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There are several passages in 
the Bible that obviously teach that a Christian cannot lose 
his or her salvation. I want to read just a few of 
those before we begin chapter 17. In Jeremiah 32, 40, which 
is a promise of the new covenant, God the Lord says, I will make 
an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away 
from doing them good. but I will put my fear in their 
hearts so that they will not depart from me." It's a blessed 
truth that because of the fear of God in the hearts of his people, 
they will not depart from him. in John chapter 10 verses 28 
and 29. Our Lord Jesus says, 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. Then, 
of course, that blessed end to Romans chapter 8, where the apostle 
says, 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, nor any other created thing shall 
be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ 
Jesus our Lord. And then in Philippians chapter 
1, verse 6, the apostle says very clearly concerning this 
doctrine of God's salvation for his people. He says, being confident 
of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you 
will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. And then in 
2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 19 specifically, And this is just 
a sampling. I'm sure there are many other 
texts that you can think of. Second Timothy, chapter two, 
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 apart from 
iniquity. And then in first Peter, chapter 
one and verse five. 1 Peter 1.5, who are kept by 
the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed 
in the last time. So again, just a sampling of 
texts that highlight the fact that the believer, those for 
whom Jesus Christ died and rose again, shall not ever die. They shall not lose their salvation. 
They shall not end in hell. And that's what this chapter, 
chapter 17 of the perseverance of the saints highlights for 
the believer. And we need to understand that 
every time it says the perseverance of the saints, we ought to be 
thinking as well of preservation by God. The saints do not persevere. The saints do not persevere, 
as is pointed out in paragraph 2, because of themselves. It says, this perseverance of 
the saints depends not upon their own free will. We need to understand 
the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is set in the context 
of God's preservation of the saints. And we will see that 
as we move through the exposition of this particular chapter. So 
as we look at paragraphs 1, 2, and 3 in chapter 17, it breaks 
down into three sections. The first, the doctrine of perseverance 
stated in paragraph 1. Secondly, the foundation of perseverance 
highlighted in paragraph 2. And then the challenges to perseverance 
addressed in paragraph 3. In many ways, paragraph 1 could 
stand all on its own. Everything that we need to know 
concerning the doctrine of perseverance is found in paragraph 1. but 
paragraphs 2 and 3 sort of flesh it out, give a bit more detail 
and expound or amplify the doctrine. But in the first place, notice 
the doctrine of perseverance stated in paragraph 1. There's 
two things to consider here, the statement of the doctrine 
and the security afforded by the doctrine. In the first place, 
the statement. Notice who the subjects are. 
Those whom God hath accepted in the Beloved affectionately 
called and sanctified by his spirit and given the precious 
faith of his elect unto." Now, the second London differs a bit 
from the Westminster, especially in this paragraph and the Savoy 
Declaration, and adds quite a bit of extra material. So I just 
commend that to you to consider later when you have your own 
free time. But notice the subjects of the perseverance of the saints. 
Those whom God hath accepted in the beloved. We need to appreciate 
the way that the confession unfolds. There is interconnection within 
the confession. This doesn't just happen, or 
this doesn't just arrive in a vacuum, but it is uniquely connected 
to everything that has gone before it. Those whom God hath accepted 
in the Beloved, affectionately called and sanctified, by his 
spirit, chapters 10, 11, 12, and 13. And then it says, and 
given the precious faith of his elect unto, chapter 14. So when 
we come to the perseverance of the saints, there's a lot of 
misunderstanding concerning this particular doctrine. Somebody 
might raise their hand in an evangelistic setting, or somebody 
might say a sinner's prayer, and then they may turn away or 
fall away from that, and persons say, well, I know that you can 
lose your salvation. We need to ask the question, 
was that the sort of person identified in this particular chapter? This 
chapter does not apply to what the Confession calls elsewhere 
temporary believers. Notice in Chapter 14, Paragraph 
3. It says, 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 this section or this chapter 
deals with or combats, on the one hand, this easy-believism 
idea that somebody who says the word Jesus is somehow heaven-bound. And if they turn out not to be 
a genuine professor, then the doctrine of eternal security 
or the perseverance of the saints was never true to begin with. 
So it's fighting against that, but as well, it's fighting against 
antinomianism. Because antinomianism taught 
that once we're justified freely by His grace, all bets are off. 
