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in your confession of faith of 
Christ the Mediator. Chapter 7 provides the context 
for the work of redemption, chapter 8 introduces the Redeemer himself, 
and then after this we see various aspects concerning the salvation 
of sinners with reference to Christ's work on our behalf. 
So I'll read beginning in chapter 8 at paragraph 1. It pleased 
God in His eternal purpose to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, 
His only begotten Son, according to the covenant made between 
them both, to be the mediator between God and man, the prophet, 
priest, and king, head and savior of His church, the heir of all 
things, and judge of the world, unto whom He did from all eternity 
give a people to be His seed, and to be by Him in time, redeemed, 
called, justified, sanctified, and glorified. The Son of God, 
the second person in the Holy Trinity, being very and eternal 
God, the brightness of the Father's glory, of one substance and equal 
with Him, who made the world, who upholdeth and governeth all 
things He hath made, did, when the fullness of time was come, 
take upon Him man's nature, with all the essential properties 
and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin. being conceived 
by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, the Holy 
Spirit coming down upon her, and the power of the Most High 
overshadowing her. And so it was made of a woman, 
of the tribe of Judah, of the seed of Abraham and David, according 
to the Scriptures, so that two whole, perfect and distinct natures 
were inseparably joined together in one person, without conversion, 
composition, or confusion, which person is very God and very man, 
yet one Christ, the only mediator between God and man. The Lord 
Jesus, in His human nature thus united to the Divine, in the 
person of the Son, was sanctified and anointed with the Holy Spirit 
above measure. having in him all the treasures 
of wisdom and knowledge, in whom it pleased the Father that all 
fullness should dwell. To the end, that being holy, 
harmless, and undefiled, and full of grace and truth, he might 
be thoroughly furnished to execute the office of a mediator and 
surety, which office he took not upon himself, but was thereunto 
called by his Father, who also put all power and judgment in 
his hand, and gave him commandment to execute the same. This office 
the Lord Jesus did most willingly undertake, which, that He might 
discharge, He was made under the law, and did perfectly fulfill 
it, and underwent the punishment due to us, which we should have 
borne and suffered, being made sin and a curse for us, enduring 
most grievous sorrows in His soul, and most painful sufferings 
in His body, was crucified, and died, and remained in the state 
of the dead, yet saw no corruption. On the third day he arose from 
the dead, with the same body in which he suffered, with which 
he also ascended into heaven. And there sitteth at the right 
hand of his Father, making intercession, and shall return to judge men 
and angels at the end of the world." The Lord Jesus, by His 
perfect obedience and sacrifice of Himself, which He through 
the eternal Spirit once offered up unto God, hath fully satisfied 
the justice of God, procured reconciliation, and purchased 
an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven for all 
those whom the Father hath given unto Him. Although the price 
of redemption was not actually paid by Christ till after His 
incarnation, yet the virtue, efficacy, and benefit thereof 
were communicated to the elect in all ages successively from 
the beginning of the world, in and by those promises, types, 
and sacrifices wherein He was revealed, and signified to be 
the seed of the woman which should bruise the serpent's head, and 
the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, being the same 
yesterday, and today, and forever. Christ in the work of mediation, 
acteth according to both natures, by each nature doing that which 
is proper to itself. Yet by reason of the unity of 
the person, that which is proper to one nature is sometimes in 
Scripture attributed to the person denominated by the other nature. 
To all those for whom Christ hath obtained eternal redemption, 
He doth certainly and effectually apply and communicate the same, 
making intercession for them, uniting them to Himself by His 
Spirit, revealing unto them in and by the Word the mystery of 
salvation, persuading them to believe and obey, governing their 
hearts by His Word and Spirit, and overcoming all their enemies 
by His almighty power and wisdom. in such manner and ways as are 
most consonant to his wonderful and unsearchable dispensation, 
and all of free and absolute grace, without any condition 
foreseen in them to procure it. This office of mediator between 
God and man is proper only to Christ, who is the prophet, priest, 
and king of the church of God, and may not be either in whole 
or any part thereof transferred from him to any other. This number 
and order of offices is necessary. For in respect of our ignorance, 
we stand in need of his prophetical office. And in respect of our 
alienation from God and imperfection of the best of our services, 
we need his priestly office to reconcile us and present us acceptable 
unto God. and in respect of our adverseness 
and utter inability to return to God, and for our rescue and 
security from our spiritual adversaries, we need His kingly office to 
convince, subdue, draw, uphold, deliver, and preserve us to His 
heavenly kingdom. Amen. Well, if you ask the Bible 
what does it say about Jesus Christ, you probably can't do 
much better than what you have here in chapter 8 of Christ the 
Mediator. It's a wonderfully rich a wonderfully 
robust statement concerning the person and the work of our blessed 
Jesus on our behalf. I like the section on the incarnation 
in Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics. He makes this statement. He says, 
the doctrine of Christ is not the starting point, but it certainly 
is the central point of the whole system of dogmatics. All other 
dogmas either prepare for it or are inferred from it. in it, 
as the heart of dogmatics, pulses the whole of the religious, ethical 
life of Christianity. It is the mystery of godliness." 
