Well, we're going to go ahead and get started. It's 930. Let's go to God in prayer. Merciful Father, we praise you. Your heart is full of love and kindness towards us. We see it day after day. We see it chiefly in Christ, but we certainly see it in Providence. We pray that as we come to consider glorious truths from Your Word, that You would press us with Your power and Your love. We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. So as we've been making our way through chapters 14 through 18 in the Westminster Confession, it's kind of part of what we call the golden chain of salvation. And we're on the latter end of that chain. We have spent several weeks looking at chapter 17. Chapter 17 on perseverance. So here's a question for you. I know it's early. You come to Sunday school, you get asked some questions sometimes. Perseverance. Is that something God does or we do? I mean, it was too easy, okay? No, yeah, you're exactly right, okay? God is the one who preserves us, but he does call us to persevere. And in our persevering, he's the one who is upholding us and keeping us going. He finishes the good work that he starts in us, but he does call us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Those two things don't cancel one another out, they're side by side. And we understand that God works concurrently as we work He works for His glory and our good. So we spent some time talking about chapter 17. Today we come to chapter 18. And I know another difficult question. What number comes after 17? 18, right? Do you think the Westminster divines did this on purpose? 17 about perseverance, 18 about assurance. Or did they just kind of, you know, all right, boom, let's throw it all together like that. No, there was a logic to it. There was a logic to it. And here's what I'm trying to get at. Saints who persevere sometimes struggle with assurance that they are saved and that God is for them. Not against them. Why? Because we're sinful. Because we struggle with perseverance. So the Westminster Divines, they're not ivory tower theologians. They're practical, everyday pastors, elders. husbands, fathers, people in their community, the average Christian, okay, who, yes, the Lord is blessed with great theological minds, of course, we appreciate that, but they understood something really important. As we seek to persevere, we will struggle. And in that struggle, we will wrestle from time to time with assurance. And so they wanted to make sure to put the chapter on assurance after the chapter on perseverance. So today we're going to look at two sections from the Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 18, Sections 1 and 2 on assurance, and then next week we'll look at some more. And really what we want to do today is kind of see how assurance intersects with four different topics. We'll do the best we can to get through all four of these. So we start with Section 1, and assurance and hypocrisy. Although hypocrites and other unregenerate men may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and fleshly presumptions that they are in God's favor and in a state of salvation, this hope of theirs will perish. Look up Matthew chapter 7. Let's read together verses 21 to 23, some of the most frightening verses in all of the Bible. Matthew chapter 7, I'll read starting in verse 21. Jesus said, Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness." Those are very sobering words, right? Very sobering. Matthew chapter 7 verses 21 to 23 highlight what the divines are talking about here regarding hypocrites and other unregenerate men. They might deceive themselves, thinking that they are in the faith. They may have some fleshly presumptions that they have received God's favor, maybe because they give a lot to the church, or they serve this person in the church in different ways. But they actually don't believe in Christ. Their hope is not really in Christ. They do all these good things thinking that's going to earn them favor with God, but obviously that doesn't work. Can you think of an example in the New Testament of somebody who was clearly a hypocrite? A rich young ruler? Judas. We talked about Judas a little bit last week. Who are the hypocrites that Jesus loved to talk to? Yeah, the Pharisees. And no, I did not draw that picture of a Pharisee. Mine would just be a stick person. I can't draw. Matthew 23, 25, Jesus said, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. What made them hypocrites? Do you remember? They added things to the law. So Jesus said, you clean the outside of the cup and the plates, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Yes? Yes. Yes, exactly. Yes. Yeah. Absolutely, yes. Do you remember what the word hypocrite means for the Greek? Yeah, two-faced. It's a Greek word that was used in the theater for mask wearer, okay? That's what a hypocrite is, a mask wearer. And Jesus is saying about the Pharisees, They fit that description. They are pretender Christians. They put on a facade that they are believers, but on the inside, Jesus describes them as like a tomb, spiritually dead, okay? But what's a comment that people often make about the church? It's full of, hypocrites, okay? The church is hypocritical, okay? Now, that is a mischaracterization of the word hypocrite and how it is used in the Bible. I know that part of this is a problem of language, okay? And we don't have time to fix that problem, okay? In our wider culture, the word hypocrite