It really doesn't matter what happens. Well, this chapter points 
out that when believers justified freely by His grace, Sin against 
God, there are repercussions, there are ramifications, there 
are chastisements that come from God. And so this chapter is an 
outflowing of all that has preceded it, and the particular subjects 
that are dealt with in this chapter are those, as it says, who have 
been effectually called, sanctified by His Spirit, given the precious 
faith of His elect unto, those and those alone are those who 
will persevere by the grace of God to the new Jerusalem. We could even go back further 
to chapter 3 and paragraph 6 where it talks about the decree of 
God. In fact, you can turn there because we will allude to this 
later. Notice in chapter 3 paragraph 6, as God has appointed the elect 
unto glory, So he has, by the eternal and most free purpose 
of his will, foreordained all the means thereunto. So in the 
decree of God, he has purpose to save a great multitude that 
no man can number, from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. 
And not only has he appointed this, or not only has he decreed 
this, but he's foreordained all the means thereunto. In other 
words, God's decree is fleshed out through historical means. 
God's decree doesn't just snap his fingers and then we believe 
the gospel. There are things that God has 
ordained. Notice it goes on to say, wherefore 
they who are elected, being fallen in Adam, are redeemed by Christ, 
are effectually called unto faith in Christ by his spirit, working 
in due season, are justified adopted, sanctified, and kept 
by his power through faith unto salvation. Neither are any other 
redeemed by Christ or effectually called justified, adopted, sanctified, 
and saved, but the elect only." So you see the the consistency 
of the confession. And I hope as we go through this 
on our Sunday morning studies, you see that, that this stands 
or falls together. It's like a house of cards. If 
you pull one of the cards out, the rest of the house crumbles. 
That's why that whole debate concerning divine impassibility 
was so important. If you take that one card, God 
without passions, away, then the entirety crumbles. How can 
you have the rest of the chapters that deals with God's faithfulness 
with his people if we have a passable God, if we have a mutable God, 
if we have a changing God? it doesn't make sense. The confession 
of faith is a consistent whole and it must be appreciated as 
that. Now notice the subjects and then 
specifically the statement of the security that is theirs concerning 
salvation by Christ. It says, 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, whence 
he still begets and nourishes in them faith, repentance, love, 
joy, hope, and all the graces of the Spirit unto immortality." 
So the temporary believer doesn't have these things. It's not the 
case that God nourishes, that God abides, that God gives those 
things as is specified here to temporary believers. It is for 
those affectionately called, those sanctified by His Spirit, 
those given the precious faith of His elect unto." Now notice, 
this statement or this paragraph highlights some of the challenges 
that believers face. Notice in the middle of the paragraph. There are trials in the Christian 
life. 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." Notice that 
beautiful statement there. It's not their stability that 
the doctrine finds its root in. It's the stability of God. You 
see, you need to understand that reality, that the moment that 
someone posits or puts forth the thesis of the idea that a 
sinner for whom Jesus died can ultimately be lost, the blame 
is ultimately upon the Savior. If God cannot secure the salvation 
of his people, that reflects poorly upon him. It's not the 
free will of man, it's not the works of man, it is the glory 
of God that is at stake in this debate concerning the perseverance 
of the saints. It is not the stability of the 
believer, but the foundation upon which, by faith, he is fastened 
upon. Notice as well one of the challenges, 
the presence of unbelief, notwithstanding through unbelief. Do you love 
how the divines were legit, they were realistic, they were consistent? To hear Christian preaching today 
in some circles, you would never think there's any challenges 
whatsoever to the Christian faith. You should be healthy, you should 
be wealthy, you should be wise. Sounds more like Benjamin Franklin 
than it does like the Apostle Paul. This is not the case with 
our divines. It's not the case with these 
men who constructed or put together these doctoral statements of 
what the Bible teaches. The Bible highlights. Remember 
that man who comes to Jesus to see his son healed. Lord, I believe, 
help my unbelief. You know, how many times do we 
feel that same pressure at the throne of grace? Or how many 
times in the midst of the Christian life do we feel that same pressure? These guys are at least honest 
enough to admit that this is a reality in the Christian life. 