1 Timothy 3.16. I think he's absolutely bang 
on, absolutely correct. And again, this is a wonderful 
statement or summary statement concerning the biblical doctrine 
of the person and work of the Lord Jesus. So, basically, in 
terms of outline, you have the pre-temporal appointment of the 
mediator in paragraph 1. In paragraphs 2 to 8, you have 
the historical stages of the mediator. So, the confession 
moves from eternity past to the actual coming of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. In paragraph 9, you have the 
exclusivity of Christ the mediator, and then in paragraph 10, the 
functions, or the necessary functions, of the mediator. How he functions, 
or his offices, as prophet, priest, and king, benefit the people 
of God. So we'll look this morning probably 
at the pre-temporal appointment of the mediator in paragraph 
one, and then the historical stages of the mediator. We'll 
probably just get to paragraph two, the incarnation of our Savior. So notice in the first place 
the appointment of Christ. Now, when I ask questions, Isaac, 
that's okay for the recording and the video and all that sort 
of thing. Notice what it says, it pleased God in His eternal 
purpose to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, His only begotten 
Son, according to the covenant made between them both. What 
is that covenant made between them both? Covenant of redemption. Where 
have we seen that recently? in chapter 7. If you look at 
paragraph 3, this covenant is revealed in the Gospel first 
of all to Adam in the promise of salvation by the seed of the 
woman and afterward by farther steps until the full discovery 
thereof was completed in the New Testament. So that's the 
covenant of grace. Its origin is in the covenant 
of redemption. Paragraph 3 continues on. and 
it is founded in that eternal covenant transaction that was 
between the father and the son about the redemption of the elect. And it's necessary because of 
the broken covenant of works. Notice, and it is alone by the 
grace of this covenant that all of the posterity of fallen Adam 
that ever were saved did obtain life and a blessed immortality, 
man being now utterly incapable of acceptance with God upon those 
terms on which Adam stood in his state of innocency. So we've 
got that covenantal context in terms of the outworking of man's 
salvation. So chapter 8 introduces the covenant 
mediator, and it traces the work back to that foundational covenant 
of redemption. So notice, it pleased God in 
His eternal purpose to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, His 
only begotten Son, according to the covenant made between 
them both, to be the mediator between God and man. Now paragraph 
two is going to explain the particular logistics of how that came to 
pass. How is it that the second person 
of the Trinity was made the mediator, but notice this is more of a 
general overarching statement in paragraph one. So it goes 
on to highlight or it goes on to detail what it means that 
Christ is the mediator. It specifies or gives specifically 
the prophet, priest, and king, head and Savior of His church, 
the heir of all things, and judge of the world." So those are what 
Christ is responsible for, those actions or duties or responsibilities, 
as the mediator of this covenant that God has founded, or God 
initiated in eternity, and has brought to fruition in terms 
of the covenant of grace. And then notice in paragraph 
1, unto whom he did from all eternity give a people to be 
his seed and to be by him in time. And then it says, redeemed, 
called, justified, sanctified, and glorified. So as I said earlier, 
we have the introduction of the covenant mediator in chapter 
8, and then subsequent chapters explain or detail how the redemptive 
work of Christ is applied to the elect. And I love the way 
that the confession holds together. I love the way how we see this 
synthesis, and we see this sort of connection between the chapters, 
and we see how this is an integrated whole and a system of theology 
for our consideration and ultimately for our confession, because it 
is indeed a confession of faith. Now notice in the second place, 
in terms of paragraphs 2 to 8, you have the historical stages 
of the mediator. So in paragraph 2 it specifically 
refers to his incarnation, paragraph 3 his anointing, paragraph 4 
to 8 his work. And when it comes to his work, 
we see specifically it's God-word referent and it's man-word referent. In other words, when Christ came 
as mediator, he's fulfilling all that was placed upon him 
in the covenant of redemption, and he is fulfilling all that 
is placed upon him in the covenant of grace. And for Jesus, the 
covenant of grace was a covenant of works. And, as a result of 
that, the covenant of grace is for us, the covenant of works 
kept for us. So, again, the Bible is integrated. We see that systematic theology 
is legit, and it's a wonderful expression of biblical truth. 
