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If you do not have one, there 
are some in that blue box, as Cam calls it, the blue box of 
happiness. And we can turn to chapter 17. 
A couple of weeks ago, we looked at chapter 18. I'm not suggesting 
here that chapter 18 should have come before chapter 17. I think 
the confession reflects The minds of wise men and the fact that 
I did 18 and 17 reflects poor planning. So it's not that I'm 
somehow in an implicit way arguing that there should be an inversion 
here. We did assurance. just as a standalone thing, but 
as we came out of a busy weekend, I thought we would look at chapter 
17, another practical chapter, and I think it's good to read 
the Confession for theology, to be sure, but as well practical 
things, and I think I've mentioned many times that that there are 
modern Christian writers, or there have been writers in the 
history of the Church, that don't give us the insight in terms 
of practical religion that these confessions of faith do. They're 
not afraid to speak about the various challenges that God's 
people face. They're not afraid to address 
head-on the sorts of things you find in Scripture. Something 
like we heard on Sunday night, which if you didn't hear that 
message, I highly commend it to you on Psalm 88. I think Dr. Renahan handled that psalm in 
a beautiful way, addressing the reality that the people of God 
find themselves in some difficult straits. as well, making the 
application to our Lord Jesus according to His humanity. He 
underwent those sorts of things. He was, in all points like us, 
tempted, and yet without sin. So He understood what it was, 
according to our humanity, to be distant, to be in a hard place, 
to be in that place of great distress. So Psalm 88, among 
many other psalms, the book of Lamentations in the Old Testament, 
several places throughout the Old Testament, and then as well 
in the New Testament, you see that God's people at times have 
it tough. It's not a health, wealth, prosperity 
thing, we don't come to Jesus, and then everything just always 
goes our way. So the confession here, it's 
highly doctrinal in terms of the doctrine of the perseverance 
of the saints, but it's also highly practical in the challenges 
that the saints face when it comes to perseverance. And we 
need to make sure that we understand that perseverance of the saints 
is never devoid of preservation by God. So this latter section, 
dealing with the Ordo Salutis, or the order of salvation, the 
emphasis is upon man's response to the grace of God. But it's 
man's response by the grace of God to the grace of God. So there 
is that element where the saint does persevere, but he's given 
the grace to do so by God Almighty. So when we come to this, it's 
not perseverance of the saints, devoid of grace, devoid of the 
Spirit. No, the Confession sets it in 
its theological context and nevertheless highlights the difficulties involved. So I want to read the chapter 
beginning in paragraph 1. It says, Those whom God hath 
accepted in the Beloved, effectually called and sanctified by His 
Spirit, and given the precious faith of His elect unto, can 
neither totally nor finally fall from the state of grace, but 
shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally 
saved. seeing the gifts and callings 
of God are without repentance. Once he still begets and nourisheth 
in them faith, repentance, love, joy, hope, and all the graces 
of the Spirit unto immortality. And though many storms and floods 
arise and beat against them, yet they shall never be able 
to take them off that foundation and rock which by faith they 
are fastened upon. Notwithstanding, through unbelief 
and the temptations of Satan, the sensible sight of the light 
and love of God may for a time be clouded and obscured from 
them. Yet he is still the same, and 
they shall be sure to be kept by the power of God unto salvation, 
where they shall enjoy their purchased possession, they being 
engraven upon the palms of his hands, and their names having 
been written in the book of life from all eternity. This 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 covenant of grace, from 
all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof. And 
though they may, through the temptation of Satan and of the 
world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect 
of the means of their preservation, fall into grievous sins, and 
for a time continue therein, 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, they shall renew their repentance and be preserved 
through faith in Christ Jesus to the end. Amen. Well, if you 
have your Bibles, you can turn to the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah 
chapter 32. I want to make sure we ground 
our understanding of this particular chapter in the reality that it's 
God who saves, it is God who preserves, and that's the foundation 
for our perseverance. Apart from His grace, we wouldn't 
persevere. One of the blessings of the covenant 
of grace is the grace of perseverance that he conveys to his people. 
So several texts just at the outset to remind us that it's 
God who saves and it's God who keeps the saved. So in Jeremiah 
32, specifically at verse 40, God announcing the new covenant 
through the prophet Jeremiah says, John Newton didn't make that 
up. "'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear." He's reflecting 
biblical revelation. He's reflecting the prophet Jeremiah. You can turn to the book of John, 
John's gospel, John chapter 10, specifically at verses 28 and 
29. Just again, by way of reminder that God saves to the uttermost. 
He doesn't partially save, and then we sort of work it out. 
He saves us completely, and in this we rejoice. John 10, verse 
28, And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, 
neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father who 
has given them to Me is greater than all, and no one is able 
to snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one. you can turn to the book of Romans. 
The Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 8, specifically at verses 31 
to 39, celebrates this reality, but we'll just pick up at verse 
37. So in Romans 8, 37, he says, Yet in all these things we are 
more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded 
that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, 
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, 
nor depth, any other created thing shall be able to separate 
us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 
I love that Dr. Barcelos brought that out in 
his preaching on Sunday, nor any other created thing. So not 
even you can undo the covenant of grace. Not even you can send 
your way out of the covenant of grace. If God has begun a 
good work in you, he will complete it unto the day of Christ. And 
that's the next text, Philippians chapter 1. Philippians chapter 
1, specifically at verse 6, the apostle says, being confident 
of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you 
will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. And then over 
in 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 1 and then 2 Timothy chapter 
2. But notice in 2 Timothy chapter 
1 at verse 12, for this reason I also suffer these things, nevertheless 
I am not ashamed. For I know whom I have believed 
and am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed 
to him until that day. And then again in chapter 2 at 
verse 19, Nevertheless, the solid foundation of God stands, having 
this seal. The Lord knows those who are 
His, and let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from 
iniquity." And then one final text, not that this is all of 
them, but one final in terms of our study tonight, look at 
1 Peter 1, specifically at verse 5. 1 Peter 1, well, verse 3. He uses 
a convention similar to Paul in Ephesians 1, where Paul says, 
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This 
wasn't unique to Paul. It wasn't unique to Peter. You 
see it all throughout the Old Testament. You see it in the 
Psalms. You see it with Solomon dedicating the temple. Blessed 
be, it's a barakah, the pronouncement of blessedness upon our God. 
So he says, "'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us 
again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ 
from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, 
and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who 
are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, 
ready to be revealed in the last time.'" So again, as we come 
now to the perseverance of the saints, we need to understand 
the context. Context is preservation by God. 
His grace is sufficient for us. The God who justifies us freely, 
the God who sanctifies us, the God who brings us ultimately 
to glorification, has purposed and planned to make sure that 
we persevere. So when we look at this chapter 
in the Confession, it breaks down into three sections. First, 
the doctrine of perseverance stated in paragraph 1. Secondly, 
the foundation of perseverance highlighted in paragraph 2. And then thirdly, the challenges 
to perseverance addressed in paragraph 3. And even if there 
wasn't a paragraph 3, we would all have in our minds certain 
challenges that certainly we face. But the Confession, as 
I said, is a very practical document. It doesn't shy away from, and 
it doesn't hide from the reality that life as a believer in this 
present evil age is sometimes very difficult. Sometimes you're 
in a Psalm 88 situation. Sometimes you're in a Psalm 73 
situation. Sometimes you're vexed like the 
Apostle Paul when he speaks to the Corinthians. So the confession 
is a very theological but also a very practical doctrine. Now, 
notice the statement of the doctrine in paragraph 1. It says, "...those 
whom God hath accepted in the Beloved, effectually called and 
sanctified by His Spirit, and given the precious faith of His 
elect unto, can neither totally nor finally fall from the state 
of grace, but shall certainly persevere thereunto the end, 
and be eternally saved." So the obvious connection with preceding 
chapters. This doesn't happen in a vacuum. 
Notice those whom God hath accepted in the Beloved. Affectually called. Sanctified. Things that have 
already been addressed in the Confession up to this point in 
what we call the Order of Salvation. So it's not just some haphazard 
fellow that God just zaps with the ability to persevere. No, 
they're those who are saved by the grace of God. They've been 
affectually called. We see reflected here, chapters 
10, 11, 12, and 13, and then given the precious faith of his 
elect unto, chapter 14. So all of the things prior to 
this yields to this particular chapter in terms of the perseverance 
of the saints. So in other words, if what we 
see in the previous chapters is true, Well, then it's a no-brainer 
that by the grace of God they're going to persevere. If God has 
equipped them or affectionately called them, justified them, 
sanctified them, granted them the graces of faith and repentance, 
it is certainly the case that He's going to keep them to the 
very end, whatever difficulties, whatever challenges, whatever 
hardships they may face. If you go back to chapter 14 
for just a moment, Remember that we've had that category, we've 
seen that category of a temporary faith or temporary believers. Notice in 14.3, this faith, although 
it be different in degrees and may be weak or strong, yet it 
is in the least degree of it different in the kind or nature 
of it, as is all other saving grace, from the faith and common 
grace of temporary believers. So when we get to chapter 17, 
this isn't a temporary believer, this isn't a historical faith. These are the persons that have 
been set aside, effectually called by God, justified freely by His 
grace. The ones whom God purposed to 
save in accordance with His decree and no others. They're the ones 
that persevere. The ones justified, the ones 
sanctified, the ones who will be glorified, they're the ones 
who by grace will persevere. And as well, notice the security 
involved here. It says that they can neither 
totally nor finally fall from the state of grace, but shall 
certainly persevere therein to the end and be eternally saved. And then it goes on to say, seeing 
the gifts and callings of God are without repentance, whence 
he still begets and nourisheth in them faith, repentance, love, 
joy, hope, and all the graces of the spirit unto immortality. 
Again, the idea is pretty obvious. If God starts this work in you, 
he commits to saving you, he's going to save you. And if you 
can be lost as a genuine believer, then that reflects ultimately 
upon God, upon his covenant, and upon the work of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. Remember in Matthew chapter 1, 
at the naming of the Lord Jesus Christ, you shall call His name 
Jesus. Why? Because He might save His 
people as long as His people cooperate and they make sure 
it's effective? No, you shall call His name Jesus, 
for it is He who will save His people from their sins. So if 
a man can actually be saved and then lose his salvation, that's 
saying something very bad, not just about the man, but about 
the Lord Jesus Christ. That he was not able to conquer 
and to save and to bring that Son to glory. But the Bible everywhere 
teaches us just the opposite. So there is this great degree 
of security that the people of God have. That language of eternal 
security, it's good language. It's unfortunate. It's associated 
with, you know, a bad hermeneutic. But we are eternally secure. If you, you know, strip it out 
of its covenantal context, you throw it into a and easy believism, 
cheap grace are many in sort of a context, yeah, eternal security 
really doesn't mean a lot. But when you understand it from 
the vantage point of the covenant of grace in view of the triune 
God, which is how the confession is going to argue, the foundation 
of perseverance is the triune God and the covenant of grace. 