But always constantly reminding us that those for whom Jesus 
died, those decreed by the Father, those sanctified by the Spirit, 
will most certainly persevere to the end. So there is unbelief. Notice as well the temptations 
of Satan. We'll deal with these in a little 
bit more detail in paragraph three. This again is just an 
overview of the doctrine. The temptations of Satan and 
then the obscured sight of God. Look at that particular clause. 
The sensible sight and the light and love of God may for a time 
be clouded and obscured from them. This is a difficult one, 
isn't it? When you live the Christian life 
and you're seeking by grace to be faithful, and yet you can 
say with amen this particular thing. I feel as if the sensible 
sight of the light and love of God has been clouded and has 
been obscured. We sang it last Sunday morning 
in worship behind a frowning providence, God hides a smiling 
face. Sometimes we only see the frowning 
providence. Sometimes the sensible sight 
and light of God is obscured because of the attack of the 
devil, because of this world, because of trials or persecutions, 
or because of our own remaining corruption or unbelief. So you 
see the confession and setting forth this doctrine highlights 
the reality that is involved and why it becomes for us a precious 
doctrine. Why it becomes a comforting and 
a strengthening doctrine. Because these things are true 
no matter what. If we don't have this lifeline 
of the perseverance of the saints, then we would truly just flounder 
and be in a bad state. Notice what the last statement 
says concerning the security afforded. Yet, he is still the 
same. This is God. God hasn't changed. 
Even though we have the attacks of the devil, even though we 
have this remaining corruption, even though we struggle with 
unbelief, all those things notwithstanding, yet, He is still the same. You see why the doctrine of immutability, 
why the statement God is without passions is so important? Because 
we are riddled with passions, because we are full of fluctuation, 
because we are up and down and we ebb and flow. Don't we need 
an anchor who is solid? Don't we need an anchor who is 
strong and a foundation that is sure? That's what the confession 
says, 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." You see, I think that's what that 
crescendo highlights. If God has purpose to save, paragraph 
3, he has foreordained all of the means thereunto, specifically 
the work of the mediator, in chapter 8. We see the specifics 
of the Ordo Salutis in chapters 10 and following. If God has 
set that in motion, He will most certainly bring it to pass. In 
other words, when the devil assaults, or when the world tempts, or 
when there's unbelief that rises up, or the sensible sight and 
light of God is obscured for a season, never fear and never 
forget that the Lord God has purpose to save and everyone 
he has set his love upon will most certainly enter into heaven." 
It's a beautiful statement of the doctrine of the perseverance 
of the saints. They being engraven upon the palms of his hands and 
their names having been written in the book of life from all 
eternity. Spurgeon said in a sermon once that the doctrine that maintains, 
such preaching that maintains that somebody for whom Jesus 
died can ultimately fall away, he says, such doctrine I abhor. We ought to abominate and loathe 
the idea that anyone would ever suggest that a sinner for whom 
Jesus died and rose will ever be lost in perdition. It's truly 
an encouragement. Again, it's not this carnal believer, 
this, you know, hey, I went forward at a Billy Graham crusade, now 
I smoke crack and have prostitutes. No, no. It's not a temporary 
believer. And I'm not saying everybody 
that does go forward in a Billy Graham crusade has prostitutes 
and smokes crack. So please don't say that I said 
that. I didn't say that. But you get my drift here. It's 
talking about those affectionately called and sanctified by his 
spirit and given the precious faith of his elect unto. Now 
notice in the second paragraph the foundation of perseverance 
highlighted. There is first a negative assertion 
and then a positive. This perseverance of the saints 
depends not upon their own free will. Beautiful, isn't it? It 
doesn't depend on you. Your salvation is not ultimately 
up to you. It's up to the triune God, and 
in that we can greatly rejoice. I think it was MacArthur who 
said, If it is the case that we could lose our salvation, 
we would. We would. make no or have no 
dispute with that claim whatsoever. If it is the case that you could 
lose your salvation, you would absolutely positively, you could 
be the holiest roller on a Sunday and by Monday be doing those 
things which are indicative of final apostasy. Notice, it is 
not dependent upon their own free will. Now this is in contradistinction 
from Rome and Arminianism. You see, Arminianism cannot have 
a doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. Neither can Roman 
Catholicism. The Council of Trent, Session 
6, Canon 23, if anyone maintain that a man justified cannot lose 
grace, and therefore that he who falls in sins never was truly 
justified, let him be accursed. You see, they seem to have. Well, 
they do. They have Protestants right in the crosshairs, because 
don't we say that if someone gives evidence of having been 
an apostate, we would say they were never saved to begin with. 
