good works as you'll see in page 1 of your notes. And again, thanks to Joe for being so faithful in photocopying those notes out for us. And you'll see in page 1 there the outline for the chapter. We have in paragraph 1 the norm of good works, what good works are and what they are not. then the importance of good works in paragraph 2, and the cause of good works in paragraph 3, and in paragraphs 4 and 5 the limitations of good works, and in paragraphs 6 and 7 the acceptance of good works. So I'm going to go straight into the detail of the Confession of Faith good works. And we have it positively stated and then negatively stated. Good works are only such as God has commanded in his holy word and not such as without the warrant thereof are devised by men out of blind zeal or upon any pretense of good intentions. This is probably one of the most controversial statements of the Confession of Faith. especially if we were talking to an unconverted person. Because the one thing that the unconverted hold on to when they have moments of thinking to the judgment ahead and of meeting God, the one thing they hold on to, the one sort of anchor that they have for their assurance, for their hope of getting to heaven or sort of ending up at the right side of Judgment Day. The one thing they hold to is that at least they do good things. At least there's some good in their lives. This paragraph ends that hope. What this paragraph says is that in, and I've broken the paragraph down into questions and all the paragraphs down into questions. But what this paragraph does, paragraph 1 of chapter 16, it says that the only things that can be described as good works, as it says in the answer there, the first answer, good works are only such as God has commanded in His Holy Word. So we can only say something is good when we are following the direct commandment of God. Now, some might say, well, how is that possible? How can I live my life purely in the context of the Word of God? And again, we use many excuses, don't we? And there is many excuses. But look at some of the verses here. Micah 6 verse 8 for example. He hath showed thee, O man, what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God. And the implication here in Micah chapter 6 verse 8 is that if we are not walking with God, if we are not living in communion with God, nothing we do is good. And this is the will of God for us, that we walk with Him. In the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve took of that fruit, they made an active decision to step out of the fellowship of God. They made a conscious decision to no longer walk with God. Adam, when he was first created, it says he walked with God in the cool of the day. When they took that fruit, they made a choice. No longer to walk with God. No longer to have fellowship with God. But they made a choice to stand against God, in opposition to Him. And in effect, to be His enemy. Hebrews 13 and 20 to 21 says, Now the God of peace that brought against the dead our Lord Jesus, that great His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. And the whole emphasis of this opening paragraph of chapter 16 is to say that good begins in communion with God. Good begins in a walk of fellowship with God. That there is no good outside of communion with God. That's why when Adam and Eve fell into sin, the fall was total. The fall was complete. They didn't just trip into sin and dirty their garments even though they weren't wearing any at the time. But they didn't just have a bit of a trip. They fell completely and the fall was full and final. So that's the positive statement. Good works are only what God has commanded. Then negatively stated, what are not good works? Page 3 says, and not such as without the warrant thereof are devised by men out of blind zeal or upon any pretense of good intentions. The world is full of religions. One of the things that confuse people, one of the things that people often say is, how can there be so many different religions? How can there be so many different philosophies? And we live in a world where mankind or men or women indeed formulate in their minds their idea of God, their picture of God, their view of God. And there is one for every shade and for every opinion. And it would be the easiest thing in the world tonight for any one of us or even for us as a group to imagine up our own religion. We think of Joseph Smith in the 19th century and he went from digging gold in the American mountains and then one day it enters his head, well start a new religion. So he invents a book for this religion. He invents rules for this religion. He invents a whole range of beliefs for this religion. And now we have millions of people in the world or maybe a handful of millions of people in this world who call themselves Mormons because a man back in the 1830s decided to start his own religion. Know many things just because of the sight of what is good in the sight of God that makes it so. But not so. And Matthew 15 if you turn over there with me over to Matthew chapter 15. Don't forget there will be time for questions and comments at the end of this. Matthew 15. and reading from verse 1. Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and mother, and he that curseth father and mother, let him die to death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father and mother, It is a gift by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, and honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by our tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." So what had simply happened here is that what was meant to be given to the father and mother, the tradition of the elders had decided the honour and the giving that was to be given to the father and the mother, that could be transferred to the elders. That could be given to the religion. to give it to the parents. And Jesus says, by your traditions you have nullified God's command. You have contravened a direct command of the Word of God. The responsibility we have, like you think about the Garden of Eden. Think about the Garden of Eden for one moment. All Adam and Eve had to do was obey one command. That's all they had to do. And they couldn't do that. They wouldn't do that. They wouldn't obey the one command. And the one thing that's impressed me in recent days is that as Christians The only thing that we have to remember is to remain faithful to the Word of God. God hasn't given us, like you can't go back to the Mormons or go back to Jehovah's Witnesses and they have shells and shells of books. We're only asked to remain faithful to one book. God hasn't given us something that's unbearable in its burden. God Himself has even come into the world in the form of a man and fulfilled the law for us and suffered the just requirements of the breaking of the law so that it would make it, and I use this phrase, that it would make it relatively easy for us to live a good life in the context of His Word. That's why the Lord, didn't we read this last week? That's why the Lord Jesus said, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Remember the story back in the book of Kings where the servant of the king of Assyria comes to the prophet and he has leprosy. And he wants to be healed. seven times in Jordan. And he complains. He says, could I have not done that in Damascus? Are there not rivers in Damascus that I could have watched in? But then his wise companion comes to him and says, if the man of God had have told you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? And God has made things relatively easy for us. That all he asks us to do, all he asks us to do, is to follow his word. It would be cruel of a parent, wouldn't it, if a parent turned around to a child and smacked the child. Now, smacking isn't cruel, smacking is a responsibility of parents. But if the parent smacked the child without telling them, That would be cruel, wouldn't it? Or if the parent smacked the child for breaking a command that the child was never given. That would be cruel. But it's not cruel to give an instruction to the child So God is not cruel with us. God is loving with us. And in the context of good works, and in the context of this teaching of good works, the first thing we have to remember is that the only thing that is considered good by God is when we desire to follow His Word. When we have that purpose in our lives to follow His Word. Paul in Philippians 3. all the traditions of being a Pharisee. All the rules and regulations that he had as being a Pharisee. Then he compares them to the glory of the New Covenant in Christ Jesus. And he says all that stuff is rubbish in comparison to this. Listen, the Lord God Almighty has made the Christian life so simple for us. Now, We make it difficult, don't we? Don't we? We make it difficult. Because we say, ah well, maybe I don't really have to follow the Word of God as closely as all that. And we have to, by long and bitter experience, see the negative results in our lives of not following the Word of God. God blesses us. The one thing I've become convinced of in recent days Two things. First of all, the blessing of following the Word of God. Of living by the precepts of the Word of God. And secondly, the foolishness of not following the precepts of the Word of God. So, paragraph 1 is the reality or the norm of good works. Then paragraph 2, the importance of good works. the importance of good work. These good works done in obedience to God's commandments are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith. And by them, believers edify their brethren, adorn the profession of the gospel, stop the males of the adversaries, and glorify God, whose workmanship they are, created in Christ Jesus thereunto, having their fruit of the holiness, they may have the end eternal life." Why are good works important? First of all, because of their testimony. what the genuine good works display. These good works done in obedience to God's commandments are the fruit and evidence of a true and lively faith. Let me ask you a question. How do you know you're a Christian? If I was to ask Anne that question now, I'm not asking an answer. If I was to ask you, how do you know you're a Christian? You might have one answer. If I was to ask you another question, how do people know you're a Christian? Not saying do they know, but how would they know? The answer is how we live, isn't it? I would answer, how do I know I'm a Christian? Because I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's not what the world would say. The world will only decide you're a Christian if they see me living it. Then they will decide I am a Christian. Funny, one of the funny things is You know, people use this term in a good Christian manner. And it has no relevance to doctrine. Do you ever notice that in the world? Being a Christian for someone in the world has no implication of doctrine. They don't see Christian equals believing in Christ. They see Christian equals living a good life. That's what they think. It has nothing to do with doctrine as far as the world is concerned. In fact, people in the world will say that a Muslim, if he lives a good life, is a good Christian. Or a Hindu, if he lives a good life, is a good Christian. It has no relevance to doctrine. We know different. But the world doesn't. The world sees what is a good Christian? Somebody who lives a certain standard of morality. So if we want to display Christ to the people around us, there's only one way we can do it, and to live like Jesus Christ. James 2 verses 18 to 22, Yea a man may say thou hast faith and I have worked, show me thy faith that by Thou believest that there is one God, thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought have in salvation. They do have a place. They do have a place and a purpose. Yes, Daniel? Heaven? Good answer. Excellent answer. Do you not see the line there? And by them believers manifest their thankfulness. Just like what Daniel is saying. We know we are going to heaven. We know that God