Now, notice in terms of the incarnation. You have this statement concerning 
the pre-incarnate glory of our Lord, the Son of God, the second 
person in the Holy Trinity, being very and eternal God. the brightness 
of the Father's glory of one substance and equal with Him." 
So the confession tells us that Christ is consubstantial with 
the Father and the confession tells us that Christ is co-eternal 
with the Father. Why does the confession tell 
us that? There's only one acceptable answer 
here. Because the Bible tells us so. Very good. Where does the Bible 
tell us that the Son is consubstantial and co-eternal with the Father? John 1. John 1. What was the 
other one? Genesis? Genesis is great too. Yeah, we 
see divine commentary on Genesis 1 in Psalm 33 which underscores 
the Trinitarian nature of the original creation. The Father, 
God Most High, spoke into being. Jesus is the Word of God. The 
Spirit is brooding over the creation. John 1 says specifically, in 
the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word 
was God. So Jesus, the second person of 
the Trinity, is co-eternal with the Father. He is distinct from 
the Father, and yet he is consubstantial with the Father. And of course, 
background to paragraph 2 is chapter 2, paragraph 3. Perhaps 
it would be good for us to remind ourselves of chapter 2, paragraph 
3. Notice it speaks concerning the 
internal relations in the Godhead. And it says, in this divine and 
infinite being, there are three subsistences, the Father, the 
Word, or Son, and the Holy Spirit, of one substance, power, and 
eternity, each having a whole divine essence, yet the essence 
undivided. The Father is of none, neither 
begotten nor proceeding. The Son is eternally begotten 
of the Father, the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and 
the Son. all-infinite, without beginning, therefore about one 
God, who is not to be divided in nature and being, but distinguished 
by several peculiar relative properties and personal relations, 
which doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all our 
communion with God and comfortable dependence on Him." Again, you 
have to appreciate the way that the Confession holds together. 
It does rightly express the holding-together-ness of the scriptures at the point 
of these particular doctrines. So we have the pre-incarnate 
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice it goes on to highlight 
the incarnation proper. After stating the Son of God, 
it then says, who made the world, who upholdeth and governeth all 
things he hath made, did, when the fullness of time was come, 
take upon him man's nature. with all the essential properties 
and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin." So you have 
this statement concerning the taking upon him man's nature. Where does the Bible teach us 
that Christ took upon him man's nature? Hebrews 1, 1-3. Hebrews 1, 1-3, 
yeah, where else? John 1.14, yes, the word became 
flesh and dwelt among us. Any other places that you know 
that speaks concerning the second person of the Trinity taking 
on our nature? Born of a woman, born under the 
law, to redeem those under the law. Amen. Galatians 4.4, any 
other places? We just left the Christmas season, 
brethren. Matthew 1. the story, the genealogy 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, son of Abraham, son of David, and 
yet God with us, that Emmanuel of the prophet Isaiah. You have 
Luke chapter one, verses 30 to 33, and then you have Luke chapter 
two, and the actual birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. As well, 
throughout the gospel records, you see what being true of the 
Lord Jesus. that evidence is, that demonstrates, 
that manifests that he is in fact true humanity. Yes, he wept, he hungered, he 
was tired, he slept, he suffered, he died on the cross. All of 
that evidence is, all of that demonstrates that he did in fact 
take upon him man's nature. And then notice this elaboration. It says, with all the essential 
properties and common infirmities thereof, In other words, he didn't 
just appear to be a man. It wasn't just a 90% sort of 
a man. But in terms of the assumption 
of our humanity, it was the real deal. He wasn't an apparition. He wasn't a phantom. He wasn't 
some sort of an ethereal being. But true humanity is absolutely 
crucial to maintain. Whatever is not assumed is not 
redeemed. And if Christ does not assume 
our humanity, then he doesn't redeem our humanity. If you turn 
to the book of Hebrews in chapter 2, the apostle makes this distinction 
in terms of Christ and his redemptive work and its scope of inclusion 
with reference to man. 214, inasmuch as the children 
have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in 
the saying that through death he might destroy him who had 
the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those 
who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to 
bondage. For indeed, he does not give 
aid to angels, or he does not take on angels, but he does give 
aid, or take on the seed of Abraham. And then the confession goes 
on to make this very crucial qualification in terms of the 
fitness of our Lord for the work of redemption. So he's the second 