And we would fetch out of First John. They went out from us, 
but they were not of us, because if they were of us, they would 
not have gone out from us. The reality is those for whom 
Jesus died, those whom he justifies, those he will sanctify and will 
glorify. This is not to say that the Christian 
doesn't fall, he doesn't have issues, he doesn't have struggles, 
he doesn't have, you know, what we see in the lives of David 
and Peter, but it is to say that those who by God's grace have 
entered into this covenant of grace they will persevere. For 
Rome, the idea being that you can lose grace, you can lose 
your salvation. Arminianism, this is via A. A. Hodge in his commentary on 
the Confession. Basically, Arminianism teaches 
that God elects persons to eternal life only on condition of their 
voluntary reception of grace and perseverance therein till 
death as foreseen by Him. Christ died to render the salvation 
of all men indifferently possible and not as the substitute of 
certain persons definitely. that all men have the same gracious 
influence of the 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." So you see, Arminianism and Romanism 
teaches that if one is to persevere, it is because they are strong, 
or they use the means, or they have a resilient will. Our confession 
says, very specifically, that this perseverance of the saints 
depends not upon their own free will. Hodge says, thus in the 
personal application of redemption, the Arminian makes everything 
to depend upon the free will of the creature. What a miserable, 
horrific system that is. Look at the comfort of what men 
call Calvinism, or Reformed theology. We are secure, and we are safe, 
and we are stable, not because it's in us, but because it's 
in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Because God 
has purpose to save us, that the one who has begun a good 
work in us will complete it unto the day of Christ Jesus. I don't 
know how Arminians, or Romanists, or non-Christians get out of 
bed in the morning. I mean, this is the stuff that helps you greet 
the day and say, OK, Lord, bring on whatever is good for my soul. Now, notice this, as I said, 
highlights the preservation by God when the confession says 
this perseverance of the saints does not depends not upon their 
own free will. We are to know that it's because 
of the preservation by God. It doesn't use those three words, 
preservation by God. But in all three paragraphs, 
the doctrine is there. It is conspicuous. Note the positive 
assertion concerning this foundation. There are five elements that 
are highlighted here. This perseverance of the saints 
depends not upon their own free will, but In the first place, 
the immutability of God's decree in election. The unchangeableness. Again, go back to chapter 3. 
Has God purposed and decreed to save sinners? Well, we know 
and trust that that decree is immutable. It is unchangeable. 
It is not subject to variation or shadows of turning. There 
truly is no wrinkle upon the brow of eternity, and when God 
is purposed to save His people, that is an unchangeable decree. Notice in the second place, upon 
the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ 
and union with Him. So the believers' union with 
Christ go back to chapter 8 in the Confession. In fact, look 
there. Chapter 8, concerning the Mediator, the Lord Jesus, 
and what He does with reference to His people. Chapter eight, 
paragraph one, it please God and 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. Notice in paragraph 5, the Lord 
Jesus, by His perfect obedience and sacrifice of Himself, which 
He, through the eternal Spirit, once offered up unto God, has 
fully satisfied the justice of God. Notice, procured reconciliation. and purchased an everlasting 
inheritance in the kingdom of heaven for all those whom the 
Father hath given unto Him." And then again in paragraph 8, 
"...to all those for whom Christ has obtained eternal redemption. He does 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." You see, It's in the hands of our beloved Savior. The immutability of God's decree 
of election, the believer's union with Christ. Notice in the third 
place, the oath of God. The oath of God. I mean, it's 
as if they keep heaping up all of these things. And this is 
where the believer is to find comfort. You can turn to Hebrews 
chapter 6 for this particular reference. The oath of God. Notice in Hebrews chapter 6, 
verse 17. says, thus God, determining to 
show more abundantly to the heirs of 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. You see what's afforded to the 
believer? We 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. I know when we were going through 
the book of Hebrews in our Wednesday night studies, I pointed out 
something interesting from Hugh's commentary, that one of the early 
symbols of Christianity, we think of the fish, or we think of the 
cross, or we think of those that are more commonly known to us, 
it was the anchor. Catacombs had on the walls anchors. Why? Because God is the anchor 
for our soul. The anchor was a symbol of Christian 
faith. Philip Hughes says concerning 
this oath that God makes, we need to understand this oath 
is not the way we take oaths. We confirm an oath to tell people 
we mean business. God always means business. In 
fact, the text says, it is impossible for him to lie. Who do you think 
God's oath is for? It's not to further highlight 
his ferocity, though it does do that, but it's to cater to 
our frailty. This is what Hughes 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. God's oath indeed, though in 
itself redundant, since his word is absolute truth, is a condescension 
to human frailty. Hughes says concerning verse 
19, 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. I'm not a 
sailor or a mariner, nor have I ever been. But if I was in 
a tempest or a storm, and I was out in the middle of nowhere, 
and I saw a rock, and I was able to throw that lasso, or lasso, 
how do you say it in Canada? Lasso. Well, it's a lasso in 
America. It's a lasso in Canada. Since 
America is probably where it might have been developed, at 
least in the South, I don't know. We'll go with lasso or lasso. 