is somebody who says one thing but does the opposite, okay? And there is a sense in which that is true in the Scriptures. But the word hypocrite has a much deeper meaning in the Bible. Somebody who is a hypocrite, you compare them with the Pharisees. The Pharisees don't believe in Christ. They have the public persona that they believe because they do some good things. But when it comes down to it, they really are not believers. They don't believe in Christ. They don't love Christ. They're not seeking to live for Christ, for the glory of Christ. That's the problem. And so when we hear folks say, the church is hypocritical, well, we might want to help them to think, what do you mean by that? Because if the church is hypocritical, if a church is hypocritical, as the Bible describes it, it is not a true church. It is not a true church. So think about it like this. Hypocrisy is not a badge of authenticity. We're all hypocrites. You know, we just need to own our hypocriticalness and just admit it. We're all hypocrites. We shouldn't think that way. Hypocrisy is not a label that should keep people away from the church. Well, the church is just full of hypocrites, so I'm not going to go, okay? Hypocrisy is sin to be repented of and replaced with genuine faith. There are definitely times when we might struggle with some of the same things that would characterize a person who is really a hypocrite, according to what Scripture teaches. And insofar as we do struggle in those areas, we should be about repentance. We should be about repentance and not use the terminology of hypocrisy as a badge of authenticity. So that's assurance and hypocrisy. How about another intersection? Assurance and sincerity. Assurance and sincerity. Think about this is the second half of chapter 18, section 1. It says, Nevertheless, those who truly believe in the Lord Jesus, love Him sincerely, and strive to live in all good conscience before Him may in this life be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace, and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, a hope that shall never make them ashamed." According to this, what do true believers seek? What do they seek? Think about the words that are used here. Nevertheless, those who truly believe in the Lord Jesus, they love Him. and they strive to live in all good conscience before him. It's very different than the hypocrite. It's very different than the Pharisees. Who are the Pharisees living for? Who are they loving? Themselves. They might have said, well, I'm living for God. I love God. Okay. But it didn't bear out in their lives. Okay. Didn't bear out in their lives. Go to Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10. This is a story that I'm sure all of you are very familiar with. It teaches us about sincere faith. Sincere faith. Luke chapter 10, verse 38. Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she went up to him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me. But the Lord answered her, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion which will not be taken away from her." Do you see Mary's sincerity there? How is her sincerity showing itself? Devotion to Christ. She's sitting at His feet. Is there anything wrong with serving? No, no, no, no, definitely not. But there is a logical priority. I have seen this. It's been true of me at times. I've seen this bear itself out in shepherding folks for the last 10, 15, 20 years. I remember very vividly doing a shepherding visit at a young couple's home. And they were describing to me how in their previous church they did this, and this, and this, and this, and all these different things they were doing in the church, and they feel a bit disconnected from the church because they're not doing these laundry list of things. And it provided an opportunity to talk about, well, serving is good, but sometimes what we need to do first is be served. to sit at Christ's feet, to have a sincere devotion to Christ. My identity is not found in the things that I do for Jesus. My identity is found in Jesus himself, right? And because of a devotion to Christ, then I go and serve. But we don't want to get the cart before the horse. We want our hearts to be bound with Christ. And out of a love for Christ, we serve. We love Him. and strive to live in all good conscience before Him. And that order is important. We love Christ with sincerity, and then we strive, there's holy effort and vigor and oomph to our lives where we seek to live for His glory and not our own. As true believers grow in loving Christ and grow in striving to live for Christ, what can they expect to receive? What can they expect to receive? Well, look at how the Confession puts it. What can true believers expect to receive as they love Christ and strive to live for Christ? They may in this life be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace. They may have assurance. So as we seek to live for Christ, as we love Christ and live for Christ, guess what happens? Our hearts are more and more assured of the love of Christ for us and that we are indeed children of God. Somebody read 1 John 5, verse 13 for us. 1 John 5, verse 13. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. So John wrote his letter that they might what? Believe that they have eternal life. He wrote to give them assurance. And if you read 1 John, you realize a lot of what he's calling them to do is to see what Jesus has done for them, and to love Christ, and then to strive to live for Christ. And as they love Christ and live for Christ, they will know more and more of the affection of Christ for them. So the one who loves Christ and seeks Christ can know the assurance of Christ's affection for them. That doesn't mean that our love for Christ and our seeking of Christ has earned Christ affection. No, it's actually a matter of recognition. So that as we love Christ more and as we live for Christ more, we become more and more aware of the affection of Christ shown towards us. And you know one reason why? Because we screw up. We struggle to love Christ and live for Christ, which drives us back to the cross again and again, and it warms our hearts with affection for the Lord Jesus as we see his affection for us. It spurs us on in love and good deeds. Something else, though, that we can say here. is that the one that seeks to love Christ and live for Christ may also rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, a hope that shall never make them ashamed. Somebody read Romans 15, 13. Romans 15, 13. Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope Yes, so as the believer grows in loving Christ and grows in living for Christ, that leads them to rejoice. Why? Because they have the hope of glory. And that's a hope that will not make them ashamed. The world may thumb their noses at believers, but they will not be ashamed before God because they have put their hope and trust in God. So, the one who loves Christ and seeks Christ can rejoice because their hope is not in this world, but it's in Christ. Their hope is not in what they do. Their hope is in what Jesus has done for them. Okay? So, and then I don't... Rod, are you teaching next week? Okay. I don't want to steal Rod's thunder. Okay? But I do want you to notice something. Maybe you picked up on this. Notice the two words, may. Okay? Assurance is not of the essence of faith. Rod's going to get into that next week. Okay? If you don't have assurance, that doesn't mean you're not a Christian. Hence the reason why these two words are here. Sometimes Christians will struggle with assurance. They might love Christ and be striving to live for Christ, and still they may wrestle with assurance. They may have a hard time rejoicing because of their circumstances. So the Westminster divines are saying, hey, listen, just because you love Christ and you seek to live for Christ, that doesn't mean that there won't be times in life where you may struggle with assurance. And there may also be times when it'll be hard to praise God because maybe times are tough. So why might someone struggle with assurance? Why might someone struggle with assurance? Well, maybe they lack sincere love for Christ. Maybe their love for Christ waxes and wanes. Another one, maybe they're not striving to live for Christ as they should. And so as a result, they're struggling with assurance. And then perhaps it could be they're not focused on praising Christ for His person and work, but they're focused on complaining about their circumstances. So when we think about assurance and living for Christ, loving Christ and living for Christ, The one who is having a hard time loving Christ, is having a hard time living for Christ, the one who is not praising Christ, well, it shouldn't be a shocker that they're wrestling with assurance, because these things are tied together, okay? Think about it like this. The Christian who loves Christ and seeks Christ can know that they are Christians. Not because of their work, but because of Christ's work. Their loving, seeking, and praising of Christ is the response to Christ's saving work. So if I want deeper assurance of God's love and His foreness for me, what do I do? I press forward in loving Him. I press forward in seeking Him. I press forward in praising Him. And then I trust God to work in my heart. Okay, so assurance and hypocrisy, assurance and sincerity. How about assurance and certainty? Okay, assurance and certainty. There's a lot that can be said about that word. We don't have time to get into the nature of certainty. We just want to focus on what's talked about here. 18.2, this certainty, is not merely a conjectural and probable persuasion grounded on a fallible hope. What does the word fallible mean? Error, right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Subject to error. So this certainty is not merely a conjectural or probable persuasion grounded in some kind of hope that would lead you astray or a hope that is built on error, a shaky hope. Okay. but on an infallible assurance of faith. We could spend the rest of our time talking about that. And the infallible assurance of faith is just a simple way to think about it. It's a sure assurance. So when it says here, this certainty is not merely a conjectural and probable persuasion grounded on a fallible hope, that is a shaky hope, but it's on an infallible assurance of faith. Our certainty is grounded in a sure assurance. What's the basis for that? It's not anything we do. Okay, right. And here's a really helpful point. Assurance is not based on our feelings. I don't feel very assured of God's grace in my life. Well, praise the Lord that assurance is not ultimately founded on my emotions. Maybe I screwed it up last week, and I might have good reason to, Lord, am I really a Christian? Okay? Maybe my emotions are overwhelmed with guilt and sorrow over a particular sin, and that has led me to call into question