Kind is the Lord in all his deeds, All those who call the Lord a friend. he he every creature Amen. People of God, we come now to the reading of the word of our Lord. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, we'll read verses 4 to 9. And then following that, we'll turn to page 278, right in the last few pages now of the Forms and Prayers book. And we'll read articles two and three of the fifth main point of doctrine, the perseverance of the saints. First Corinthians chapter one, right around page 1,200, most of the pew Bibles. And we will read verses 4 to 9. Let us hear the word of our Lord, the good news of Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus. that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you, so that you are not lacking in any gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end. Guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. So far the reading, the grass withers, the flower fades, the word of our Lord endures forever. And the confessions, which are a summary of the truths we read in scripture. So we come to the fifth main point of doctrine, Articles 2 and 3. The fifth head of doctrine is in many ways, from front to back, the most practical of the sections of the Canons of Doric, four sections, because they combine Heads 3 and 4. It is very much, it can be called the head, the section of practicalness, of warmth, speaking about what this perseverance is. The first three articles are, in some ways, the definition of what is needed and what perseverance is, and then those following articles are many practical things about what is assurance, what do we do with assurance, what are the means to assurance, what does assurance lead us to, these kinds of questions. These first few articles are more like the definition that kicks it off. So Article 1, the regenerate are not entirely free from sin, which leads to Article 2, the believer's reaction to sins of weakness. Hence, daily sins of weakness arise and blemishes cling to even the best works of God's people, giving them continual cause to humble themselves before God, to flee for refuge to Christ crucified, to put the flesh to death more and more by the spirit of supplication and by holy exercises of godliness, and to strain toward the goal of perfection until they are freed from this body of death and reign with the Lamb of God in heaven. Then article three, God's preservation of the converted. Because of the remnants of sin dwelling in them and also because of the temptations of the world and Satan, those who have been converted could not remain standing in this grace if left to their own resources. but God is faithful, mercifully strengthening them in the grace once conferred on them and powerfully preserving them in it to the end. Dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, what do you think of, young or old, when you hear the word flee? Do you think of walking or do you think of running? Well, hopefully you hear the word flee and you think running. Running, not just aimlessly, but intentionally running away from something, running away from something which is dangerous. Flee, get away from it as quickly as you can. Perhaps you have had occasions in your life where you had to flee from something. You might think of the occasion to flee from a large animal. One time in my life, when I was quite small, I saw a black bear. I was very thankful that I was inside. But even inside, I felt like fleeing further inside. Like, this bear is scary. It's in my own backyard. Have you ever confronted a large animal or seen a large animal unexpectedly outside of the comforts of a home with walls? Well, you want to get away as quickly and intentionally as possible. There are some scary animals in this world. The ferocious bear, the charging buffalo, the angry bull, which perhaps some farmers have seen over the course of their lives. These are animals to flee from and these are pictures of of what we are to do with sin. It's the illustration, really. You can think of other things to flee from, but it's, in many words, a one-word illustration. Through that word, flee. Run away from something dangerous. And as a one-word illustration in that way, it's one which is common in scripture. We see it in many places. from sin and where is that intentional place you're running to you don't just you don't just want to flee from one danger to another so where to flee to flee to the presence of Jesus Christ the place of safety this is the essential message of the gospel this is the And this is the message to be repeated again and again, to flee from sin, to flee toward Jesus Christ, His cross and His resurrection. And so that's what we'll focus on tonight, particularly thinking of the preserving power of coming to, running to, fleeing to Christ and being united with Him. And that's our three points. Flee away from sin, flee toward the cross, flee into unity with preservation. images of flea. It's found in many places in Scripture, especially in the letters of Paul, but also a few times in the Old Testament. Genesis 39 gives it to us in narrative form, in the form of an actual event. Genesis 39, Joseph flees from Potiphar's wife. We read also in the Psalms, Psalm 43, verse 9, deliver me from my enemies, O Lord, I have fled to you for refuge. And then many times in the New Testament, especially in the letters of Paul, almost every single letter which Paul wrote, he uses at some point the word flee and then tied to sin, flee from this sin, flee from that sin. In the in 1st Corinthians, which we're focusing on tonight. We see it in 1st Corinthians 10, verse 14. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. Flee from sin, a word which in many ways serves as a one-word illustration as well as a command. flee from it, run from it, get away from danger. This is true both for the believer and for the unbeliever. This is true for the unbeliever as this must be the initial way to come to Christ. And because Article 1, which we didn't read, but the regenerate are not entirely free from sin. We're not entirely free from it, so we must flee from it. This is true for the believer as well as the unbeliever. And to be without sin then is not the source of preserving comfort because we cannot be without sin upon this earth. But many throughout history in different ways have taught this, in different ways they have taught this. And so this is one of the rejections of errors, for example. Rejection of error two says this, listen for the conditional language. Listen for the conditional language. This is page 282, if you turn over a few pages. And it would be a good idea to have the canons of Dort open tonight. We'll be referencing it even more than usual. Listen for the conditional language. We reject the errors of those who teach that God does not provide the believer with sufficient strength to persevere and is ready to preserve this strength in him if he performs his duty. but that even with all these things in place which are necessary to persevere in faith, in which God is pleased to use to preserve faith, it still always depends on the choice of man's will whether or not he preserves. Do you hear the two conditional clauses there? God will do this if he performs his duty. God will do this, but it still always depends on the choice of man's free will. This was how the error was stated. And so it says on that next paragraph what the reaction to this false teaching is, for this view is obviously Pelagian. And though it intends to make men free, it makes them sacrilegious. Sacrilegious is not showing honor to God. It's robbing from God that which belongs to him. You see, by putting assurance and perseverance into the category of what man does, if he performs his duty, if he makes the right choice with his free will, by putting it into that category, you are robbing from God that which he does. And you are making the foundation of your perseverance your own self. But we can never be free from sin. We can never perfectly perform our duty. So this is a painful error. It's a painful error. Doctrine rightly understood should drive us to comfort. But do you see how there's no comfort in this? It is either going to lead to pride to the one who thinks that he is able to stay in this by his duty or by his free choice, or the lesser of two evils, it will lead to despair. Because you're never going to be performing your duty as you ought. You see how wrong theology directly leads to the sin of stealing from God, sacrilegiously, that which belongs to Him, and throws you into an either-or, where either you're sinning through pride or driving yourself to despair. And the despair would be not as bad as the pride. They're both what we would not want. But see how wrong theology directly leads to pain and sin together. But, thanks be to God always. For you, because of the grace of God that was given to you in Christ Jesus, 1 Corinthians 1.4. Because 1 Corinthians 1.9, God is faithful. by whom you were called into the fellowship of his son. God keeps us to the end, 1 Corinthians 1.8. And so that chapter of 1 Corinthians 1 ends with, so that it is written, let the one who boasts boast in the Lord. This is turning around the false theology with its despair and robbing from God and turning it around to proper comfort and perseverance and proper worship and boasting in the Lord. who accomplishes these things. So we must flee from sin. We must flee from thinking that perseverance, staying in salvation, depends merely upon our duty or our own choice. We must flee toward the cross, our second point. Rejection of error one walking backwards actually looks at this who they teach that the the perseverance of the believer. Page 281 that the perseverance of true believers is not an effect of election or a gift of God produced by Christ death. But instead, a condition of the new covenant which man before they call his peremptory election and justification must fulfill by his free will. in short, removing it from the realm of Christ's death, Christ's accomplishment, and moving it into the realm of man's free will. But the Holy Scriptures testify That perseverance follows from election and is granted to the chosen by virtue of Christ's death, Christ's resurrection, Christ's intercession. This is then the only thing to preach. Preach Christ. Preach away from man. Preach away from the preacher. Preach away from the one in the pew. Preach away from man-centered thought. Preach toward Jesus Christ. Preach away from human invention. Preach toward Christ. This is what 2 Corinthians says. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. And this is why, what are they focusing on what is their very driving purpose. Verse five, for what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord with ourselves as your servants for Jesus sake. fleeing from sin, fleeing from danger to the only refuge, to the cross, to Jesus Christ. And so we proclaim Jesus again and again because there is nothing else to proclaim. Broad is the road that leads to destruction. Narrow is the road that leads to eternal life. What is so broad about that road? It's broad in a number of different ways. It's broad because it's easy to find your way to it, and it's broad because there's so much included in it. There have been so many different attempts to proclaim salvation in man-centered ways, whether this is through Christian heresies, through the ways of the world, through the thoughts of each person in their own living room. It's a broad way. It's easy to find, and there's lots of options within it. but the way to salvation, the one thing we must flee toward is Jesus Christ alone. And so we proclaim Jesus Christ again and again and again, because it's a narrow way, both in the sense that it is difficult to find, only the Spirit can bring you there, and it's a narrow sense because there's only one option. And so what are we doing? What am I doing if there's ever any sermon which doesn't make clear that one option? Flee from sin. Flee toward Jesus Christ. There are many sins. There's only one Christ. This is the central message. What is the believers reaction to the sin of. To the sins of weakness, which arise in the blemishes, which cling to us. To flee for refuge to Christ crucified. 1 Corinthians 1, 4-9. Did you count how many times it says Christ, Christ Jesus, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ our Lord? As the apostle begins his letter, Verses 1 to 3, verses 4 to 9, and again in verse 10, and of course the verse numbers are not inspired, but 4 to 9, six verses, Jesus Christ named explicitly five times and spoken of again through a pronoun six times in six verses. It's the only option, it's the only way. the only one to preach. Do not run aimlessly. Do not flee out of the lion's den and into the wolf's lair. Do not run out of one sin and into another. Do not look for any of the ways of earth, many of which offer safety or fun run to the one Jesus Christ our Lord and there in his arms is preserving unity. It's coming into unity, into fellowship, into perseverance. It's another great difference between that broad way and narrow way, isn't it? That broad way, it winds, it turns, you can drift from one option into another. And you can come out of the broad way and into the narrow way. But when you are truly in the narrow way, when you are truly in Jesus Christ, It's the only road, there's only one option, and God will never let you fall off of that road. That's much different than the wobbling road of the world. The road of the world What's the current culture that we live in, right? The moral revolution. What was revolutionary five years ago is not up to the standards now. It's just constantly changing. It's a moving target. You have to delete your old tweets fast enough before people find them because you're not woke enough anymore. I think that's a word, right? It's a moving target. And so it is with the way of the world, right? But this road does not move, and he who makes this road will not let you be moved from it. So we reject the error of those who teach that. Rejection of error 3, page 282, of those who teach that those who truly believe and have been born again not only can forfeit justifying faith, as well as grace and salvation, totally and to the end, but also, in actual fact, do often forfeit and are lost forever. There's actually a kind of movement I hesitate a little bit to say this because I'm by no means a historical expert, but the Remonstrants who followed Arminius out of the Reformed faith. These were Reformed people. And they fell into this error. So the Remonstrants who followed Arminius, this was the last domino to fall. There was, for a long time, they still spoke of the perseverance of the saints. And then it came to a point where they said, well, maybe scripture teaches it, maybe it doesn't, and then finally rejected it outright before the synod and were condemned. But we can understand that that would be the last domino to fall. At least they understood it in this sense. Once salvation depends upon man in any way, well then, you do get to this point. They reached a point of despair. And then they say, not only that it happens, but it happens often. Because if you have any understanding of man, your wrong theology would eventually drive you there. And we still believe in perseverance. Oh, we're not sure if we do. Maybe Scripture, maybe. No, it does happen. Man can