The NXR Podcast - March 27, 2023


SUNDAY SERMON - What I Learned After Years Of Thinking I Was Going To Hell

Topics
love tests little children and spiritual maturity justification and sanctification
Hosted by
Joel Webbon Harrison Smith Antonio Griffith Dale Partridge Wewsley Todd Calvin Robinson
Mentioned
John Calvin Apostle Paul Jesus Christ Paul Washer Apollos Joshua Joker Ezra Rachel Denhollander Gerhardus Voss John Wesley John Bunyan Paul Vieira Joe Biden Gotham Lewis Abba
QUESTIONS - Should I Financially Support Right Response Or My Local Church？ DAILY TRUTH - How To Hand A Man Over To Satan

Episode Stats


Length

1 hour and 22 minutes

Words per minute

144.42

Word count

11,915

Sentence count

517

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged

Toxicity

18

sentences flagged

Hate speech

27

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Pastor Ken teaches from 1 John 2:12-14 as we take a break from our usual preaching schedule to focus on the importance of the gospel and the assurance of salvation. This week's sermon focuses on John's first epistle to the Corinthians.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00 All right, listen, guys, I get it.
00:00:01 Many of you are unable to financially support this ministry because you're spending your
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00:00:10 Praise God for you and that endeavor.
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00:00:19 And one major way that you can help to expand the reach and effectiveness of this ministry
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00:00:36 We hope you'll take the time to do so.
00:00:38 Thank you so much.
00:00:39 God bless.
00:00:41 So for this morning, I'm going to be preaching from 1 John 2, verses 12 through 14.
00:00:49 1 John 2, verses 12 through 14.
00:00:53 If you've been with us since the beginning of Covenant Bible Church, we first gathered
00:01:00 for worship on the Lord's Day, covenanted as a church.
00:01:04 The first Sunday of April 2021, we began a series through the Psalms.
00:01:09 After that, we began a series through the book of Hebrews.
00:01:13 We recently completed our series through the book of Hebrews, and what we've done is kind
00:01:19 of pause from our bread and butter, the typical preaching diet of this congregation, which
00:01:25 is expositional preaching through whole books of the Bible from the beginning to the end.
00:01:31 We're taking a brief pause.
00:01:33 Last week, if you were with us, I preached on the importance of biblical church membership.
00:01:39 This week, the entire sermon will be devoted to the importance of the assurance of salvation.
00:01:46 Next week, Lord willing, I'll be preaching on the importance of the gospel, particularly how the gospel is the fuel towards obedience to the law of God.
00:01:57 The following week will be Easter Sunday where I will be preaching on the importance of the bodily resurrection.
00:02:05 And then, Lord willing, we will begin a new sermon series through the book of Joshua.
00:02:10 When we finish the book of Joshua, we will begin another sermon series through the book of Ezra.
00:02:17 And when we finish the book of Ezra, we should be right at the end of the year 2023, the year of our Lord.
00:02:25 So that's our plan for this year when it comes to the preaching schedule for Covenant Bible Church.
00:02:31 Again, today we're going to focus on the assurance of salvation, knowing that we believe.
00:02:38 the security and stability and confidence of knowing that we have salvation in Christ Jesus.
00:02:48 Our text, one final time, is 1 John 2, verses 12-14. Would you join me now in standing for
00:02:58 the reading of God's Word? I'll read our text in its entirety. When I finish reading the text,
00:03:03 I'm going to say, this is the Word of the Lord, at which point I would appreciate very much if
00:03:08 you would respond by saying thanks be to God. The Bible says this, I am writing to you little
00:03:17 children because your sins are forgiven for his namesake. I am writing to you fathers because you
00:03:25 know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you young men because you have overcome the
00:03:32 evil one. I write to you children because you know the father. I write to you fathers because you know
00:03:40 him who is from the beginning. I write to you young men because you are strong and the word of God
00:03:47 abides in you and you have overcome the evil one. This is the word of the Lord. All right please be
00:03:56 seated. By way of introduction, I've written the following. The Apostle John, in this letter,
00:04:03 his first epistle, he has been using very strong language as he warns believers about the dangers
00:04:09 of false teachers who are trying to deceive them. He has just said that if you do not love your
00:04:16 brother, then you are in the darkness. That's 1 John 2, verse 11. And John is about to say that
00:04:24 if you love the world, then you do not have the Father's love in you. That's 1 John chapter 2
00:04:31 verse 15. However, right in between these two strong warnings, John inserts this short section
00:04:39 of encouragement for those who may be afraid. John wants his readers at whatever stage in the
00:04:46 Christian life they are at to remember and celebrate what God has done thus far in their
00:04:53 lives. He wants them to possess a powerful assurance of their salvation. In light of all this,
00:05:00 I believe the main point of our text today is this. Regardless of where you presently are in
00:05:07 your Christian walk, God wants you to frequently recognize and remember past evidences of his grace
00:05:14 in your life. One of the ways that Satan inhibits our future sanctification is by robbing us of the
00:05:22 assurance of our past sanctification. John Calvin, in commentating on our text today, says this,