whether I really am a believer. Praise the Lord that my assurance is not grounded in what I do, and it's not grounded in my emotions. The ground is Christ Himself and what He has done. Think about it like this, because the divines are going to get into this a little bit. Assurance is founded on three things. And I want you to try to see if you can pick them out. Infallible assurance of faith is founded on the divine truth of the promises of salvation, on the evidence in our hearts that the promised graces are present, and on the fact that the spirit of adoption witnesses with our spirits that we are God's children. The Holy Spirit, by whom we are sealed for the day of redemption, is the pledge of our inheritance." So, what are these three parts to the foundation of assurance? Here's the first one, the divine truth of the promises of salvation. What is this? the divine truth of the promises of salvation. So our assurance is rooted and grounded and founded upon what is it that all of God's promises find their yes and amen in? Yeah, so you remember in the New Testaments, all of God's promises find their yes and amen in whom? Christ, okay? Christ and what He has done. So the divine truth of the promises of salvation is Christ Himself. So the person who is struggling with assurance, what should they do? Look to Christ. Go to Christ. I, Christ. Be like Mary and place yourself at the feet of Christ. Hear of His love and mercy. Find your heart warmed because of what Jesus has done for you. Go back to His life, His death, His resurrection. Look at His birth for you. Look at His cross for you. Look at His empty tomb for you. Infallible, that is inerrant, sure, assurance of faith is founded on what Christ has done for us in His life and death and resurrection, okay? Here's the second one though. The infallible assurance of faith is founded on the evidence in our hearts that the promised graces are present. Now, here's what they mean by that. The work of the Holy Spirit in our lives to change us. Now, some of you in here, you've been a Christian for a very long time. And I've shared this with many of you before in the past. When I became a Christian, well, I'm sorry, before I was a Christian, I had a foul mouth. And I have a vivid memory of praying, Lord, I don't know how I'm going to stop that. I don't. Well, the Holy Spirit changed me. And so I can look back on my life and say, I know the Holy Spirit is at work in my life. Because look at how He has grown me over the years. Got a lot more growth to go. Whole bunch more, okay? The longer we become Christians, guess what we realize? The more and more sinful we are, okay? So long way to go. But I can look over my life and say, the Holy Spirit has produced good works in me. I praise the Lord for that. That is evidence of God's work in the life of a believer. Okay. Now, uh, you might struggle to pinpoint how has the Holy Spirit been at work in my life? What if you're a new Christian? Well, you might not be able to ascertain that a whole lots, or maybe you've been a Christian for a long time and you just struggle to see where has the Holy Spirit grown you. Here's one thing you can do. Ask other people in your life who know you, who've known you for a long time, who are going to be honest with you. I don't know what kind of granny you had, but if I asked my grannies, you know, tell me how you've grown. Granny, tell me how I've grown. Ah, they would have just lathered it on, you know. Some of you maybe have a granny that would just tell you like it is, okay? Straightforward. Well, let me give you the laundry list of things you need to do, okay? Okay. Whoever will be honest in your life about areas where you've grown, go to them and say, hey, how have you seen me grow? A good friend of mine, a pastor friend of mine, I remember several years ago, he asked his children that. His children were teenagers. And they said, how have you seen me grow as a dad? It was humbling. They didn't necessarily say everything that he thought they would say. We have to be willing to receive that. But the infallible assurance of faith is founded on what Christ has done for us and what the Holy Spirit has produced in our lives. He's helped us to be godlier. He's helped us to be more patient, more loving, a kinder person. Yes, we know we have a long way to go. He's helped us to be more consistent in coming to church and placing ourselves under the means of grace. We actually like to pray. We like to read our Bibles, these kinds of things. We like to receive the word preached. We love to sing. All of that is a byproduct of the Holy Spirit working in our lives. And then here's the last one, okay? Number three. Infallible Assurance of Faith is founded on the fact that the spirit of adoption witnesses with our spirits that we are indeed God's children. Now, we have to admit that this one is a bit more subjective, okay? It's a little bit more personalized and is rooted in a subjective relationship with God. I'll just give you an example. Have you ever been through a hard time, and in the midst of the hard time, you felt the comfort of God in your heart? That's kind of like what's being talked about here. It's the subjective work of the Spirit to assure us that we indeed are the children of God. It's the communion of God that we enjoy in prayer, for example, or in the Lord's Supper today. As we spend time around the table of the Lord Jesus Christ, we fellowship with Christ in