Welcome everyone to our Friday evening lecture. Good to see you all here on a Friday night. Thank you for taking the time to come. Let's go to our God in prayer and ask for His blessing upon this evening. Our Father which art in heaven, we thank Thee for Thy Word. as it is a lamp before our feet and a light before our path. We pray that Thou will ever guide us by Thy Spirit as again and again we go back to the Scriptures to be reminded of what they teach us, to be instructed therein, to be nourished and built up through Thy Word. Father, we thank Thee for this opportunity we have tonight to come together to hear a lecture, especially one that intends to speak to matters that have been discussed recently that are on our minds as a body of believers, and we pray that thou will use tonight's speech for our good as a congregation and even as individual believers. Give grace to thy servant who speaks, who explains these truths, and who expounds the scriptures, and apply thy word unto the hearts of all of us who are gathered here tonight. Hear now this prayer for Christ's sake alone. Amen. Alright, the plan for the evening is to focus primarily on the lecture. The lecture is longer than a rather long sermon. So rather than starting with singing, my plan is to get it roughly halfway through the lecture. We'll stop in the middle. We'll do some singing then. We'll give everyone an opportunity to stand up. And then we'll proceed with the lecture and do a little bit more singing at the end and close in prayer. So I'd like to begin by opening God's Word this evening to Genesis 1-3. We're going to read a few verses here and there, the bulk of chapter 3. We read from Genesis 1-3 because As will become evident, we're going to use Adam to help us understand the truths that will be explained tonight. Genesis 1, let's begin with verse 26. Genesis 1, verse 26, And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God created he him. Male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of the earth, and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed. To you it shall be for me. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat, and it was so. And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day." And now let's jump to Genesis 2 and let's read verses 15-17. Genesis 2, 15-17, And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. And now we will go to chapter 3 and read the first 21 verses. Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took up the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked and hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field, upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed, it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow in thy conception. In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it, cursed is the ground for thy sake. In sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground For out of it wast thou taken, for dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return. And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothed them." We end our Scripture reading at that point. Tonight we come together for a lecture. And it's worth stating at the outset what is the focus of this lecture and why we're having it. And the plan for tonight's lecture is not so much what I myself put in the bulletin when I wrote that we're going to have a lecture regarding the decisions of Synod 2018 because We're not going to go walking through the various decisions one by one. In fact, I intend to try to limit myself to the number of times we're going to directly refer to the acts of synod. Instead, I want the focus tonight to be on the theology that's set forth in those decisions. And specifically, I want to focus on the theology that's found in one of the main statements of the Acts of Synod 2018. You're likely familiar with this statement. It's found on page 74. This is the focus for tonight's lecture. Properly expressing the relationship between obedience as the necessary way of the covenant and experience of covenant fellowship is We experience fellowship with God through faith, instrument, on the basis of what Christ has done, ground, and in the way of our obedience, the way of conduct or manner of living. The plan for tonight is to try to explain that statement, showing that this is scriptural, that this is what God's Word itself teaches. Because that statement is found in the Acts of 2018, it means that will be our focus tonight. That explanation, that theology that's contained in that statement was clarified in the subsequent years, so we will get into a little bit Synod 2019 and a little less Synod 2020. What we will not have time to treat tonight is everything leading up to Synod 2018, especially in the years 2016 and 2017. By not treating that tonight, I'm in no way minimizing the importance of that. Please do not conclude that I am slighting those first two years, but rather recognize there's only so much that can be said in one night, and I've determined it's best to focus on 2018 and the theology that's contained there. So why do we need a lecture? What's my purpose? What's our purpose in coming together tonight? Negatively, my purpose is not to tear down. In addressing these matters, we must recognize that there's a history here that involves certain individuals, certain consistories, And the point of tonight is not to tear them down. The point tonight is not to throw them under the bus. Nor is our purpose in coming here together this evening to puff up. The purpose is not that we walk out tonight puffed up with our knowledge saying in our hearts, well, at least we have our theology straight compared to those other people. Nor should it be the case that if we hear very little that's new to us tonight, that we walk away puffed up in our pride thinking, Well, this is so basic. I've known this all along. It's about time people finally get on board. That must not be our attitude. Our purpose is not to tear down. Our purpose is not to puff up. Our purpose is to build up. The purpose tonight is the edification of this body. Specifically, that we might be built up in knowledge and understanding. The goal of tonight's lecture is to make these truths clear for all of us and to show that they are indeed based on what Scripture itself teaches. And in saying that, I'm in no way claiming to have a perfect knowledge and understanding of all these things. I'm no expert on this subject. But yet I am your pastor. And that's really part of the reason the consistory decided to have me address this subject to all of you. God has put me in a position here to teach, and that's what I want to do tonight. But in that connection, that means a part of the purpose, the positive purpose, is also the unity of the congregation. It