00:05:31 having faithfully spoken of good works, lest the apostle John should seem to give them more
00:05:38 importance than he ought to have done, he carefully calls us back to contemplate the grace
00:05:44 of Christ. If you're not familiar with the book of 1 John, I'll give you a brief summary.
00:05:51 The book of 1 John, I believe, is the most profound book in the Bible on the particular topic of the assurance of salvation.
00:06:03 And it can be broken down into three primary parts, not necessarily in order.
00:06:10 John bounces back and forth between these three parts throughout the five chapters of his letter.
00:06:17 but the three different parts of John's first epistle are as follows they're all three tests
00:06:25 that you can take at a personal level seeking to be objective perhaps inviting in some other
00:06:33 mature brothers or sisters in Christ to co-discern along with you but three tests
00:06:40 to assess yourself to see whether or not you are in the faith to see whether or not you have
00:06:47 truly been born again. The three tests are as follows. One, the truth test. Two, the relational
00:06:56 test. And three, the moral test. The truth test, the relational test, and the moral test. In regards
00:07:07 to the truth test what we see in first john is that doctrine matters and john explicitly says
00:07:17 multiple times that if a person cannot confess doctrinally that christ has come in the flesh
00:07:25 then he is not of god that he is demonic that he does not have the spirit that a person must be
00:07:35 able to say that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh and there's a lot included in that statement
00:07:41 to acknowledge that Christ has come in the flesh is not merely to acknowledge the incarnation
00:07:46 but it is to also by way of implication to acknowledge that Christ is eternal he has come
00:07:55 in the flesh not that he was created in the flesh but that he pre-existed the incarnation
00:08:02 that he is divine that christ is the second eternal member of the trinity who at a real
00:08:10 point in human history took on flesh and dwelt among us and so john says there are certain
00:08:17 doctrinal truths that a person must confess if they are to have any sense of assurance
00:08:24 and confidence that they belong to God, that they are a Christian born again. So the truth test
00:08:33 or the doctrinal test, the test of a Christian confession. The next is the relational test
00:08:41 or another way that we could present this category is the love test. John explicitly says
00:08:49 that if you hate your brother, then you don't know God. You cannot claim to love God who you
00:08:57 have not seen, who is invisible, while hating your brother who you have seen. And so John presents
00:09:05 another test to examine ourselves to see whether or not we are in the faith, which is, do I have
00:09:12 real, tangible, practical love for my brothers and sisters in Christ, particularly in terms of
00:09:21 the proximity argument, those brothers and sisters in Christ who are right in front of my face.
00:09:29 People claim to love God, and they even claim to love mankind in a universal and ethereal,
00:09:37 theoretical sense. But often I found that the person who claims to love God and says that God
00:09:44 is love and I love God and I love mankind and humanity as a whole also happens to be a woman
00:09:51 with blue hair on her seventh marriage. She doesn't know what love is. She does not love God.
00:10:00 she hates him. And she does not love mankind. She hates people. And the reason that we know this
00:10:09 is because she loves all the people in theory that she's never met. But coincidentally,
00:10:15 all the people that she has met, she hates. And what 1 John essentially tells us is that
00:10:21 the proof is in the pudding. If you fancy yourself to be a loving person, loving towards God,
00:10:27 and loving towards your fellow man but you don't have long-standing healthy relationships in your
00:10:34 life that are tangible physical practical with people in the flesh people that are physically
00:10:43 in your life if you don't have any long-standing relationships like that then it is far more likely
00:10:50 that you are not a loving person then the alternative which would be i'm a very loving
00:10:56 person, but it just so happens that every person I've met in person happens to be incapable of
00:11:02 love, right? Those are the two alternatives. One is I'm a really, really loving person,
00:11:07 but everyone that I've met is unloving, or I don't know how to love. I'm the problem.
00:11:15 And what John essentially says is that that is far more likely to be the truth. If you hate your
00:11:22 brother, you can say that your brother is impossible to love because he's a terrible, 1.00
00:11:29 terrible person. But it's more likely to say that if you hate your brother, you are the person who
00:11:36 is not loving. And therefore, not only are you refusing to love your brother who you have seen,
00:11:43 but that is evidence that you also do not have love for God who is unseen. So that's the love
00:11:51 test or the relational test. The third test that John lays out in this letter is the moral test
00:11:59 or the test of obedience. So the truth test, doctrinal. The relational test, love, particularly
00:12:09 love for our brothers and sisters in Christ that we actually have physical relationship with.
00:12:16 And then lastly, the moral test, or the test of obedience.
00:12:22 John says again and again that the one who obeys my commandments,
00:12:28 the one who obeys the commandments of God is the one who loves God.
00:12:35 And if anyone claims to love God, but he does not keep his commandments,
00:12:40 he is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
00:12:46 And so John puts hands and feet to the faith. 0.58
