Let's begin by turning to Ephesians chapter 1. And I'm going to read that in just a few minutes, but I want to make a few introductory remarks. So we're in the third chapter of the confession. I'm kind of getting my feet under me. It's been so long since I really just studied the confession, so I feel a little better by this point. It takes me a while to get going, but this chapter is of God's decree, and I've divided the chapter into two parts. You'll remember I mentioned these last week. The first part is the first two paragraphs, which is the general view of God's decree. And then paragraphs three through seven is the salvific view of God's decree. So there's the general view, God decrees everything that comes into being. That's sufficient. The first two paragraphs stand fully explaining God's decree. And you would automatically assume that, okay, if He's decreed everything, He's decreed salvation. But it was necessary to go into detail on this particular area because in the history of the church, there have been those who denied, they agree with God's decree generally overall, but they deny that he has decreed salvation. And that's basically the Arminian position. And so, Information has to be put in to let people know what we believe about God's decree as it relates to the subject of salvation. So we come today to the second part, paragraphs 3 through 7. And I divide this into two parts also, A and B. You'll see it in the outline. A is the articles of God's decree of salvation. And B is the applications of God's decree of salvation. So we'll begin by considering the articles of God's decree of salvation. I have five of those. We'll spend the most of our time here this evening. And I want to begin by reading Ephesians 1. There's so many passages of Scripture to read on God's decree of salvation. But this passage covers all the bases. So in Ephesians 1, we'll begin with verse 3. where it says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved." Now, we'll skip from there down to verse 11. where it says, In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will. So this is an adequate passage of Scripture to show us unmistakably the teaching of Scripture. You cannot show anything anyplace else outside of this reading that contradicts that or that undermines those particular statements that have been given to us here. And there are multitudes of other passages which are teaching us— I shouldn't say multitudes, that's a little bit of hyperbole— But there are many other passages of Scripture which teach these same truths about God's work in terms of predestination as it comes to salvation. So there are two key words in our confession at this point that they're the lightning rods for all the arguing that goes on on this particular subject. And I want to just mention what they mean briefly. The word predestination is a Greek word which means to see beforehand. To predestinate or predestination is to see beforehand. And then the other word is foreordain. to be foreordained. And as we read through the confession, you'll see these words when we get to paragraph four, well, three and four, and they may be found really in almost every one of these paragraphs. But the word foreordained means to ordain before. So, to predestinate means to see before. To foreordain means to ordain something before. And actually, they both mean, in essence, the same thing. To ordain before or to see before would communicate the same basic concept. And actually, they are... They complement each other and hence are used that way in our confession. Let's work right through the confession here with me pointing out my understanding. And there are five articles. The first one is, God decreed to predestinate some men and angels to eternal glory. Some men and some angels to eternal glory. So paragraph three says, By the decree of God for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestined or foreordained to eternal life through Jesus Christ to the praise of His glorious grace, others being left to act in their sin to their just condemnation to the praise of His glorious grace. So one of the key verses that we could see in regard to this is Romans 9, verse 11, which says, For the children not yet being born, this is the two sons of Rachel, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him who calls." It's not by works, not by anything that human beings or even angels as the as the Confession says, has anything to do with this, but the One who calls, God. So this verse is teaching us very clearly that God decreed to predestinate some men and angels to eternal life. Now, we're told a number of other things here that is subservient to the fact that God has decreed to predestinate some. And I want to point these out. You can see them right in the Confession itself. Actually, the authors of the Confession give us four designations about this decree to predestinate some. First is that the decree to eternal life was for the manifestation of God's glory. Secondly, this decree to eternal life was through Jesus Christ. That's so important it becomes its own article a little bit later. Thirdly, the decree to eternal life was to the praise of His glorious grace. It was to manifest God's glory, but then it was to become the words of praise. So we have a number