deceived and so we'll do that.
What would make somebody think that they're saved when they're not how is it that someone comes to have a false assurance of faith? And he says and I think this is right. The first problem is that We have in evangelicalism in modern Christianity a real problem with Just how people actually do get saved and he gives this example his son when he was age 5 Says I believe in Jesus so RC being a student of What was it called?
I think discipleship. Explosion or whatever it was called. It sounds some. Yeah, well, I think that's what that's what Grace Community Church changed it to discipleship. Oh evangelism explosion is over you said.
Which is still I don't know. It's a problem for me. You know, what do you go knock on people's doors? And if they don't ask you leave a bomb, I don't know what that means evangelism explosion, but anyway He says he says to his son if you were to die tonight.
He's five years old if you were to die tonight Would you go to heaven and his son says yes. Good good answer. So then what's the second question on what basis right? So if you were to stand before God tonight and you were to say and he were to say to you on what basis.
Should I let you into my heaven, right? Which I doubt he'll do that. But if he were to ask you that What would you say a little RC jr. Looks at him five years old and he says Because I'm dead. Well, you know, there it goes right there, right?
RC says listen, he grew up in a pretty, you know, conservative biblical based home. We're reformed and we're talking about salvation and the gospel and all these things all the time. And yet here my son gives me a Universalist answer.
Why do I get to heaven? Well the same way everybody gets to heaven because we're dead. You die and you go to heaven and isn't that like probably the number one thing we run into in the world. Well, I don't know I you know, I just saw this here ten days ago.
Somebody not really in my family but kind of in my family died. And somebody in my family then said well so-and-so and so-and-so are together in heaven. Why because they're dead this is. It gives great comfort right to everybody to just think well, how do you get to heaven by dying?
It's wrong by the way decided to tell you that Salvation is always by faith alone in Christ alone, but we have to close and we'll continue next week father we thank you for your sure word for the fact that you have Set your affection upon us from before the foundation of the world they have Called us to yourself in time that the Lord Jesus Christ entered into His creation took on a body of flesh and bones.
Lived as a man lived a perfect life. Died a life that or died a death that we deserve Paying for our sins and then you raised him from the dead on the third day. What an amazing truth. Fix this to our minds in The morning in the afternoon in the evening before we go to sleep Lord keep us fixated on the gospel and the truths of it the promises of it and the fact that you When you could swear by nothing greater.
Took an oath on yourself. On your own very existence that you would keep your promises and we know you will we trust you We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. You.