All right, you guys, hope your afternoon has been going well. We're going to just begin with prayer. I know we just did pray corporately and interceded for one another, but because of the nature of the material that I'm going over this afternoon, the plan is to just cover the second paragraph. The second paragraph is actually kind of short, but there was too much for me to say with it in conjunction with paragraph one last time, And there's too much for me to try to put with it with paragraph three as well for next time. So we're just gonna have a shorter message today, only on the second paragraph. It makes the most sense to do it that way. But let's pray up front and ask God to bless our time in the confession. And as we use the confession, consider what his word says. So let's pray. Our glorious and great God, King and Father, we thank you for your word and to be able to confess it. And as we once again consider the Second London Confession, we pray for understanding, Lord. We want to rightly confess what your word says. And we don't think that we just invented doctrine or orthodoxy ourselves or that it is sufficient for us to just have our Bible filled with your spirit to sit under the tree to the neglect of the ways in which you've worked through the saints in times past. So we pray that through our studies of confession would benefit us, not just fill in our head with knowledge, but that the doctrines would prove to be practical for us, guide us in worship and in greater adoration for who you are and what it is that you have done. It's in Jesus' name that we pray, amen. All right, you guys, well, last time, Let me consider this introductory paragraph to chapter three, which was, you know, the first paragraph. It's on God's decree. And if you remember it, it provides a very precise statement on what God's decree is. He has decreed in himself from all eternity all that comes to pass. And all of it, he does very faithfully, absolutely, freely, and powerfully. And in such a way that his decree does not violate the the nature of man. It doesn't violate the freedom of creatures and neither does it make God the author of sin as well because of what's called concurrence, the way in which God's decree works in light of man's freedom. And we spoke about how properly God's decree is singular, but sometimes, such as it is with the Puritan catechisms, you'll often hear people talk about God's decrees. And the reason for that is because God's decree touches everything in existence. Everything that happens, happens according to the counsel of God's will, according to his decree. So it's appropriate to speak of it as decrees at times, but properly, it's this one single decree that he makes. Now, After this very full explanation of the nature of God's decrees, the next paragraph answers one of the more common misconceptions about this doctrine. That is, God's foreknowledge, his pre-knowing, his knowing before of every future event, was somehow in play when God preordained all that will take place, and specifically how God's decree is to be viewed in light of a person's will, you know, their decisions, the choices that they make. So this second paragraph that we have in the Second Lent Confession is kind of a polemic, really. It's a It's a paragraph that is meant to answer a question. It's meant to give a defense. And it's answering a common objection to the doctrine that the Confession is stating the Bible holds. And so the Confession anticipates, sort of like how the Apostle Paul does in Romans 9, where he anticipates what his readers are thinking as he's saying these things, And he answers them before they can even ask the question themselves. Which, by the way, what Paul does in Romans chapter 9, he deals with some of the same things that this chapter here is addressing. And so what people end up saying... as they tried to understand the sovereignty of God and His decree. And they tried to understand that in conjunction with the freedom of man, how do these things exist together? How is one greater than the other? How does this all work? But many tried to do, and in doing this, mind you, it destroys the biblical doctrine of God, who He is, and what His decree is. And so what they say is that God saw what would happen, and then determined what he planned to do afterwards. And he saw, he looks down into the corridors of time and he sees what people will choose and then he decrees or he chooses and he makes decisions based upon that. They think God looks into the future and he decrees based upon what he sees. Or he looks down these supposed corridors of time to see what kind of choices we make. And honestly, that's absolutely illogical. Because how are creatures making any decisions about anything if God didn't decree them to exist in the first place? Remember what I was saying last time. It's the case that when people make a mistake about the doctrine of election and they get God's decree wrong, and this is especially the case with the election of predestination, there's actually behind that an erroneous view of God. They're not looking at God faithfully as the scriptures have Revealed him the nature and person of God. They're effectively teaching that God has just wound up the clock That is the world in the beginning and now everything is just playing out with no regular regular activity by God Which is a rejection of God's eminence. It's a rejection of God's nearness to his creation that God's not accomplishing his will actively, but he's just doing the best that he can with what we give him. It's very bad. But our confession in paragraph two will explain why such views are not compatible with the God in whom we confess. So if you have your copy of the confession, or if you have the outline that I made for you this afternoon, we're just gonna read the second paragraph of chapter two, chapter three. And it says, although God knoweth whatsoever may or can come to pass upon all supposed conditions, yet have he not decreed anything because he foresaw it as future, or as that which would come to pass upon such. conditions. So if you've ever debated anyone why someone is saved or why someone else is not saved, you know that paragraph too, that these are fighting words. These are words that are meant to specifically say, it didn't happen this