So rather not easy believism, but eternal security is a splendid 
way to think about this. It's a splendid way to reflect 
upon this. We are eternally secured. In 
fact, turn to the book of Hebrews in chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 
9. Specifically at verse 11, but 
Christ came as high priest of the good things to come with 
the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, 
that is, not of this creation, not with the blood of goats and 
calves, but with his own blood he entered the most holy place 
once for all. Notice, having obtained eternal 
redemption. He doesn't obtain a partial redemption. He doesn't obtain just a little 
bit and you've got to make up the rest. I'll bring 60% and 
you bring 40%. He obtained eternal redemption. It could be no otherwise based 
on the glory of the work of the sovereign Lord Jesus on our behalf. So with reference to the confession 
of faith, we have this emphasis on what we have in terms of God's 
goodness provided to His people. And then notice, even with reference 
to the doctrine stated, it says after this statement that He 
supplies all the graces that are necessary, it notices right 
about in the middle the difficulties. And though many storms and floods 
arise and beat against them, which is a reality in the Christian 
life, a reality in the Old Testament, a reality in the New Testament. 
If you're in Hebrews 9, flip over to Hebrews 11. In Hebrews 
11, specifically at verse 35, right about the middle, 35b, 
others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might 
obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings 
and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, 
they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They 
wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, 
afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They 
wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth. 
Who in their right mind would say, sign me up for this? It's 
grace that underscores the reality that God in the midst of these 
trials brought them through it. He saw them through it. He kept 
them secure even in the midst of those hardships and woes. 
And so though many storms and floods arise and beat against 
them, yet they shall never be able to take them off that foundation 
and rock which by faith they are fastened upon. And then notice, 
it's not just the various hardships in terms of life naturally, notwithstanding 
through unbelief, it's even pointing to us in our imperfection. So nor any other created thing. Remember that man who brought 
his son to the Lord Jesus to be healed, and he said, I believe, 
Lord, help thou mine unbelief. What a great confession of faith. 
I believe, Lord, help thou my unbelief. So it acknowledges 
that the people of God are not operating at a fever pitch of 
faith every moment of every day. We should be. We've got a lot 
of promises in the Bible to encourage us and to incite that or evoke 
that from us, but we're just not. And so with reference to 
the various things that may befall us in terms of storms and floods, 
there's also unbelief that we have or manifest, and then the 
temptations of Satan. So you see, the confession is 
putting the doctrine, and it's surrounding, or it's establishing 
the doctrine, and it's surrounding it with all the practical challenges 
that are involved with the doctrine. They're not shying back from 
it. They're not saying, oh, just persevere. It's gonna be happy 
and joyful, and everything's gonna be great. Then you've got 
not only the temptations of Satan, but then the sensible sight of 
the light and love of God may for a time be clouded and obscured 
from that. There are those seasons. We saw 
that. Look at chapter 18. We looked at this a couple of 
weeks ago. Notice, in paragraph 4, true 
believers may have the assurance of their salvation, diverse ways 
shaken, diminished, and intermitted, as by negligence in preserving 
of it, by falling into some special sin which woundeth the conscience 
and grieveth the spirit, by some sudden or vehement temptation. 
Notice, by God's withdrawing the light of His countenance, 
and suffering even such as fear Him, to walk in darkness and 
to have no light. That's a reality at times amongst 
the people of God. Read the Psalms. In fact, turn 
to Psalm 42. This happens to David. He doesn't 
give us a reason why. He doesn't say, oh, because I, 
you know, looked at a woman in a sinful way or because I, you 
know, took a few extra portions of whatever from some, you know, 
subject. He just tells us the reality 
of it. Notice in Psalm 42 at verse 1, 
"...as the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul 
for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for 
the living God. When shall I come and appear 
before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while 
they continually say to me, where is your God?" So notice, my soul 
thirsts for God. Why? because he doesn't have 
the felt presence of God. And then he's even basically 
mocked. He says, my tears have been my 
food day and night while they continually say to me, where 
is your God? When I remember these things, I pour out my soul 
within me. For I used to go with the multitude. I went with them 
to the house of God with the voice of joy and praise, with 
the multitude that kept the pilgrim feast. Remember when Dr. Renahan made the statement on 
Sunday night about Psalm 88. The Bible gives us license to 
pray for things we would never pray for. We would never pray 
with the honesty of the psalmists. We always want to look a bit 
pious or a little bit holier. I'm not suggesting we bring every 
bad thing to the public prayer meeting, but when it comes to 
our private dealings with God, the Psalms give us an ability 
to vent that lamentation to God, to pray back His word to Him. 
