Well, before we return to our study of the canons, let's ask for the Lord to bless our time together. Our great God in heaven, we bow our hearts before your throne of majesty and we're in awe of so great a salvation. We're in awe of the wisdom, the love, the compassion, the purpose in saving sinners. Indeed, it's so great a salvation. It could have only originated in the mind of God. We're thankful, O God, that you've revealed this plan of salvation to your people. And as we study the canons of Dort, it's our desire to understand the salvation that you've bestowed upon us. And we pray, O God, as we learn these things, it will give us confidence and assurance in her own walk with you. We ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, you'll remember in Article 10, we learned that assurance of one's salvation doesn't come from some kind of special revelation. It's grounded in God's Word. And Article 10 taught us that there are three ways, at least three ways, that Scripture teaches a believer can grow in assurance. First and foremost, assurance is founded upon the promises of God, embracing and believing what the Bible teaches concerning God's sovereign commitment to preserve his own. Second is the internal work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness to our spirit that we're the children of God. And then third, a third way our assurance is bolstered is a transformed life that includes a serious and holy pursuit of a clear conscience. and good works. The point the canons want to emphasize is that there are plenty of biblical reasons to be assured of your salvation. The problem is because we live in a fallen world with corrupt flesh and an actual enemy of our soul doubt can and often does arise. in genuine believers. And Article 11 acknowledges that reality and provides another promise of God that God won't let our doubts run amok and crush us but He'll always provide a way out of times of doubting by the reviving work of the Holy Spirit. And now as we move into Articles 12 and 13 this morning The authors address one of the most common objections to the doctrine of assurance, and that is it will make believers apathetic and careless in regards to holy living. In short, the Arminians believed that if you have too much assurance, it will lead to too little holiness. And as we move into articles 12 and 13, I think as we've seen in some other studies, I think it'll first be helpful to look at the error that the authors were specifically rejecting. So turn in the back of your study guide to page 18. What's that? What was that? That was Peter talking about Paul's writing. Page 18, I want to read rejection error number six. Number six, the authors of the canons were rejecting those who teach that the teaching of the assurance of perseverance and of salvation is by its very nature and character an opiate of the flesh, and is harmful to godliness, good morals, prayer, and other holy exercises, but that on the contrary, to have doubt about this is praiseworthy." That's mind-boggling, isn't it? For these people show that they do not know the effective operation of God's grace and the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and they contradict the Apostle John, who asserts the opposite in plain words. Dear friends, now we are children of God, but what we will be has not yet been made known. But we shall know that when he is made known, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. Moreover, they are refuted by the examples of the saints in both the Old and New Testaments who, though assured of their perseverance in salvation, yet were constant in prayer and other exercises of godliness. So the Arminians were teaching that a strong doctrine of assurance would surely lead to spiritual laziness, and to have a robust confidence in one's eternal destiny would create an almost drug-like effect in believers that would dull any real desire for godliness. It was much better, even praiseworthy, they said, to live in doubt. otherwise it'll lead to complacency regarding the things of God. The authors of the canons couldn't disagree more and they attributed the Arminian era to an anemic doctrine of grace and the powerful regenerating work of the Holy Spirit that indwells and seals God's people with his redemption. And they quote 1 John 3 verses 2 and 3. I'm going to read that again and just think about how this This bolsters the point of the canons. 1 John 3, verses 2 and 3, Beloved, now we are children of God, and it's not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he is revealed, we'll be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he's pure. So listen to the trajectory of these verses. Right now, We are God's children. It's not simply a promise for the future. Our adoption is a present promise that God's people enjoy. In fact, as we learned in the previous lesson, the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we're the children of God. Now, to be sure, we don't know exactly what we're gonna be like on that great day of resurrection. We don't know precisely what our glorified bodies will be like, but what we do know is that we're gonna be like Him. That is, we will be glorified. And John's point is that someone who's genuinely adopted into God's family, they will be glorified and see our Savior in the fullness of glory. And listen to verse three again that tells us how our confident hope of assurance impacts our godliness. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he's pure. So far from thinking assurance would hamper one's pursuit of holiness, the apostle John was convinced that holiness was in fact the good fruit of assurance. He teaches us that knowing that we'll surely see Jesus face to face will lead to a greater longing for your purity. And think of just how at odds this is with what the Arminians were teaching. Assurance of perseverance is an opiate of the flesh, harmful to godliness, harmful to good morals, and doubting assurance is praiseworthy. No, no, no. You can't make that case in the Bible. There's no place in the Bible where doubt is praiseworthy, right? And that just kind of gives you a feel. I've shared this before, but if you decide you're going to use human logic to be the full metric over which you try to interpret the scripture, you're going to have problems. You have to live with some tensions, and you can't say, you know, They sort of reasoned out in their mind too much assurance would lead to godlessness, and they just sort of heaped in language and ideas and man-made doctrines to bolster that that you can't find in the Bible, and that inevitably happens. So, any comments, questions? What about the Dutch Reformed that with their Lord's Supper, They make it where you're not worthy to come to the Lord's Supper. Is that a spinoff of... I know they're not Arminians, but boy, that just sounds awful a lot like Arminianism. Believe it or not, it's actually a spinoff of Hyper-Calvinism. Right? And the Hyper-Calvinist is not... I know I'm saved because I believe. The Hyper-Calvinist is, how can I figure out if I'm elect? I don't have to put a big emphasis on assurance, but the assurance is based on what you did, rather than what God's doing. Well, that's why, again, it goes back to Article 10, and the first plank in having godly assurance is trusting and embracing and believing the promises of God. That's ground zero for a godly assurance, right? And again, I can't think really of an instance when doubt would not be a sin. Right? Because without faith, it's impossible to please God, right? Hebrews 11.6. So, you know, it's just, it's interesting. This becomes a doctrine that's so clearly grounded in man's ideas that they're, they kind of make stuff up. Was it last week, I think you said too, that, was it Calvin? I think it was Calvin, somebody else that said, Well, you know what, you have to understand Martin Luther and Calvin, they were pushing back, they were coming out of the Reformed Catholic Church, who had this view on steroids. And so they're seriously trying to push back, and they're saying, No, if you have real saving faith, part of that is certitude. Well, Dr. Godfrey's comments that I put there in your book, they're a good segue to Article 12. He writes, the critics of the doctrine of perseverance of the saints always claim that it'll have disastrous effects on the way we live. The real effect of the doctrine of perseverance in the lives of true believers is just the opposite. It encourages us out of thankfulness to be humble, reverent and pious. It encourages us to be patient in suffering, knowing that God has not and will not abandon us. It leads us to pray, knowing our personal God will hear and help. It strengthens us in truth and joy in all circumstances. That's sort of a paraphrase of Article 12, so let's go ahead and read that now. Article 12, this assurance as an incentive to godliness. This assurance of perseverance, however, so far from making true believers proud and carnally self-assured, is rather the true root of humility, of childlike respect, of genuine godliness, of endurance in every conflict, of fervent prayers, of steadfastness in cross-bearing and in confessing the truth, and of well-founded joy in God. Reflecting on this benefit provides an incentive to a serious and continual practice of thanksgiving and good works as is evident from the testimony of scriptures and the examples of the saints." So the divide between the Arminian and Reformed doctrine of salvation is on full display when we read the error and then article 12. Essentially, the Arminians believe holiness leads to salvation. and the Reformed belief salvation leads to holiness. That's radically different, isn't it? It kind of gets to the point I think that Brother Les was making. The Reformed belief salvation leads to holiness. The Arminians were convinced, again, that assurance is going to lead to listless Christian living men and women whose lives are not marked by godliness but by carnal pride. And the Reformed are convinced assurance will create humility because we know the entirety of our salvation is fixed to God's sovereign and gracious initiative. And that's going to lead to a life of godliness, reverence, prayerfulness, thankfulness, sacrificial living, and a well-founded joy in God. And the Bible teaches us, as well as the experience of God's people throughout the ages, that confidence in what God has done for us produces pious living, right? I'm indebted here to something I picked up reading Dr. Cornelius Pronk. He writes, it's remarkable that those who actually criticize the reform for the doctrine of justification and the doctrine of assurance and argue that it's going to lead to spiritual laziness, when they make that case, They actually don't have a leg to stand on, right? I mean, during the time of the Reformation, the Catholic Church was super critical of Martin Luther concerning justification and assurance, saying that that confidence, again, is going to lead to moral laxity. The problem is, at that time, the Roman Catholic Church was absolutely characterized by moral decay. So truth be told, they weren't really in a place to argue that their theological convictions were producing paragons of virtue. Because they weren't. In fact, if you ever read Luther's 95 Theses, most of them were about the moral corruption in the Catholic Church. The throng of priests who had all kinds of mistresses spread throughout the various brothels in the cities. I mean, all kinds of immorality, right? So