way. And what we're saying here is that the Bible teaches that God knows the future and every possible contingency. The confession says it like this. Although God knoweth whatsoever may or can't come to pass. In other words, He knows the future. Okay? Upon all supposed conditions. It means He knows, He's aware of every possible contingency. He's aware of everything that needs to happen in order for this thing to happen. He knows that. But, He did not decree based upon such knowledge. That's what the confession is saying. The point is that his knowledge of the future is due to his decreeing, not just of the future, but of all things. His knowledge of the future isn't just because he knows, because he's on a mission and he knows everything. His knowledge, God's knowledge of the future is based upon the reality that he has decreed whatsoever has come to pass, as we talked about last time. He's ordained the future. That's why he knows. The confession here is very straightforward because God is omniscient. He knows all things. That means he's aware of, you know, of course, that any potential circumstances in the universe. And so note here. What we're actually doing is we're speaking like creatures. We're thinking like created beings here because we have to. And we're looking into who God is. We have to understand there's no such thing as a contingency or possible condition to God, right? God's not wondering, like, oh, is this going to happen or not? Like, I mean, He's aware of what they might be from our perspective, but He knows absolutely what is going to happen because His knowledge is based in His decree. We could even say it is His decree. Stephen Charnock, Puritan pastor, he notes, God knows all things that shall accidentally happen, or as we say, by chance. And he knows all the free motions of men's wills that shall be to the end of the world. He knows it all, in other words. There's nothing hidden to him. Remember Hebrews 4.13? and no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom they must give account. God knows everything. We saw that in chapter two of the confession, right, where we go over the nature of God. He's omniscient. Now here in 3.2, the confession is looking to base this statement, this very short two sentence, one sentence paragraph, here off of two sections of verses. The first section is based off of Acts 15. Acts 15 in your Bibles. If you remember what's going on in Acts, James is speaking at the Jerusalem council. And beginning at verse 15, You'll notice, depending on your publisher, maybe verse 16, verse 15 is this introductory statement, but if you notice that verse 16 and 17 and 18, they're indented. At least, depending on your publisher, that's what it looks like in my Bible, in my ESV. He's quoting there from the prophets. It says that in verse 15, and he makes these statements here in 16 through 18. that are, basically, they're statements, they're ideas that are based on, that are drawn from Jeremiah and Isaiah. Jeremiah and Isaiah, they're prophecies about the grafting in of the Gentiles into the new covenant church, and it's Isaiah mostly, but then verse 18, That is the one of special importance for us right now, is we consider God knowing the future in any contingency. That's the verse that the confession cites. And James paraphrases at this point, verse 18, he's paraphrasing Isaiah 45, 21. which says this, I'll just read it to you, you can say in Acts. It says, So all of that is really being summed up in verse 18. And the point is that God is saying, who's greater than I am? Who's wiser? Who's stronger? No one is. And it's his will that is unfolding on the pages of history because he's declared it of old. But remember chapter one, it's an eternal decree. And so James says in Acts 15, 18, known from old, which is kinda a strange rendering, really. I mean, you can get the point from the larger context of what he's saying, that verse in Isaiah, you can get the point of that. into verse 18 that he's paraphrasing Isaiah there, but it's very strange in the ESV, very short in the ESV. Like, why not just make it part of verse 17 or 19? It is three short words. Well, the reason for that is because there's a little bit more going on here than the surface rendering implies. Once again, It's not the first time we've seen this. It's not going to be the last time we've seen this. But we see more clearly what's going on by referring to a translation based on the Byzantine text, like the King James Version, which would be the translation that the confessional authors were using. And there's 10 words, actually, in the Greek. If you were to look up a Greek lexicon, Acts 15, 18, there's 10 Greek words. In the ESV, you've got three. So that's a little confusing, but I understand what the translators were doing. But in the KJV, we read this. Known unto God are all things from the beginning of the world. Makes a little bit more sense. Known unto God are all things from the beginning of the world. So understand the point being made. From the beginning of the world, everything is already known to God. Everything is known. It's foolishness to say that God has to look into the future to see what will be. And that is to imply that is the case, is to really make a mockery of his decree. It's really no longer that his decree at that point. He's just stating, he's decreeing what he learns. It implies God learned, and that's not something that our almighty God does. That is a creaturely action. Learning is something that we do, because we need to grow and improve. But God does not improve. He knows all things. And what we know about God is that there is, what we say, there's no succession in him. There's no succession in his knowledge. He doesn't go from knowing one thing, and then he gets some information, and then he goes to another, like we do. Like we can study something, and we grow in our specific knowledge of that thing, whether, you know, it might be sports, might be motorcycles, it might be doctrines, right? Calvinism, right? Like you were saying, Adam, like I want to learn more about this. Well, we grow, we have succession in our knowledge. God doesn't do that. He just knows everything all at once because He is who He is. Stephen Charnock again, helpfully says, the variety of successions and changes in the world make