Modern hymnody doesn't put in it these kinds of things. Who 
writes modern praise songs like verse 5 in Psalm 42? Why are 
you cast down, O my soul? Why are you disquieted within 
me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise him for the help of 
his countenance. The modern praise song or chorus 
is all about peppy and upbeatness. It doesn't acknowledge the hardship 
of it seeming to be the case that God has hidden his face 
from us. Notice again in Psalm 43 verse 1, Why do you cast me 
off? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? O send out your light and your 
truth, let them lead me, let them bring me to your holy hill, 
and to your tabernacle. Then I will go to the altar of 
God, to God my exceeding joy. And on the harp I will praise 
you, O God my God. Why are you cast down, O my soul? Why are you disquieted within 
me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise him, the help of my 
countenance and my God. So back to the confession, it 
underscores the reality that there are many storms and floods 
that affect the people of God. There is the unbelief of the 
people of God. There are the temptations of 
Satan, and there are those seasons and times wherein it feels like 
God has withdrawn His smiling face from us. Notice the end 
of that section. Yet, He is still the same. Whatever we face when it comes 
to the floods, when it comes to the storms, when it comes 
to our own unbelief, when it comes to the devil, when it comes 
to what it appears to be God turning His face or keeping His 
face from us, He's still the same. Is there any practicality 
to the doctrine of divine immutability and impassibility? Absolutely. This wasn't just some theoretical 
debate in Arbka about impassibility being consistent with the Scriptures. 
It is the stuff of our Christian comfort. If God passes from one 
state to another, if God loves you this much on one day and 
that much on another day, we're in a bad state. We need a God 
who's a rock. We need a God who's an anchor. 
We need the God of Hebrews 6. So it says, yet he is still the 
same, and they shall be sure to be kept by the power of God 
unto salvation. Again, preservation by God surrounds 
the doctrine of perseverance of the saints. It's not just 
knuckle under, suck it up, try harder, and persevere. That's 
not the doctrine. The doctrine is those whom God 
has effectually called, those whom he justified, those whom 
he sanctifies, those whom he's going to glorify, those are the 
ones that by his grace are going to persevere. They're gonna put 
to death the deeds of the body, not perfectly. They're gonna 
come to the house of God. They're gonna want to know the 
nearness of God as their good. And then it says, Great doctrine! It is a wonderful truth of our 
religion that once God has begun a good work in us, He will complete 
it unto the day of Jesus Christ. Then notice, secondly, the foundation 
of perseverance highlighted. This perseverance of the saints 
depends not upon their own free will. Isn't that wonderful? Because 
if it were up to us, we would send our way out of a relationship 
with the Lord. I think it was MacArthur. If 
I could lose my salvation, I would lose my salvation. But by God's 
grace, He keeps me. Now, notice that this is a negation, 
and probably there are two other groups that profess faith in 
Christ that are in the crosshairs of this confessional statement. 
This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free 
will. Listen to the Council of Trent, 
Session 6, Canon 23. This is Roman Catholicism. If 
anyone maintain that a man once justified cannot lose grace, 
and therefore that he who falls and sins never was truly justified, 
let him be accursed. So they have an understanding 
or a doctrine that you can be justified and lose your justification. Why? Because they collapse justification 
and sanctification, and they make it one unfortunate ball 
of woe. If it is up to us to secure our 
reception by God, then of course we're going to fail. But as well, 
Arminianism. A. A. Hodge, in his exposition 
of the Westminster Confession, highlights Arminianism. And this 
is Arminianism. God elects persons to eternal 
life only on condition of their voluntary reception of grace 
and perseverance there until death as foreseen by Him. In 
other words, God elects those who are going to believe, God 
elects those who are going to persevere by their free will. 
Christ died to render the salvation of all men indifferently possible, 
and not as the substitute of certain persons definitely. So 
it's a general atonement. It's there for the taking. But 
that's not what the Bible teaches. He will save His people from 
their sins. Definite atonement, or particular 
redemption, or limited atonement, is what the Bible teaches. And 
we embrace that, not because we're proud, arrogant wretches 
that want to make fun of Arminians, but because that's what Scripture 
teaches, and that's what we hang our lives on. And then thirdly, 
that all men have the same gracious influence of the Holy Spirit 
operating upon them, and that the reason why one believes and 
is regenerated, and that another continues reprobate, is that 
the former voluntarily cooperates with grace, and that the other 
resists it. Again, there's no effectual calling, 
there's no internal calling, it's all general, and so it's 
ultimately up to the free will of man. Now, that is absolutely 
contrary to scripture. You can turn to John chapter 
1. John chapter 1, where we see a demolishing of the doctrine 
of free will as the means by which sinners are saved. Free 
will is true. But the issue is, where is man 
in the continuum with reference to free will? What Adam had before 
the fall, and man has after the fall, and man has in a state 
of grace, and man has in glory, it's all free will, but it's 
significantly different. Man in a state of sin only has 
free will to enable him to do that, which is contrary to God. 
Man in a state of grace has free will that he now has the ability 
both to do and to will according to God's good pleasure. Man in 
a state of glory will be confirmed so that his will will only ever 
be God-word. So free will is a biblical doctrine 
or an anthropological doctrine. There's no gun to your head when 
you make the decisions that you make, but you need to locate 
free will with where man is. The fourfold nature of man is 
how we approach the understanding of free will. Again, Adam, in 
a state of innocency, his will was significantly different it 
underwent some radical alteration when he passes into sin. And 
when we descend from him by ordinary generation, our will is ultimately 
enslaved by our heart that is contrary to God and His Word. 