Anyways, I wouldn't want to pull that rock to me. That's not what 
I would want. I would not want the rock or 
the anchor to move. I want it to be fixed. I want 
it to be solid. I want it to be stable. Because 
I'm all about this, and when I throw that rope or I throw 
that chain, I don't want it to move. I want it to be fixed and 
sure and solid. And that's what the apostle uses 
to calm and help and encourage the Christian. In the fourth 
place, it's the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. Again, the 
spirit has been mentioned several times throughout the confession 
in chapter 3, chapters 10, 13, 14, 15, wherever faith in Christ 
is, the spirit of God is. And this is what it says, the 
abiding of his spirit. I mean, isn't this ultimately 
what testifies with our spirit that we are indeed the sons and 
daughters of God? the indwelling power of the Holy 
Spirit. And there are times, brethren, 
where it may not be as evident as it is in other times that 
He is there, but we walk by faith. And when Paul tells us in Ephesians 
1, 13 and 14, that when we believe the Gospel, we are given the 
seal of the Spirit, who is the guarantee of our final redemption. 
When he says in Galatians chapter 4, that we receive the Spirit, 
whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Again, we walk by faith. We don't 
walk by emotion. We don't walk by experience. 
And we don't walk by feeling. This is why I think so many times 
we struggle in this very area. If I feel saved, then I'm happy. 
If I don't feel saved, then I'm not happy. Well, what does feeling 
saved feel like? How do we know we just haven't 
had a blessed day or a good day? I mean, what does it mean to 
feel saved? We don't walk by feelings. We don't walk by sight. 
We walk by faith. And faith finds its object in 
the Word of the Living God. And when God the Lord says we 
believe and we receive the Spirit, we need to understand that that's 
the reality. He's not going to go away. He 
is not going to abandon us. He is not going to forsake us. 
He is not going to leave us. And then notice that fifth element 
concerning this foundation. It says, "...and the nature of 
the covenant of grace, from all which arises also the certainty 
and infallibility thereof." Again, the certainty and infallibility 
thereof is not evidenced by your feelings of it. It's evidenced 
by these five pillars that he's just argued for. But notice that 
statement concerning the nature of the covenant of grace. Boevinck 
says, the covenant of grace is unalterably grounded, not in 
our virtues and works, but in God's mercies. Does that make 
you happy? Covenant theology, rightly understood, 
ought to make you happy. Owen says, the grace of our Lord 
Jesus Christ in the new covenant, in its being and existence, in 
its healing, repairing efficacy, is as large and extensive as 
sin in its residence and power to deprave our natures. And a fellow by the name of Pernell, 
it's Robert Pernell, right? There's going to be a quote on 
the calendar that you get today and this is it. He 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 empty. All 
these blessings of the covenant are wrapped up in the promises 
of it. Every promise of grace containing 
a blessing. So you see, when paragraph two 
ends, from all which arises also the certainty and infallibility 
thereof. The certainty and infallibility 
of the doctrine of perseverance does not depend upon our free 
will. That does not afford that certainty 
and infallibility. Rather, it is the immutability 
of God's decree of election, the believer's union with Christ, 
the oath of God, the indwelling power of the Spirit, the nature 
of the covenant of grace. In other words, these five pillars 
highlight very beautifully our triune God. It's what the Father 
purposes in eternity, it's what the Son accomplishes in history, 
and it's what the Spirit applies to us. That in the context of 
God's blessed covenant, which is secured by His oath. That 
is the foundation upon which perseverance is a reality. Truly is a wonderful thing. Now 
notice the challenges to perseverance addressed in paragraph 3. We see the various assaults on 
the believer's security, the various fruits of these assaults, 
and then the positive outcome regarding the believer's security. 