not succession or new objects in the divine mind, for all things are present to Him. Try to grasp that, what Stephen Charnock's saying. All things are present to God. from eternity in regard to his knowledge, though they are not actually present in the world in regard of their existence," end quote. So for example, so the idea that God has to look down the corridors of time to know something, well, no, because everything is present to God. He doesn't do that. It's an impossibility. And when people say that, when they're not intending to, they're saying something about who God is that is troubling. God sees all things at once. Known unto God are all things from the beginning of the world, as the apostle says in Acts 15, 18. And they're brought to their order of succession through the eternal counsel of God in time. They're not just happening and God is learning about them. They're happening according to his decree. So for example, we say something is contingent when we say that. What we mean by that is that something appears accidental. So, just a scenario. You're driving along a windy road and there's a huge storm. And you turn the corner and there's a tree down in the road. You couldn't see it because you just turned the corner. It's dark, it's raining, and it causes you to roll your car. Now, what are the contingencies? Well, I mean, what's the reason you're driving your car? Are you going to the store? Are you going to the hospital? What's the reason that you're even in your car in the first place? But now there's the storm, there's the atmospheric pressures that cause the storm. That didn't happen because of you. That's just something that happened, we would think, accidentally. The tree that's been growing for decades now that's massive and it's fallen into the road, but the erosion and the soil in its roots has been taking place. And now here's this storm. There are just countless contingencies in play here. Things that might seem accidental from our end, but the point is, is that they're all known by God because God decreed everything that has come to pass. R.C. Sproul says this, quote, He, God, does not need to wait for certain conditions to be met before he knows what will take place. Unquote. So he doesn't need to wait for these conditions happening. He just knows what is going to take place because he's decreed it. He's not dependent. God is not dependent. He knows because he decreed it himself as paragraph one said. And so that's the first part of the paragraph. It's a positive statement on what God has known, what he knows. That is the future and every possible contingency. The second half of the paragraph is a negative statement on what God knows. And the second half of the paragraph is largely based on a big section in Romans chapter nine. In Romans chapter nine, if you're not aware of Romans nine, I mean, it demonstrates God's eternal purpose in determining events in the created order. And what we see is that God's decrees are not based upon any foresight into the future. All right, so the confession reads this. the second part, yet have he not decreed anything because he foresaw it as future, or is that which would come to pass upon such conditions? So what's happening here, friends, is the confession is setting us up to be prepared for the following paragraphs. This little short paragraph, it's kind of, it's a polemic, it's inserted here into the confession, it's important that it's here, but it's setting us up to properly understand paragraph three, four, five, six in this chapter, and then later chapters as well. Because we're gonna start considering here in chapter three, excuse me, chapter three, paragraph three, what we're gonna start considering is God's decree in light of redemption. So, Calvinism, Adam, if you will. And so we'll be thinking of it in terms of election and predestination. And just so we're clear here, just based upon the scriptural usage of these terms, these two words, election and predestination, they're not words that were invented by Martin Luther. They're not words that were invented by John Calvin or even Augustine. These are words that we find in our Bible. These are words that we see the apostles and the prophets employing. And these are scriptural doctrines, doctrines of even scriptural words. And that might not be the case if you talk to anybody who is an anti-Calvinist, who says that this is like a doctrine of demons and devils. And the point is, is that it's actually not. These are biblical doctrines and terms. So it's a biblical concept. So Christians must confess. We have to. We have to confess. The Bible teaches predestination. But the question becomes, will we do so biblically? will we biblically confess what predestination is? And what our confession is doing in order to set us up for paragraph three and beyond is it's striking a blow, really. It's striking a blow against a false view of predestination and against a false understanding of the word foreknowledge. There are all kinds of error that we could fall into by getting this concept, this word, this doctrine of foreknowledge wrong. Things like Arminianism, In which, you know, people, they teach that you could lose your salvation. In which man, they teach that man cooperates upon the grace that God supposedly gives to all mankind indiscriminately. And misunderstanding foreknowledge also lends itself to open theism, which is the idea that says God's knowledge is open. And that is that he figures out things along the way. He learns, they say. And so our confession here, to guard against this, cites Romans 9, chapter 9, verse 11, verse 13, verse 16, and 18, four verses, as a correct understanding of God's foreknowledge. So let's actually read a large portion of Romans 9, and we'll make some comments from there. And again, we're not gonna hit every possible thing that we can here, because we're gonna, I mean, Nick's gonna be in Romans nine just very soon, but then also through the confession, there's many important things that'll be drawn upon from here. So beginning at verse 10, we read it, and not only so, but also when Rebecca conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls. She was told, the older will serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob I love, but Esau I