prayer. We commune with Him. Well that's the Holy Spirit confirming that we are indeed children of God in our hearts. And then there's this pledge that's given here, the Holy Spirit by whom we are sealed for the day of redemption is the pledge of our inheritance. So it's the Holy Spirit who helps us to continue to believe. It's the Holy Spirit who produces good works within us. It's the Holy Spirit who confirms in our hearts subjectively that we are children of God. It's the Holy Spirit who enables us to commune with God. Some of you know this. This is what the Puritans would call the three-legged stool of assurance. Three parts to it. If I want assurance, if I want to grow an assurance of salvation, I need to place my bottom on that stool, okay? A stool with one leg that is the work of Jesus Christ. The other leg, the work of the Holy Spirit to produce good works within me. The other leg is the work of the Spirit to confirm in my heart that I am indeed a child of God, that I'm communing with him. and growing in the things of God. Okay? So, can I have assurance of salvation? Yes, I can. Not every Christian will at every moment. But I can't have it, this side of heaven. How? Well, if you want to know if you have eternal life, then believe in the name of the Son of God, obey the Lord's commands, love the people of God, and make sure that you are not loving in word or talk, but in deed and in truth. Cry out to God to produce such a work in you. Plead with the Lord to do these things in your heart. But let me ask you this, is assurance dangerous? Not if we understand it correctly. Well, hopefully, Lord willing, in fall of 2025, we'll do a Sunday School series on the German Reformation, so Luther. We'll talk about how the Roman Catholic Church did not like the doctrine of assurance, because what did they think that it would lead people to do? Live however they want, live like the devil, okay? But that is a faulty understanding of the doctrine of assurance. The one who lives like the devil does not love Christ, really does not understand the gospel. So, is assurance dangerous? Not if it's understood as the Bible describes it. Yes? Yes, exactly. That's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It is, yeah. Exactly. Exactly, yeah. So, how do we foster assurance? Well, we don't have time to get into lots of different things. I just want to give you one more topic, one more intersection with assurance, and this is just very quickly. It's assurance in liturgy, okay? The liturgy of the Lord's Day worship will help us to foster assurance in our hearts if we receive it rightly. God-centered worship will help give assurance. Why? Because it's centered on God and not us. So often the reason why people struggle with assurance is because they're navel-gazing, okay? That's why. They're so consumed with themselves. You remember Robert Murray McShane, Scottish Presbyterian, for every look at yourself, what do you do? Take a thousand looks at Christ? We do need to look at ourselves and see our sinfulness, but we fly to the Lord Jesus. And a God-centered approach to worship will help give assurance because it's centered on God. and not on us. Bible-regulated worship will help provide assurance. The reason why is because that Bible-regulated worship is giving us the means by which God fosters assurance in the hearts, words, sacraments, and prayer. Bible-regulated worship is not about Daryl dancing away up in the front of the congregation with his tutu. He really does have one. No, we want Bible-regulated worship. That's what we want, because for many reasons we want it. But another one would be because it helps to provide assurance to the hearts. God is using the means of grace that He has given in Scripture to change us, to grow us, to assure us. Christ-focused worship will help foster assurance. Why? Well, it's very similar to here, okay? If we're focused on Christ, then we're seeing the loveliness of Christ. We're seeing His love for us in His birth, everything from incarnation to resurrection to consummation when He returns. We see His love and commitment to us that fortifies our faith, okay? So, in closing here, Biblical assurance requires, first and foremost, that we know who God is and what He has done throughout history in providence and redemption. And it is through the means of grace in public worship that we best come to know God and what He has done. That's how assurance is fostered. So as I commit myself to public worship and to engaging with the means of grace in a sincere way, dare I even say coming back for an evening service if I can, okay, so that I can get more of it, then I will indeed grow in assurance, okay? All right, so Westminster Confession of Faith, chapters one and two on the topic of assurance. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for your word and how it teaches us about this important doctrine, that we can be assured of your great love for us, your great grace shown in Jesus Christ. Lord, we must admit that sometimes we struggle with assurance and it's because we're sinners and we fall as we run the race of the Christian life. There are times when we trip. But we thank you that you are committed to us and you will never leave us nor forsake us. But we pray that by the power of your Holy Spirit, that you would firm up our faith and help us to grow in assurance. Do that even now as we go to public worship. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.