it's not like whatever the theological convictions happened to be, it was producing godly men and women of God. It wasn't. And later at the time of the Synod of Dort, Armenia has brought the same kind of charge against the Reform, but there's no evidence that the Armenian doctrines have ever led to holier lives. What we do know is that in nations where Calvinism was strong, and during the periods of time in those nations when Calvinism was the norm, places like the Netherlands, England, Scotland, and even North America, there have always been throngs of people who did live godly lives and left a testimony of such. So, again, history doesn't bear out what they're arguing. Of course, most importantly is how often we see in scripture God providing a complete deliverance to his people, and then reflecting on that deliverance inevitably leads people to humble gratitude and worship, in short, to godliness. A good example of this is Psalm 116. You don't know who wrote Psalm 116 except that the author had a very severe sickness and was convinced he was going to die. Look there verses one through four. I love the Lord because he's heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. The snares of death encompassed me. The pangs of Sheol laid hold of me. I suffered distress and anguish. Then I called on the name of the Lord. Oh Lord, I pray, deliver my soul. Verse eight. You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tear, my feet from stumbling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. And notice how he begins. In love and devotion to the Lord. Excuse me, his love and devotion to the Lord is grounded in the fact that God rescued him. And that great deliverance will motivate the psalmist to live the rest of his life in intimate communion with Yahweh, right? Because, past tense, he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will in the future call on him as long as I live, right? Because you've delivered me, I want to live close to you. And this is sort of the introduction of the psalm. The gravity of the situation is explained. And here's my paraphrase. I was at death's door, and from my perspective, there was no hope, just tears of angst. But I cried out for deliverance, and then verse eight, you've delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. So God restored the psalmist to the land of the living, gave him health. And verse 12 begins to unpack how this impacted the psalmist. And it begins with a question. How can I even begin to repay? How can I render to the Lord for all the goodness to me? Verse 16, I am your servant. Verse 17, I will offer to you sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord. Verse 18, I'll make my love and devotion public. I'll pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people. And the psalmist wraps up with a glorious hallelujah or praise the Lord. You see, the certainty that his deliverance had come from Yahweh didn't make him proud or carnally self-assured. Instead, it's rather the true root, this is the language of the canons, it's rather the true root of humility, of childlike respect, of genuine godliness, of endurance in every conflict, of fervent prayers, of steadfastness in cross bearing and in confessing the truth and of well-founded joy in God. And listen, the psalmist was redeemed from a physical illness and knowing God had done a great work led him to a fresh zeal concerning the Lord. We've been redeemed from eternal death and for eternal life. How much greater will the assurance of God's deliverance that we have motivate us to love and good works? Any questions before we move off Psalm 116? Comments? Well, the Apostle Paul assumes that God's radical and scandalous grace will fill believers with insurance. Well, excuse me, with insurance, no, not insurance. Assurance, insurance, no, assurance. And that that assurance will result in zealous living. Glance here at Titus 2, verses 11 through 14. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people, zealous for good works. Now, one of the points Paul's making is that grace is no longer offered primarily through the Jews. The offer of the gospel is for everyone, Jew, Gentile, slave, free, male, female. The grace of God has now appeared to all men or all kinds of men. And the word in verse 11 that's translated as appeared was often used in a military context and it had to do with a conqueror that showed up suddenly and decisively to rescue and deliver those who were in peril. And in verse 14, Paul gives us a snapshot of the work our gracious Conqueror performed to rescue and deliver us from our perilous sinful condition. Christ gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people. That opening phrase by itself ought to be enough to stir the passions in our heart. The Lord Jesus, God in the flesh, gave himself for us. That's really the wonder and scandal of grace. Our God, who is infinitely holy, infinitely powerful, eternally wise and glorious, gave Himself for us. And who are we? We're the ones that are spoken of in verse 14. We're those who needed to be redeemed from our lawless deeds. We're those who needed to be purified. and the assurance we have in Christ's work for us. The rock-solid confidence we have in this work of redemption is expressed in the fact that we are men and women of God who are looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Think about what the Apostle is inferring here, that the redeemed should be confident that when Jesus returns in glory, it's gonna be for our full salvation. Very similar to what the Apostle John wrote, isn't it? When Christ comes, if I'm walking with him, I know he's going to receive me. I know I'm gonna see him face to face. That's the end goal of God's grace that's