of hymns, psalms, and other things where we praise God. We actually sing giving praise to Him for His decree to predestine us or to predestinate us for eternal salvation. And then the fourth designation that we're given here is that the decree to eternal life of some reveals that others will not be saved. So, and what we're told about this fourth designation is that this would be to the praise of God's justice. So those who are predestined for eternal life, it's to the praise of God's glorious grace. Because if He didn't do it, no one would be saved. Those who are not predestined to eternal life, their circumstances are going to be praising giving praise to God's justice. So those concepts, of course, sometime or the other, I may be able to preach a message on that, but we need to note that that is clearly what is in our confession. So some are elected and others are not elected. That's what this fourth distinction is showing us. And the fact of the matter is any statement contrary to this, is going against Scripture. This might not be the most pleasing thing that people think about, but once we see the teaching of Scripture, we want to receive it, we want to accept it, and we want to believe it, and we don't want to be angered by it or upset by it, but we want to be submissive to it. And the reason for that is because it is the Word of God. It's not the ideas of men or of, you know, some human philosophy, but it is very much the Word of God. Dr. Hodge, in talking about this article here, says, a purpose to save all and a purpose to save only some could not coexist in the divine mind. So if you have any kind of a lofty understanding of God, and He's not just a man with superpowers, but He's actually God, the God that we have studied previously in the second chapter of this confession, He cannot have a divided kind of concept. that He's going to save all or He's only going to save some. He's going to have one of the other. He's not going to have both of those. And both of those cannot exist in His perfect mind. Romans 9 in verse 22 says, What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? A very sobering statement by the Apostle Paul there. That brings us then to the second article under God's decree of salvation. That article is in paragraph 4 where it says, These angels and men, thus predestined and foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed, and their number so certain and definite that it cannot be either increased or diminished." So the second article, very simply, is this. God's decree to predestinate was immutable. It is unchangeable. It is fixed. It's firm. It's solid. And so, because God is the one who makes a decree and God is immutable, then the decree that God issues is also immutable. And not only, I mean, the language that they use is certain, definite, and cannot be changed, cannot be increased or diminished. So 2 Timothy 2 and verse 19, the first half of that verse says, Nevertheless, the solid foundation of God stands. Having this seal, the Lord knows those who are His. He knows them. And when did God come to know us? When we were conceived? When we were born? When we turned two years or five years? Or when we were born again? Now, God has always known us. in this sense, perfectly and completely. And of course, this is very much a part of the God that we studied in the second chapter. The third article comes from paragraph five, where it says, those of mankind that are predestined to life God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to His eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of His will, hath chosen in Christ, unto everlasting glory, out of His mere free grace and love, without any other thing in the creature as a condition or cause moving Him thereunto. So the third article that we're looking at here is that God's decree to predestinate was by election in Christ. Now this is really a very important concept. All of the scripture that you see, when you're reading Ephesians or Colossians or any of the other of Paul's epistles, I forget how many times he speaks about us being in Christ. We're in Christ Jesus the Lord. Now, all of those passages are speaking about the doctrine of union with Christ. They're reflecting that doctrine that we are in Christ. And God's decree to save us by predestination was in terms of us being in Christ. Ultimately, Christ was chosen and a people was chosen for Him and with Him. And so we get a lot of other biblical imagery related to that factor. Christ is the groom and we are the bride. He is the head and we are the body and all those other metaphors that we have at this particular juncture. We could say something about the other supporting information that's here. Some of it is repetitious from what we have seen previously. But the key point here is that, I mean, He's describing again predestination. They are describing predestination again. Before the foundation of the world, according to His eternal and immutable purpose, and according to the secret counsel and the good pleasure of His will. And what is it that He did? He has chosen us in Christ unto everlasting glory. And He did this not because of anything within us, but all for the glory of His own grace. So we read early Ephesians 1, remember verse 4 says, just as He chose us in