is rightly said in our circles, unity is found in the truth. If we do not agree on the truth, we will not have unity. There's unity in believing the same thing, confessing the same thing, which is why our confessions are called what they are, the three forms of unity. And the purpose for tonight is for all of us to be able to walk away saying, yes, that's what I believe. I'm convicted of that. And for us to then have unity in the truth. And that leads to a third purpose for tonight, namely, the glory of our God in Christ Jesus. Because when the truth concerning our God is set forth, when we have a right understanding of that truth, that serves the glory of our God. And when we're unified in that truth, that too highlights the oneness that we have in Christ and serves His glory. And so we come together tonight to expound God's Word and to show His glory in Christ. So that introduction will get into the heart of the lecture. I struggled with what to entitle this lecture, whether it's simply to call it, The Theology of Synod 2018, or perhaps this title could be given to it, drawing from the language of the Acts of Synod 2018, The Place and Function of Good Works in Our Fellowship with God. That's the focus tonight. The place and function of our good works in our fellowship with God. And we will have three points, as it were, three parts. First, we will explain what we mean by our fellowship with God, our covenant fellowship with Him. Second, we'll look at the place and function of good works in that. And then third, the importance of a right understanding in all of this. So, the place and function of good works in our fellowship with God. The fellowship with God, the place and function of good works, and the importance of right understanding. Central to reformed theology is the truth of the covenant, a doctrine we know well, the truth that God has established His covenant with us. That is, there is now a bond of love, a connection that He Himself has established so that we are His people and He is our God. God's covenant is God's relationship to His people. He is our Father. We are His sons and daughters. He is our friend Sovereign. We are His friend servants. Christ is our Bridegroom. We are His Bride. Jehovah is our God. We are His people. All of those are relationships, relationships of love. We could also speak of God's covenant as His union with us. That is, He has connected us to Himself. He has promised to be faithful to us so that all of those words are descriptions of God's covenant. It's His bond with us. It's His relationship with us. His union with us. And we could use those terms largely interchangeably. But now the real beauty of the covenant is that within this bond, relationship, union, we now enjoy fellowship and communion with our God. And that's true of any relationship. Take the relationship between a husband and a wife. Their relationship is that they are bound together in marriage, but now within their marriage, they live together. They spend time with one another. They enjoy one another's company, speaking with one another. There's fellowship within the bond. And so it is with God's covenant with us. Within that union bond relationship, We now enjoy covenant life with our God in that He speaks to us through His Word, through the preaching. And we respond back to our God, singing praises unto His name and praying unto Him. Within this relationship, there's opportunities to gather around a table to enjoy a covenant meal when we sit down at the table of our Lord Jesus Christ at communion. Those are just a few examples of the fact that we now walk with our God as those who are His covenant people. So that within the union, there is communion. Within the friendship, there is fellowship. And that tips my hand that when I speak of communion and fellowship, I'm not talking about the relationship itself, But by fellowship and communion, I'm talking about the enjoyment of that covenant relationship, the experience of life with our God, who has so graciously established His covenant with us. And now that there is such communion, fellowship within the covenant, has been true from the very beginning. That is, we see this when we look back at Adam in the garden. Adam was created in a covenant relationship with our God. That's really part of the reason God made man in His own image, after His own likeness, exactly so that man could now have such a relationship with Jehovah God. But now the main point we're making is that within that relationship, Adam enjoyed, he experienced fellowship and communion with his God. And we say that especially in light of Genesis 3 verse 8. Genesis 3 verse 8 we read, And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves in what follows, but it's mainly that first part. They heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And we've always understood that to clearly imply that this was the norm. This was ordinary that God would come walking in the garden in the cool of the day, implied walking with Adam and Eve. He would speak with them, that is, They enjoyed communion with their covenant God. This was true in the beginning. This is true for all of God's people. But this fellowship that we enjoy gets interrupted by our sin. So we've explained the fellowship itself, and we want to now focus on the fact that that's interrupted at times. We're going to get to how it's restored and how we continue in it. That will be the third subsection of this first point. But now, the second part, the interruption. That fellowship is interrupted by sin. And was that not true with Adam? Adam and Eve sinned by eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They transgressed God's covenant. That is, they stepped outside the boundaries that God had set for them. And now certainly when Adam did this, he did so as one who is perfectly righteous and one who was the head of the whole human race. So there's so much that could be said and is said from this pulpit with regard to what that fall of Adam meant for the human race. But tonight we're focusing more on Adam as an individual, if we can even do that. And focusing specifically on the effect the negative impact that his sin had on his fellowship with his covenant God. His sin interrupted that fellowship. For where are Adam and Eve when God comes walking in the garden in the cool of the day in verse 8? They're hiding themselves. The rest of verse 8, "...And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden." This is Belgian Confession, Article 17, it puts it, "...they fled, trembling at His presence." That's not fellowship. That's not sweet communion. That's cowering in fear at the presence of Jehovah God. The point being that their sin interrupted their fellowship, their communion with God. And we see this same thing throughout Scripture. We see this in the Psalms. We see this with David in Psalm 32 which is connected to the historical event of his sin Bathsheba and then his murder of Uriah the Hittite. David committed sin. And then he held on to that sin. He refused to repent of that sin for a time. And what was his experience? What we read in Psalm 32 verses 3 and 4, David says, When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me. My moisture is turned into the drought of summer. When David walked impenitently in sin, he did not experience the brightness of God's countenance, the warmth of His face shining down upon Him. That is, He was not enjoying fellowship with His God, but what He felt was the heavy hand of God, God's chastening hand. That is, sin interrupted His fellowship with God. And we see this in other psalms. Psalms in which the psalmist cries out, And that's always, And in those cases, always, sin is the issue. Sin is what causes this, as we read in a passage like Isaiah 59, verse 2. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you that He will not hear. Sin separates. And now we'll qualify that in a moment, but the point we're making here is that on account of our sin, we lose that sense of God's favor for a time. That sin functions like a dark cloud that blocks out the light of God's countenance coming down upon us. And it's on the basis of these passages that we've just mentioned that the canons of Dort teach what they do in Head 5 regarding our preservation. Canons of Dort, Head 5, Articles 5 and 6. End of Article 4 speaks of the lamentable falls of men like David and Peter. The fact that they are sometimes led away into heinous sins. And now, Article 5 says this, By such enormous sins, however, they very highly offend God, incur a deadly guilt, grieve the Holy Spirit, interrupt the exercise of faith, very grievously wound their consciences, and sometimes lose the sense of God's favor for a time. until on their returning into the right way of serious repentance, the light of God's fatherly countenance again shines upon them." So on account of our sin, we lose the sense of God's favor for a time. That's what we're talking about when we say sin interrupts our covenant fellowship. Or as the last part of the article states, that the light of God's fatherly countenance again shines upon them. That's saying when we're renewed in the way of repentance, implying that before that, the light of God's fatherly countenance is not shining upon us. That's explaining those Scripture passages we just went through. But now, article 6 rightly qualifies that. Because article 6 goes on to say, but God, who is rich in mercy, according to his unchangeable purpose of election, does not wholly withdraw the Holy Spirit from his own people, even in their melancholy falls, nor suffers them to proceed so far as to lose the grace of adoption and forfeit the state of justification, or to commit the sin unto death, nor does he permit them to be totally deserted and to plunge themselves into everlasting destruction. In other words, article 6 makes clear, as God's elect people, it's not possible for us to fall away from grace. God never wholly withdraws. So that perhaps it's even best to say that it's really some aspects of the fellowship that are lost, and maybe even lost is too strong, that some aspects of God's fellowship are lessened by sin. Because as the article says, We never proceed so far as to lose the grace of adoption or to forfeit the state of justification. But nevertheless, sin does interrupt fellowship in the sense of losing the sense of God's favor for a time and the light of His fatherly countenance not shining upon us. And remember, that's God's love for you. when on account of our sin, He does hide His face. And we experience a level of misery because God is teaching us that sin separates. God is showing us the seriousness of our sin, the effects of our sin, and He's using the very fact that that fellowship is interrupted, at least lessened, He's using that to help us see our need for Him. To make the confession that to live apart from God is death. So we've shown from Scripture that at times, sin interrupts fellowship. To help make this clear, we want to use an illustration tonight. This is not a new illustration. This is nothing novel. The illustration of a pathway, a highway, an interstate road. And on this road, one enjoys fellowship with God. One who is walking on this pathway is consciously experiencing covenant life with God. And it's appropriate to use that illustration Well, because of what we talked about with Adam. God came walking in the garden. And Adam and Eve would walk with Him on that pathway and enjoy fellowship there. And Adam and Eve are not the only ones who had such fellowship. Think of men like Noah, Enoch, Men who Scripture says walked with God. They enjoyed covenant communion with their God. They were on a certain pathway of life in which that was true. And now for tonight, we're going to make use of the front up here. And we're going to use this third step as our pathway, that interstate road. And when we are walking on this pathway, we are enjoying covenant fellowship with God. But now the main point we're making right now is that sin interrupts that fellowship. So for tonight's purpose, we can view sin as the off-ramp. When we sin, specifically when we persist in some sin, when we refuse to repent of a sin, we are taking the off-ramp, as it were. We're departing from that good and right path in which we were enjoying fellowship with God. And the result is, taking the off-ramp, we've lost that sense of God's favor. We're no longer experiencing that fellowship. And now importantly, we never take the last step. I'm not going to step down to the ground level, because we never fall away from grace. That's not possible. Yes, we get off the interstate and we might go on the back roads for a time, farther and farther away from our God, He never permits us to end up in the middle of the field. He never allows us to drive off the cliff as it were, because He never wholly withdraws His Holy Spirit from us. Yes, when we take this off-ramp, we grieve the Holy Spirit. That's a part of Canons 5.5, the grief that we cause to the Spirit, but yet He never withdraws. God never lets us go fully. And so to summarize to this point, in the covenant, we enjoy fellowship with our God. Sin interrupts that fellowship. With this, everyone has always agreed. This part of what we've explained has never been a point of controversy to my knowledge. But now the question is, How do we get back into fellowship? How is fellowship restored? And once it is restored, how do we keep that fellowship? How do we continue to enjoy that fellowship, that communion with our God? So we've