Good morning everyone. Thank you very much to the Lord for allowing us to continue. Let me just first apologize for those who were in the prayer meeting last night. I was already connected at the minutes before the start, then suddenly the internet broke down in my office, never returned until after more than one hour, so it's not that I ran away. We will be dealing now with the last portion in our study of the Puritan distinctives for the sake of those who may be coming for the first time or encountering the lesson for the first time. We are dealing with this in a sort of a pyramidal way that is by way of five tiers or sections of study starting with the most the widest latitude of our agreement with those who profess to be Christians as Orthodox and then as Evangelical, those who believe in salvation by grace instead of works. But we dig further into the issue of grace and thus become reformed in our distinctives. And we are now in the section of the Puritan where the issue of Christian life and practice becomes most prominent. And after this, God willing, we shall be looking at Baptist distinctives. So we are now in the Puritan distinctives where we are dealing with four of these. We dealt with the Sabbath sacredness, the regulative principle in worship, and universal holiness in church and life. Now connected to the last universal holiness in church and life is the issue of the sanctified heart and in particular we are addressing the danger of apostasy. Now the word apostasy is not something that is very much heard today. because it is not based on the teachings of many churches. We can hear the assurance of salvation, the certainty of going to heaven, but we do not hear the rumors about apostasy. And in this, the Puritans were distinct. in their emphasis on and the warning against the reality and danger of apostasy. So, we are living at a time where assurance of salvation is reduced to formula resulting in complacent security. Because what is happening here is a formula of assurance in a decisionistic method that we often discuss. na lahat ay formula, formula of faith by accepting Christ as Lord and Savior, formula of prayer that is dictated and then repeated, and at the end of it is the one who gives assurance of salvation. So it is a formula kind of assurance which it is not in the scriptures, in decisionistic evangelism, it is the soul winner himself. who gives blanket assurance based on human act. I know. I've been there. I was trained to do it. And probably, some of you are also trained to do it. And I was there for many years. So I know what they are doing. And this is exactly what is happening. The danger of that is going to be exposed by the Puritan teachings. So the Puritans taught a biblical and pastoral assurance oriented to holiness. And that is not the case with the assurance that we hear often today. So we are addressing the issue, can one attain an assurance of salvation? And if so, and of course we're assuming that the answer to that is yes, but if so, how is this maintained? Paano napapanatili? Dito natin tingnan yung mga wrong approaches muli para ma-distinguish natin how the Puritans excelled in answering those questions. The first is the Roman Catholic position, which holds that no assurance of salvation is possible in this life. Now, the assurance that they hold is the assurance of the Church. And that is why what they encourage their followers to do is believe in the Church in what they call implicit faith. It means that you don't know what the Church is teaching. You don't weigh whether it's right or wrong. Basta maniwala ka lang sa simbahan, karga ka na ng simbahan. But the personal individual himself, he cannot have a personal assurance of salvation. Why? Precisely because of what I was warning against in my message this morning, because of the teaching that is grounded on salvation by merits. and works. If your salvation is in the way of your works and your merits, of course, you will not know until it is finished. Because what will happen is like weighing, you will weigh which one is more dangerous or which one is heavier, your goodness or your evil. And therefore, this is going to happen only on the Judgment Day, knowing one's salvation state, is only at the end of the judgment day. That's what happens when salvation is by works. Salvation is by your own merits. You'll have to wait for God to determine whether you made it or not. You won't know if you've done it or not. The only thing you can do is to do everything. na makakaya mo at gamitin ang mga kasangkapan ng simbahan gaya ng sakramento at iba pang mga ritual. So, salvation by merit and works is self-righteousness. And this is what I was saying in my message. It is not the gospel. The gospel as stated in the text we used this morning is not of works. And because it is not of works, then it cannot be by any merit and righteousness that we have done. So, that is one wrong approach and probably that is where most of us were bred in. Dun tayo pinalaki, dun tayo hinubog, at yun ay hindi ibanghelyo kung meron akong kausap sa inyo. or you online, yan pa rin ang inyong pinangahawakan, yan ay hindi ibanghelyo, yan ay ka linlang sa sarili na nagaakalang may sapat kang magagawa para kang maligtas, hindi kanyang bibigyan ng katiyakan. And then there's the, or let's use Galatians 2.16 to affirm what I have just asserted. We know, Paul says, when he says we know, in the context, he's saying of Jews and Gentiles. Ito sa talagang alam ng isang tunay na naligtas. Maraming hindi pa alam. Isang bagong ligtas pa lamang. Maraming pa siyang matututunan. Pero ang sinasabi ni Pablo dito patungkul sa pagkakamali ni Pedro ay, we know that by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified. So