So free will is true. When an Arminian says that, not 
when he says what he says, but we shouldn't shy away from acknowledging 
free will. Well, we're not going to talk 
about that. Or, no, there isn't free will. Yeah, there is. But 
we have to locate man where he is. And when we're dealing in 
a state of sin, man's free will is not the linchpin to his salvation. God's free grace is. God makes 
men willing in the day of His power, according to David in 
Psalm 110. But notice in John 1 at verse 
12, "...but as many as received Him, to them He gave the right 
to become children of God, to those who believe in His name, 
who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, 
nor of the will of man, but of God." And then Romans chapter 
9. Romans chapter 9. If you ever get into an argument 
with an Arminian, take them to Romans 9, it's a mallet. Just kind of kidding, but not 
really. Romans 9, 16, so then it is not 
of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows 
mercy. It couldn't be clearer. If only 
there was a text that told us it wasn't man's free will. Yep, 
it's right here, along with others. These aren't the isolated texts. 
But back to the confession. So after, well, Hodge makes this 
observation. Thus, in the personal application 
of redemption, the Arminian makes everything to depend upon the 
free will of the creature. James Durham says the doctrine 
of free will, quote, overturns the perseverance of the saints. 
For if believing depend on free will, then our perseverance depends 
on it. For if the man's free will change, 
he may fall back and break his neck in a manner at the very 
threshold of heaven. Whereas if it be the work of 
grace, as indeed it is, that brings forth faith and carries 
it on, then if this work of grace cannot be frustrated or restrained 
by the malice and hardness of any heart to which it is applied, 
because it cures the hardness and removes that malice. God's 
grace and His giving of the grace of faith is what facilitates 
this whole act of perseverance. So notice, paragraph 2. This 
perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will. 
But, where do you think they go? God. Not you. Work harder. Read more books 
on spirituality. Engage in the spiritual disciplines. 
Be better. Be a better you. No, that's not 
where they go. And praise God they don't go 
there, because the Bible doesn't go there. The text that we read, 
God puts His fear in our hearts so that we may not depart from 
Him. God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. 
Christ died. In Him we have redemption through 
His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches 
of His grace. And then you have that statement concerning the 
Holy Spirit, who is the seal and guarantee of our redemption. You have that in Ephesians 1, 
3-14. The sovereign triune God is celebrated 
for salvation. So notice, "...but upon the immutability 
of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable 
love of God the Father." There's that word again, unchangeable, 
immutable. Turn back to chapter 2 for just 
a moment. Chapter 2. At paragraph one. In the. a studio recording that 
we did recently. I was with Drs. Renahan and Barcelos 
last Thursday, and Rich asked Jim to explain about reading 
the confession sideways, or reading the confession horizontally. 
We do that with scripture, right? We know that the God of Genesis 
1-1 is the God of Matthew 9. We read horizontally or sideways. We understand the connection 
that obtains in the Holy Bible. Well, he, you know, Jim advances 
that when it comes to the confession of faith. So when we get to God 
in chapter 17, we're not to forget this God as he's described in 
chapter 2. So look at chapter 2, paragraph 
1. This deals with God in himself, God's perfections, or what we 
might call attributes, those things that are true of God, 
his essential glory. It says, the Lord our God is 
but one only, living and true God, whose subsistence is in 
and of himself. That means he's not dependent 
upon anything outside of himself. There's no external to God that 
makes or validates God. He's infinite in being and perfection, 
whose essence cannot be comprehended by any but Himself. Again, that 
doctrine is very important. It shows us that there is a difference 
between God and us. We can learn truth from the 31,000 
propositions given to us in Scripture, but in terms of understanding 
God's essence, it's known only or comprehended by Himself. When it says a most pure spirit, 
that refers to the doctrine of actus purus. In other words, 
God is pure act. There's no potential in God. 
He doesn't have an active potency wherein he can get better, and 
there's no passive potency where he can be acted upon to get better. He's pure act. We have potency. We can be acted upon, we can 
act, we can grow, we can move, we can diminish, we can increase. And then it goes on to say he's 
invisible without body parts or passions. Passions there is 
the doctrine of divine impassibility. He doesn't move from one state 
to another. who only hath immortality dwelling in the light which no 
man can approach unto, who is immutable, there's unchangeable, 
immense, that means he fills everything. Immense doesn't mean 
big, it means, I mean, I guess it does, but it means that God 
is everywhere present. It's kind of like omnipresence. 
Eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, every way infinite. Now notice 
the next word, most. The confession here describes 
these perfections with this most. Most holy. Most wise. Most free. Most absolute. Working all things according 
to the counsel of His own immutable and most righteous will for His 
own glory. Most loving. gracious, merciful, 
and I take most to apply to gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant 
in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and 
said, the rewarder of them that diligently seek him, and withal, 
most just and terrible in his judgments. So we need the doctrine 
of divine immutability. God does not change. God cannot 
change. We also need this doctrine of 
divine impassibility. He's without passions. So again, 
passions suggests a movement from one state to another. But 
when it comes to God's love, He's most loving. That means 
He can't get more loving. You don't earn more of God's 
love. Well, I read my Bible eight times this week, God, so should 
you increase the love? Or the next week, I only read 
my Bible three times, God, I expect the love, you know, the quotient 
to go down. He's most loving. He can't get 
more loving. And so when we see this in chapter 
17, reading horizontally or sideways 
in the confession, we need to think about that sort of thing 
flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father. So perseverance 
doesn't depend upon our own free will, but it depends upon the 
immutability of the decree of election. It depends upon the 
immutability of the decree of election that flows from the 
free and unchangeable love of God the Father. But then notice, 
upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ. 