appeared. And how does that grace impact our lives? Verse 12, it's teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts We should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, because he's redeemed us, verse 14, to be his own special people, zealous for good works. You see, this assurance of perseverance, however, so far from making true believers proud and carnally self-assured, that's the language of the canons, is rather the true root of actual godliness, a zealous life. That's why article 12 ends with these words, reflecting on this benefit provides an incentive to a serious and continual practice of thanksgiving and good works as is evident from the testimonies of scripture and the examples of the saints. That's really what Paul's just done. He said, ruminate on grace, ruminate on assurance to motivate you to be zealous for good works. Again, any questions, comments? Everybody understand how I'm applying these texts? If you don't, ask, because that's what really matters. All right. Well, Article 13 is building on Article 12, but with a very specific application. Article 13. assurance, no inducement to carelessness. Neither does the renewed confidence of perseverance produce immorality or lack of concern for godliness in those put back on their feet after a fall, but it produces a much greater concern to observe carefully the ways of the Lord which He prepared in advance. They observe these ways in order that by walking in them they may maintain the assurance of their perseverance, lest, by their abuse of his fatherly goodness, the face of the gracious God, for the godly looking upon his face is sweeter than life, but its withdrawal is more bitter than death, turn away from them again, with the result that they fall into greater anguish of spirit." As I said, there is some overlap with Article 12. in what we read in Article 13, but Article 13 is basically addressing a what about, right? What about a brother or sister who falls into some kind of serious sin and then they're restored by God's grace and power? Could they ever have assurance? And the Arminians were convinced, especially in the case of someone who committed a grave sin, it would be really, really dangerous to ever offer that kind of person assurance, because again, they're sure it would lead to licentiousness. They thought it would create a kind of believer who didn't take their sin seriously and would end up cloaking their sin in God's grace, right? And in fairness, fairness to the Arminians, I have encountered professing Christians who do this. And it's terrifying when you encounter it. You encounter a believer who's done some egregious sin or is preparing to do some egregious sin and they say, yeah, I know my behavior is a sin. I know what I'm about to do is against God's revealed will, but I'm going to do this thing or that thing anyway, because I know God's going to forgive me. I know God's grace will cover me. That is a terrifying place to be, dear ones, and frankly, not a place where there ought to be any assurance. This is taking the grace of God for granted. It's presumptive grace, not assuring grace. Hebrews 10, 26 and 27 has a strong word of warning to such a person. For if we sin willfully, After we've received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries." And when the writer of Hebrews speaks of willful sins, he's referring back to Numbers 15. Don't forget this letter was written to Christians who were converted out of Judaism, so they were very familiar with the Old Testament, and the author of Hebrews knew that this language would resonate with them. When they read the words, sin willfully, it would have caused them to reflect upon Numbers 15, verses 30 through 31, because it's actually the same word in Greek. Numbers 15, verses 30 through 31. Again, here Moses is talking about defiant sins. Anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or alien, blasphemes the Lord, and that person must be cut off from his people. Because he's despised the Lord's word and broken his commands, that person must surely be cut off, his guilt remains on him. So the defiant sin is what we call a high-handed sin. And the picture is that of a person raising their hand to heaven like they would when they're swearing an oath. And that's just how committed they are to their sin. I'm gonna do this thing. But instead of committing to God, they're committing to their sin. I'm committed to it. I'm not committed to what will please God. I'm committed to getting my sin done. It's mine. And that captures precisely what the writer of Hebrews is getting at. It's the person who says, I've received the knowledge of the truth, and I intend to sin anyway. Again, that's beyond a precarious position. If the person doesn't repent, the only certainty they can have is the fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour adversaries. What time is it? Any questions, comments? That's a difficult one. Simply because we all continue to sin. What's the difference between defiantly, I think I know the answer but I'd rather you describe it, defiantly sin as opposed to This is the picture I'm trying to paint. There's one thing to sin and sin over and over and over again even and it always breaks your heart and you're always repenting, you're always acknowledging it, you're always seeking God's power to overcome the sin. Certainly the author of the canons who are teaching a section on assurance aren't saying that that person shouldn't have assurance. This is the person who says, I know it's sin and I don't really care. I'm going to do it anyway because it fits my schedule. It fits my personality. It's who I am. And that's a whole different category. In other words, we all sin every day. For sure, right? And