Okay, well let's go ahead and get started. We're gonna try to go until about 3.45 to honor your time, particularly those of you that have traveled. I'm not usually the guy that does the Q&A, but I've been tapped to do that, and so I will seek to do it as best as I can. But we've taken some of your questions here and no curveballs, brothers. We're gonna seek to answer these. But before we do that, I just want to say this. There are gonna be a few of us pastors, maybe some here on the platform, some who are not here on the platform, but other brothers that are that are spending time. here before they depart. This is a wonderfully rich doctrine in our confession, but it's also one that perhaps feels the most palpable to us, at least as of late. So we don't want to not linger here if there are those of you that either don't get your question answered or there are things that you perhaps need to talk about with someone. So feel free to engage with one around you. and what a wonderful time of fellowship that we've had today. So, brothers, thank you each for your ministry to us today. On behalf of the guys that tried to organize this, we're just so thankful and are so appreciative to you for your labors. So, a couple questions here. And then just pull that mic right off of there. Answer it as you're able chapter 15 paragraph 3 mentions self-apparency. How can Christians guard against falling into excessive self-hate and self-punishment in regards to their sin and guilt? As soon as I saw self-apparency, brother, I thought, well, you're the guy on paragraph three, but you or any of you brothers, how can a person, how can a Christian guard against falling into excessive self-hate and self-punishment in regards to their sin and guilt? Can you preach that? Yeah, I think one of the things that's been so helpful to me, and I'm sure these men can chime in, is continuing to put your eyes upon Christ. That sounds so simple, but it's so necessary because so often, if you're like me and the rest of us, I'm sure struggle with always looking at our own circumstances or situation. We get wrapped up in what's going on with us and forget to look Christward. And so the simple answer is to continue to look to Christ. love and cherish the means of grace that God has given to his people. It's a battle, it's a struggle, but remember the promises of God and continue in looking to Christ. That's how I would start that, but I'll let my other brothers chime in a bit, if anyone wants to add in. Told myself I wasn't gonna talk very much. Actually, this thought came to my mind when you were preaching on this, brother. I think that obviously there is a component of this that we do want to treat ourselves, kind of the Puritans would like the terminology, we are a worm. But sometimes we can get so engrossed in worm theology As I've heard it put, and this is not unique to me, but I think it's appropriate here, that if we go to the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18, and the tax collector is on his knees, he's beating his chest, he's repenting. Self-abhorrence in worm theology says, I gotta keep down there, I can't get up. And the tax collector, he's standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes. He says, God be merciful on me. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified. So he got up, he left. And there's a sense where when you see repentance because you looked at Christ and you've seen the beauty of Christ, you don't stay on the ground beating yourself. You get up because the victory has been won for you in Christ. And so that might kind of be a part of that self-abhorrency thought there. Penance is punishing yourself for your sin. Repentance is recognizing that Christ suffered for you. Amen. I'm really starting to love these guys. Next question, are all men born into unrighteousness or just into bondage to sin, which having committed sin leads to unrighteousness? I'll say that one more time. Are all men born into unrighteousness or just into bondage to sin, which having committed sin leads to unrighteousness? Are you born a sinner and therefore sin, or is sin, is that what this question is trying to distinguish? Perhaps, I'm not sure. in reading Romans 5 where Paul juxtaposes the first Adam and the second Adam. And the problem with the first Adam, after the fall, is that he lacks righteousness. He lacks righteousness, okay? He failed a probation. And so he does not have righteousness, and it is that state into which we are born. So I do think, you know, I think maybe it's just a variation on a theme. I mean, we are born without the requisite righteousness that we need. It's impossible and ludicrous to say that we were born with righteousness and lost it. That would be to put us back in the state pre-fall that Adam was in, where we were capable, but also capable of losing it. So yeah, I would say we were born in a state of unrighteousness. How do we practically distinguish between those sins for which we ought to corporately repent versus individually and the means by which we express repentance? So kind of two parts there. How do we distinguish practically between corporate repentance sins that we need to repent of corporately versus individually and the means by which we express repentance? I don't know that this answers the question fully, but we have two examples, one in Ezra and one in Daniel, of great men of God who loved God and walked with God, who confessed the sin of their community and of them as a