I can call this the basic knowledge of the gospel. That you accept that you are not justified, that is, you are not acquitted by the law. because of your works. And then there's the, and here I hesitate to make a critique, but I need to, the reformers held to assurance of salvation as essential to saving faith. Let's look at the opposite of the Roman Catholic position, no assurance of salvation. What the reformers did Because the reformers, remember, were in controversy with the Roman Catholics, so they tended to overstate their case in order to contradict the Roman Catholic position. So due to controversy with the Roman Catholics, the reformers overstated assurance, making it essential to saving faith. That is the position they have taken, again, because of their controversy with the Roman Catholics. And I want to say that assurance is not essential to saving faith. which is on Christ alone. That is how we will answer this position. Of course, faith in Christ is essential to salvation, saving faith. What we are saying is that assurance is not part of the essence of faith. And that is what happened to the man whose son was raised by Jesus Christ. Do you believe? And his response is probably something that you and I can understand. This will resonate with us. His response was, I believe. but he can still sense that reality of unbelief. So is it possible for one to both believe and yet have that part in him which is still in unbelief? That precisely is the condition of every sinner redeemed and now is a believer yet still struggling with realities of unbelief. A true believer may have tension of belief and unbelief. That's the case of this man is. So, there could be tension. Your faith is there, but because you haven't completely fulfilled it, the lack of faith is still there. So, that's the second wrong position or overstated position. Then there is the third wrong approach, which is the more common, the popular case today among evangelicals, that assurance is grounded on what is commonly called as a formula or slogan, once saved, always saved. Now, in itself, that is not wrong, except that in its usage, the way it is used, kung paano itong ginagamit, ay tumutukoy sa desisyon. Decision makes human pronouncement of assurance. The chess tournament, kapag nahipo mo yung piensa man lang, basta nahipo mo yan, you're forced to move it kahit na alam mong blunder pala. Well, this is what happens sa decisionistic evangelism. O, napap na-pray mo na, na-accept mo na si Christ. Sa sabihin nga yun ang soul winner, saved ka na. And often times that salvation is so impoverished in the sense of going to heaven. Hanggang doon lang sila. Kapag namatay ka, you go to heaven and that's it. Wala ka na magagawa. Talagang... And what often happens is that this person, two things happen. One is this person is honest enough. to know that nothing changed in him. He's still the same sinner who loves his sin. Nothing transformed. What will be his conclusion? This gospel is not true. and he becomes cynical about the gospel message. It did not work for him. That's one possible result. The other possible result, and oftentimes this is often the case, is that the person remains the same. There is no transformation of his life, no real hunger after God's Word, nothing changed. But what retains in his mind is he's going to heaven when he dies. What do you think this man is going to do? He will have the license now to live on in anarchy, in disobedience to God, yet for all that, still sure, he is going to heaven. That is what happens more often and is more dangerous. So, what is wrong with this is because assurance of salvation is the work of the Holy Spirit. It's not the pronouncement of man. It is the work of the Holy Spirit according to Romans 8.16. The Holy Spirit Himself And there's an emphasis, the Holy Spirit himself bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God. Siya ang nagpapatutuo sa ating spiritun na tayo yung mga anak ng Diyos at ang mga sumunod dyan ay iba pang mga status natin as heirs of God, etc. Those things can be Our assurance, but that assurance is given by the Holy Spirit. So, what is the biblical presentation? Well, let's look at this from three clusters of teaching. The first is that it is possible to have assurance of salvation. And this is something biblically taught and exalted. Biblically taught, Romans 5.1, we now have peace with God. And peace with God there is not peace of feeling, but peace in terms of relationship with God. We are now in a relationship of peace, no longer enmity, no longer conflict with God, but rather peace with God. That is a fact. because of justification. Romans 8 1, there is therefore now no more condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Again, when Paul uses the word now, he's not talking about now in terms of our experience, but now in terms since Christ came. Because Christ came, we now have the assurance that there is no condemnation. Now, if you compare that to the Roman Catholic, that's where you'll find out on Judgment Day. It is said that on Judgment Day, what happened to one who believed in Jesus Christ, there was a judgment, and the judgment was removed. or to put it in forensic or legal terms, it's like you're standing as the accused before the court and the judge pronounced not guilty. Absuelto. Alam natin may nangyayaring mga naabsuelto. Ngayong linggo lamang. Mga naabsuelto na hindi dapat maabsuelto. Ganyan ang human court. But, in God's court, hindi ka naman pwede maabsuelto kung kasalanan ka. That's the mystery of the gospel. Because of Christ, even though I'm a sinner, I'm a criminal, and all evidences point to my guilt, yet God can pronounce that I am acquitted, No condemnation