The merit, I take, is a reference to his life, his death, his resurrection, 
what he performed when he assumed our humanity. when he performs 
as that mediator, as prophet, priest, and king. That's the 
merit. What happens when he ascends 
on high? He leads captivity captive, and he gives gifts to men. He 
is our advocate with the Father, but he always lives to make intercession 
for us. So when they come to ground the 
doctrine of perseverance, it's not your free will, but it's 
the father and it's the son. And then it underscores this 
union with him and the oath of God. And then notice the third 
person of the triune God, the abiding of his spirit. So it's 
the triune God as the foundation for what we have in terms of 
perseverance. If you turn to the book of Hebrews 
for just a moment, I alluded to this, it bears reading. And a couple of comments by Philip 
Edgecumbe Hughes. Notice in Hebrews chapter 6, 
specifically at, well, we'll pick up at verse 13. You know, sometimes you hear 
people say, well, you know, oaths and vows in this new covenant 
setting, they're not authorized. God himself swears. The Lord 
Jesus, before the high priest, swears. They're not made for, 
you know, I swear that I'm going to be home at five o'clock. But 
in matters of weight and importance, oaths and vows are absolutely 
authorized. But I digress. Notice, for when God made a promise 
to Abraham, because he could swear by no one greater, he swore 
by himself, saying, surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying 
I will multiply you. And so after he had patiently 
endured, he obtained the promise. For men indeed swear by the greater, 
and an oath for confirmation is for them, an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to show 
more abundantly to the heirs a promise, the immutability, 
there's that word again, You come to God saving His people, 
there's an unchangeableness involved. This idea that men can be truly 
saved and then fall away is absolutely repugnant. It is absolutely unscriptural. It is something that we ought 
to abhor. It wrecks men. It affects men that are actually 
saved in such a way as to hold out to that, that unless you 
perform, you're going to fall away and you're not going to 
be saved. Now again, the Bible tells us we need to persevere, 
we need to grow, we need to do all that sort of thing, but it's 
not so that you may be saved. It's because you have been saved. It's a consequence. It's not 
the cause for our salvation. So thus God, determining to show 
more abundantly to the heirs a promise, the immutability of 
his counsel, confirmed it by an oath that by two immutable 
things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have 
strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the 
hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor 
of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the presence 
behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, 
having become high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Now, Philip Hughes in his commentary, 
a very good commentary on the book of Hebrews, by the way. 
He's a modern commentator. He reaches back to the fathers 
and he does a good job, I think. I mean, probably not every jot 
and tittle, but a good commentary on the whole. He says that God 
should bind himself by an oath is a reflection, not on the divine 
credibility, but on the perversion of the human situation. In other 
words, he doesn't make an oath to prove that he's telling the 
truth. He makes the oath because of our condition, to even that 
much more amplify it for us. He says, God's oath, indeed, 
though in itself redundant, since His word is absolute truth, is 
a condescension to human frailty. So when God swears an oath, it's 
not because He has to vindicate Himself to the likes of us. He 
does that to condescend and show us His veracity, to show us what 
He is willing to do in terms of convincing us of His goodness. And then on verse 19, notice 
this anchor, this hope we have as an anchor of the soul. The 
metaphor of an anchor in itself effectively portrays the concept 
of fixity. Let's say you were in a boat 
and you threw out your anchor to a rock. Do you want to pull 
the rock to you? No, you don't want that rock 
to move. You want that rock to hold your anchor so that you 
don't move. He says, the metaphor of an anchor in itself effectively 
portrays the concept of fixity, for the function of an anchor 
is to provide security in the face of changing tides and rising 
storms. Human anchors cannot hold man's 
life secure in stresses and troubles that assail it, but the anchor 
of Christian hope is unfailingly sure and steadfast. And I think 
it's in that commentary where he says that one of the early 
symbols used in Christianity, certainly the fish that demonstrates 
the Ichthus, that Jesus, the Son of God, is the powerful redeemer 
of sinners, the fish. But it's the anchor. They found 
that in the catacombs. They found anchors all over the 
place. Why? Because of Hebrews 6. Why? Because 
God is our anchor in times of difficulty and hardship and woes 
and trouble. So when we look at passages like 
this, the concept that a genuine believer could be lost Ultimately, 
it impinges upon the glory and power of God. It shows that he's 
not able to save his people from their sins. Remember, this was 
an argument from Moses. When he invoked God, he says, 
Lord, if you let us die out in the wilderness, all these heathen 
are going to look at that and say, you weren't able to protect 
them. Well, what does God do? How dare you question me, Moses? 
No, He hears Moses and He secures the people. So when it comes 
to this idea that a true believer can be lost, that is an offense 
to the doctrine of Scripture. And so we've got Father, Son, 
Holy Spirit, but then notice how it ends, the nature of the 
covenant of grace, from all which ariseth also the certainty and 
infallibility thereof. Bavinck says the covenant of 
grace is unalterably grounded, not in our virtues and works, 
but in God's mercies. Pernell says the Covenant of 
Grace is a rich storehouse replenished with all manner of gifts and 
graces, spiritual and temporal. It is as a tree of life to those 
that feed upon it. They shall live forever. It is 
a well of salvation It is a fountain of good things to satisfy every 
thirsty soul. It is a treasure full of goods. 