00:12:51 He says that Christian faith and salvation and having a sense of assurance of salvation,
00:12:58 knowing that you actually belong to Christ is something that can be seen.
00:13:05 It is something that is tangible.
00:13:07 It's something that can be witnessed and it can be measured.
00:13:12 Now, this is not, for the record, I believe firmly, it is not a pass-fail system.
00:13:20 So I don't believe that if you're reading 1 John, that the way to read it is to say,
00:13:26 here are multiple tests laid out by the Apostle under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
00:13:32 and if I don't ace every single one of these tests perfectly, then I must be going to hell.
00:13:37 That would be an improper way to read 1 John.
00:13:43 Rather, I think that in the mercy and kindness of God, what John is doing is this.
00:13:50 John is providing what I've coined as shotgun assurance.
00:13:56 Meaning he doesn't give multiple tests in order to say that you've got to pass 14 different assessments perfectly in order to have an ounce of assurance.
00:14:07 Instead, I think he's saying, as you read these tests and undoubtedly feel concerned and discouraged by your failure in some categories,
00:14:19 you can pivot and look at other tests and by the grace of God, detect that there's at least some faithfulness in these categories.
00:14:31 And therefore, you should have some assurance.
00:14:34 assurance of salvation is not pass or fail it is not as though the bible says that we should have
00:14:43 perfect assurance or no assurance 100 confidence that we belong to christ that we have truly been
00:14:52 born again that our name is written in the lamb's book of life or 100 assurance that we are
00:14:59 reprobate, the non-elect, and on our way to hell. That is not the way that the Bible presents the
00:15:07 doctrine of the assurance of salvation. Rather, it is a sliding scale. A person can have full
00:15:14 assurance, I believe, because I am not Roman Catholic. A person can, as the Puritans and
00:15:20 reformers argued, have full assurance of salvation in this life. But it is likely that for many
00:15:28 Christians, if not perhaps even most, we will have varying degrees of some assurance of salvation
00:15:35 at different points in our life. But I do believe it is normative, the will of God and his plan for
00:15:42 the Christian, that over the course of our life, as we grow in sanctification, so too we would grow
00:15:50 in degrees of assurance. So the Christian should have from day one, from the moment of their
00:15:57 conversion the christian should have some assurance and as the christian grows in
00:16:04 sanctification so too they should gain more and more assurance so it is not no assurance
00:16:13 and all assurance it is some assurance that is growing and multiplying over time and eventually
00:16:21 I do believe that the Christian can gain full assurance okay so in our letter today
00:16:30 what the apostle John is saying in this particular text chapter 2 verse 12 13 and 14 is he is saying
00:16:40 there are at least three primary stages in the Christian life there is the little children stage
00:16:49 Now, this can be a bit confusing because it's a phrase that John is keen on using again and again.
00:16:58 John references all of his listeners as little children.
00:17:04 It's a term of endearment.
00:17:06 It's an affectionate term that he's using as a spiritual father to write to all of his hearers saying that you are all very dear to me.
00:17:16 like a little child is to their parent father or mother so John does use that phrase little
00:17:23 children as a sweeping label to encompass all of his hearers elsewhere and his letters but in our
00:17:31 particular text today I believe that he is using the phrase little children to refer to the beginning
00:17:38 stage of the Christian life. Those who are newly born again. Those who are new believers,
00:17:47 new Christians. Then he uses another phrase, another label, talking about fathers. I believe
00:17:55 that this is meant to reference those who have been following Christ for a long period of time,
00:18:01 and those who have attained to some measure of spiritual maturity. So there are little children
00:18:07 on the one hand, those who've just started, just begun the Christian life, and there are fathers
00:18:13 on the other hand, those who are spiritually mature and who have been following Jesus for
00:18:19 quite some time. In between these two categories, there is one third and final label that John uses,
00:18:27 and that is young men. I don't believe that he's specifically referencing literal young men,
00:18:33 but he's using that label young men to describe both men and women who in terms of their literal
00:18:41 age their human years on earth could be old or young but they are all young men in the sense
00:18:49 that they are somewhere in between newly converted and spiritual fathers or mothers
00:18:57 who have been following christ for a long time so we have three categories the new christian
00:19:03 the seasoned mature christian and the christian in between and what's beautiful and encouraging
00:19:14 and comforting about our text today is that john has something positive to say for all three of
00:19:20 categories. He doesn't say, little children, watch out. You're in trouble. You have little reason to
00:19:28 be assured. You're probably not even a child of God at all. You're probably going to hell.
00:19:35 He doesn't say that. Instead, he says, even for the new convert, the person who has just begun 0.95
00:19:42 by grace through faith in Christ, the Christian life, the little child in the faith, he says to
00:19:49 them that their sins are forgiven and that they know the Father. Two things. Your sins are forgiven
00:20:00 and you know the Father. Two of the most ultimate, significant, vital, eternal truths that any