explained there is fellowship with God in the covenant. We've talked about how sin interrupts that. And now the third part of this first point is the restoration of that fellowship and the continuation of that fellowship. And now we might be tempted to think that the way back into fellowship is obedience. That stands to reason, right? Because if disobedience is the off-ramp, if disobedience is what causes us to lose the sense of God's favor, does not the parallel mean that it's obedience that gets us back into fellowship? Should it not be our good works that cause us once again to enjoy the light of God's countenance once again? And the answer is an emphatic no. And you already know that. Of course not. Obedience is not the way back into fellowship. It does not cause us to enjoy His favor again. In other words, the two ramps are not strictly parallel. That is, when we're talking about sin, we can rightly say that sin is the cause of that loss of fellowship. It's because we sinned, it's on account of sin, it's on the basis of sin, that for a time, that fellowship is interrupted. But that does not mean the opposite is true, that because of good works, on the basis of good works, it's restored or continued. For the way into fellowship is Christ alone. Christ alone. And Christ Himself taught us that in John 14, verse 6, where we read, Jesus saith unto them, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. Jesus says here, we cannot come unto the Father. That is, we cannot have fellowship with the Father, apart from Him. And that's true because in order to stand in God's presence, in order to have covenant life with God, one must be perfectly righteous. And that righteousness is found in Christ alone. So that Christ is the way unto the Father. Christ is our access unto the Father. Christ and His saving work is the on-ramp back into fellowship with our God. To put it differently, Christ's saving work is the only basis for our fellowship with our covenant God. And we saw that recently, maybe not that recently, but since I've been here, in our series on God's church in the wilderness, think back to When Israel was encamped at Mount Sinai, God had given them the Ten Commandments, and then after that, there was the confirmation, the ratification of that covenant. There was a ceremony that we talked about in Exodus 24. Exodus chapter 24. The first couple of verses speak of Moses building an altar, making sacrifices, taking the blood and gathering it together. And in verse 8 we read, And Moses took the blood, this is Exodus 24 verse 8, and Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words. And in our sermon we pointed out part of the point there is to show that the covenant itself, that is the relationship, the bond, the union, is based on the blood of the Lamb. But then we kept reading in that sermon because verses 9 through 11 record a covenant meal that took place up on the top of Mount Sinai or a part of Mount Sinai with Moses Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy elders." That's what we read in verses 9-11. Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. And they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet, as it were, a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were, the body of heaven in His clearness. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel He laid not His hand. Also, they saw God and did eat and drink. That is, they ate and drank with God. They had a covenant meal with Jehovah God Himself. And now the question is, how could they stand there in His presence without being consumed? What gave them the right to sit there and have such intimate fellowship with God, dining with God Himself? because that blood had been sprinkled upon them. So that the blood of the Lamb, Christ's saving work, is the basis, the ground, not only of the covenant itself, but also the communion, the fellowship that's found within the covenant. It was the blood of the Lamb sprinkled on their garments that meant they could walk up the sides of Mount Sinai and ascend up into God's presence. It was the blood of the Lamb sprinkled on their garments that meant they could enjoy sweet communion with Jehovah Himself. And that's true of all fellowship. Tonight we spoke of our on-ramp as Christ and His saving work. But it's not as though it's only the on-ramp that is Christ's saving work. When Christ said, I am the way, and no man comes to the Father but by Me, that applies to everything on this pathway, this road in which we enjoy fellowship. The on-ramp back into it, as well as all fellowship on it. Fellowship with God is always on the basis of Christ saving work and that alone. And the instrument by which we enjoy this fellowship is faith alone. Faith alone. It's by faith that we come unto the Father. For as Jesus stated in John 14, verse 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me. That is, Jesus is clearly the way unto the Father, but what does it mean to come unto the Father? How do we come to the Father? By faith. by believing in Jesus Christ. And that's evident from a passage like John 6.35. John 6.35 where Jesus says, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. Notice the parallelism there. He that cometh to me is made parallel with he that believeth on me so that we understand coming as an activity of faith. So then how do we come unto the Father? By believing in Jesus Christ. That means we enjoy covenant fellowship with God by faith. And really it has to be that way. Because that covenant life, the communion, the fellowship that we enjoy in the covenant is a part of our salvation. That fellowship is something Christ himself earned for us at the cross. And because it's an aspect of our salvation, a part of the blessings of salvation, that means the only instrument whereby we can receive it is by means of faith. Because faith is the sole instrument in our salvation regardless of what aspect of our salvation we are talking about. The faith is the instrument in salvation. It's clear from the Belgian Confession, article 22. The Belgian Confession, article 22, the second paragraph on the bottom right-hand corner of page 45. Therefore, we justly say with Paul that we are justified by faith alone, or faith without works. And then at the bottom we read, and faith is an instrument that keeps us in communion with Him in all His benefits, which when become ours are more than sufficient to acquit us of our sins. So Christ is the way into fellowship with our God. We enter into fellowship and continue in fellowship by means of faith. That's the instrument. But now even as we maintain faith is the instrument, we must bear in mind that when we go astray, it's ultimately our faithful God who pursues us and brings us back. That was true for Adam. God had