Notice paragraph three, and though they may through the temptation 
of Satan. I wanted to read a little bit 
from this book by Carl Truman. I highly recommend the book. 
It's on Martin Luther and the Christian life. It's a fantastic 
read. Those of you who are familiar 
with Martin Luther will know that he was a very colorful figure. 
In fact, in one of these sections, I'll just read it just to give 
you an idea here. Well, maybe I won't read that, 
but get the book, read it, you'll enjoy it. But Truman points out 
that there were some things at the end of Luther's life. He 
doesn't deal with that season of Luther. But Luther is not 
to be just accepted wholeheartedly. There were certainly some things. 
with reference to Luther, especially in his later years, and anti-Semitism 
that should give us great cause for concern. So anyways, it truly 
does evidence that the best of men are men at best. But one 
of the things that was just wonderful, this one chapter called Living 
by the Word, Also, the third chapter, the theology of the 
word preached. Wow, just really excellent stuff. 
But this one section or subsection in the paragraph, living by the 
word. The Devil and Dr. Martin. There is a further element 
in Luther's view, and there's a German word here, it means 
basically the struggle in the Christian life. However, and 
that is the role of the devil. I noted in the introduction that 
Luther's world was very different from the one we live in today. 
Even conservative Christians who believe in a personal devil 
generally regard him as something quite remote, even a little abstract. 
For Luther, the devil was always close at hand, hiding in the 
cupboard or under the bed or in the woods, whispering in his 
ear, bringing tangible temptations to him and terrifying accusations 
against him. In fact, his table talk is full 
of anecdotes about the devil's doings, both in general and against 
Luther in particular. The devil and his demonic minions 
are everywhere, constantly looking for ways to destroy God's people. 
Indeed, Luther even sees the devil as operating at times like 
an actual hitman. Thus, when he and Katie are almost 
killed by the collapse of a wall, he thinks that the failure to 
keep the wall in a good state of repair handed the devil an 
opportunity for an assassination attempt. The devil also knocks 
over fences in an attempt to kill people, and in his role 
as the one who brings death, he is the author and cause of 
all illness and disease. Now again, some of this may be 
a little bit further than we might go, but this next section 
I thought was very encouraging. He says, Luther certainly regards 
the cultivation of despair as one of the primary tasks of the 
devil. the cultivation of despair. Thus, in contradiction to traditional 
medieval teaching, I won't read that statement, doubt of God's 
favor is the devil's stock in trade. Thus, he will constantly 
accuse Luther of not being truly called to the ministry. The devil 
will fix on a single sin of Luther's and use it to disturb his conscience. 
as he does with all believers when given the opportunity. Such 
an attack on Luther is typical satanic strategy whereby he confronts 
Christians with the law and their sins in order to shatter their 
confidence. Indeed the devil by his very nature must continually 
attack the gospel and try to overthrow it. He still steals 
God's word away from the Christian by turning the gospel into the 
law. Thus he also hates preaching and does his best to suppress 
it as through the spirit focused as through the spirit-focused 
theology of the radicals. Luther had a different view of 
those who were always talking about the spirit. Not that we 
shouldn't talk about the spirit. I just talked about the spirit. 
But for him, spirit-filled people that were devoid of the word 
were radicals. One wonders what he would think 
of the modern Pentecostal movement with their emphasis upon the 
spirit and the feelings and the experiences, contra the word 
of God. For Luther, it was the word. 
Certainly, he had a doctrine of the spirit, but he doesn't 
see that Pentecostal mindset as being consistent. Not that 
they had Pentecostals. I'm being a little bit anachronistic 
there. At any rate, he says, Let's see, 
if the devil can undermine assurance or push the Christian back to 
relying upon his own works, if the devil can, we might say, 
turn the theologian of the cross back into a theologian of glory, 
then his job is done. In his lectures on Galatians, 
Luther also notes that the devil at times does not entirely steal 
away the word of God, but seeks to make sure that the word is 
distorted in such a way that the Christian sees only a part 
of Christ or sees him in a very defective way. The evil one will 
cite scriptures to us, which he takes out of context, and 
inflate the law while reducing Christ in such a way that the 
former seems to overwhelm the latter. This, too, leads to despair 
and is particularly effective at a time when the Christian 
might also be suffering or afflicted in some way. Luther's advice 
on how to deal with the devil in such circumstances varies. 