because of Christ. Why? Because the blessings of future salvation have been inaugurated in Christ. That is the answer to what they are saying, that we will only know on Judgment Day. It is true that on Judgment Day, but because of Christ, in His first judgment, Judgment Day was postponed. sentence. Justification is the judgment day sentence of acquitted but already made for those who are in Christ. We don't need to wait for judgment day to know what will happen to us when it comes to our standing with the law of God. So Ephesians 1.3 says, blessed be God who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Now, usually we would understand that to mean pagpunta natin ng langit doon natin makikita ang ati mga kaligtasan. When heaven is used, usually, not always, but usually, it means not the heaven where we are going when we die. but rather the heaven that came down in Christ. That's why in the Lord's Prayer, Jesus taught His disciples to pray, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. How did that happen? Because Christ, the one who is in heaven, And we thought that we would only be able to reach heaven, but it has already started, even though it is not complete, but it has already started with Jesus Christ. That is the salvation that is there, and we can be sure of it. in our lives today. You who have no hope because you are not yet in Christ, this is what is missing from you. You live every day without hope. You don't know what will happen. Hindi mo alam kung hanggang kailan na ganyan ka na sa isang iglap ay maaaring humarap ka sa Diyos. At kung wala kang katiyakan, isang nakapangingilabot isipin kung ano ang iyong haharapin sa Diyos. But there can be assurance now. But the other side of this is also true. In the teaching on assurance of salvation, it is possible to lack assurance of salvation. I'm talking here of the believer. A true believer may lack assurance of salvation. And this is where the Puritans excelled. The Puritans distinguished between assurance of the gospel and assurance of faith. Assurance of the gospel means faith that you are sure of Christ and His saving acts. So, you are not doubting that. You are believing it. But the Puritans, and here, this is their difference with the reformers. The reformers, many of them were controversialists because of the controversy with Rome. With the Roman Catholics, they tended to overstate their case in order to just show the error of the Roman Catholics, whereas the Puritans were pastors, most of them. They were theologians, but they were also pastors, and many of their views were honed by their dealings with different experiences of the people of God. And so they have encountered true Christians who they have no doubt to believe are Christians, yet are doubting their salvation. And they realize it is not that they are doubting Christ, they are rather doubting their faith. So, they believe that Christ is the Savior, that Christ is the Savior. The question is, is my faith true? Can that happen to a man of faith who really believes, but he is denying that he really believes? That happens. Because this one is objective. You're looking at outside of you, what Christ has done. This one is reflexive. It reflects on your own faith. At sino sa atin ditong hindi nagduda kailanman na ikaw ay sumampalataya? Darating at darating ang pagdududa na yan. This is the Puritan's excellent contribution to the question whether a man can have assurance. Yes, they said yes. But it is also possible for a man to be a true believer and lack assurance, not because he is doubting Christ, but he is doubting his own faith. And that's what one needs to grow in. So faith is assurance of the gospel, but one may doubt about his own faith. He's a true believer and there can be people of that sort in churches or sometimes people who delay becoming members of the church because of that assurance problem. Then, James 2.18 is something that distinguishes between one's assured faith and justification and one's possessed faith that can be questioned. Show me your faith, James challenges, apart from your works, and I will show you my faith. by my works. What he is saying there is there are people who will profess faith and yet they cannot evidence it with works. James C. Paul does not contradict that justification is by faith. What he is saying is the evidence of your faith that justifies should be that you are producing the fruit of works. So we can challenge one's faith And that also means that a person himself who is a believer may feel the challenge to his faith because we still have our remaining sins, our inconsistencies, our own sinfulness. Then the third proposition on assurance is it is possible, and this is the most dangerous, it is possible to have a false assurance of salvation. Let us not go to the conclusion that this person is absolutely certain of his salvation. And yet, the Puritans also warned against what they call temporary believers. And by temporary believers, they mean they make an initial act of response to the Gospel and may endure for a while But then when challenges, when real challenges to the faith emerge, that's when their faith wilts. And we have that in the parable of the sower and the soils. at least two kinds of hearers had an initial response. They have no root in themselves, however, but endure for a while. And then when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. members of church were baptized and joined the works of the Church and for all intent and purposes they were accepted as Christians and then tribulations came or other challenges or temptations and then suddenly you do not see them anymore. And that's the reality of temporary faith. It appears just like real faith, but