hate. What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means. For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then, it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all of the earth. So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, why does he still find fault? for who can resist his will? But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? What is the molded say to its molder? Why have you made me like this? Has the potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory so note what the apostle is is saying here this this passage here in Romans 9, really it forms the basis for the confession stance on foreknowledge. When it says God has not decreed anything based on him foreseeing the future, based on him foreknowing, that's drawn from Romans 9. It is drawn from that section of scripture that we just read. But popular today still is this erroneous view It's called the prescient view. Prescience is synonymous with foreknowledge. But what exactly does foreknowledge have to do with predestination? So just a little bit before our Romans 9 text, Romans 8, 29 through 30, which I'm assuming Nick will be here next Sunday, most likely, or maybe the one after that. But Romans 8, 29 through 30. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined, he also called. Those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified." So note what the Apostle is saying here. This passage is about the elect. is those who benefit from the doctrine of election. Those who were chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the world will get into this doctrine soon enough. But he says, for those whom he, that is, God the Father, foreknew, that is, those elect ones, he, God, also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that is, Jesus Christ. And then it's those who he predestined. And then there's a series of verbs that follow in verse 30. Called, justified, glorified, all past tense, interestingly, but all actions that God does to the elect, those predestined for known ones. We call it the golden chain of redemption. This string of doctrinal links that tell of God's great salvation, where it begins and where it ends on an individual. It begins with foreknowledge and it ends with glorification. And the beautiful thing about this chain is that there's no wiggle room here. There's no wiggle room here. If one is foreknown by God in this sense, well then he will be glorified. It's up to God, he will accomplish it. And it's completely biblical. But here's where the trouble comes in. Here's where the confession comes in, in paragraph two, looking to guard against. Because some have found it acceptable to teach that this so-called prescient view, that God bases predestination on his prior knowledge of human decisions. In other words, they think, yeah, they think that God looks down some supposed corridor of time and observes that certain people will respond positively to the gospel for whatever reason. It's often not given the exact reason, but it's a reason to them and others. will reject it. And so God bases a decree of election to match those future human decisions. It's based upon what he sees and not his absolute free, powerful choice rooted in his decree. And election in that case, friends, is based upon what the creature does. rather than on what God has decreed beforehand. So very plainly, rightfully, this, if we're understanding it rightly, what they're saying is that this is a conditional election because election is based upon a condition in the creature, namely faith is what they'll say, and those who hold to the precedent view say that anyone who meets the condition of faith is chosen by God on the basis of foreseen faith. And it's exactly this. Thinking election and predestination is like this, that the confession here in paragraph two is seeking to avoid. The prescient view is unbiblical. It's this unbiblical view of predestination. Maybe you've never heard of this term, the prescient view. I could sympathize with that. But you've certainly come across what it teaches. that ultimately, that the reason why one person is saved and another is not, is because of something in them. It's their free will. It's their reason. It's their spirituality. It's their being brought low enough. Some good and right decision that they make. And when you think like that, for whatever reason or another, well then, when it comes to what the Bible says about election and predestination, then you need to form those to fit your preconceived mold, rather than accepting what the Bible says. The free will view, the present view, it denies the biblical view because there is no real or actual predetermining involved. It's all just reactionary. It's all response. It's only foreknowing. It's a rejection of what scripture teaches. The reformed doctrine of predestination, a confessional view. So the Westminster, the Savoy, the Second London, they all say the same thing here. They teach what is called unconditional election. It teaches that election is not based on people meeting certain conditions, but on the eternal decree of God himself. That's what it's based on. As Confession says again, yet hath he not decreed anything because he foresaw it his future, or is that which would come to pass upon such conditions? You know, it is foolishness to think that God has to look outside of himself to determine his decree. And Romans 9 makes this very clear. God is not learning by looking into the future and then decreeing what he sees. But he knows. He knows because he decreed. He knows things in advance because he decreed things in advance from our perspective. He knows what will happen tomorrow because he has decreed what will happen tomorrow. Some people respond to the gospel of faith. Some do not. And the reason is because God has chosen to bring some to himself. The reason is in God. It's his good pleasure. It's his will. It's his decree. Romans 9, 11. Okay, the first text that the Confession cites. Though they were not yet born, So the Apostle clearly refutes the free will or the prescient view here in just a sentence, doesn't he? He specifically says that God's choosing is based on him who calls. Who's the him who's calling? It's himself. It's God. It's not of works. As a matter of fact, he says it so plainly. It's not God looking forward into