Perhaps the most appropriate device he gives is to use the 
word of God against him, as this is something he fears. When the 
devil scares Luther at night and makes him break into a terrible 
sweat, Luther looks up to the word. which easily overcomes 
any terrors the evil one can conjure up. In fact, the devil 
fears the spoken word above all things, as he also does the sacraments, 
because the power they derive is the incarnate Christ and the 
word of promise. Luther does, however, make note 
of a slightly less conventional strategy, which involved breaking 
wind at him, a technique that not only he himself employed, 
but also a woman in Magdeburg found successful. Nevertheless, 
he regards this technique as dangerous because the devil is 
not easily mocked. A far better strategy is to point 
the devil toward one's baptism in the word, as these are the 
safest means of warding off his assaults." Again, we probably 
wouldn't agree with every jot and tittle, but I thought it 
was intriguing how he connected despair with the temptation of 
the devil. You know, we think of the temptation 
of the devil as finding a big pile of money, and are we going 
to go out and spend it all at Walmart? That's not always the 
case. The temptations of the devil 
may just be to get up inside of us and start us to doubt concerning 
God's love for us, concerning Christ's salvation of us, concerning 
the truthfulness of his word. That's why I read that. So the 
temptations of Satan, it's not necessarily, you know, give up 
Jesus and, you know, go join the church of Satan. It could 
be subtle, it could be small, and it could be, with the endgame, 
just causing or creating in us a great deal of despair. Notice, 
and of the world, through the temptation of Satan and of the 
world. We live in a real world that 
certainly is not seemingly getting any better. I mean, you just 
read the news for about 30 seconds, and you ought to be convinced 
that this world is filled with all manner of evil and wickedness. So we need to realize that those 
are true things or real temptations or challenges. And then the flesh 
and 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. You see, we always have that 
enemy. The devil might actually be in Tahiti for a day and not 
be messing with us. And we may have so isolated ourselves 
from the world. We could sit, you know, out in 
the middle of the desert and think we're safe because the 
devil's in Tahiti and I'm in the middle of this desert. And 
yet I've got this sin. I think it was Jerome. He was 
the man who translated the Bible into Latin. They call it the 
Vulgate. I think I read one time, he was 
out in the desert. Now we're talking 5th century, 
I think. It was Jerome, Jerome-ish, 6th 
century around that. But he said when he was out in 
the desert, he had fantasies or dreams of dancing girls. I 
can't even imagine what a 6th century dancing girl looked like, 
but she was probably a whole lot more modest and any sort 
of dancing girl that faces us today. We need to understand 
that some of the problems that we find ourselves in are for 
these two reasons, the presence of our remaining corruption and 
the neglect of the means of grace. There's another part, I was flipping 
in there and I couldn't find it, but having developed Luther's 
view of corporate worship and the theology of the word preached 
and and the way that God uses those things to provide assurance 
and comfort for his people. He says we can only imagine a 
private pastoral counseling session with Luther. Somebody struggling 
with assurance or somebody struggling with their place before God would 
come to see Pastor Martin and say, Pastor, I'm struggling. 
And Martin would say, Have you been going to church? Well, no. 
Have you been taking the supper? Well, no. Well, then do that 
and talk to me in a few weeks. I've read that Chrysostom, same 
thing, the early church father, we all say the golden tongue 
or the silver tongue preacher, same sort of thing. Persons would 
come to him and say, oh, I need to meet with you. I need to have 
some private counsel. So he would set up a Tuesday 
afternoon. They'd come in, and he'd say, are you using the means? 