it is proven or disproved by its endurance or lack thereof. So, initial response and temporary endurance are not guaranteed of true faith. Let's not say, that's just one year of membership, let's be sure of that. That's not the way we look at things, because it is of the Holy Spirit. So, that's the teaching on assurance of salvation. Then, there is the teaching on apostasy from faith. And this is where the Puritans were unmatched. I dare to say that as one who has read both literature before the Puritans, literature after the Puritans, and of course literature from the Puritans, so having read all kinds I am willing to assert it is the Puritans who are distinct in their emphasis on apostasy from the faith. But what does that mean? Let us clarify. Una, it does not mean loss of salvation. Through salvation will not be lost. This is the promise. of the book of Hebrews concerning the greatness of Christ. It is grounded on His greatness. He is able. So you see, it's not that we are able, but He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him. So if you come to God through Jesus Christ, He can save you completely. When we speak of apostasy, we do not mean salvation is lost. It means departure from professed faith. May inaangkim kang pananampalataya, na maaring naniniwala ka mismo sa iyong inaangkin, at pati ang iba, ang iglesya'y napaniwala, na ikaw ngay manan ang palataya. Ngunit pagkatapos, sa kaanumang kadahilanan na nakita na natin kanina, it may be tribulation, it may be temptation, it may be that you just want to go back to the old life, ang nangyayari ay one who is unidentified as a believer, accepted by the church as a believer, may yet prove false. And many have spiritual experiences, and I put in quotation marks, spiritual experiences, because they share what is given to the Church. If you are a member of the Church, and the Church is a Church of the Spirit, you are part of that, but it doesn't mean that you are real. This is what the Hebrew Bible says. It lists those who are able to experience, enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift. But these are high attainments of a spiritual experience and yet, then, have fallen away. And he contrasts this in verse 9 because from the third person, he was speaking of those. From verse 8 following, he speaks of you. you have the root of the matter in you. Now, here is an important part of the teaching. All believers must heed the warning against apostasy. Now here is again where the Puritans excel. There are some who think that the warnings against apostasy apply only to false professors. Sinasabi nila, oh, alam ko may warning sa apostasy, pero true believer ako, hindi para sa akin yan. I don't take that seriously. Only those who are false professors should take that seriously because I believe that salvation will not be lost. What value would that be to me if my salvation is true? Why should I take it seriously? I mean, it will only give me doubts if I take seriously the warnings against apostasy since salvation is not going to be lost and they're missing the point. Look at these warnings, Hebrews 3.12, take care. Brothers, so the writer calls them brothers, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil unbelieving heart leading you to fall away, to apostatize. And yet he calls them brethren. And then, chapter 10, verse 26, also of Hebrews, if you go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin. What does he mean? He means that you cannot use the cross of Christ to cover for your deliberate sinful lifestyle. You cannot use the name and label Christian and say, I am covered by the blood of Christ. So even if my life is one of deliberate lifestyle of sinning, I have the cover of the atonement of Christ. The writer says, no, you don't. Do not take the sacrifice of Christ as a cover for a sinful lifestyle. The warning against apostasy serves as restraint on true believers. That's the function. Not because you will lose your salvation, but if you take it seriously, you will be able to maintain your own life. You will not assume, because I'm a true believer, I can do this or do that and nothing is lost of my salvation. That's not the way a true believer reasons. Kaya nga, oriented siya sa holiness, which brings us to the next cluster of teaching, the teaching on sanctified heart. The way to deal with the reality or the danger of apostasy is make sure that your sanctification is of the heart. Nang kabanalan mo ay nasa puso. The Puritans underscored the need for holiness in heart. And again, I know of no period of Christian literature that has more on the sanctification of the heart than the Puritan period. John Owen's spiritual mindedness, or indwelling sin in believers, or the danger of apostasy from the gospel, or John Flavel searching the heart, and I can cite more. Puritan literature, but they were all emphatic on sanctifying your heart. Why is that important? Because sanctification can become a ritual. And for the Puritans, that does not bear the real faith. Kung ritual lang, lagi ka nag-attend the church, and it is to you a ritual you keep, maybe faithfully, and it is a Christian duty. And I do not want anyone to even belittle the assembly of the church. It is one of the major means. But it can happen that once Christianity begins and ends with its assembly, or whatever other routines in a ritual way, also it is not just behavioral. If you want to be decent in your external, and still that does not cut it. It must be holiness of motives and the internal. The Proverbs 21 verse 2. Every way of a man seems right in his own eyes, but the Lord searches the heart. You can beautify your appearance, but your heart will be damaged. And 1 Peter 3.15, even in our relations with people, we are here encouraged by Peter. in your hearts honor christ the lord as holy always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you The point here is that the sanctified heart is the major antidote to apostasy. So, we have a fight against apostasy, and that is in 1 Thessalonians 3.13, that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. You will learn in some books how to be decent in your Christian external life or even in terms of your rituals. But the Puritans searched the very core of our humanity in the heart. And that is the answer to apostasy. So let us consider the significance of the sanctified heart and the danger of apostasy as a Puritan distinctive. Unang-una, the battle for persevering holiness is in the heart. Madaling labanan, o hindi madaling, mahirap din labanan yung you form a habit. But it is part of holiness, form a habit. The habit of devotion, the habit of prayer, these are all habits to maintain, which are good. But what foundation the habits should have is the battle of the heart. Because it's there that you will find the recessed battle. It's not in maintaining a habit. The fiercest battle is in the heart. Remember what A.W. Tozer said, I have seen so many ugly sights, none more ugly than my heart. And that's what every Christian feels. That's where all the corruption can be nurtured whilst you are having a blast of testimony externally, the heart can be full of corruption in motives, in thoughts, and desires, and everything internal. The Bible tells us, 2 Corinthians 7.1, Let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit. That's what we called last time, universal holiness. The whole humanity. We don't remove the habit. We don't remove the kilos. That's included. But, Bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. The second point of significance is that assurance of salvation is not for complacency but for alertness. This is what decisionism has done. It has made assurance a ground for complacency. assurance will make us more watchful Look at 1 John 3, 2 and 3. Everyone who has this hope, what hope, that we are children of God, even now we can know. This is about adoption. One of the blessings of salvation, we can know it now that we are children of God. But if you know it, John says, everyone who has this hope purifies himself even as he, the father, is pure. So instead, because I'm assured, I can live a life of self-indulgence. No, you cannot. You're truly assured. That very assurance will make you want to be. consistent with all salvation blessings you say you are sure of. And finally, that's the reason for church censure. Church censure is the corporate response to apostasy. Because there is apostasy, it means that the Church is wrong. In fact, the position that should be taken is it is better, if we have to go wrong, it is better to err in admitting the false than in rejecting the true. You follow the logic? If he is a true Christian, but the evidence is thin at this point, the tendency may be to reject him until he can explain regeneration and how effectual call and regeneration are different. No, it cannot be like that. But the other one is very good at answering. He is theologically trained. Ah, he accepted right away. And yet, he may be false. The point is, it's still better to accept one who is false than to reject the true. Why? When you accept the false, or let me begin with, if you reject the true, you leave him without the major means of grace of the Church, even though he's a true Christian. If you accept the false and then later on prove and become evident to all that he is false, we have a recourse. Censure. That's why church discipline is a mark of a true church. That is the mark of a true church that disciplines. Sometimes, when The Church is swaying. We are saying, we are being led by the Lord. After having discipline, it's like we are being cursed by the Lord. It's not like that. We are being tested. So, don't blame the Church for being wrong in disciplining. The Church is wrong in not disciplining when necessary. So even in 1 John again, in terms of those who are out of the church, by way most likely of excommunication, John says it is because they are not of us. Because if they were of us, they would have no doubt remained with us. So the assumption there is the church makes a decision to cut off, to exclude those who prove to be apostates. And I hope this church will remain that way, not because we love to exercise censure, but we are loyal to Christ, that because the church is a reflection of His kingdom, anyone who becomes a blot on that kingdom because of his apostate life should be excised. Infection attacks your body cells, but your body perceives it's a foreign element. That's why you have a built-in mechanism to defend the body from infection. Or if it's not enough, you have antibiotics and other ways. The problem with cancer is that it is part of the body. It's not a foreign element. It's part of the body that is overgrowing. And the only way to deal with it is excise it. Excision. That's the radical force of censure. It's not because the church is a judgmental church, not because we are a cruel church, but because we are loyal to Jesus Christ. So that's why we are to be watchful of those who are showing signs of apostasy. So my final challenge is based on Hebrews 10, 38 and 39. My righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. So, balawalang, shrink back and you're destroyed. or you persevere by the preserving grace of God. So I challenge you, plead for a sanctified heart, and then persevere in faith. It's not something you can simply resolve, I'll be a good Christian. No, keep a sanctified heart, because that's the antidote to apostasy.