sometimes besetting sins can trip us up for days, weeks, months. I know some of the men know this story. Several years ago, I remember I was having a horrible day. I was so angry. And there was a guy at the gas station. I wanted to pummel the guy, frankly. And I realized it was sinful. He cut me off. He was a real jerk. And he cuts me off, right? And I'm thinking, oh, I've got to get out of here. And so I sent a message around to the elders. I don't know if you remember. Maybe to other men. I said, pray for me. I'm struggling with anger. And you know what? For like most of the rest of that day, I kept, I'd say, oh God, I repent of my sin. I hate that I feel this way. And then 20 minutes later, I'm like, but if I could just get ahold of him. But then I really, again, if you have the spirit of God, see, this is the problem. If you have the spirit of God in you, You're not gonna be able to live at peace with that. That's the difference, right? And so, yeah, certainly we're gonna sin. Well, the canons are not trying to give shade to people who are committing high-handed sins. What they're saying is no matter how great your sin, no matter how egregious your transgression, if you repent, there's forgiveness. And yes, you can have assurance of your forgiveness even if you've done something grotesque and serious. One of the most glorious gospel truths you can hear is found in the Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 15, paragraph four. This is on the doctrine of repentance. I love this language. As there's no sin so small, but it deserves damnation. So there's no sin so great that it can bring damnation upon those who truly repent. You see, that's the difference, right? If I'm saying I'm gonna sin anywhere, On the other side, I'm not gonna repent. I'm gonna say, yeah, right? That's the difference. And of course, one of the great biblical examples of this is David's great fall into sin. When he committed adultery with Bathsheba, then murdered her husband, David didn't say, oh, well, I know God will forgive me. He didn't say, I'm the elect, so this really is no big deal. Grace got me covered, no. After Nathan the prophet confronted him with his sin, David said, against you, you only have a sin to none this evil in your sight. And Psalm 51 ends up being a picture of what genuine repentance looks like, right? And the Canons use some amazing language to describe a believer, the repentant believer. They're gonna wanna walk in faithfulness lest, lest, by their abuse of his fatherly goodness, the face of the gracious God, for the godly looking upon his face is sweeter than life, but its withdrawal is more bitter than death, turn away from them again, with the result that they fall into greater anguish of spirit." David couldn't bear any more anguish of spirit. So instead, he cried out, creating me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence. Do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me by your generous spirit." Again, even those who fall into great sin, if they repent, they can have assurance, right? And we learn that from David. We can say something, brother? No, I keep thinking of Peter also. Again, the Lord went to him to restore him personally, right? Any questions, comments? Less? New Corona, May 29, 2018. shall come to pass when he hears the words of this curse, that he blesses himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace. Though I walk in the imagination of my heart, to head drunkenness, to thirst, it says the Lord will not spare him. It's just that attitude that, I mean. Yeah, again, I wish, you know, we could like, everything we've learned in the canons from the very first head of doctrine, which we'd like having on a hard drive in our brain, and we can run it the night before, so it's all here, you know, when we get to this, because it really does unfold with incredible precision. But it's really a disposition that we have, you know. If the Spirit of God is working in us, we are not going to be able to sin with impunity. And again, this is one of the things that the canons are highlighting, they did in the fourth head of doctrine, and in this one. Regeneration is a powerful work of God. That was something the Armenians didn't embrace, right? Because they have such a high view of man's will, right? The Reformers are saying, the only way you can believe is if God changes you and makes you a new creation. And if you're a new creation, then you're gonna start to see sin the way God does. And if you don't see, this is why that's so frightening, passages like Hebrews 10. If you don't see sin the way God does, that might be an indication that you're not a new creation. That's why it's terrifying. And I have encountered that over the years. And it is, it's terrifying pastorally to hear someone say that. Oh, we're going to get done early, it looks like. Any comments, questions? Well, let's pray. Father, we bless your great and awesome name. We rest We rest wholly in your gospel promises. We rest in its diagnosis of our hearts, that they're depraved and deceived. So we don't trust our intuition, we trust your promises. And you promised that no one can snatch us from the Lord Jesus' hand. And we believe that. And we know, oh God, that our battle with the flesh, our war with the remaining corruption, is fierce. And often we're so weak in that battle. Often we quickly give in to sin. But we thank you that your Spirit convicts us. And it reminds us why we need the gospel. It reminds us what Jesus has done for us. that He took on flesh and gave Himself for us. And we know that work is sufficient to save to the uttermost. Bless us with this knowledge of assurance as we gather now for worship. We ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen.