Well, here we are once again continuing our study in the 1689 Confession of God's Decree. We're looking at paragraphs 3 and 5, and I won't read those for the sake of time. But we've been in a study here of understanding God's sovereignty being exercised in his works of creation and providence as the outworking of the decree of God, as the execution of God's decree. so that I've been trying to show you in so many ways, and in fact, in all of my teaching to you over the past weeks and months, I've been trying to show you how intimately involved our God is in our lives. how well he knows our hearts, how great he is and awesome in all of his ways, that he is able to predestine all the people who will ever be saved. Before time began, he knew you and I who know him. foreknew what he would do in regard to us in particular, and decreed that it would be so the number of our days. And all of his works in relation to us are known from eternity, it says in the book of Acts. And so we need to really, as Christians, take heart that God has a purpose, that he took counsel, the divine trinity, the three persons of the divine trinity took counsel in the covenant of redemption and purpose to do all of these great works of salvation and blessing so that he might have glory and honor and adoration forever from us. What a great thing it is. I've been trying to show you God's sovereignty in particular in regard to the interaction, the dynamic interaction that he has with not only believers but with unbelievers. And we've studied for some Sundays now the life of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and how God hardened his heart and what that meant. And in fact, I've labored specifically to bring to you a definition of God's hardening because it is so difficult a subject and so hard to understand by so many people. And by the way, it's the basis of many people's rejection of God, that God is this sovereign. You and I need to understand that many people are offended by God's sovereignty. They are offended by God's decree. They are offended by the fact that God is this sovereign. that He can decree all things that will come to pass in time and space before time began. Hardening is one of those things that God does in His dynamic interaction with unbelieving, wicked people. And I defined it for you. I had it up in four points last Sunday. I erased that because I'm dealing with the third point in my definition today. Let me read you the definition first and then I'll tell you where we are going with it. God's hardening is a progressive just judgment in time and space based upon his eternal decree concerning that particular person, whereby because of their persistence in sin, He gives that person over to the sinful thoughts and tendencies of their own heart to exalt themselves and to do their own will. And he will righteously and deliberately lead them into situations where they will be tempted and they will be overcome by their temptation to sin against him. In his hardening there will be a sometimes gradual and sometimes sudden withdrawal of the Holy Spirit's gracious influences of common grace upon the sinner's heart so that they will not want to in any way do the will of God. He makes them hard in relation to himself. Following their hardening, their own hearts to his entreaties, and to his warnings. So, going on from this definition which I broke down for you last Sunday into four parts, we're on the third. I want to say this, that the hardening of Judas Iscariot is an example of God's leading him into temptation. And I want you to turn with me over to John chapter 13, and we want to look at verses 21 to 27. Who would like to read these verses for me? John 13 and verses 21 to 27. You haven't met? Having said this, he became troubled in spirit and testified and said, truly, truly, I say to you that one of you will betray me. The disciples began looking at one another at a loss to know of which one he was speaking. There was reclining on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples whom Jesus loved. So Simon Peter gestured to him and said to him, tell us who it is of whom he is speaking. He, leaning back thus on Jesus' bosom, said to him, Lord, who is it? Jesus then answered, that is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him. So when he had dipped the morsel, he took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. After the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore, Jesus said to him, what you do, do quickly. Okay, thanks for that Matt. Now I want you to notice here that the Lord Jesus did not plead with Judas to reconsider. He did not do so. He did not tell him that he should pray to God if perhaps the thought of his heart might be forgiven him. Like Peter did with Simon the sorcerer when when he was sinning. In fact, what Jesus said here is he said, what you do, do quickly. See, that is a statement of leading into temptation. God deliberately leading Judas into temptation. You and I need to see this. What you do, do quickly. It was a sin what he was doing. Jesus was not encouraging him in any way to sin. Jesus was sinless himself. But I want you to see the truth of the matter here, that this had been decreed before the foundation of the world that Judas would be the betrayer of Christ. And it would be better, Jesus said concerning him at one point, if he had never been born. Now, I want you to turn with me over to Luke chapter 22 and verse 53. I want to read you a verse over there that will go along with what I'm saying here. Because there were other people involved in this betrayal. There were people who were sent to take the Lord Jesus, Luke 22, 53 says, when I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize me, but this is your hour and the power of darkness. Now for Jesus to say something like that, it had to be decreed, the very hour. In fact, Jesus says at some points in his ministry, my hour is not yet come. But the hour had come at this point. And Jesus knew that. And you notice how straightforwardly Jesus went into this. Went into all of his sufferings. You will see it. It is to be admired greatly in his perfections. of how he went straight into everything related to his arrest, his trial, and his crucifixion. What a mighty Savior we have. That he was not afraid. His perfect love cast out fear. And yet he knew perfectly well the decree of God concerning both himself and his betrayer. Look at John chapter 17 in verses 11 and 12 with me here. John 17 verses 11 and 12. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, Jesus says in prayer to the Father. And I come to you, Holy Father, keep through your name those whom you have given me, that they may be one as we are one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you gave me, I have kept. Watch this. And none of them is lost except the son of perdition. that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. John Calvin says on the words here, the son of perdition, he says, by these words, Christ means Judas's ruin. which took place suddenly, before the eyes of men, had been known to God long before. For the son of perdition, according to the Hebrew idiom, denotes a man who is ruined, or who is devoted to destruction. But I want you to notice here the great difference which Jesus made in his prayer in John 17 here concerning those whom he would have the Father keep from temptation and keep by his grace. In contrast to the one who was lost, the son of perdition, that is Judas Iscariot. The word perdition according to the 1828 Webster's Dictionary means entire loss and ruin means utter destruction, the utter loss of the soul or the final happiness of final happiness in a future state, future misery or eternal death. So we should understand by the word son of perdition that Judas was the man who got a decreed would be Christ's betrayer without being at all involved in Judas's sin. You and I need to see this. God was perfectly righteous in all that he decreed. Judas was perfectly guilty in all that he thought, said, and did at this time point. But I want you to understand here the difference in Jesus's prayer between those who are kept and those who are lost. Listen to Matthew Henry on Christ's prayer. He says, keep them in thy name. Keep them through thy own name. That is, keep them for thy name's sake. Thy name and honor are concerned in their preservation as well as mine, for both will suffer by it if they either revolt or sink. The Old Testament saints, Matthew Henry says, often pleaded for thy name's sake, and those may with comfort plead that are indeed more concerned for the honor of God's name than for any interest of their own. Keep them in thy name. So others, the original is, ento onomatai. Keep them in the knowledge and fear of thy name. Keep them in the profession and service of thy name, whatever it cost them. Keep them in the interest of thy name, and let them ever be faithful to this. Keep them in thy truths, in thine ordinances, in the way of thy commandments. Keep them by or through thy name, so others. Keep them by thine own power, in thine own hand. Keep them thyself, undertake for them, let them be thy own immediate care. Keep them by those means of preservation which thou hast thyself appointed, and by which thou hast made thyself known. Keep them by thy word and ordinances. Let thy name be their strong tower, thy tabernacle their pavilion. So what I'm trying to show you here this morning is this traumatic contrast between those God keeps and those God passes by and who are lost because of their own determination to persist in their sin and thus ruin themselves. And that's what Judas did. Psalm 125 verses 1 to 3 are pertinent here. Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. Some of my wife's favorite verses. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people from this time forth and forever. Watch this. For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous, lest the righteous reach out their hands to iniquity. Do good, O Lord, to those who are good and to those who are upright in their hearts. As for such as turn aside to their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them away with workers of iniquity. Peace. be upon Israel. Isn't that interesting, that verse 5? As for such as turn aside to their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them away with the workers of iniquity. Now we're talking about being led into temptation. Now the believer prays what in Matthew 6.13, do you recall? In Matthew 6.13, the believer prays, That's what the believer prays. But the very opposite happens to the person who is reprobate, to the person who is wicked, to the person like Judas, who is going to go on and on in their wickedness and their sin. But look at what Psalm 125 shows us, how good God is to his people, how he surrounds them from this time forth and forever. Notice the contrast between being kept and those who are lost because of their own perseverance in their own wickedness. Now we wanna see here, too, if I have any time, which I don't have much, Thirdly, the believer prays, thus lead me not into temptation. But I want you to see the second point, the progressive withdrawal of common grace. And I want you to turn with me to John 12, 35 to 40, and I'll real quick try to summarize what I want to say here. John 12, 35 to 40. Jesus said to them, a little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. He who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of the light. These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them. But although he had done so many signs before them, watch this language, they did not believe in him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled. Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again, he has blinded their eyes. and harden their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, and lest they should understand with their hearts, and turn so that I should heal them." Look at how it all rests upon their responding to the light. that has been given to them." In other words, the word of truth that Jesus spoke to them, and all of the godly example that he was in his ministry, and all of the miracles that he did, and all of the teaching concerning salvation, belief in himself that he gave to them. And yet it says, even though he had done all of these things, they still didn't believe in him. Oh, this is just an awful thing, isn't it? And what was happening there? What was happening was this, a progressive withdrawal of common grace. And that can happen, beloved, in a society, in a whole society like ours. If people persevere in their sin and will not believe in the Lord Jesus, that's what the Lord does in response. He withdraws his common grace, and so many things in society start getting worse and worse. Morally. And the reason for that is not because God can't revive us. He can, and we pray for that, that He will. But it's because of their perseverance in sin, and God has a purpose concerning them, a decreed purpose, that His justice will be displayed in them if they will not believe. That's what I'm trying to show you here this morning. We know from Christ weeping over Jerusalem that he really did love these people enough to go to the cross for them. And some of them that put him to death actually came to know him then later on, didn't they? On the day of Pentecost, we can rejoice in that. But others, they persevered in their unbelief, and thus they lost their soul. Well, let's pray together. Father, we thank you for this study that shows us so much of how you righteously give people over to their sinfulness. If they will not believe in the light, if they will not believe in you, O Christ, So we pray that many people in our generation, in our day, in our society, and even in this city would come to know you, and that they would come to know you through our witness to you, the light, Lord Jesus. We pray and ask these things in your blessed name. Amen.