history to see what works a person would do. Because his decree of salvation is made even before any works are done. He says, verse 13, as it is written, Jacob I have loved and Esau I have hated, before they did any good or bad. The choice to love one and to hate another It was made not depending upon God seeing which one would make the better decisions, which one would be more godly and holy. As a matter of fact, I mean, if you're familiar with the life of Jacob and Esau. And you come from, you know, reading that story, and you think that God chose Jacob, that God loved Jacob, and God hated Esau because Jacob would make the right decisions. Well, then I wonder if we're even reading the same Bible. Because, I mean, Jacob is, he makes the wrong decision almost every time. So the point of the question stands again. But God has not decreed anything because he foresaw it as future, or that which would come to pass upon certain conditions. So the Apostle, at that point in Romans, he goes on to anticipate a question from his readers. He knows they'll accuse God if, you know, if God is doing like this, well the question, the accusation really, is God drew not fair. This is not fair for you to do, God. And so he heads off that charge where he says this in verse 16, which is what the confession cites again. It says, So again, God's decree isn't based on some fairness. It's based on his desire to be merciful. It's not based on something that he foresaw his future, but it's based on himself. God has from eternity decreed in himself, it's not up to human will, it's not up to human effort, it's not up to our exertion, but on God who has mercy. And then lastly, before the apostle anticipates another objection from his hearers, and he answers it, he reminds us once again that predestination in an election is not based on God knowing what we would do. Verse 18. So then, he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. This phrase here is very important, actually. Whomever he wills. He has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. In other words, God does not have mercy on one because he foreknew that they would make a future decision for him. There's no room to think that. You know what that actually does, this present view, this free will view, is it makes a mockery of mercy and it destroys grace. If it's not mercy or it's not grace, if God has to look into the future and then decrees that you're elect and saved based upon him learning that you would make the right decision, that's merit at that point. That is earning it at that point. That it would be God rewarding you, giving you what is right, giving you what you deserve because you made the right decision. That is, I mean, that's the antithesis to the message of Christianity. And then what is really at stake here with this point is that these folks who are They're making this point, they're missing the fact that they're actually robbing Christianity of everything that makes it beautiful, of everything that makes it so free and wonderful to us, that we don't have to look to ourselves at all. And so we're glad that many of those who argue for a conditional election, that they do so inconsistently, seeking to maintain salvation, through faith by, or salvation by grace through faith alone. They seek to say that and they say that, but all the while they explain it in such a way that they make that an impossibility. And so that's why we care about it. That's why our confession speaks against it so clearly. And beloved, I want you to be, I want for you to especially grasp this afternoon, this in light of paragraph two. And what that is is that the reality that God's, Decree is not based upon his looking to the future to know is actually something that should bring us so much joy and peace It should bring us great joy and peace You see if If God elects and he predestines based on him foreseeing the choice that you would make in the future. Well then, what is your joy and peace ultimately in? You. Your choice. It's ultimately in what you've done. Or maybe, you know, what you didn't. do so well. I mean, what if for some reason, whatever reason, some sin, some particularly difficult to stop sin, and you're battling it, but it seems like it has the advantage, so you second-guess yourself. Well, what if I didn't really believe? Maybe, maybe, you know, maybe I just need to try harder. And before you know it, you're not even looking at Christ at all anymore, but you're looking to yourself. Did you do it? Was it good enough? Was it genuine enough? The truth is so much more simple than that. The reason you believe, the reason you struggle against sin and don't embrace it, it's because God chose to have mercy on you. He decreed for the foundation of the world to make you a vessel of mercy. You didn't deserve it. You didn't earn it. You don't pay it back. He made this decision before you had done any good or evil. It's not on the basis of that. It's simply on the basis of His love or His good pleasure. There's no condition in you that you had to meet. It's unconditional in that regard. If there was, then you would deserve salvation. And we couldn't say salvation is all of grace at that point. And so what is behind this foreknowledge that leads to predestination? It's not God foreseeing you make a right decision in the future. basing his decree in that. The answer is, in fact, something that's actually really beautiful. It's not in God looking to the future to see the good things that you'll do, but it's in God loving you. It's actually in God loving you. Loving you even though he knows you would desire to be his enemy. Loving you even though it would be your very sin that nails his eternally begotten son to the cross. In the Bible, to know someone is more than just a head knowledge. It's often more than just a head knowledge. It's more than just information. R.C. Sproul says, a study of the idea of knowledge in the Bible will show that it usually involves a choice of intimate relations, as when Adam, quote, knew his wife, Eve, and she conceived. And so context is paramount in determining what's going on. So when we think of that golden chain that we talked about a little bit ago, Well, it's the first link of it. The thing that sets off the train, right? God foreknowing some, that he predestines. Is that foreknowledge? Is it some knowledge of God knowing what you will do? That can't be the case. That's a violation of who God is and what God does. And so the idea of foreknowledge there in Romans 8 is that of foreloving. That's what's going on there. That's what leads to God's electing and saving of an individual, which we'll talk about later in chapter three of the confession. It's not God looking into the future to find out who you would be like and what you would do, but it is God, out of his good pleasure and for his glory, loving you. loving you, and that love led to his predestination of you, the calling of you, his predetermining to make you one of his adopted sons or daughters. That is, you're believing in the gospel, and its depths, and its facets, and its colors, and its humbling character, and its grip of the truth of our nature and place in this world. And that calling led to your justification, and that justification goes all the way, every time, according to that golden chain, to glorification. There's no starting out justified, and then ending up not glorified. That's an impossibility. And what our confession is reminding us here is that we have no biblical warrant to think that God's decree is based upon him seeing a future event and then claiming that as his own. No. Rather, God has decreed in himself from all eternity. And the reason behind it, the glorious and beautiful nature of it is God himself. It's his mercy. It's His love. And just think, friends, you, myself, rebel sinners, who on our very best day, our very best day, our most holy day, fall incredibly short of the glory of God. Often, what we have are bad days. You know, even as people who believe. And we foolishly persist in our sin. We don't do the good that we know that we should do. And we struggle against the flesh that is at war in our members. And yet, What does this point of doctrine or confession remind us? That God has loved you. He loves you and he has mercy on whom he wills. God's foreknowing is God's foreloving of you, not his understanding of a choice you make. Ephesians 1, 3 through 6 makes this so clear. You could turn with me there, and we'll close there. You probably know this text, but it says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will. In love. In love, he predestined. That's the condition. If we want to wonder about some contingency, God provides the condition. He loves. And that's the reason why you are predestined. That's the reason why you possess salvation. It's not because you made the right choice. You can say, this is fickle, this is frightening. You can say, if it's up to you, How do you deal with that? But if you can say, I'm saved because God loves me. I believe because God loves me. I, even though I fall a thousand times, I can have peace and joy knowing that I am His because God loves me. It's so important, friends. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we're so grateful to be able to peer into the Mystery of your decree. We know that it is not something that is natural to us. We did not set off anything by a decree. We are not absolute or powerful or sovereign like that. But we want as well, God, to not think of these things from a human way, trying to make sense of them. We want to take your word at face value. and the plainness of it, God. So help us to understand how it is that your decree works with your knowledge. Prevent us from making some sort of a doctrinal claim that would, in fact, do damage to your character and nature, even though we're trying to, in our minds, as so many do, trying to defend you when the reality is plain. do all things according to the counsel of your will. And you have made some vessels for mercy, some vessels for wrath. Lord, we're so grateful to be vessels of mercy. We know that we deserve to be a vessel of wrath. And so help us, God, to trust you and to know that great love with which you have loved us in Christ. And it's in his name that we pray, amen. Alright guys so kind of you know again short paragraph it's really building off of the things from paragraph one and it's going to make more sense with the paragraph three because paragraph three just goes right into election and reprobation and so no way I could have talked about election and reprobation with this much time so save that for here. So any questions any comments? What are the differences between Calvinism and Fatalism and Determinism? So usually Fatalism and it depends on who you ask so some people will say these are all synonymous if we're meaning What I would try to do, if someone says, no, Calvinism is determinism, I would say, well, explain to me what determinism is. Because usually people have different things about that. But what usually happens is fatalism and determinism is they reject any idea of concurrence, what we talked about last time. Remember the paragraph one says that God, in the order of first and second clauses, doesn't violate the will of the creature. Well, fatalism and determinism, properly speaking, they don't care about the will of the creature. It doesn't matter. So it's just, you know, it's God, it's sometimes what people will call hyper-Calvinism, but even that's a term that's kind of hard to put an attack in, because people think different things about it. But basically, it's a fatalism, determinism, hyper-Calvinism. Usually what happens is it's a view where they're saying that God is responsible in such a way that makes people's choices not actually free, and it makes God culpable for evil, which is two things that Calvinism does not want to do, and that doesn't exist. I think you said, too, another good thing, like you said, it doesn't matter. I think the fatalists slash determinists, there's no purpose. It's just fixed. They believe in a god of fate, whereas we believe that, yes, things are fixed. That's what the scriptures teach, right? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you're loved by him, right? And so for them, there's nothing of that either. So when my own experience, at least, is someone who says that, they're wanting to somehow, someway, leave the response on the person as they're the reason why they're saved. It's something in them, something in them that's different. And again, I just don't think that there's no room to see that in the Bible at all. That's ultimately what it comes down to though, is why am I saved and why is my brother not. You know, we grew up in the same household, we had the same parents, we had a very similar experience, and yet I'm saving, he's not. Well, it must be because I exercise my free will. And so the determinists, the fatalists, they say, well, no, none of that is true even. But what we want to say is, yes, you have a true free will, but that is operating in light of God's decree. And they're not opposed to each other. So what you're saying According to the Second London Baptist Confession, it is that God foresaw this, yet it doesn't determine of what, because of who he is, he is still in control of all things. So it has nothing to do with free will in this sense, it just has, he knows who he's gonna choose and who he's not gonna choose. Yeah, it's according to his good pleasure like what he says in Romans 9. I have mercy on whom I will Well, it's not even about him seeing that that's the thing So it's not even about him seeing because he says before they any works of evil or good are done Jacob I have loved and Esau I've hated and so it's not about those things because again in the example of Jacob and Esau I mean Jacob is He's maybe worse than he saw from humanly speaking. You know? Because he redeemed himself in the end before the Lord. Well he did that because of God's graciousness to him that God granted to him repentance. So the thing is, so we have... It's a mystery. No, for sure. That's absolutely true and actually the seventh paragraph of this chapter says the doctrine of predestination is a great mystery, one we need to handle with care. And so, you know, because it is hard to understand, it is hard to fully grasp. Again, almost everybody who's a Christian, I think, starts out as an Arminian. And they don't know what that means, but they think that I'm saved because I raised my, I responded to the preaching, I raised my hand, I came down the aisle, I'm placing my faith in Jesus Christ, I'm, what do they say, I'm asking Jesus into my heart You know, they say those types of things. And so when you think that initially... You knocked on everyone's door and I opened it. And I opened it, yeah. And then you read the Bible... And the Bible says, well no, that's not actually the order of how these things work. You are making a choice. Like, you're absolutely believing. You absolutely do. That's what Calvinism teaches. That's what chapter 3 is looking to preserve here. That God has decreed everything and you make a choice. Nevertheless still, so just like last time when we read all those different texts like in Isaiah and even like how in the cross where Jesus is predetermined by the divine forbearance of God to go to the cross and to be killed by you lawless men. So like, they did a great sin in killing him, but it all happened according to God's predestined plan, right? Wait, so does God determine people's actions or does he not determine people's actions? all things whatsoever comes to pass. Yes, actions. He did determine everyone's actions. Yes. But at the same time, neither doing violence to the creature, right? Like the compassion says. So. Yeah, that's the part I'm confused about. I know. This is why it's the mystery. Can I just say about the first and second causes? Because like Tanya said, he sees the heart. And I think that's exactly like you were trying to say that God doesn't look into the future and learn, right? Yeah, he does see the heart that the heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things But it's not like this heart was somehow special or there was something good. So when we say unconditional election God doesn't God foresees what his decree is but when we start talking about does God Determine every action. Well, the Bible tells us that I mean we see it over and over in Acts 2 Pre-determined purpose and foreknowledge of God and he's slain by liquid man. So it should make us much more grateful that We're not the ones that Put Jesus to death like or Judas is scary when he said it wouldn't be better for him for the son of perdition to have never been born never been born that the Bible prophesies that he's gonna be the one to betray him even my familiar You know that He's raised up His heel against me, right? And so when we see all these things, the interesting part for me is, it should give us hope as Christians. Because if God is sovereign over even my sin, then God is sovereign to bring me out of my sin as well. He's your hope in that, yeah. Yeah, He's my help. He's my hope. And so, They assign good to themselves unintentionally, all in the name of trying to protect God from evil. But God is sovereign over the both. And all good comes from Him. And the only reason we're delivered from evil is because God is good. We'd be stuck in it. And we'd be rejoicing it. To add up to your question again, yes, God is to create every one of our actions. At the same time, I have freely performed every action I have never once been coerced by God. We talked about this last time. I am never in the position to say, the devil made me do it. Or God made me do it. The reality is, He decrees it, and we, with our will, it's freely what we have chosen as well. We're not puppets on strings, we're not robots, but our choices are such as creatures made by the Creator who's created everything and knows everything and is sustaining everything. They're all dependent upon who He is. And so, you know, we have no room to boast. We have no room to boast in front of God at all. We're humbled before Him. At the same time, we understand that our actions really have consequences. And we, now as Christians, remember we, it's been a while since we've talked about this, but the condition of our, of people. In the garden, Adam was able to sin and able to not sin, and we know he sinned. After the garden, mankind is apart from being saved, is able to sin and not able to not sin. Everything we do is sin. Everything, nothing done, everything done apart from faith is sin, the Bible tells us. And then when man is saved, when we're redeemed like we are now, we're trusting in Christ, your condition is the same as it is in the garden. You're able to sin and able to not sin. And in those times when we sin, even though, you know, Romans 