00:20:11 Christian ever needs to know. That your sins have been forgiven and that you know the Father.
00:20:19 That you have relationship with him.
00:20:21 And that he is in fact a father.
00:20:24 And not just a father, but he is your father.
00:20:29 Your sins have been forgiven and you have been adopted as a child of God.
00:20:36 John goes on to talk about this in the third chapter of his first letter.
00:20:42 Where he talks about, see what love the father has for us.
00:20:47 that we should be called the children of God, and so we are.
00:20:53 That when God calls someone his child,
00:20:57 to be called a child of God is so powerful
00:21:01 that it actually doesn't just change your description,
00:21:06 your title, your label,
00:21:08 but it actually changes your very nature.
00:21:12 That we should see the love of the Father,
00:21:15 how great the father's love is for us that we should be called titled labeled his children
00:21:22 and so we are that when god calls someone his child they become his child they actually change
00:21:31 in their nature when god speaks his word and calls someone from death to life from lost to found
00:21:39 From enemy to adopted child, it's not only that their title, that their label has changed,
00:21:49 but they actually become a new creature in Christ Jesus.
00:21:52 Their very nature transitions, that they actually become God's child.
00:21:59 They begin to think as a child of God and behave as a child of God.
00:22:05 And so John has three encouragements, an encouragement for those who are new to the faith, little children, an encouragement to those who are seasoned veterans in the faith, fathers, and an encouragement to those who are somewhere in between, young men.
00:22:25 In your notes, I've written this, the Apostle Paul achieved a level of sanctification in this life that was matched by few, if any.
00:22:34 I would argue that no one before or after, other than Jesus Christ, the God-man himself,
00:22:43 that no one before or after has been more sanctified in their earthly life than the Apostle Paul.
00:22:52 Therefore, it's safe to assume that virtually no one cared as deeply about personal holiness,
00:22:59 progressive righteousness sanctification as paul did it is also true that the corinthian church
00:23:09 possessed a level of spiritual immaturity among the new testament churches that was matched by
00:23:16 few if any therefore it's finally safe to assume that if there was any particular church
00:23:24 that the Apostle Paul would be tempted to withhold assurance from,
00:23:29 it would have been the church at Corinth.
00:23:33 All right, I've got premise one, premise two, and then the conclusion.
00:23:38 Premise one, Paul was really holy.
00:23:41 Premise two, Corinth was a mess.
00:23:44 Conclusion, if Paul was going to be hesitant about offering assurance of salvation
00:23:49 to any New Testament church, it would have been the church at Corinth.
00:23:54 You cannot say, well, Paul throws out assurance to people loosely
00:23:59 because he has low standards of holiness.
00:24:04 No.
00:24:06 There are plenty of false teachers
00:24:08 that are constantly handing out false assurance.
00:24:12 And we can say rightly of them
00:24:14 that they grant false assurance
00:24:16 because they care nothing for the sheep.
00:24:20 And they have plenty of goats in their congregation
00:24:24 that they also hate and detest.
00:24:27 They don't care about falsely assuring people
00:24:29 knowing that false assurance
00:24:31 is one of the leading motivations,
00:24:36 the leading effects
00:24:37 that would cause someone to go to hell.
00:24:40 What does Jesus say in Matthew 7?
00:24:42 Many will say to me,
00:24:44 Lord, Lord, we did this in your name
00:24:47 and that in your name.
00:24:49 Meaning there are a lot of people
00:24:50 who will be shocked
00:24:52 when they wake up in hell.
00:24:56 It's not just that there will be a lot of people in hell saying,
00:24:59 yeah, this makes sense.
00:25:03 Yeah, I figured.
00:25:06 No, many will say, what's going on?
00:25:10 I was a Christian.
00:25:11 And so false assurance is a damning,
00:25:16 literally damning offense.
00:25:19 The false teacher who grants false assurance
00:25:22 to unbelievers, but speaks to them and assures them that they are believers, a false teacher, 0.65
00:25:28 a false prophet, that person is damning people to hell. The Old Testament speaks of false prophets 0.91
00:25:35 in this way, condemning them, saying, they've healed the wounds of my people lightly.
00:25:42 Saying, peace, peace, when there is no peace. They've taken gaping wounds and they've healed
00:25:51 them lightly oh it's okay you'll be fine nothing to see here nothing to be concerned about
00:25:59 so so handing out false assurance is a big deal but the point is that if there's anyone we can
00:26:09 trust other than jesus christ himself not to hand out false assurance it would have been the apostle
00:26:15 Paul. And if there was any group that, that you would be in danger of falsely assuring
00:26:23 that maybe could stand a few more corrections and warnings and less comfort and consolation,
00:26:31 it would have been the Corinthian church. So premise one, Paul doesn't hand out false assurance.
00:26:38 He cares about holiness. He doesn't have compromised standards. Premise two,
00:26:44 the Corinthian church was a mess radically immature they were in need of many warnings
00:26:51 many warnings and if there was any church that Paul would have been most careful with
00:26:57 it would have been them so the conclusion is whatever Paul says to the Corinthian church
00:27:04 that might be comforting or consoling I'm going pastorally to hold that as an ordinary standard
00:27:12 for comforting and encouraging and assuring my congregation.
00:27:19 Essentially what I'm saying is, by the grace of God,
00:27:21 I think you're better, Covenant Bible Church, than the Corinthian church.
00:27:26 And I know for a fact that I am less holy than the Apostle Paul.
00:27:31 So whatever standard, minimum, bottom line of assurance that Paul's giving to Corinth,
00:27:37 I'm going to give at least that much assurance to you.
00:27:41 So let's go ahead and look at what Paul does with Corinth.
00:27:44 This is 1 Corinthians 3, verses 1-3.
00:27:48 He says this,
00:27:49 But I, brothers, right there, that's assurance.
00:27:54 He doesn't say, but I, enemies, but I, neighbors, but I, friends, but I, brothers.
00:28:03 And for anyone who would say, well, this is just brothers according to the flesh. 0.73
00:28:07 Paul's a Jew. 0.99
00:28:09 The Corinthians are Gentile. 0.99
00:28:10 that doesn't work he is calling them brothers in christ so we can't even get past the first three
00:28:17 words without the apostle paul reaching into his candy bag of assurance and throwing it
00:28:23 at the most immature church in the new testament and again this is not a guy who has low standards
00:28:30 of holiness super sanctified saint immediately assuring an immature church but i brothers
00:28:39 could not address you as spiritual people but as people of the flesh so Paul has stark warnings
00:28:48 offensive corrections I couldn't address you as spiritual people that meaning those who are
00:28:55 spiritually mature so he's immediately saying you're immature you're carnal you're living as
00:29:02 those who live according to the flesh but then here it is again assurance as infants in christ
00:29:10 this is what you call a backhanded compliment paul in the book of first corinthians and second
00:29:19 corinthians he gives dozens of backhanded compliments you are immature babies but in christ
00:29:29 therefore born again and secured in your salvation.
00:29:35 Am I offended? Am I encouraged?
00:29:38 Not sure. Maybe a little bit of both. And that's what it should be.
00:29:41 Both. On the one hand, you're an infant.
00:29:45 You need to grow up. On the other hand,
00:29:50 you're an infant in Christ. And by the grace of God,
00:29:53 through the work of the Spirit and sanctification, you will grow up.
00:29:57 he goes on I fed you with milk not solid food for you were not ready for it and even now you are not
00:30:07 yet ready for you are still of the flesh for while there is jealousy and strife among you are you not
00:30:15 of the flesh and behaving only in a human way stark strong corrections a strong rebuke
00:30:25 but in it he rebukes them as brothers not as unbelievers not as enemies but as brothers 0.67
00:30:34 he rebukes them as spiritually immature infants but spiritually immature infants
00:30:43 who are in Christ going on now first Corinthians chapter 6 verse 15 through 20 Paul says this
00:30:52 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?
00:30:58 Of what unbeliever could you theologically, accurately make that statement?
00:31:05 What non-Christian could you say,
00:31:08 Do you not know that your body is a member of Christ? 0.97
00:31:11 That wouldn't be true.
00:31:13 That would be a lie.
00:31:15 That would be offering false assurance. 1.00
00:31:18 For the unbeliever, they are not a member of Christ. 1.00
00:31:22 not in any way. But the apostle speaking to the Corinthian church, he is assuming conversion. 0.98
00:31:31 He assumes salvation. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take
00:31:40 the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never. Or do you not know that he 0.99
00:31:46 who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her. For as it is written, the two will become 0.94
00:31:52 one flesh. But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual
00:32:00 immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person
00:32:07 sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body, here it is again, assurance, do you not
00:32:14 know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you whom you have received from God
00:32:22 you are not your own for you were bought with a price so glorify therefore God in your body
00:32:31 the apostle Paul again is saying you are members with Christ aka saved you have the Holy Spirit
00:32:41 dwelling within you. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, whom you have received from God,
00:32:46 a.k.a. Christians. And you were bought with a price. What price? He's talking about the blood 1.00
00:32:54 of Jesus. He's saying that Jesus died for you. Calvary, that price, meaning that your sin has
00:33:04 been atoned. You are again, a.k.a. a Christian. And notice what the apostle Paul says. He doesn't
00:33:11 say you're a christian so there's no problems you're a christian so everything's great you're 0.99
00:33:16 a christian so there's nothing to work on that's not what he says he says you're you're a mess
00:33:23 and you need a lot of help but what the apostle paul understands is this he understands that the
00:33:31 fuel for sanctification is an assurance of justification i'll say that again the apostle
00:33:38 Paul understands that the fuel for sanctification is an assurance of justification. And so he
00:33:46 constantly appeals back to their status as Christians. He says, you should live honorably.
00:33:56 You should honor God, not just with your words, not just with your minds and your thoughts,
00:34:02 not just your worship one day a week but you should honor christ with your flesh your whole
00:34:10 body by keeping yourself sexually pure but what's the motive for living in this way
00:34:18 because your body was bought with a price so essentially he says he says that the indicative
00:34:26 for sexual purity being sanctified in that area he's saying that that the indicative that is the
00:34:34 motive for obeying the imperative that is the command of being sexually pure is that you belong
00:34:42 to jesus that jesus died for you that you were bought with a price that you've received the holy
00:34:49 spirit what does paul say elsewhere about those who've received the holy spirit who have the
00:34:55 indwelling ministry of the Spirit. He says that the Spirit is given as a deposit guaranteeing
00:35:03 the inheritance. Meaning that the Holy Spirit, the presence of the indwelling ministry of the
00:35:09 Holy Spirit is meant to be another source of assurance. It's another way of knowing that we
00:35:17 belong to Jesus. That in fact we have been born again. And what does the Spirit do? What is one
00:35:24 of His many ministries.
00:35:27 One thing that the Scripture says
00:35:29 is that the Spirit cries out within us,
00:35:33 Abba, Father.
00:35:35 It brings us all the way back to our text.
00:35:37 1 John 2, verses 12, 13, and 14.
00:35:43 That the first category,
00:35:44 those who are new believers,
00:35:46 new to the faith,
00:35:47 John calls them little children.
00:35:50 What are the two things,
00:35:51 the two consolations that He offers to them?
00:35:54 number one your sins are forgiven number two you know the father you know god as father
00:36:03 and that's one of the ministries of the holy spirit is that the spirit testifies within the
00:36:09 christian the non-christian doesn't have the spirit but the christian does and for the
00:36:15 christian one of the things that the spirit does is he reminds us of our adoption that god has
00:36:22 adopted us as our father and that we are no longer children of his wrath as Ephesians chapter two
00:36:30 speaks of but rather we have been adopted beloved children children of his mercy see what love the
00:36:38 father has for us that we should be called the children of God and so we are first John chapter
00:36:45 three verse one so the apostle paul very holy guy to the corinthian church not so holy church
00:36:57 says you guys have sexual immorality among you and it's prevalent that's a problem this is not
00:37:08 a good sign. So pastorally, what should I do? I should tell you that you probably don't even
00:37:16 belong to Jesus and you need to get it together. You're going to go to hell. No, this is the 1.00
00:37:25 apostle Paul, not Paul Washer. Instead, what the apostle Paul says is you do belong to Jesus
00:37:32 100 and that's why you need to get it together you don't need to get it together so that you
00:37:39 might belong to jesus you need to get it together as a response of gratitude because you do belong
00:37:47 to jesus you were bought with a price not not if you get rid of sexual morality you might be bought
00:37:55 with a price you already were therefore honor god with your bodies you have the holy spirit
00:38:02 it's not that if you can be sexually pure as a reward for your obedience you might receive the
00:38:08 holy spirit no you already have the holy spirit by grace alone through faith alone in christ alone
00:38:15 so act like it you are members with christ you have union with him so don't have union with anyone
00:38:24 else. Don't pervert the union you have with Christ. Don't water it down and pervert it with
00:38:32 union with a prostitute, but rather be holy as he is holy because he died for you, bought with a 0.98
00:38:41 price. He's given you the Holy Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing, not just indicating that you might 0.95
00:38:48 go to heaven, but guaranteeing your spiritual eternal inheritance. And you already have union
00:38:54 with him so for all these reasons because you objectively have union with christ through faith
00:39:00 because he objectively died for you you are among the elect you are his chosen one and he's paid
00:39:07 for your sin and because you already objectively are temples of the holy spirit who you have
00:39:13 received from god as a deposit guaranteeing eternal life to come for these reasons you should live
00:39:21 like it. You should act like it. Now, I've got to go back and make a defense for my boy Paul
00:39:30 because I do appreciate his preaching. What I would say is that none of us are doing theology
00:39:37 or pastoral theology or preaching or anything like it in a vacuum.
00:39:45 We all have been placed in the providence of God in particular time among a particular people.
00:39:51 When the Apostle Paul is writing to the Corinthian church,
00:39:55 it's spiritually immature and carnal as they are. 1.00
00:40:00 Fleshly.
00:40:01 He says it explicitly.
00:40:03 But he also, in the same breath,
00:40:04 you're in the flesh, but also infants in Christ.
00:40:08 So you can be a genuine born-again Christian
00:40:11 living in a fleshly manner. 0.96
00:40:14 A.k.a. I do believe there is such a thing as a carnal Christian. 0.99
00:40:18 now it depends how you define carnal christian but all that being said the apostle paul assures
00:40:26 the corinthian church despite all of their spiritual immaturity despite all of their sin
00:40:32 all their problems sexual immorality is only one example in the first half of first corinthians
00:40:38 chapter six he talks about how they have lawsuits among them they can't get along they can't agree
00:40:45 they're wronging one another and the problem not is not merely that they wouldn't rather
00:40:52 allow themselves to be wronged but the problem is even more significant than that it's when they
00:40:58 have a disagreement they take it before pagan courts is there not anyone wise among you
00:41:04 right if the apostle paul was here today he would say sbc southern baptist convention is there not
00:41:12 anyone wise among you? You're going to take it to guidepost? You're going to take it to the pagan
00:41:18 court to come and rule in? It's fine to handle abuse cases. In fact, you must. And it's fine for 0.83
00:41:27 there to be legal ramifications. In fact, there must be. But the problem is that you keep going
00:41:33 to the peanut gallery. You don't need Rachel Denhollander. Choose someone who's a Christian
00:41:41 to weigh in you don't need the erlc which wouldn't know ethics if it slapped him in the face 0.92
00:41:49 why don't you go to those who are wise among you why aren't you guys going to tom buck
00:41:56 and tom askell why don't you go to the christian pastors in the sbc and ask them what to do
00:42:02 so the corinthian church was a mess they're going to pagans to settle their petty
00:42:10 disputes they've got sexual immorality they're living in a fleshly carnal way and yet paul
00:42:19 assures them infants in christ but as i said in terms of paul washer we are all products of our
00:42:29 time no one does pastoral ministry or preaching or theology in a vacuum we've all been placed in
00:42:36 the province of God in a context. And Paul's context, the apostle Paul, his context was
00:42:44 writing to a church that he started. And elsewhere, he talks about this. He says, I would rather
00:42:51 minister in a place where I started the work. Paul liked to plant, right? He mentions how
00:42:58 Apollos waters, right? I planted Apollos waters, but God made it grow. But later in 1 Corinthians,
00:43:04 the same letter chapter three chapter three he talks about as an expert builder I laid a
00:43:11 foundation it does not need to be relayed but he talks about I laid this foundation as an expert
00:43:17 builder and now it's being built upon Paul liked to labor in a place where he could start the
00:43:24 project and finish or if someone else like Apollos is going to build Paul would rather be on the
00:43:32 foundational crew, construction crew, and let someone else do the framing and electric work
00:43:37 and plumbing. If Paul was, he's either going to do the whole project or he's going to do the
00:43:43 foundational beginning work of the project because he wants to make sure it starts out right.
00:43:49 And so my point is this, when the apostle Paul is writing to the Corinthian church,
00:43:52 he's writing to a church that he started. He's writing to a church that he laid the foundation.
00:44:00 so what i'm saying is he's writing to a church that he knows in biblical categories is actually
00:44:06 a church whereas in paul washer's defense as a missionary often speaking guest speaking in other
00:44:15 churches where he has not laid the foundation and again in god's providence not doing ministry in a
00:44:20 vacuum but in a particular context so ministering in the 2020s in the american evangelical church
00:44:29 it probably is a safe bet statistically to talk to over half of the congregation as though they're
00:44:37 not christians because probably over half of the congregation is not christians
00:44:42 if you threw a rock and just hit an evangelical church in america at random in the year 2023
00:44:50 it would be a safe bet to say that the church that you just hit with that rock
00:44:55 has less than 50 percent converted members. You'd probably be right. You don't have to be a prophet 1.00
00:45:03 nor the son of a prophet to make that assessment and for it to be accurate. And that's the context
00:45:10 that Paul Washer is ministering in. So let the record state, I defend Paul Washer. The apostle
00:45:17 paul however is writing back to a church that he started he saw their conversions he saw people
00:45:26 baptized he preached the gospel and he witnessed people responding in faith so he's saying you know
00:45:34 better i know that you're born again i know that you are converted the problem is you're not living
00:45:42 like it. So let's live like it. And what's the motivation, the fuel for sanctification, living 0.98
00:45:50 like you're born again? A reminder, an encouragement, an assurance of your justification. You should
00:45:59 grow in sanctification because you have received justification so going on in your notes here's
00:46:14 the encouragement for every stage of the christian life beginning with little children verse 12 of
00:46:21 our text says i'm writing to you little children because your sins have been forgiven for his
00:46:27 namesake. John uses the phrase little children throughout this letter to address all his readers.
00:46:32 However, in this particular context, he is most likely using the phrase little children to refer
00:46:38 to those who are new believers. When John tells these new believers that their sins are forgiven
00:46:44 for his namesake, he means that their sins are forgiven on account of the person and work of
00:46:50 Jesus Christ. He is reminding them that their sins are not forgiven because of anything that they have
00:46:56 done. Forgiveness of sins on the basis of Christ's finished work is something that the youngest child
00:47:03 of God can and must experience. It is foundational to our Christian walk that we know that our sins
00:47:11 have been forgiven. John addresses this same group again in the last portion of verse 13 when he
00:47:18 writes, I have written to you children because you know the Father. As with the forgiveness of sins,
00:47:26 knowing God as our Father is foundational to our Christian walk. From the earliest stage of the
00:47:32 Christian life, we should know God as our Father. He loves us and cares for us far more than any
00:47:40 earthly father ever could. As John will go on to say, see how great a love the Father has bestowed
00:47:47 on us that we should be called the children of God and such we are. That's the encouragement
00:47:55 for little children the person who is new to the faith we've already discussed that the only thing
00:48:00 that i'll add on this point is if you're wondering what those three primary tests that john offers
00:48:06 throughout the entirety of this epistle the truth test the relational test and the moral test
00:48:13 the truth test being doctrinal relational being love particularly love for god as displayed by