every right to destroy Adam after he sinned. But He didn't. He went to Adam and Eve. God came walking in the cool of the day to find them. We read in Genesis 3 verse 9, an often overlooked verse, this, Genesis 3 verse 9, in the Lord God, called unto Adam and said, where art thou? Do you see how much grace is packed into that little verse that we usually read right over? God comes looking for those who have just done the exact thing He told them not to do under penalty of death. And rather than coming to destroy them, He comes, yes, to confront them, but ultimately to preach the gospel to them. To give them the mother promise. And that's captured beautifully in the Belgian Confession, Article 17. I made a brief reference to this earlier. Now we read Article 17 of the Belgian Confession. The recovery of fallen man. We believe that our most gracious God, in His admirable wisdom and goodness, seeing that man had thus thrown himself into temporal and eternal death and made himself wholly miserable, was pleased to seek and comfort him. when he, trembling, fled from his presence. And here's how God comforted him, promising him that he would give his son, who would be made of a woman to bruise the head of the serpent and would make him happy. God pursued after Adam and brought him back. And that's just one example of so many. God pursued after David. David plunged himself into sin. He refused to repent. But then God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David, to help David to see his sin, to lead David to repentance. And even more vivid examples found in Jonah. God told Jonah to go to Nineveh. Jonah went in the opposite direction. He got on a boat and started sailing toward Tarshish. And you may be sure, while he's on that boat, he did not experience the warmth of God's face shining upon him. His sin interrupted the fellowship he otherwise enjoyed. But God pursued him. He sent a storm to bring His prophet back. And that's how He deals with us. On account of that old man within, we too sin, and at times even persist in that sin. Hang on to it for a time. We refuse to repent. And in those times, the way back unto the Father is not that as we depart from this pathway of obedience and we're down here, that all of a sudden we decide, well, I've had enough of the pleasure of sin. I guess it's time to be getting back unto the Father. Where's that on-ramp? Oh, there it is, and now I can enter back into covenant fellowship. That's not how it goes. But when we're down here, God Himself pursues after us. He reaches down and grabs ahold of us. And He draws us powerfully, but sweetly, back to Himself by showing us our sin. by means of His Word, by means of the rebuke of a friend, or the storms of life. He brings us back. He draws us unto Himself. And He does so by working repentance in our hearts. Sorrow for sin and hatred of that sin, even as we read in Canons 5-7. We read Article 5 and Article 6, and now Article 7 follows. For in the first place, in these falls, this is why we're not... plunged into everlasting destruction. For in the first place, in these falls, He preserves in them the incorruptible seed of regeneration from perishing or being totally lost. And again, here's how He draws us. By His Word and Spirit, certainly and effectually renews them to repentance and to a sincere and godly sorrow for their sins, that they may seek and obtain remission in the blood of the Mediator. Again, experience. the favor of a reconciled God through faith, adore His mercies, and henceforward diligently work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. So now let's step back for a moment at the end of this first point and see what all of this means regarding fellowship in the covenant. That's where we started. God has established His covenant with us, and within that covenant, we enjoy fellowship. We experience life with God. And now we've seen that the way into that fellowship is Christ alone. Christ's saving work is the only basis for communion. We've also seen that faith is the only instrument whereby we come unto the Father and enjoy communion. And remember, Faith is a gift of God. And then we've added that even when we do go astray for a time and return once again, it's really a matter of God pursuing after us. Put all that together and what does it mean? It means God's covenant is unconditional, both with respect to the union as well as the communion within it. That is, both friendship and the fellowship we enjoy in that friendship are both unconditional. Because it's God's covenant that He establishes by grace, maintains by grace, and will one day perfect by grace and grace alone. Tonight we're explaining the theology of the decisions of the Synod of 2018 in the Protestant Reformed Churches. Using as our title, The Place and Function of Good Works in Our Fellowship with God. And we've explained our fellowship with God. And perhaps it seems we could stop Maybe we think, why do we need to say anything else? That is, especially why do we need to try to bring good works into the picture? And the answer to that question is because Scripture does. Scripture consistently, again and again, links together good works and the blessings of salvation. It does so in passages such as Deuteronomy 28, verses 1 and 2. Deuteronomy 28, verses 1 and 2. And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, and observe to do all His commandments, which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come unto thee and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God." Deuteronomy 28, verses 1 and 2 connect in some way doing all God's commandments and certain blessings, and those blessings from what follow are the covenant blessings that God's people would enjoy in the promised land. We see this same link in Psalm 19, verse 11, which says, of God's law, moreover, by them, that is, by God's law, is thy servant warned, and in keeping of them there is great reward. Psalm 119, verses 1 and 2, Blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep His testimonies and that seek Him with the whole heart. Psalm 128. Verse 1, Blessed is everyone that feareth the Lord, that walketh in His ways. And this is not simply an Old Testament truth. James 1. Verse 25 teaches, but whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful here, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." All of these passages of Scripture, and we could give so many more, establish that there's a link, a connection, between obedience, good works, and the blessings of salvation. And that's quite striking because in light of everything that we said in the first part of this lecture, we would expect the link to be between faith and blessing. Right? We receive them by means of faith. So why is it not faith here? Why is it put