Him, He chose us in Christ, before the foundation of the world. So our fourth article is the biggest part, three-fourths of paragraph 6, where it says, "...as God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so He hath, by the eternal and most free purpose of His will, foreordained all the means thereunto." Wherefore they who are elected being fallen in Adam and redeemed by Christ, are effectually called unto faith in Christ by His Spirit working in due season, are justified, adopted, sanctified, and kept by His power through faith unto salvation." So our fourth article is that God's decree to predestinate includes all the means necessary to His purpose. In other words, everything that would be necessary to bring sinners from the race of Adam into His eternal presence, all of that is included in the decree to predestinate. So the key phrase in this paragraph is He ordained all the means to accomplish this purpose of predestinating some to salvation. Let me point out to you, because I think these are significant. Each of these, well, let me say first, the means which are specified in this sentence are these. Number one, Those who are predestinated are those who were fallen in Adam but are redeemed by Christ, number one. Number two, they are effectually called unto faith in Christ by His Spirit, working in due season. So some in every generation and so forth down through time. Some as young as children maybe, some as young adults, some as elderly almost on their deathbeds. Thirdly, they are justified, adopted, and sanctified. And fourthly, they are kept by His power through faith unto salvation. Which this fourth means is perseverance. What we normally speak of as the perseverance of the saints. interesting as you consider this. First of all, we've got many, many passages of Scripture for each of these four means. But more importantly, the writers of the Confession are going to devote whole chapters to these four means as we progress through the Confession. We're going to see a chapter on justification and adoption, on effectual calling, on the fall of sin in Adam, and so forth, and perseverance, and sanctification. There's going to be chapters on each of these. So, there's no reason for me to try to even define them for you at this point. They understand that, okay, this is what needs to be included here at this point, and then we'll talk about each of these in succession as they are needed. Not all of these means are found in like one or two verses. They're all scattered throughout Scripture. But one verse that mentions quite a lot of these is Romans 8 and verse 30 which says, These He also called, whom He called, these He also justified, and whom He justified, these He also glorified. So while glorification is not mentioned at this point, it was mentioned earlier, it was mentioned in the fifth paragraph. Here in the sixth paragraph it's not mentioned, but it is one of the means that God is going to accomplish on our behalf. That brings us then to our fifth article of God's decree of salvation. It's the last little bit of paragraph six. It says, neither are any others redeemed by Christ or effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, but the elect only. Now this is somewhat redundant to what we have already seen. But I think, as I wrestled with it, I decided there is actually a fifth article. There's a fifth truth associated with God's decree here, and that is that His decree to predestinate is of necessity limited to the elect. So it's been stated in other words, but it's stated again in these words in order to emphasize this and to communicate this very clearly to us. And some scripture that speaks to this would be John 10 verse 26, which says, but you do not believe because you are not of my sheep, as I said to you. So Jesus is saying, you don't believe and you don't believe because you're not of my sheep. John 17 and verse 9 says, I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. So, that's the five articles of God's decree of salvation as I understand and break down paragraphs three through six. Now, we have one more paragraph in our confession, paragraph seven. And this paragraph presents to us what I'm calling, and I think is very clearly, the applications of God's decree of salvation. They're going to make some practical observation. Now, I told you before, we saw a little bit in the first paragraph, first chapter. But there's going to be practical information in our confession, not just theological. And this is very practical. This is applicational information. So let me just read the whole seventh paragraph for you. The doctrine of the high mystery of predestination is to be handled with special prudence and care. that men attending the will of God revealed in His Word and yielding obedience thereunto may, from the certainty of their effectual vocation, be assured of their eternal salvation. So shall this doctrine afford matter of praise, reverence, and admiration of God and of humility and diligence and abundant consolation to all that sincerely obey the gospel. Now, there are, I've listed on your outline, four applications. I'm gonna add one more to that. Before the day was done, I saw I had left something out. The first application is the difficulty. Now, this is very important. I'm gonna tell