fall, and man can fall often. Remember, the one thing that they still retained to a certain degree was, yeah, man is sinful. They remembered that. That's why the third and fourth heads are put together. Despair. Despair. When salvation comes to a point of being based on the conditions of man, you come to a point of despair. But this opinion nullifies the very grace of justification and regeneration, as well as the continual preservation by Christ. And so it's contrary to the plain words of Paul, it's contrary to the plain words of John, and it's contrary to the plain words of Jesus Christ himself, who says, I give eternal life to my sheep, and they shall never perish. No one can snatch them out of my hand. It is a preserving union. It is a preserving fellowship. It's revealed by the Lord Jesus Christ, verse 8 of 1 Corinthians 1, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless, guiltless, with justification. This is what Jesus Christ accomplishes in salvation. You are justified, your sins, they still cling to you, but you have been justified by Jesus Christ. You see how right theology drives you to comfort rather than despair? It's eternal in nature. So, the believer who's reacting against his sins of weakness, what is the last lines of Article 2? To strain toward the goal of perfection until they are freed from this body of death and reign with the Lamb of God in heaven forever. It's a preserving union, a union of fellowship. That's the language of 1 Corinthians 1.9. It's a union for eternity. So man is not left to his own resources. But God is faithful. Now why do we need to hear this again and again? We've just gone over the definition articles. So we've had application of that most essential thing, that we must flee from sin and flee from Jesus Christ, but apart from that most essential thing, we haven't had a whole lot of application tonight, we might say. So why do we need to hear this most essential thing again and again? On the positive side, We haven't gotten to those practical and warm articles of this fifth hedge yet, but on the practical side, there's no sweeter comfort for the believer than to know this and to hear it again and again. There's no sweeter comfort which exists on earth. Not one. Christ alone. And there is even perseverance in him. On the negative side, the temptation to doubt is persistent. There are other sins which can diminish with age. A young man begins to struggle with particular sins of lust and hears, well, keep struggling against it, young man. You know, sometimes if the Lord gives you a long enough life on earth, it's not as much of a struggle eventually. Really? That point comes? Sometimes? For that particular sin? Others too, right? There are other sins which are not uniform in how they attack the saints. There are some sins which can diminish, or the work of the Holy Spirit can work powerfully, and sins which once held onto you, whether that sin be anger or pride, can diminish over the years, over the decades. But this temptation, the temptation to doubt, seems to be a persistent one. And while it can take different forms, the temptation to doubt the very existence of God, or the temptation to doubt my own salvation, it takes different forms, but it attacks believers of all ages. There is no sweeter comfort, and the devil works so hard to undermine this comfort. And he doesn't stop. He doesn't stop. It's a temptation for all ages. It's a battle. So reflect on what God has done often be always in a position of repenting from fleeing from sin and trusting in Jesus Christ. run quickly, flee to this position, and when in that position, when looking to the Savior, when looking away from sin, then be often in the habit of thinking and rejoicing on the reality that God will preserve His people. We are not left to our own resources. But we are left in the arms of Jesus Christ. Amen. Let us pray. Lord, our Lord, our Father in heaven. Scripture directs us to call you father. to call Christ our husband and our elder brother, our friend and our advocate, and all this unfailingly perfectly. So hold us. Hold us as your needy children and make us to know the surety of your grip. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Our song of application number 350, if you would stand to sing number 350. I believe in the cross of Jesus of the mighty rock within a weary land. A home within the wilderness, a rest upon the way from the burning of the new day. Jesus, fine eyes and time-spelled feet, the very value me love and my unworthiness. I take across the shadow for my abiding place. I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine. My sinful self, my only shame, but my glory all the People of God, our evening offering is for the general fund. Following that, benediction and doxology number 563. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. If you would stand, people of God. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen. Grace of Christ our Savior and the Father's boundless love. rest upon us ♪ Abide in union with each other and the Lord ♪ ♪ And possess in sweet communion ♪ ♪ Joys which earth cannot afford ♪ Yeah. Yeah.