person of the Trinity. He's consubstantial, co-eternal 
with the Father. He is the one that is responsible 
for the creation of the universe, John 1, 3. and then when the 
fullness of time came, He takes on our nature, all the essential 
properties, common infirmities thereof, and then notice, yet 
without sin. Yet without sin. Now when it 
comes to the sinlessness of our Savior, where does the Bible 
teach that? John 1, 29, 11, 12, it takes 
away the sin of the world. So all of that Old Testament 
typology relative to an unblemished lamb and this emphasis on the 
purity of the sacrifice, the ceremonial purity, essentially 
the entire Old Testament points to a sinless Savior. Excellent. Excellent. Good. Any others? Hebrews 4. Sure, Hebrews 4. While 
you're still in Hebrews 2, look at verse 17. Therefore, in all 
things, he had to be made like his brethren, that he might be 
a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to 
God, to make propitiation for--" notice the definiteness of this, 
to make propitiation for the sins of the people. It's not generic. It's not nebulous. It's not undefined. It's not 
unspecified. It's not just kind of out there 
in some Arminian or Pelagian way that whoever wants to access 
it based on their free will can go ahead and do so. That's not 
what Christ does. Christ's work is specific and 
definite. We speak in Calvinism or in Reformed 
theology of limited atonement or definite atonement or particular 
redemption. The Bible teaches that. John 
Calvin didn't come up with that. Some argue that he didn't even 
believe it. It wasn't simply the post-reformation guys that 
articulated that. The Scripture tells us He makes 
propitiation for the sins of the people. Matthew 1.21, it 
is He who will save His people from their sins. That definiteness 
or concreteness, I hope, encourages us of many things. Christ came into this world, 
sinners to save. We're sinners. And He saves us 
by the work of redemption. Verse 18, it says, for in that 
he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to aid those 
who are tempted. Now turn over to chapter 4. Ken 
mentions, rightly, chapter 4, verses 14 to 16. Saying then 
that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, 
Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For 
we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our 
weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without 
sin. Let us therefore come boldly 
to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace 
to help in time of need. And then turn over to Hebrews 
chapter 7. This shouldn't surprise us in the book of Hebrews as 
the apostle is celebrating the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus. 
to show that he's both priest and victim, that he's both the 
offerer and the offered, and that the offered, the victim, 
was wholly harmless and defiled. It was perfect. As Isaac says, 
it was without blemish. So when John the Baptist in John 
1.29 says, Behold the Lamb of God, that's right, the Lamb was 
supposed to be the best of your flock, the one without blemish. 
You didn't bring the worst of your flock to the tabernacle 
or temple, you brought the best of your flock. So when the fullness 
of the time comes, God sends forth His best. God sends forth 
that provision which bears up under the biblical scrutiny. 
So notice in chapter 7 in verse 25, therefore He is able to save 
to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He 
always lives to make intercession for them. For such a high priest 
was staying for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate 
from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens, who 
does not need daily as those high priests to offer up sacrifices, 
first for his own sins and then for the people's. He doesn't 
have to do that. For this he did once for all 
when he offered up himself. For the law appoints as high 
priest men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which 
came after the law, appoints the son who has been perfected 
forever." So back to the confession. That is a crucial qualification 
that is given to us in terms of the assumption of our humanity, 
yet without sin. Now, the confession tracing out 
the incarnation of our blessed Savior continues. It gets into 
the historical data that we find in Matthew, that we find in Luke. 
It says, being conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, 
the Holy Spirit coming down upon her and the power of the Most 
High overshadowing her. And so was made of a woman. The first promise of redemption 
in Genesis chapter 315 promised that there would be a seed of 
a woman. And that seed of a woman would 
crush the head of the serpent. And that seed of a woman would 
crush the head of the serpent through his own suffering and 
through his own death. So again, what we find represented 
in the Confession is all biblical. just theologizing in some slight 
fancy. They're attached to the scriptures. They're navigating the contours 
of redemptive history and demonstrating for us what the Bible tells us 
concerning the coming of the Son of Man to save us from our 
sin. And then it underscores the pedigree 
of Christ's humanity. Notice, he was made of a woman. 