has saved us. We know that God has given us everything we need. for life and for Godliness. Therefore, what do we do? In thankfulness, we live for Him. In gratefulness, we manifest. I love the phraseology there. And by them, in other words, by good works, believers manifest or show or display their thankfulness to God. Could you imagine, let me give you an illustration of this. A few weeks ago, we had what the world calls Christmas. Many people, many children got lovely presents including my own I have to say. Got some lovely presents and I didn't get very much but you know. But my children got some lovely presents. Now could you imagine if Jessica had taken her digital camera, or if Catherine had taken the game console that she got, and they started throwing them across the room, playing some sort of, you know, are not thankful. These children are not looking after the stuff that myself and my wife went to great pains to get money to buy these things with. I think that the Lord sometimes looks at us and says, I came into the world, I lived a life, a difficult life, a life of rejection. I went to the cross, I suffer for them that they might have eternal salvation. And is this how they thank me? How do I live? Someone once said, the Lord didn't just bless us with words only. The Lord didn't say from heaven, I think I love you and leave it at that. He blessed us with actions. And we should show to Him that we bless Him and thank Him with actions. Psalm 116, verses 12 and 13. What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. And the amazing thing is, the Lord doesn't expect us Simply what the Lord desires. Again, going back to the illustration of the children. When a parent does something for the child, all the parent desires is a grateful heart. A thankful heart. Parent doesn't want much more than that. Gratefulness and thankfulness. Then the second reason why good books are important is because of their have for us. In the first part we talked about in relation to God. Now in relation to ourselves. What is the benefit for good works in the life of a Christian? Those three words. Good works strengthen my assurance. If I'm a Christian, profess to have faith in Christ, and living like an unbeliever, spending my evenings watching the box, Doing nothing else. Never spending time in prayer. Never spending time opening the Word of God. Never spending time around the Word of God with my family. Never doing any of those things. Assurance is going to be very small. If the only time that I open the Word of God. If the only time that I pray. And I know it can be difficult, especially if we haven't done it before, to pray audibly in front of maybe the rest of our family. But if the only time we do these things is when we come to the meeting, there will be a lack of assurance. There will be a lack of assurance. And we say, we come to church and we say, how do I know I'm a Christian? Well you see, the Lord himself says, you will seek me and find me, when you do what? When you do what? Seek Me with all your heart. 1 John 2 verse 3-5 says, And hereby we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth His word, and Him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby know we are, that we are in Him. There's nothing greater. There's nothing greater in the Christian life. Now it's possible to be saved. Listen to this. It's possible to be saved and not be assured of it. But a great blessing in the Christian life is when we get that assurance of salvation. Peter denied the Lord. He didn't lose his salvation. But he felt like he had. He felt like he had. He felt like he was lost. He felt like he would never be used again. How could God use me after me denying him? I denied the Lord God three times. And he is totally wasted in himself. Totally with a sense of it will never be the same. Again, the Lord Jesus comes to him and says, Peter, love hast thou me. Love hast thou me. Love hast thou me. The question for us all, tonight or any day, is how much do I love him? You see, the Lord Jesus could have come to Peter and said, Peter, I'm very disappointed with you. You really messed up. You really, you know, failed. And he would have been right. But he doesn't say that. The only question that's of any importance for us tonight is not what happened yesterday. That's irrelevant. It doesn't matter what happened yesterday. For the Lord Jesus Christ, it doesn't matter what you did yesterday. The only question that matters today, now, if you were to die this moment, if I was to die this moment, the only question that matters, lovest thou me? Do I love him? Do I desire to live for him? It's irrelevant if you've denied me, Peter. Doesn't matter to me. Doesn't matter to me. Do you love me? Do you love me, Peter? And then quoting from that same Peter in 2nd Peter chapter 1 verses 5-11. Amazing verses. Beside this faith, this grace of faith that God has given us, giving all diligence unto your faith. You see, we're saved by faith aren't we? We're not saved by virtue. We're not saved by knowledge. We're not saved by temperance. All these things are listed. See here on page 5? All these things that are going to be listed. We're not saved by them. We're saved by grace through faith. What Peter is saying is, listen. Faith will get you to heaven. But is that all you want? Is all that I want just to get into the gate and into the edge of heaven? Or do I want to add to my faith virtue? kindness, charity, for, now see the words here, follow over here, for if these things be in you. It's possible for a Christian not to have these things. But Peter says, if these things be in you and the balance, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore, the rabbi brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure. For if ye do these things, ye shall never fall. May I ask yourselves a question? Why do I have such an up and down Christian life? Peter gives us the answer. Peter gives us the solution. If we add all these things to our faith, we will never