in the terms of obedience? You see, these passages demand an explanation. And that explanation requires more than merely saying what the passages do not mean. That's important. But we have to take these passages and incorporate them positively into our theology. Really, we have to take our theology and subject it to these passages. So how do we understand all of these passages that link together good works and the blessings of salvation? The explanation that Synod 2018 gave is that the manner in which we live in fellowship and enjoy fellowship is obedience. This is the manner in which we enjoy fellowship. And this is true because When by faith we enjoy covenant fellowship with God, our faith cannot but respond with good works. In other words, to be on this pathway in which we have fellowship with God, that's where we started with this pathway. On this pathway, I'm living by faith. On this pathway, therefore, I am acutely conscious of the fact that acutely conscious of Christ's saving work as the only ground, the only basis that I can stand in God's presence and enjoy such life with Him. And now when the believer is living by faith, thankful for Christ's saving work, and presently enjoying the sense of God's favor, his faith cannot but Yield the fruits of faith. Our good works flow from all that we just described on that path. So that the manner in which we live in fellowship with God is obedience. When we're consciously basking in the warmth of God's fatherly countenance. We cannot but be zealous for good works. And it is exactly because that is true that we now speak of this pathway here as the way of obedience. That is, obedience is what characterizes that way. is what marks that pathway. Now to be clear, our obedience does not bring us into fellowship. Our obedience is not the means whereby we receive that fellowship. It's not the basis or the reason for the fellowship, nor is it a condition or a prerequisite we have to fill in order to get fellowship. Nevertheless, we can speak of the way of obedience because obedience is what characterizes that path. Really, the obedience is the evidence that someone is, in fact, on that path, living by faith, walking close with his God. So in light of that, we can put it all together with our analogy we've been using up here. By faith, I have fellowship with God. But when I sin, and especially when I persist in some sin, I take the off-ramp, and it's because of my sin that I lose the sense of God's favor. And when I get to here, I never fall away from grace altogether. And then God pursues after me In His love, He does not let me go, and He draws me back unto Himself. The way to the Father, the on-ramp, is Christ. His saving work. And really, every part of this pathway in which I'm enjoying fellowship with God is on the basis of what Christ has accomplished. But now, because I'm so thankful for the saving work of Christ, for God's love to bring me back. And because my faith has been stirred up again, it's been strengthened again, I now live a life of good works so that this pathway is characterized by obedience. And thus, we can call it the way of obedience. And this is the truth that was set forth and defended at Synod 2018 and 2019. At this point, we will spend a little bit of time looking at the Acts. We're actually going to start with Acts 2019 because we're starting with the positive. We'll get to the wrong understanding of those passages, but Acts 2019 makes clear that This language of experiencing God's, experiencing fellowship in the way of obedience is both scriptural and confessional. And I'm turning to page 66 in the Acts of Synod 2019. where we read the phrase, quote, in the way of obedience, unquote, is biblical, confessional, and has a long history of use in the Reformed tradition. And it quotes a couple of passages. Proverbs 12.28, In the way of righteousness is life, and in the pathway thereof there is no death. Proverbs 16.31, The hoary head is a crown of glory if it be found in the way of righteousness. And importantly, When you read the word righteousness there, it's not talking about righteousness in the same sense that Paul's talking about it when he writes in Romans or Galatians. This is not the imputed righteousness of Christ, but the righteous life of the believer. So it gives two passages. Some of the passages we mentioned a moment ago speak this same way. For example, Psalm 119. Blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the law of the Lord. Psalm 128. Verse 1. Blessed is everyone that feareth the Lord, that walketh in His ways. That is, according to His commandments. Furthermore, this is confessional language. Acts of Synod 2019 gives two examples. I'll read the second. Canons 5. Article 13. Neither does renewed confidence or persevering produce licentiousness or a disregard to piety in those who are recovering from backsliding, but it renders them the much more careful and solicitous to continue in the ways of the Lord, which he hath ordained that they who walk therein may maintain an assurance of persevering. And so it's for good reason that our churches have always used this language to explain that connection, that link between good works and the blessings of salvation. And that's what we find if we continue reading in the Acts of Synod 2019. It says, the phrase has a long history of use in the Reformed tradition, and it gives quotes from John Calvin and Herman Hoeksema. And of those quotes by Herman Hoeksema, probably the most significant is the one that he made in a series of editorials entitled, As to Conditions. And now I quote, Herman Hoeksema, as it's found in the Acts of Synod 2018 on page 71. Rev. Herman Hoeksema said, quote, Let me suggest, instead of using that Pelagian term, condition, we use the term, in the way of. This term is capable of maintaining both the absolute sovereignty of God in the work of salvation and the responsibility of man. We are chosen to faith and to the obedience of faith and therefore we are saved through the instrument of faith and in the way of obedience. That, and that only, is reformed language." And thus it's for good reason, namely that because this phrase is biblical, confessional, and a part of our tradition, it's for good reason The Synod 2019 defended the use of that and maintained that it is clear and distinct language. But now having seen the proper understanding, having explained the positive, we need also to address the error that was taught, the wrong understanding of all of those passages. And the error that Synod 2018 dealt with was making our good works the way of access back into fellowship with God so that our illustration we've been using all night, the error, while we know disobedience is the off-ramp, the error was to say our obedience is the on-ramp, the