7 goes over this in detail, where the Apostle Paul is like, I know I'm not supposed to do this, and yet I do this. I discover in this law within me that the flesh loves sin and death, and he's opposed to it in his mind, in the mind of faith. But we're able to sin and able to not sin. And then in heaven, and here's the thing that I would maybe say to the fatalists and the determinists, is in heaven, I'm not able to sin, and I'm able to not sin. So in other words, I can't sin. And so am I less free in heaven now? Because I'm unable to sin in heaven, nor do I want to sin. And so those are questions that we have to ask. Again, this is why I think the seventh paragraph in our question says this topic is one of mystery that we need to handle very gently. We need to be patient with people who maybe disagree. I tried to say that a little bit. I think that there are many people who are Advocates of the free will view, but I think we should just be patient with and and because they they try to say at the same time Well, no, you're I'm still saved by by grace alone through faith alone But then they explain that in such a way that puts the impotence on them, which would be bad, right? They made the choice, right? I mean I like what you said a couple weeks ago when you were talking about this When you had brought up about how God's glory and how the believer when he saw God When people critique us, I mean, we're pretty high Calvinists at this church, so in the ultimate sense, yes, Adam could not sin, or he had never experienced sin in the garden, but in the ultimate sense, he was gonna fall, because God decreed the fall. So, yes. We'll get to that, yeah. We're coming up to that in the confession, even. Yeah, the mysterious doctrines, in a sense, but there's enough for us to grasp that God has seen fit to tell us that should cause us to have a deeper sense of worship towards God in our Christian lives. Yeah, absolutely. What I said a couple weeks ago, too, or maybe it was maybe a month ago. But when we speak of mystery as Christians, I want us to not be... I want us to be okay with that, but I want us to not be like the Lutherans. The Lutherans appeal to mystery, and they say, oh, well, we just don't know, basically, and this is the plain meaning of the Bible, and we're just gonna go with that. I think that's okay for us to think deeper than that. We don't have to leave it at that level. We can look into things as far as the scriptures will take us. And then we'll say... The scriptures take us further than the Lutherans do. The scriptures take us further than the Lutherans do. Like, for example, when they say, you know, that you can actually truly be saved and then lose your actual salvation. But they believe in, you know, predestination and foreign law as well, too. So there's some difficulties that we have to deal with there. But in their view of the Lord's Table, Rex, I don't want to make you forget. You've been very patient. I was just thinking about an illustration that a man once said that if there was an ant on this piece of paper, exercising his free will, God wants him to walk off the right side, but he's walking towards the left side. What God will do is, he'll take the tapestry of the universe. and organized it in such a way that all the while the ant is exercising his free will, but God ultimately gets him to walk off this edge of the paper by turning the piece of paper as much as he needs to. It goes to Proverbs, you know, it's like a man. The ant's doing what he wants to do. Yeah, the ant's doing what he wants to do, but God organizes the universe in such a way that he does exactly what God wants him to do. Amen. It's like, okay, I'm going to walk this way. I said, oh, you're going to walk that way. And you know and then we feel like how does this work and it's like well We can't really grasp who God is. Remember, that was paragraph 1 of chapter 2. God alone comprehends himself. And since we fail to comprehend God, the danger is, is we'll try to make God in our image a little lower than he is, so we can understand it, and then we get into all kinds of trouble. Yeah, yeah. My brain is going to go, okay, I'm going to have to just be patient with myself. That's what it is. Yeah, that's us all. This is a lot to take in. So I'm like, you know, if I say this and I said, well, if God is, if, if he doesn't determine the future, even though he knows the future, why give our lives to him in the first place? because they're the means that God uses to accomplish His purpose in His world. So this is just, this is kind of like what we were talking about last Sunday, in Hebrews 5, with the warning, right? Like, what is the difference between the meat and the milk of the Word? Well, it's not that the milk is just gospel and the meat is end times, or the meat is You know, how the sign gifts, how those all work. No, actually, the meat and the milk, they're both gospel, but this topic of understanding God's decree and His election and predestination and His love for us, I mean, that is the meat of the gospel. It takes discernment. It's just like the milk is knowing the basics of the gospel and meat is going further, delving further into understanding, breaking it up and understanding God's hand in all of this. Yeah, yeah. And we can, we'll never exhaust that information. I mean the church has been writing about these topics and defending and talking to them for over 2,000 years now. And there's big books on these topics even, you know? What's always interesting to me too is how at the end of 2 Peter, you know, in the middle artist doctrines, these things are difficult to understand to people who twist them as they do the rest of the scriptures. I mean, especially when you start getting into reprobation, I mean, that, like, how is it that somebody from the cradle to the grave will never ever flee to Christ, and they're working out their depravity until the day they die and go to hell? That's not only scary, but it's just, it just shows you that God, is sovereign and providentially healing from beginning to end. And that's, it's a comforting doctrine for us. I mean, it's terrifying for those who are outside of Christ. Yeah. Okay. Good? Alright. Well, may the Lord cause His face to shine upon you, brothers and sisters. Another wonderful Lord's Day. Amen.