fall. For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. What blessing will good works in our lives be to others? So we've taught about in relation to God. We've taught about in relation to ourselves. Now what about good works in relation to others? They edify their brethren and adorn the profession of the gospel. Let me ask you a question by way of illustration. If you were to leave tonight and you were driving past the local pub on the way home after the meeting tonight and you saw one of the members of the congregation fall out of the pub absolutely smashed with drink, falling all over the ground. Would it discourage you? Of course it would, wouldn't it? It would discourage you. Now I'm not saying that and making any specific point about that, but it would be a discouragement. Or to see a believer doing anything sinful would be a discouragement. But the opposite is also true. That if we see believers growing in grace, and growing in the knowledge of Christ, that encourages us to press on. We need to make a decision. Not just in relation to God, not just in relation to ourselves, but am I going to live? You see, coming here tonight, there's three reasons we do it. There's three reasons we do it. For God. We do it ourselves, and we do it for each other. Isn't that right? We don't just have one reason. The reason we come to church, we do it for God, we do it for ourselves, and we do it for each other. And, if we're not here, you know, there's a lack of opportunity, isn't there? To edify the saints, and to edify ourselves, and to bless God. Matthew 5 verse 16 says, Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. But then there is a fourth emphasis. What effect will good works have on the enemies of the gospel? It will stump the mouths of the adversaries. That as many servants as are under the yoke, count their own masses worthy of honour. For the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. 1 Peter 2.15 And for so is the will of God, that with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. The third main reason why good works are important is because of their role. What is the chief end and purpose of good works? It is the glory of God. The purpose of living a good life is to glorify God. We're not going to get on to paragraph 3. I don't want to test you beyond endurance. We'll just finish halfway down this page of page 7. Philippians 1 verse 11. being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God. Where do these good works originate from? His workmanship they are, created in Christ Jesus thereunto. And then we have that tremendous verse in Ephesians 2 verse 10. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them. What is the fruit and end of good works? That having their fruit and the holiness they may have the end eternal life. but now being made free from sin and become servants to God ye have your fruit of the holiness and the end everlasting life. Let me finish with a story. I heard this today in one of the sermons I listened to. There was a rich man in the 1960s and his son went to Vietnam but before his son went off they had a devotion to art, or the father at least had a devotion to art, and had built up a huge collection of works of art, Rembrandt, Renoir, all these famous paintings back in the 1960s. And the son The son went to the Vietnam War and was a very brave soldier in the war. But one of his friends got injured and this son was helping the soldier and literally carrying the soldier. But in the midst of doing this, the son gets killed. And the soldier whom he helped, and by virtue of the fact he also got killed himself, or sorry, that the son got killed, the friend, or the soldier friend of his, painted a picture of this young man. And after the war was ended, went to his father, approached the big mansion, and said, your son protected me, helped me and as he was doing this got killed himself. And so they want to give you this portrait I painted of your son. So the father in a house that was full of Rembrandts and Renoirs and all those beautiful artists takes this amateur picture of his son and puts it private plates on over the mantelpiece, the main place that people would see as they came into the house. Surrounded by all these paintings worth hundreds of thousands of dollars as well at the time. But this painting of his son, painted by an amateur, was pride of place. In the process of time, the father died and there was an auction. In his will, there was to be an auction. for all the paintings. And the first painting in the auction was not a Rembrandt, was not a Van Gogh, was not a Renoir. It was this painting of his son. And the auctioneer stands up and he says, lot number one. And he says, who will give me $100 for this? And the place remains silent. He says, who will give me $50? for this. Nobody put up their hand. Finally it's down to $10. Who will give me $10? Will nobody take the song? And then finally someone at the back of the hall put up their hand and said, I will take. that painting and paid $10. During all this time, people were grumbling, come on, get on to the Van Goghs, get on to the Renoirs, get on to the Rembrandts. We want to bid on them. But then, after the first painting was sold, the auctioneer made an interesting announcement. He says, the auction has now ended. And now everyone took deep breaths. What do you mean the auction has ended? He said it was a secret stipulation that the Father made in this auction. He said, whoever takes the sum gets the rest as well. And for $10 the man down the bank of the auction room had bought all the Rembrandts, all the Van Goghs, all the Rembrandts. And what God the Father says to us is He who takes the Son gets everything else as well. So in our lives, it's not about putting good works first as some sort of pattern. It's about putting Christ, the Son, central. And when we have Him, everything else will follow. May God give us the grace to put the Son first, to receive the Son and then those good works by His grace will follow. Let us pray.