group. And they included themselves in those sins which they were confessing. So I would say that corporately, we may not be individually participating in a particular sin. Say, for instance, the sin of abortion. But we live in a society which is approved to this. And we need to pray and ask God to be merciful to us. And we need to admit that as a society, we are guilty. There was a second part to the question. I think this is one of those things where it's a little easier to engage in negative theology. I think it is easy to say how we shouldn't do it. And I think the last three years have told us that one of the ways we shouldn't do it is according to the level of melanin in your skin. That's right. And I think that we, you know, critical race theory, those types of things where, you know, especially if you are sensitive to your Bible and you're a Baptist who understands the glorious news of the new covenant, you know that Ezekiel and Isaiah, but I think particularly Ezekiel, talks about every man being guilty for his own sin. and not the sins of our fathers. And I think that's very, very important. So I think that's one way. I think systemic racism is a very amorphous, very amorphous concept that has been utilized by certain political agencies to do a lot of damage. Unfortunately, the church has not been untouched by that. So I think that those are areas where we can certainly preach against it. But that being said, Every Sunday, either I or one of my co-elders offers up a corporate prayer of confession. And I think that as I'm a pastor looking out on my flock, number one, as an overseer, I am responsible for what happens under the roof and in the midst of that community to a certain degree. But we've also put people out of the church. And one of the things we told them is you've brought reproach upon the Church of Christ. And one of the things that we need to do as a church is make sure we're doing everything that we can to make sure that the sheep are staying in and the goats are getting out. And I think to the degree that we don't do that, we do bear some responsibility, so. The means by which we express repentance. So the first part there, practically distinguish between corporate and individual and the means by which we express repentance. Yes? I think you mentioned already the time of pastoral prayer, making corporate confession, and then the assurance of pardon as part of that prayer. You mentioned CRT. I think that was kind of maybe what was behind the question, but I want to bring this back to, and I think, Josh, you mentioned something in your sermon about we only repent of what we are guilty of. But what would that look like for the entire church that maybe individually you didn't participate in that, but as a church you did? So for example, I gotta be very careful what I'm about to say here, so I don't want to offend anybody. But if your church closed down in 2020, did you as a church, depending on your view, but did you as a church recognize that there might have been another way? And I had to, as a pastor, ask my church for forgiveness. And then, in some ways, we as a church had to acknowledge we did close the doors and held people off from the keys to the kingdom. So how do we express that? We at least have to confess it to one another. And then repentance would say, moving forward, never again. Is there a difference between a sinful thought that we need to repent of and a fleeting or unwanted thought about something sinful? Should we repent of both? So is there a difference between a sinful thought that we need to repent of and a fleeting or unwanted thought about something sinful? Should we repent of both? Yeah, if I understand the question, so I think when you have sinful thoughts, maybe I'm gonna ask further in, are you dwelling upon these? And maybe that's the idea behind the question, dwelling on it, contemplating it, taking over your mind, it's front and center, that's all that you can think about, which, to me absolutely becomes sinful because your mind is not, you're not taking every thought captive to Christ at that point. However, on the other hand, we know fleeting sinful thoughts probably traverse through our minds on a momentary basis. They, I believe, still, yes, are sinful, but maybe in that category of unintentional sins. We're not feeding the beast and continuing to dwell upon it. We realize, Lord, that fleeting sinful thought, it is sinful, but help me to, not think that way, renew my mind day by day. So probably that dwelling is what I would really focus in. And I don't know if I'm hitting the question, but that's where I would start and begin in that element. All I'd say, I mean, this is really important. It's important in the discussions that are going on in the PCA right now with the Revoice Conference and how you splice, you know, side A, side B, all those types of things regarding, you know, is it sinful to have a homosexual thought? And I would say, yeah, yeah it is. I mean, but I wouldn't say this. I think that we need to distinguish between that which naturally arises out of our nature and then somewhat, as Brother was saying here, that which we engage in, okay? Now, I think we get help from the Old Testament because the Old Testament has these different categories of sacrifices, right? And there is a sacrifice for unintentional sins. I think that's interesting. But I do think that there is a sliding scale of severity as well. I mean, that's not as serious as high-handed intentional