Not just made of a woman in some nebulous way, but he's of the 
tribe of Judah, of the seed of Abraham and David, according 
to the scriptures. Again, it's a hat tip to the 
covenant of grace. It's a hat tip to the outworking 
of redemptive history. It is the demonstration that 
the one that the Old Testament prophets pointed forward to foretold 
his coming That's the self-same one who lay in the manger according 
to Matthew chapter 1 and Luke's gospel. It's the most blessed 
thing that we find incorporated here. Now notice it speaks to 
what we call the hypostatic union. What does that mean, the hypostatic 
union? Very God and very man. Very God 
and very man, so the nature of divinity, the nature of humanity, 
two natures united in the one person. We have one person of 
Christ with two natures. He is truly man and He is truly 
God. And that's what we go on to see 
in this particular statement. Notice at the very last part 
of it, so that to whole perfect and distinct natures were inseparably 
joined together in one person, without conversion, composition, 
or confusion, which person is very God and very man, yet one 
Christ, the only mediator between God and man. So it's a wonderful 
statement concerning the person of Christ. So that two whole, 
perfect, and distinct natures were inseparably joined together 
in one person. Again, the hypostatic union. 
These two natures in the one person. But this is necessary 
to distinguish and to highlight that it's not a conglomerate. It's not a mixture. It's not 
50% man, 50% God, and then some sort of a third thing. It's not 
some sort of a hybrid. It's not 90% God and a bit of 
man, or 90% man and a bit of God. Truly God, truly man. Now, with reference to this particular 
statement, it says that these natures were inseparably joined 
together in one person without conversion, composition, or confusion. Does anybody know the background 
for this particular statement? Chalcedon. Chalcedon was a creed 
or a symbol that was written in AD 451. If you look at the 
history of the church, you'll see that in the early church, 
I know it seems odd, but they took theology seriously. I know 
it seems strange to us in these days of, you know, hand-waving 
and almost a Baal approach to worship, but these men took theology 
seriously, and some of the biggest issues that they dealt with or 
were confronted with right away was the triunity of God. How 
is there one God in three persons? Again, they didn't make this 
up. They're reflecting upon the Scripture. They're reflecting 
upon in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, 
and the Word was God. How do we formulate creeds and 
confessions that rightly represent that, and all the while set up 
a fence or a hedge or a parameter to keep the heretics out? And 
so the early church was tasked with these very things. They 
worked out the triunity of God, they worked out the divinity 
of the Lord Jesus, the humanity of Jesus, the hypostatic union 
of our Lord Jesus, and so this symbol of Chalcedon was very 
crucial in the history of the church. And that the confession, 
the 17th century confessions of faith are reaching back into 
the history of the church into AD 451 is very encouraging to 
us. And I'll explain. John Fesco 
in an excellent book on the Westminster Standards It's not necessarily 
an exposition of the confession of faith, but he deals with certain 
things in each of the chapters. It's an excellent book. But he 
says the doctrine of Christ was central to a number of theological 
discussions and debates in the post-Reformation period. So, 
with reference to not only the early church, what we call the 
patristic or the church fathers, you have the medieval period, 
and then you have the Reformation period. In each of those ages, 
theology mattered. Theology was worth fighting for. 
You've got that old story of St. Nicholas slapping Arius at 
Nicaea, wasn't it? You know, I came to chew gum 
and slap heretics, and I'm all out of gum. And that's how they 
took theology. They took it seriously. So, he's 
referring to that in terms of post-Reformation. So, after the 
time of the Reformation, we have these Puritans, post-Reformation, 
Reformed authors. It says that one of the chief 
criticisms against the Reformation, so you'd have both the Eastern 
Orthodox Church, you'd have the Roman Catholic Church, you'd 
have those that would come and say, oh, these Reformers, they're 
just upstarts, they're proud, they're arrogant, they're just 
trying to make a name for themselves, whatever the case may be. They're 
not, you know, historically rooted, they don't have that origin and 
tradition. He goes on to say, one of the 
chief criticisms against the Reformation was that it was a 
schismatic movement, not a genuine reform of the church. Reformers 
were therefore keen on demonstrating their continuity with the theological 
past. They were presenting a united 
front in their statement concerning Christology. They were not navigating 
new waters. They were not engaged in new 
things. They were reaching back in terms 
of the best insights of the church, what we might call retrieval, 
and taking that and using it in their modern context, much 
like we do with the 17th century confession of faith. We've retrieved 
something that's very good and we brought it into this modern 
arena because we need something that's very good to help us in 
a situation that's not very good. So he goes on to say, Reformers 
were therefore keen on demonstrating their continuity with the theological 
past, particularly the ecumenical councils of the patristic era 
that define the doctrines of the Trinity and Christ for all 
of Western Christendom. We hear the word ecumenism and 
we rightly get a little bit scared because ecumenism in our day 
simply means the ability to say the word Jesus. If you can say 
Jesus or you can look at a church, we call you brother, we call 
you friend, we call you, you know, whatever. That's not what 
the early church meant by ecumenicism. The creeds and confessions were 
ecumenical in the best way. It was to bring in the elect 
of God who confessed proper truth and to keep out those who did 
not. Most of the ecumenical creeds 
ended with a series of anathemas. In other words, if you disagree 
with what we've said in this creed, may God damn you to hell. That's not the ecumenicism that 
you see represented today. Again, if you can just mouth 
the word Jesus, you could probably be a pastor in some churches. That's not ecumenicism. Ecumenicism 
is setting up the parameters, establishing the boundaries, 
and inviting all who confess and profess that to take blessed 
refuge in that tent. But those who are against it, 
stay out. We don't want your type here. 
If you don't confess the truth as it is in Jesus, may you be 
damned to hell. That's what anathema means. It 
means may he be accursed. You see it in Galatians 1. You 
see it in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. You see it in Romans chapter 
9. And it reflects that Old Testament 
word which was kerem, which means to devote something to destruction. So something would have been 
devoted to destruction or under the ban. And you see Paul the 
Apostle employed this, and again in 1 Corinthians 16, that any 
man does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema. I think Paul, in 1 Corinthians 
16, 22, make the imprecatory Psalms of David, in some sense, 
look like a walk in the park. David's crying out that God smashes 
the teeth of his enemies. David is crying out that the 
righteous can dance in the blood of the wicked. Paul the Apostle 
says, may those who refuse and reject and do not love Jesus 
Christ, may they be damned to hell. So this word anathema that's 
appended to these creeds and confessions that were ecumenical 
in nature, show us the distinction between that kind of ecumenicism 
and the kind of ecumenicism today that breaks down any kind of 
doctrinal border and says, let us all just come together. And 
then he goes on to say, The connections to the councils of Nicaea, 325, 
Constantinople, 381, and Chalcedon, 451, were crucial historical 
anchors for the Reformed tradition, anchors that staved off the criticism 
of doctrinal novelty and schism. Now, I think that's helpful for 
us as well. You know, we're not the odd man 
on the scene in terms of church life. It's the guy with the holes 
in his jeans and the latte in his hand and the hand in the 
other pocket giving little Bible talks, you know, to a crowded 
auditorium with a rock band behind him. That's odd in the history 
of the church. People focused on confessing 
the truth as it is in Jesus, worshiping in a biblically regulated 
and simple way, that's not the odd man out with reference to 
the history of the church. And we have a connection, not 
just to the 17th century divines, not just to our brothers in London 
in the 1600s that fought and gave their lives for this confession 
of faith, but we're connected to Calvin, we're connected to 
Luther. We're connected to the medieval church. We're connected 
to the patristics. Spurgeon has that wonderful statement 
where if you go back at any time in the history of the church, 
you'll see fellow confessors. You may be dressed differently. 
You may look a little bit differently. Conditions and circumstances 
may be different. but we have a historical attachment 
to the church as a whole. It's another thing about the 
hymn book, not only the Psalms of David, but hymns written by 
theologians all throughout the history of the church. It's not 
some hipster in the 21st century who penned a chorus with I love 
you Jesus 45 times at Starbucks and now we all get together and 
wave. We have the rich hymnody given to us by the Church of 
Christ. Interestingly, it was the theologians and the pastors 
that were writing hymnody. Why is that? Because the biblical 
stipulation and saying is teaching and admonishing one another in 
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. In other words, when we 
sing, it's not first and foremost to get an emotional release, 
it's to instruct our brethren, it's to rehearse the glory of 
God, it's to sing his praises for what he has done for us in 
the person and in the work of our blessed Savior. So it is 
very excellent that our confession here, written in the 17th century, 
goes back to the 5th century and says, this is absolutely 
good theology that we want in our confession, not only because 
it's true and it's right, but it connects us to the church 
as a whole. Being connected to the church 
as a whole is a wonderful thing. I remember as a pretty brand 
new Christian, I went to a historical conference. It was a conference 
on the history of the church. I can't remember the particulars, 
but the pastor who introduced it said, I never liked church 
history or the history of doctrine when I was an Arminian. I didn't 
have any connection to anything. But as a Calvinist or as a Reformed 
Christian, we have connection. Augustine was a firm contender 
for Calvinism. Augustine held to sovereign grace. We can go all the way back there. 
That's the tenor of Spurgeon's statement. As you go throughout 
the history of the church, you'll see the hoary head, you'll see 
the long beard, you'll see fellow confessors owning the truth as 
it is in Jesus. Brethren, this is something helpful 
for us today. There is, as C.S. Lewis said, 
something of a chronological snobbery that we find today. Nothing old is good. It's only 
new. It's only modern. It's kind of 
like when Rehoboam took control of the southern kingdom. Who does he seek counsel from? 