Here is unsearchable riches, unspeakable mercy, which can 
never be fathomed or emptied. All these blessings of the covenant 
are wrapped up in the promises of it, every promise of grace 
containing a blessing. That's good stuff, brethren. 
That's what you feed your soul upon. The reality that there 
is a doctrine of perseverance, that it's in the midst of all 
of the trials and the hardships that are mentioned there in paragraph 
one, but the reality, the efficacy, the effectual nature of this 
perseverance isn't only to our free will, It isn't owing to 
our performance. It isn't owing to how much we 
read our Bible or didn't read our Bible. It's owing to the 
power of the triune God as He conveys to us blessings in the 
covenant of grace. Well, we'll stop there and God 
willing we'll take up that third paragraph next week. and hopefully 
that will provide some more encouragement. I'll pray and then if there's 
any questions, we can deal with those. Our gracious God and Holy 
Father, we thank you for this wonderful summary statement concerning 
a wonderful doctrine that we find in Holy Scripture. And we 
give all praise and glory to You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 
We praise You for election. We praise You for the redemption 
by Christ and for the work of the Holy Spirit in applying these 
truths. As well, we thank You for keeping us by Your power. 
We thank You for keeping us even in the midst of affliction and 
hardship and even in our unbelief and the temptations of Satan 
and those times when it seems, as it were, that You've withdrawn 
from us. We thank You that You are unchangeable. We thank You 
that You are impassable. We thank You that You are most 
loving toward us. And God, may these things flood 
our hearts with comfort and encouragement, not just in the good times, but 
in the bad times, in the hard times, in the difficult times. 
May we reach into Scripture and find great, great comfort for 
our times of need. And we ask this through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, any questions or 
comments on any of that material? Yes, sir? According to things 
I found from the conference, what's so encouraging is how 
the Confessions date back literally to the year 300. Because they're 
solid confessional statements, but I don't think Rome can say 
the same thing about all of their doctrines. That's right. And 
how some of them evolved because the insecurity of salvation made 
them Oh, absolutely. Yeah, keep people backpedaling 
and they'll throw money at you for salvation. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, many of their doctrines 
are, yeah, they're not. I'd be curious to go back in 
time to a time when the world was poor to see if that doctrine 
was involved. Yeah. What was it that induced 
that? I have a quote from Spurgeon. I really appreciate it if I can 
find it. It's about, you know, going back 
in church history and you're going to see your brethren. You're 
going to see, you know, guys that we know and love. Let's 
see here. I probably won't find it. But, 
you know, go anywhere in the history of the church, you'll 
see many a hoary head that confess the same truths that we do. And 
it's just really encouraging. And I remember hearing a guy, 
a pastor one time at a conference, and he said, when I was an Arminian, 
I didn't have an appreciation for church history. It's just, 
you can't, I mean, there's always been Arminians, but the bulk 
of the church has believed, you know, sovereign grace. Here it 
is, here's Spurgeon. He says, it is no novelty then 
that I am preaching. No new doctrine. I love to proclaim 
these strong old doctrines which are called by nickname Calvinism. 
but which are surely and verily the revealed truth of God as 
it is in Jesus Christ. By this truth I make a pilgrimage 
into the past, and as I go I see father after father, confessor 
after confessor, martyr after martyr, standing up to shake 
hands with me. Were I a Pelagian or a believer 
in the doctrine of free will, I should have to walk for centuries 
all alone. Here and there a heretic of no 
very honorable character might rise up and call me brother. 
But taking these things to be the standard of my faith, I see 
the land of the ancients peopled with my brethren. I behold multitudes 
who confess the same as I do and acknowledge that this is 
the religion of God's own church. I think that is just, yeah, the 
confessions, they tether us to the church. They tether us to 
the people of God. And I think it's just, yeah, 
I appreciated that as well when he looks back to, you know, those 
ancient creeds and how they were incorporated in the Reformation 
confessions. And, you know, for people that 
say, oh, yeah, that's just, It's great, it's wonderful to be able 
to go back and see our brothers. They might come to our church 
and say, you dress weird, and it's kind of odd here, but you 
worship the same triune God. You confess the Father unbegotten, 
the Son begotten by the Father, and the Spirit proceeding from 
the Father and the Son. You preach justification by faith 
alone. So whatever you look like, hey, 
we can, and you sing Psalms, you're singing the Psalms of 
David. So that's always a good thing as well. But yeah, good 
point. Yes sir? I was just going to 
say the back of the Psalter is like page 912 or like 5 pages 
from the Canons of Dort on the Perseverance. Nice, nice. So all the positives and then 
all the rejections, it's like 5 pages. It's expanded over this 
chapter 17. Oh yeah, yeah. Yeah, which, you 
know, in their fights in the Reformation period, they're fighting 
Arminianism, they're fighting Roman Catholicism, they're fighting 
this emphasis upon free will, so they really fought hard and 
fought well. And certainly, it's a scriptural 
doctrine. It's not that they made it up, 
it's there, it's in scripture. And of course, you can hear the 
arguments from the opposers. Well, if you teach that, then 
men are going to go out and sin. Yeah, they're following the devil's 
logic, but gospel logic isn't go and sin. You know, what shall 
we say then? Shall we continue in sin that 
grace may abound? May it never be. That's the devil's logic. That's what, you know, carnal 
man thinks. But for the true believer, I 
think justification by faith alone is the biggest impetus 
to pursuing holiness. Again, not so that I might be 
saved, but I've been saved, I've been justified freely by His 
grace, now I want to do those things that are pleasing to the 
Father. Yeah, we do have free will in 
the state. Okay, so basically when we look 
at scripture, and Puritan authors, because they do this, there's 
a fourfold state of man. You have Adam and Innocence, 
and then you have the Fall, and then you have Redemption, and 
then you have Glory. So free will is present in each 
of those phases, or wherever you find yourself in that that 
continuum, you have free will. But in the state of righteousness 
that Adam was in, he had the will and the ability to do that 
which was pleasing to God. But he also contained within 
him an immutability. He was not immutable. He could 
choose rebellion, which he did. So then in the state of sin, 
which man is in, we have free will, but our will is bound by 
our heart. In other words, we choose things 
that are consistent with our depraved heart. So when we choose 
to sin, whatever your sin is, and I don't wanna hear it, whatever 
my sin is, and you don't wanna hear it, we choose that, okay, 
as unredeemed sinners, okay? We don't, this is, you know, 
the doctrine of total depravity, we're bad. But the doctrine of 
total inability means we cannot choose Jesus apart from God's 
grace. So we have a free will in that 
state of sin, but its direction is always contrary to God and 
His grace. We don't want God. There is no 
fear of God before their eyes. Romans 3 is a wonderful commentary. 