you, this is very important. Predestination is a mystery. If we think that we can fully comprehend predestination, the decree of God, we're fooling ourselves. We have to understand that there is mystery here and that we are receiving what is being said in the Bible by faith because it is the Word of God, not because we have the ability to fully understand the mind of God with regard to this matter. So, for instance, the Oxford English Dictionary, speaking of the use of the word mystery in the day that the Confession was written, says that, mystery as used here means a doctrine involving difficulties which human reason is incapable of solving. And I think that is exactly how the Confession authors intend us to understand mystery. It's difficult for human reason to to solve this doctrine. And Dr. Beakey and Smalley in the Reformed Systematic Theology wrote this, "'We have no direct access to the mind of God to read His decree, and His wisdom transcends our ability to reason. Our limited knowledge of the decree depends upon divine revelation.'" Simply what that means is what I've been saying. We believe what's written in the Bible, and we accept it. without the human ability or reason that we can use to figure out a mathematical problem or how a combustion engine works or something like that. For us to fully understand this would mean to understand the mind of God, the intellect of God. And I think that we understand that we can't do that. We're not gonna be able to do that after a billion years in heaven. The mind of God is...there is God, and we are creatures. Second application, the caution that the authors give to us, which is basically predestination should be handled with special prudence and care. Now, you know, when you're in the, you know, the cage Calvinism stage, you haven't learned yet this caution to handle this doctrine with prudence and care. And a lot of us went through that stage. And depending upon your personality, you may have stayed in it longer. Now, that doesn't mean that we're not excited about this doctrine. It doesn't mean that we don't appreciate the wonder and glory and majesty of God and bow and worship before Him. But one of the applications that we need to take away from the study of this chapter is that we shouldn't beat people up with this doctrine. That would be my way of saying that. I don't think that, I mean I've had conversations with lost people about predestination and election. I consider it to be evangelism. Charles Spurgeon said at one point that he believed as many people had been saved under his preaching hearing about election and predestination as had been hearing about the call to repentance and faith. And I would say in the old English, he was no mean judge. The man had great wisdom surpassing anybody living today. Third application. that the authors give us. I'm calling this the encouragement. And this is the bulk of what is being given in this seventh paragraph. Predestination should increase assurance of salvation. Predestination should never distract from our assurance of salvation. If our assurance of salvation is based upon our faith in Christ, and in His holy and precious Word, then one doctrine within His Word, that of predestination, should not at all eliminate our assurance of salvation. And the authors believe, and I believe, and I think that the vast majority of... In fact, what do Catholic theologians and Arminian theologians, what is their position? You can't have assurance of salvation. The other two great theological systems do not believe in assurance of salvation for the ordinary Christian. Read your Bible and what does it say? It teaches over and over again that the healthy Christian has assurance of his salvation. It doesn't mean that we don't have some periods of struggle with regard to this, but predestination and the doctrine of predestination should not distract from that. That's the encouragement. A fourth Application is the fruit. Predestination produces worship of God and growth in grace. It affects us. It changes us. It produces humility and diligence and consolation. And then there's a fifth warning, not in your outline. If you want to write it in, you may. The fifth application is the warning. The warning. We've seen the difficulty, the caution, the encouragement, and the fruit. And fifthly, the warning. The warning comes in the phrase right there at the end, to all that sincerely obey the gospel. Wow! Do you realize how experiential and practical that statement is in a seven-paragraph doctoral statement on the decree of God? The warning is simply this. Predestination does not eliminate perseverance. You want to know what a hyper-Calvinist is? Somebody who can live in sin and say, God decreed me to go to heaven. That's a form of hypercalvinism. No. So this is, in essence, a warning. Predestination does not eliminate perseverance. We're going to persevere to the end. We're going to continue to believe. We're going to continue to obey. And when we disobey, we're going to confess our disobedience and sin and ask for His forgiveness. And by that, sincerely obey the gospel. So I trust that God will bless and use this teaching to confirm our understanding of these wonderful things of God. And next week, Lord willing, we will begin to look at God's work of creation.