Does he seek counsel from the elders who sat in the presence 
of Solomon? Does he say, hey, I want Solomon's 
advisors to be mine? No, I'll take these young morons 
that are going to help me drive the kingdom right into the ground. That's typical of what we find 
today. Pastors, theologians need to 
be connected to the history of the church. The church today 
needs to be connected to the history of the church. There 
is something bigger and more glorious than just what we're 
going to do in this next hour. We are connected with the saints 
and confessors of all ages. I believe in one holy apostolic 
and Catholic Church, Catholic there being used in the best 
way. It simply means universal. Now in terms of the symbol of 
Chalcedon, this is what it says, we then following the Holy Fathers, 
notice that, 451, we then following the Holy Fathers. See every bright 
pastor and theologian in the history of the church has realized 
their dependence upon the history of the church. They understand 
that they stand on the shoulders of giants. They're not brand 
new innovators. It's not for us to develop the 
wheel today. Isn't that wonderful? I'm not 
convinced that 21st century people could develop the wheel. I'm 
certainly not convinced that the 21st century could come up 
with the Council of the Creed of Nicaea or the Creed of Chalcedon. I mean, maybe they could. Maybe, 
you know, this past week has given me a bit of optimism in 
terms of the human condition culminating in a wonderful expression 
yesterday of our desire for freedom, so maybe the church could in 
fact fall into something like that, but thankfully we don't 
have to. So they say we then, following 
the Holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach men to confess 
one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect 
in Godhead and also perfect in manhood, truly God and truly 
man, of a reasonable soul and body, could also be rational. 
consubstantial or coessential with the Father according to 
the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the manhood, 
in all things like unto us, without sin, begotten before all ages 
of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter 
days for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the 
Mother of God, according to the manhood. one and the same Christ, 
Son, Lord, only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, 
inconfusably, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably, the distinction 
of natures being by no means taken away by the union. but 
rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring 
in one person and one subsistence, not parted or divided into two 
persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the 
Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the prophets from the beginning 
have declared concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself 
has taught us, and the creed of the Holy Fathers has handed 
down to us. Certainly, not only in terms 
of the expression of the hypostatic union and the beauties involved 
in that blessed situation, but you hear the Scripture. You hear 
what you hear in paragraph 2, chapter 8. They're bringing the 
Bible to bear on this reality. They're synthesizing text. They're 
systematizing text. They're providing for us a codified 
and summarized whole to give us in small compass something 
to confess as the church, which rightly reflects what the scripture 
teaches. Now, I did this last time. I'm 
gonna do it this time as well. If you notice in the symbol of 
Chalcedon, it refers to Mary as the mother of God. Is that 
legitimate? It can be used in a weird way. Mary is the mother, the seat 
of the woman. But it can be used in a way that 
Mary Trump's God. That's right. Excellent answer. 
That's a great distinction. Turretin would be happy with 
you. We distinguish. It can be used 
in a weird way. I don't know if he'd say it just 
like that, but he would certainly agree with you. The reference 
to Mary as the mother of God in the symbol at Chalcedon is 
not a statement about Mary. That's to use it in a weird way. If a Catholic says, oh, I'm going 
to pray to Mary because she's the mother of God, that's the 
weird way. That's the way you don't want 
to use it. It's a statement about Christ. If you look at paragraph 7 in 
this confession, it says, Christ in the work of mediation acteth 
according to both natures, by each nature doing that which 
is proper to itself. Yet by reason of the unity of 
the person, that which is proper to one nature is sometimes in 
scripture attributed to the person denominated by the other nature. 
What that essentially says is that you can move from the nature 
of Christ's humanity or the nature of Christ's divinity to say something 
about the person of Christ. You can't move between natures. 