sins. There's a different sacrifice for that. So I think what that teaches me in a typological way is that there are, you know, we do have a sinful nature. And we'll put it this way, in the eschaton, we're not gonna have those sinful fleeting thoughts. And so in our renewed nature, the way it's supposed to be, that's not going to happen. So on the one hand, I can say, I hate that I have this body of flesh, Romans 7, right? Sin in the body of flesh, and Christ saved me from this body of flesh. But on the other hand, I thank you, God, that I didn't engage the temptation. Because here's where we need to be careful. Jesus was tempted in all ways, as we are, yet without sin. So that's why I want to be careful to say the temptation itself is sinful. Because then that would suggest that our Lord was sinful. perhaps slightly related to that one, although with maybe a different nuance or subtle difference. Many Christians struggle with ongoing, quote, sins of the flesh. Though we may hate the fact that we struggle and understand the gravity of these sins, we struggle with a fleshly love and enjoyment of them. How do we reconcile biblical repentance with a spiritual realization of sin, but a fleshly enjoyment of it? So in the last part there, how do we reconcile biblical repentance with a spiritual realization of sin but a fleshly enjoyment of it? It seems to me that the way you locate biblical repentance is obviously not by perfectionism, we don't believe that. But what I always tell my people, and one thing that Albert Martin said years ago that has never left me, is we're not looking for perfection, we're looking for the direction of your life. And one of the ways we talk about that is the prevailing disposition of your life. What is the prevailing disposition of your life? And if the prevailing disposition of your life is that though, which, yeah, sin is fun. Sin is fun. That's not a revelation to you. I mean, sin is fun, you know, but it's an apple, but it's a poisonous apple. It's a lush, you know, not the Washington apples, those aren't very good, they're mushy, but the Gala apples, you know? I mean, those are the honey crisp apples. They're really good, but they're poisonous. So sin is fun for a time, but it always bites you in the rear. And so the question is, what is the prevailing disposition? Is the prevailing disposition that you're enjoying it, you're engaging in it, you're dwelling in it, or is the prevailing disposition that though you enjoy it, concessive clause, you fight it, you hate it, you preach against it, you're like Luther in his quarters and he's yelling at Satan using scatological language, not eschatological, but scatological language. If you're a hunter, you know what that means. He's fighting against it. He's taking every thought captive. He's preaching to himself. Are you preaching to yourself? Or are you looking at porn and getting on your knees and saying, Father, forgive me, and then looking around and firing up the computer again? What is the prevailing disposition of your life? you know, as we walk through the confession today, one of the encouragements that I think we can draw, particularly, you know, in relation to these last two questions in paragraph three, you know, the word, and we were asked to define it earlier, self-abhorrency, but kind of this idea of hatred for sin. But, you know, as I read it, there is the potential I guess, wrestling or temptation to look at our hatred of sin and say, I don't hate it enough, therefore, I must not have repentance. And I'm encouraged by that last phrase, same paragraph, but that last phrase, yes, a detestation of it, but there's also a praying for pardon and strength of grace, purpose and endeavor by supplies of the Spirit to walk before God and to all well-pleasing in all things. And it's just a helpful reminder that we we're not gonna hate sin as much as we ought to hate sin. And our repentance and our salvation, our resting in Christ is not at all based in the fact that we have hated sin enough, but that we've hated it and looked up and seen the glorious Christ. Two more questions, and they're slightly unrelated to those or a different theme. Perhaps for elders or pastors doing membership interviews maybe. It says, member candidate says, colon, quote, I never knew a time when I didn't know the Lord, end quote. then the person writes this. This is good, even best. How does the membership examiner measure repentance? Do we not still need to hear, quote, I have turned, I am a vile sinner? I guess, you know, the question is, when you have those who've grown up in homes where they feel like their whole life they never knew a time when they to themselves didn't know the Lord, I mean, How do we think about needing to hear repentance from someone who maybe grew up in a Christian home? I'm just gonna make a quick comment and then I'll pass it to my brothers, but my elders and I have these conversations a lot because we do get that. And I think we've even heard in some of the messages, like the best testimonies are the ones that, you know, I wasn't a swashbuckling pirate, you know, doing this and that and killing people and selling weed. of the Lord, I think that's precious. And I also wanna say it's biblical, okay? Now follow me here. Psalm 22, verses nine and 10, the psalmist says this. Yet you are he who took me from the womb. You made me trust at my mother's breasts. On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother's womb you have been my God. Now that doesn't mean I'm gonna put water on him, okay? But it does mean I have a category for that, right brothers? I have a category for that. Do I totally understand that? No. But I just shared this with Doc. His street name is Batman, by the way, did you know that? Because nobody can beat him. But anyways, I was telling Doc, and he agreed with me, as a Baptist, we have this category of we don't know how the Lord does that. We believe in elect infants, And I don't know how the Lord does that, but I believe that he does it, because will not the judge of the earth do what is right? And so if I got a category in the Bible, I might probe a little bit, like can you put a window of time on it? Do you remember maybe one year you had this prevailing disposition of punching your brother in the face, and then the next year you got away from that? If I could find that, great, and I could put a placeholder, but if by and large it was this slow, gradual, progressive thing, I'm like progressive sanctification. Yeah, just nothing to really add new to that. It's just what we have done as pastors in our own congregation. And we've had a situation like this as of late. It's hard to determine when an individual doesn't really know that time period in which he became converted, but just really want to press him. Are you following the Lord Jesus now? What is your disposition, your heart thoughts towards God? Is there fruits of repentance visibly now in your life? How do you respond when you're caught up in these kinds of sins? And so I'm more interested in the current state of things. And so we've tried to watch and observe, give a time period and evaluation. But there has been situations where I've seen exactly what we're talking about, but knowing confidently, looking at the life of an adult believer who says, I don't remember a time when When I haven't followed the Lord, and then you can see that faith present and displayed in the very moment. So that's been encouraging for us to not get so caught up in every little detail, finding that exact moment in time, but rather instead, are you following the Lord Jesus Christ now? Do you have momentary, daily repentance? So that's been helpful to us and something that we have looked for. Amen. And for the little children that are in here, and you are being catechized, you are being taught, you're under the preaching of the word of God. Is Genevieve in here? There she is. Okay, so I know there's at least one young child in here. She could have that Gooba experience. I was taught Gooba growing up born again. Who knows, I don't know. But the question is, every child who is confessing Christ should still be able to say, my sins should, I'm justly condemned and deserving of hell. That is sufficient for a child to be able to say, whether they can remember when they loved that sin, they should still be able to communicate. And you were talking about the first use of the law. They should be able to at least communicate that. So I wanted to just add that caveat. And perhaps we could say, too, to the teenagers and children in the room, if you're growing up in a home and you currently are confessing Christ, and you have a mother and father that are training you the things of the word, what a blessing and a heritage you have there. And it may not mean as much to you now, but praise God for that heritage, right? Any other follow-ups, brothers, on anything that we've just talked about? Any last clarification before we close? Well, thank you. Those are just good questions this year. Well done. And if any of you have follow-ups, we didn't get to your question, or you just need to process something you've heard, some of us will be here. I want to say thank you to you men for your labors in preparing. Thank you to the brothers who kind of put this together administratively. Thank you again, Grace folks. I don't think you heard this earlier, but there was applause of thanks for you. So thank you for all that you did to put this together. Thank you, exhibitors. Let me just encourage each of us to enter the house of God tomorrow on the Lord's Day. Let's pray together and then you will be dismissed. May our Lord God richly bless you and his word. Let's pray. Almighty God, we thank you for this conference. We thank you for the the churches and the smaller number of pastors who started to put this on many, many years ago before many of us were involved. We thank you for this opportunity to look at the confession, which even goes back further than this conference and is a wonderful confession of truth arising from the pages of your word. We thank you for how it richly instructs us in doctrine and how it practically guides us in Christian living. We thank you for its pastoral nature to our souls as we just reflect for all the day today on the doctrine of repentance to life. We pray that you would take the things that we have heard this day cause us to meditate on them, to think about them, perhaps even to sing of them as we go our way, and we pray that you would encourage us. We pray for each fellowship that is represented here, that tomorrow we might gather and proclaim the glories of our triune God on the market day of the soul. So, living God, we thank you and we praise you for every single person who's here and each who has helped us. We offer you the praise in Jesus' name. Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below. Praise Him, above ye heavenly hosts. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.