way we get back into experiencing fellowship with our covenant God. In other words, the error was that good works were made to be something other than the fruits of faith that characterize the believer's life as he lives in covenant communion. But instead, they were made to be the means by which we obtain fellowship with God and continue in fellowship with God. And the Synod 2018 declared that the error is that it gave to good works a place and function out of harmony with the Reformed confessions. This error was found especially in preached sermons. In preached sermons. Sermons that are quoted in the Acts of Synod 2018. The minutes quote three sermons. I'll lift small quotes from the first two. These were some of the statements that were made. Statements that many of us are familiar with. For example, it was preached that we do good works so that we can have our prayers answered. It was preached that we do good works so that we can receive God's grace and Holy Spirit in our consciousness. It was preached that what do the creeds say about the relationship between obedience and fellowship? That there are requirements. That there is obedience required in order that we may have that fellowship, prayerful fellowship, God, the error in these statements is that it's taking such things as having our prayers answered, receiving God's grace and Holy Spirit, and enjoying fellowship with God, all things that really belong to the fellowship itself, a part of this path we've been describing, and it takes those good works, our good works, and makes them The way of access into that fellowship. And now these statements were initially defended by arguing that, well, no, the minister is simply talking about the necessary way of the covenant. That is what we've just explained. That you may rightly call this path in which we enjoy fellowship the way of obedience. And it was argued that that's all he's talking about. But Synod 2018 said no, there's a difference. Synod 2018 said that the statements that we just read are at odds with previous statements that have been made all throughout our tradition. That's what Synod said on page 75 of Synod 2018. Page 75. Contrary to the contention of the consistory, the following statements are not expressions of the necessary way of the covenant." And now here's a slightly longer list of the various statements that were made, and I am going to take the time to read this, some of which I've already mentioned. We do good works, quote, so that we can have our prayers answered, end quote. And, quote, so that we can receive God's grace and Holy Spirit in our consciousness, end quote. And, this is explaining why we do good works according to what was said, quote, that our generations may thrive and flourish in God's land, end quote. And, quote, that we might remain in God's church with His people and with our God, end quote. And as something, quote, I must perform in order to enjoy fellowship with God, end quote. And because, quote, there are requirements for Him to fellowship, to approaching unto God, coming to the Father, end quote. And, quote, in order that we may have that fellowship, prayerful fellowship with God, end quote. and for, quote, help in finding and maintaining assurance that God has justified me through Christ and Christ alone, end quote. Now rather than summarizing, I am again going to continue reading now what Synod 2018 said. In these statements, good works are no longer fruits and no longer the way of grateful conduct in the experience of fellowship with God, but good works are performed to obtain something, or good works function as instruments or means for reception of something, or good works become part of the way unto the experience of covenant fellowship. The necessary way of the covenant does not teach that obedience is a requisite unto the experience of covenant fellowship, but a fruit in the experience of covenant fellowship. So Synod 2018 condemned the error. And it did so because of the seriousness of this error and the seriousness is captured in what Synod 2018 said about it on page 70. Page 70, Synod said at the very top, the doctrinal error of the sermons then compromises the gospel of Christ. For when our good works are given a place and function they do not have, the perfect work of Christ is displaced. The perfect work of Christ is displaced. And now think about that and what we said in our illustration. The way unto the Father is Christ and His saving work. The error that was taught was to take that on-ramp and move it aside. to displace Christ and lay down a new on-ramp. And to say, we can get back into fellowship with God. We can continue in that fellowship with God this way, by our works. So that the saving work of Christ is moved aside, it was displaced. Or to think about this in terms of what happened at Mount Sinai. The error was to say that I can now climb back up, I can now climb up into God's presence on top of Mount Sinai by my works. My works get me a reservation at the table at that covenant meal. That displaces the perfect work of Christ. Because Exodus 24 makes clear that it's only on the basis of the blood of the Lamb and His obedience that we have fellowship with our covenant God. And thus it's crucial to maintain the truth concerning this matter. We experience fellowship with God through faith alone as the instrument, on the basis of Christ's work as the only ground for fellowship and in the way of obedience. And that brings us to the importance of this right understanding. In a way, what we've said could suffice, but now there's more that can be said regarding the importance of a right understanding. There are three things I want to conclude with tonight first. It's important that we maintain this because this does justice to the clear teachings of Scripture. This does justice to those passages that we read that establish that link between obedience and blessing. As we said, we cannot simply ignore those passages, but we have to take those passages and make them a part of our theology. Our theology must be subject to them so that we do our theology in light of those passages. By maintaining that we experience covenant fellowship with our God, by faith alone, on the basis of Christ's work alone, in the way of obedience, we do justice to those passages. We guard against errors that would take those passages and twist them. We also do justice to the passages that set forth warnings. One area of Scripture that we've hardly touched tonight that we could spend so much time on are all of those passages that clearly warn that if you walk impenitently in some sin, you must not expect to enjoy that sense of God's favor. That is, if you depart from this path, if you go off this road, your sins will be like that dark cloud that blocks out the light of God's face. And by teaching that we enjoy covenant fellowship with our God in the way of obedience, we do justice to those warnings because it makes clear that point. That if you transgress the covenant, if you step outside the boundaries, that fellowship with God will be interrupted. And Synod 2019 explicitly stated this is part of the reason for maintaining this Synod 2018-2019, page 67. We read, furthermore, this is toward the bottom, page 67. Furthermore, this statement, the statement we've been explaining all along, teaches the important truth that when a child of God turns off the pathway of obedience, although God does not withdraw His grace from that child, He does withhold the conscious experience of peace and covenant blessings. But now not only do we do justice to all those passages that link obedience and good works, not only do we do justice to those passages that set before us warnings, this truth also does justice to those passages that set before us our calling. Our covenant God is a holy God. And as His covenant people, we have the calling to be holy even as He is holy. God commands His people to live a life of new obedience out of gratitude for our salvation in Christ. And that's clear from the very fact that where did the Ten Commandments end up? They were put in the Ark of the Covenant. God was saying, My law still has a place within My covenant. Because it shows you how to serve Me out of thankfulness for all that I have done for you. And by maintaining that we experience covenant life and fellowship with God in the way of obedience, we do justice to those passages. And that was really Hermann Huxema's, at least one of Hermann Huxema's purpose in saying what he did with regard to, let's use this phrase, in the way of, instead of the term, condition. That was a part of the quote that we read Acts 2018, page 71. Herman Hoeksema said, let me suggest that instead of using that Pelagian term condition, we use the term in the way of. This term is capable of maintaining both the absolute sovereignty of God in the work of salvation and this, the responsibility of man. So why is a right understanding of this so important? Because first of all, it does justice to the language of Scripture. Second, it's important because of the impact it has on the daily living of the Christian life. Because on the one hand, this truth exposes the sinful mentality that every one of us has inside. that I can in some way earn God's favor. So that even if I would never say out loud in my heart, I reason sometimes, Father, I've done my chores. I worked hard all day long. I came home and I led my family in devotions. And I said no to that sin. So now it's time for you to bless me. Should you not be answering my prayers now? Look at what I've done. That's in me. It's in me to say in my heart, I know I sinned, Maybe I can sort of make it up to God. If I do this good thing, then maybe he won't be so harsh on me. Maybe I can avoid some of the consequences of my sin. That's in all of us. And that's a part of what makes this important. This is not merely abstract theology. This is not merely a matter of dotting our I's and crossing our T's so that we get everything right. But this is a matter of living the Christian life. Because so often we're tempted to think, to reason that by our good works, we somehow earn some sort of credit with our God. And thus it's crucially important that we maintain that we experience covenant fellowship by faith alone and only on the basis of Christ's saving work. Because of its impact on the daily living of Christian life. And the other side of that is it's only when we maintain this that we have any hope If we have to do good works in order to get fellowship with God, we have no hope. We would forever be standing at the base of Mount Sinai wishing we could go up Sit down in the presence of our God and enjoy that covenant meal. If it was a matter of our good works being the way by which we have fellowship with our God, we would forever be stuck at the bottom of the off-ramp. But because we enjoy that fellowship on the basis of Christ's work by faith alone, we have access unto our God. The way has been opened. There is fellowship for us within the covenant that God has so graciously established with us. So because of the impact of this doctrine on the daily living of the Christian life, it's important. And it's important third and finally, and we say third and finally not because we want to tack this on at the end, but because this is most important. This gives all the glory to our God and to our Savior Jesus Christ. This gives glory to God, specifically it does justice to His holiness. Because if we could earn our way into God's presence, By imperfect works, that would be to slight God's holiness. But by maintaining the only basis is the perfect righteousness of Christ, that obedience, that measures up fully to God's law, that's the only ground to be on this pathway. That shows we serve a righteous and a holy God. And it points us to Christ in all His glory, in all of His beauty. We already explained the negative, why the error was so serious. It moved aside, it displaced the perfect work of Christ. But now to maintain the truth. is to recognize the place of His work, that He is the way unto the Father, and thus to glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus. Thank you for your attention tonight. Let's close in prayer. We are astonished by Thy grace toward us in establishing Thy covenant with us, in bringing us into a life of fellowship with Thee. And we pray that Thou will ever impress upon us the wonder of this all. especially as we consider the cost of this all, that it was nothing less than the life and blood of our Savior Jesus Christ and His perfect obedience. that serves as the only ground and basis for the covenant relationship itself, as well as the life that we now live within it with Thee, our God, a life of fellowship and communion. Father, we pray that Thou will bless the lecture that was given tonight Use it to edify us. Build us up in our knowledge and in our faith. Use it likewise to preserve the unity in our midst so that we all, one truth confessing, together dwell in brotherhood And above all, use tonight's lecture to stir up within us a desire to glorify Thee and to worship Thee, our God, so that even as we enter into the weekend, we begin to become eager to come together as a body of believers having one Lord, one faith, and one baptism, and to worship Thee, our God, this Sabbath. Fill us with that desire. Forgive all that was said or done in sin tonight, and grant us grace to live a life of thankful service unto Thee, our God, even as, by faith, we enjoy fellowship with Thee in Christ. Hear this prayer for Jesus' sake. Amen.