You cannot divinize the humanity, and you cannot humanize the divinity. Now, we'll look at that more, 
God willing, next time. But for now, look at Acts chapter 
20. One of the proof texts that the Confession gives is Acts 
chapter 20 and verse 28. This is a non-weird way to speak 
of Christ as God, but predicating of that something human. Notice in 2028, therefore take 
heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy 
Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God, 
which he purchased with his own blood. There's been valiant attempts 
to try to read out any confusion in this passage in terms of translation, 
but a theological understanding of paragraph 7 gives no one any 
problems with verse 28. Christ in the work of mediation, 
paragraph 7 says, acts according to both natures. He suffers, 
he eats, he sleeps, he dies according to his humanity. In Matthew chapter 
9, he not only heals a paralyzed man, but he forgives him of his 
sin, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority 
on earth to forgive sin. So both divine and human prerogatives 
are predicated on our Lord Jesus Christ. So he acted according 
to both natures, by each nature doing that which is proper to 
itself. Yet by reason of the unity of 
the person, remember the one person, that which is proper 
to one nature is sometimes in scripture attributed to the person 
denominated by the other nature. It's the communication of idioms 
or the communication of properties. And that's precisely what you 
have here, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with 
his own blood. God doesn't have blood. But by virtue of the unity of 
the person, the two natures, you're able to say that legitimately 
and theologically without any infringement upon the scriptures 
or the tradition. So it's that way that we should 
understand, the non-weird way of speaking of Jesus as the mother 
of God. And then, what's that? I said what? Oh yeah, sorry about 
that. And then Cyril of Alexandria, 
which is probably the one responsible for paragraph 7 in our confession, 
Cyril was the fellow that fought Nestorius. And Nestorius was 
the guy who taught a two-person Christology. So it wasn't two 
natures in one person. For Nestorius, Jesus was two 
persons. Cyril said no. and he did the 
equivalent of a Saint Nicholas, you know, with Arius and slapped 
him down and basically referred to him as the new Judas. And 
so Cyril said that since it is one and the same person who is 
God and man, it is only right and proper to understand that 
the Holy Virgin brought forth corporally God made one with 
flesh. For this reason, we also call 
her Theotokos, which means God-bearer or mother of God. Cyril in no 
way wants to imply that Mary was the mother of God as God, 
but rather because the Logos, who is God, is also really man, 
one must say that Mary is the mother of God as man. to Christ as God and man, it's 
legit, based on the communication of idioms, to speak of Mary as 
the mother of God. Now, because we live in a context 
where there's a lot of weird ways to speak about that, and 
you may not have 20 minutes to go to the, you know, paragraph 
7 and explain the communication of idioms, you might just understand 
that for the most part, if a Catholic, and I'm not saying all Catholics 
or Roman Catholics, but some people understanding this concept 
of mother of God, seem to think that Mary is somehow over God. That's wrong. Absolutely, positively 
wrong. But that Christ is God and Mary 
is his mother, therefore there is a way to speak legitimately 
that she is the God-bearer or that she is the mother of God. 
So, in conclusion, when we look at paragraph 2 in chapter 8, 
we have this wonderful expression of the incarnation. It starts 
in eternity past or with the pre-incarnate glory of the Savior, 
highlights the incarnation proper, specifies the mode of the incarnation, 
the spirit came down upon the virgin, Then it goes on to the 
hypostatic union and the person of Christ, which person is very 
God and very man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between God 
and man. This is the best expression of 
the church's teaching in terms of Christology, and we ought 
to be thankful to God. However we got here, we got here 
by God's grace such that we have a robust, biblically sound, and 
historically accurate confession of faith. We ought to make confessions 
great again. There is so much need in the 
church today for what we take for granted in our confession 
of faith. We ought to be thankful that 
he's not left us untethered from the history of the church, he's 
not left us untethered from the truth as it is in scripture, 
but he has given us the Bible, he's given us the church, he's 
given us history, and he's given us great creeds and confessions 
along the way that have stood the test of time. No one, and 
I guarantee you, no one will know the name of Benny Hinn in 
200 years. Everybody today, Christian and 
non, knows the name of Augustine. Every Christian should see their 
thankfulness to God for Cyril of Alexandria, except the guys 
who published The Church Fathers, right? we ought to see that we're 
not in this alone. We're in this together with the 
blessed church of our Lord Jesus Christ. So I'll pray, and then 
if there are any questions or comments, we can deal with that. 
Our God and our Father, we stand in awe at what chapter two, or 
chapter eight, paragraph two teaches us, that this blessed 
one, this second person of the triune God took on our humanity 
with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof, 
and yet without sin. We thank you for the incarnation 
of our Lord, the way the creeds of old say, for us men, or who 
came down for us men and for our salvation. What a wonderful 
expression of our Christian faith. And God, we thank you for scripture. We thank you for Moses and the 
prophets and Jesus and the apostles. We thank you for the early church 
and the medieval period. And for the time of the Reformation 
and the post-Reformation guides that have helped us so much, 
we ask that you would restore in the churches today a love 
for truth and a desire to preach that truth, realizing that love 
rejoices in it and realizing it is that vehicle by which you 
manifest your glory in the salvation of sinners and in the growth 
of your people. We thank you for this day of rest. We thank 
you for the house of God and for the people of God and the 
worship of God. And we pray that you would be 
glorified here.