It succinctly brings lots of biblical truth to bear on that 
fact. And then Romans 8, 7, he says specifically, the carnal 
mind is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can it be. 
Jesus says, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent 
me draughts him. So as sinners, apart from the grace of God, 
we have a free will, but we need to understand that free will 
is not able, apart from God's grace, to merit God's favor. 
So then we get converted. We now have a free will, and 
not now, we have, but we now have the ability still to sin, 
as we all know, but we now have an ability to do that which is 
pleasing to God, enabled by Him, Philippians 2, you know, work 
out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God 
who is at work in you both to will and to do according to His 
good pleasure. When Jesus comes to the churches 
in Asia Minor in Revelation 2 and 3, He condemns them for bad things, 
but He commends them for good things. So in this state of grace, 
our free will is such that we still have the ability to sin, 
but we also have the ability, aided by God's grace, to do that 
which is pleasing to God. And then in the state of glory, 
our free will will be confirmed to only do that which is pleasing 
to God. Does that make sense? So free 
will is a reality, but you gotta nuance it. You gotta qualify 
it, because when an Arminian talks about free will, he ain't 
talking about it the way you and I are. That's right. So if your heart's bad, then 
your will is going to follow. And the heart is deceitful above 
all things, Jeremiah 17, and it's desperately wicked. So with 
that kind of a situation, you cannot choose then things that 
are pleasing to God. So any outward act of morality, 
You know, do pagans never do good things? Yeah, they do, but 
in terms of a good work, when the Bible talks about good works 
or a confession talks about good works, they're things done toward 
men, but for the glory of God. So a heathen can do a good thing, 
he can mow your lawn if you fall down, or he can help you carry 
your groceries, but that's not a good work technically in terms 
of bringing glory to God. So yeah, free will is one of 
those concepts that's a biblical concept, it's a true thing, but 
much rides on where the guy is with reference to Christ. So 
Romans 9, 16 doesn't depend upon him who wills or him who runs, 
but on God who shows mercy. So man in a state of sin, apart 
from God's grace, is not going to go favorably to the Lord Jesus 
Christ. He may have a religious nature. In fact, all men do have a religious 
nature. Paul teaches us that in Romans 
1, I think we see it on display in Acts 17. Man knows God exists. He can't escape that reality. 
He just, and he may even go after what he thinks is God. I mean, 
some pagans in the history of the world, some pagan philosophers, 
did really good work with, you know, what light of nature they 
had. And I'm not saying we can use some of that. We can plunder 
the pagans and use some of their concepts at times, insofar as 
they help us in terms of our God. I was going to add a footnote 
to all this. Turretin uses the word indifference 
to summarize the semi-plagian, plagian, and pupus school of 
thought. What we need to appreciate is that the average Biblicist 
Arminian is assuming a very, I would argue, pagan and loaded 
definition of free will as well. To where the doctrine of free 
will that was presented last November at the 2LCF9 conference 
in La Brada gave a very nuanced view. I thought that there was 
some confessional flexibility, whether you want to go with what's 
called a compatibilist direction or determinist direction. In 
other words, intro-webserian versus super-webserian considerations. 
And the other point I would add to, just scanning something that 
I put together about a year ago for Stephan, is if we were Arminians 
that held to indifferent free will as a perfection, it would 
actually completely negate immutability. Because it would imply that God 
has free will in a mutable way, and therefore that would ultimately 
undermine everything we've argued for here in terms of assurance 
and perseverance. Cool. So in other words, read 
Turretin. Or listen to Stephan. But that 
being said, Turretin is a much more suitable source than Confused 
Aramaic is. Yeah, I think there's a big issue 
with anthropology of the doctrine of man today, outside the church, 
obviously, but within the church. We need to think clearly, scripturally, 
on who man is relative to God, and who man is with reference 
to the gospel. So if we get that wrong, we're 
going to be Arminians or Pelagians, and that's not a good system.