They'd say, no. He'd say, well, go use the means, 
and we'll talk again. See, we undervalue that. We undervalue the place of God's 
means. I am convinced beyond a shadow 
of a doubt that that is a real statement. We have so individualized 
and so privatized our religion that we don't see our need for 
the church. We don't see our need for the 
Sabbath day. We don't see our need for the 
supper. We don't see our need for baptism. We just see our 
need for our personal wholeness. Well the way that God brings 
such things to his people is through the means that he has 
ordained. We need to understand that sometimes the problems we 
find ourselves in is because we have imposed them upon ourselves. I'm not saying that if you use 
God's means all the time, every day, the way he specifies, you 
will have nothing but joy and a fairytale existence. I'm not 
saying that. But I'm saying it is much better 
to eat properly, to exercise and to rest properly, Try to 
face life that way than to not eat properly, than to not rest, 
and to not exercise. Those things off kilter will 
oftentimes bring negativity to your life. At least put the ABCs 
in place, the eating, resting, and exercise in terms of physical 
well-being, and the use of the means in terms of the spiritual 
well-being. So many times, many of our problems are self-imposed. 
Why wouldn't we come to the supper? Why wouldn't we attend Bible 
study? Why wouldn't we attend those things? And then we step 
on toes. Well, you can't make me come. Yeah, you're right. 
I can't make you come to church. I certainly can't. I said several 
weeks ago, I'm done nagging. I'm not going to nag people to 
come to church. I'm not going to tell you this 
is, well, I will. I'll continue to say it. But 
this is what God has ordained for the health of his church. 
Why do we wonder? I can't believe I'm struggling. 
I'm having such a difficult time. Do you read your Bible? No. Do 
you pray? No. Do you go to church? No. 
Do you take the Lord's Supper? No. Do you go to buy? No. Well, 
why would you think you shouldn't have problems? Why? Why do you think it's mysticism? There's a direct line between 
me and God and he's just going to bless me. No, God uses means 
and those means are specified very clearly. And so some of 
these things can bring us into a world of hurt if we are not 
seeking faithfulness. Notice the various fruits of 
these assaults, the displeasure of God. whereby they incur God's 
displeasure. The grieving of the Holy Spirit. 
We are told, do not grieve the Holy Spirit in Ephesians chapter 
4. That ought to be a goal of the Christian. To bring pleasure 
to God or honor and glory to God and not to grieve the Holy 
Spirit. Notice the effects upon believers. Their graces and their 
comforts are impaired. They hurt and scandalize others. 
That's a reality. Look at the men who fall into 
sexual sin that are pastors. Do they hurt and scandalize others? 
They hurt and scandalize themselves. They hurt and scandalize their 
wives. They hurt and scandalize their children. And they hurt 
and scandalize the church. Because persons look at that 
and they say, look at that. That's a hypocrite. That man 
isn't what he preached. Notice they bring temporal judgments 
upon themselves. First Corinthians chapter 11, 
if you haven't seen that before, the Psalms of David. What does he say? When I kept 
silent about my sin, everything was great. I knew the pleasure 
of God. I didn't grieve the spirit of 
my life. My relationships were healthy and all. No, my bones 
hurt. There's temporal effects for 
our sins against God. But even in this, with those 
who are affectually called and sanctified by his spirit, the 
end of paragraph three, not found in the Westminster Confession, 
it's as if our brothers Baptists said, we want to make sure you 
don't lose sight of this. Yet, they shall renew their repentance 
and be preserved through faith in Christ Jesus to the end. So brethren, the doctrine of 
the perseverance of the saints does not teach that all believers 
will undergo a fairytale-like existence in the world. But the 
doctrine does teach that though this world, with devils filled, 
should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God hath willed 
his truth to triumph through us. That is a great blessing 
afforded to God's people. So go and be content. and be 
secure and be comforted with a certain and infallible attestation 
of the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, not because of 
your free will, but because of the immutability of the decree 
of election, because of union with the Lord Jesus Christ, because 
of the oath of God, the abiding presence of the spirit and the 
very nature of the covenant of grace. Let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for these truths, and we thank you for what the 
scripture so clearly testifies, that you who began this good 
work in us will complete it unto the day of Christ. I ask now 
that you would bless us as we enter into the public worship 
of God. I pray that we would know your spirit, that we would 
know the mediation of Christ, that we would see the smile and 
glory come to our great God in heaven and earth. We ask that 
you would save sinners, Lord. We ask that you would sanctify 
your people, that you would cause each of us to grow in the grace 
and knowledge of our Lord Jesus. And we pray in his most blessed 
name. Amen.