00:48:20 our love for fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. And then the moral test, namely obedience to God's
00:48:26 moral law, his commandments out of these tests. If you're wondering what, which of these tests
00:48:32 could a brand new believer, I'm not talking to someone who's been saved for three years.
00:48:35 I'm talking to somebody who got saved this morning, first day of conversion. What test
00:48:42 could they possibly have passed in a matter of just a few hours that would be a sign that they
00:48:48 belong to Christ a sign of assurance the first test that every believer passes by the grace of
00:48:56 God and the spirit at work within them is the truth test the doctrinal test namely it is the
00:49:03 test of their confession their confession a confession of sin and a confession of faith
00:49:14 John says in his epistle that no one can say but by the Spirit.
00:49:19 That the Spirit of God is a prerequisite in order to confess that Jesus has come in the flesh.
00:49:27 So the person who is able to say, Jesus has come in the flesh.
00:49:31 He is the eternal second member of the Trinity.
00:49:34 And he is very God and very man.
00:49:38 He took on flesh in real human history.
00:49:40 took on a second nature not half man and half god but the full divine nature now veiled in the full
00:49:49 human nature and he lived a sinless life he died a substitutionary death under the wrath of god
00:49:58 on the cross and he was bodily raised from the dead on the third day and ascended to the right
00:50:05 hand of God where he is seated forever as our high priest interceding on our behalf and he
00:50:11 promises to physically return again to judge both the quick and the dead aka pretty much the
00:50:19 apostles creed anyone who can confess that has the spirit because only by the spirit can that be
00:50:27 truly confessed in faith in other words did you know brothers and sisters that every lord's day
00:50:34 when we confess we hear the word of God namely the law word of God the ten commandments the
00:50:42 decalogue read to us and then we confess our sin we receive an assurance of Christ's pardon
00:50:50 as from the minister as representative of Christ in that moment and then we confess our faith
00:50:58 what the Bible teaches about Christ the person of Jesus and what the Bible teaches about the
00:51:04 father and the holy spirit and the invisible and universal church and the communion of the saints
00:51:10 the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting amen when we do that
00:51:16 when we do that that is meant to be an example a moment of assurance for the people of god
00:51:26 I confessed my sin, I received Christ's pardon, and I confessed my faith,
00:51:34 a biblical apostolic confession of what the Bible teaches about the triune God
00:51:39 and salvation by grace through faith alone in Christ.
00:51:44 Every single Lord's Day, your assurance of salvation should be shored up.
00:51:49 meaning that if you walked in here this morning wrestling with condemnation because of sin this
00:51:58 past week all the ways in which you failed and you walked in to the house of God this morning
00:52:05 thinking man what what if I'm not even saved what if what have I just been going through the motions
00:52:12 what if all of this has just been an act what if I'm not a new creation what if I don't have the
00:52:18 spirit what if i don't have union with christ what if i don't belong to him what if god is not
00:52:25 actually my father well after confessing your sins receiving an assurance of pardon
00:52:32 and confessing your faith you should have gone from from doubting to believing and again not
00:52:41 pass or fail not zero assurance when you walked in and perfect 100 assurance of salvation when
00:52:48 you leave. But if you came in at 20% assurance, you should be leaving by the grace of God with
00:52:54 25, 30, 35, 40% assurance. You should leave the Lord's day worship gathering of the saints
00:53:02 more assured than when you walked in. More assured than when you walked in.
00:53:10 Another way to measure assurance, and again, this is for the little children. This could be someone
00:53:15 who got saved today who has been a christian for a mere matter of hours another way to to gauge and
00:53:23 measure another source of assurance would be this you confess your sins you receive an assurance of
00:53:29 his pardon you confess your faith and then i come up and preach the word and one measure of assurance
00:53:38 i'm not saying this is perfect because i'm not perfect i'm a sinner and because i'm a sinner
00:53:45 That means that if I could go a minute without sinning, I bet I could go an hour.
00:53:53 And if I could go an hour, I bet I could go a day.
00:53:55 If I could go a day, I think I could do a week.
00:53:58 If a week, then a month.
00:53:59 If a month, then a year.
00:54:00 If a year, then a lifetime.
00:54:03 And then I wouldn't be a Calvinist anymore.
00:54:05 I'd be Wesleyan, believe in secondness, that we can attain to a state of sinless perfection in this life.
00:54:15 But because I reject false teaching, sorry John Wesley, I am a Calvinist and I do believe the
00:54:25 Bible, which I know that's redundant. Calvinist, Bible believing. But because of that, I believe
00:54:34 that I am a sinner. I'm a saint at the very same time. I'm a new creation. I'm being sanctified.
00:54:41 I'm growing in progressive righteousness
00:54:43 all by the grace of God and the work of the Spirit.
00:54:46 But I will never reach a state of sinless perfection in this life
00:54:51 because I can't go one moment without sinning at some level
00:54:56 in my thoughts, in my intentions, my motives.
00:55:01 I have never preached.
00:55:03 What I'm saying is because I can't go a moment without sinning,
00:55:06 that includes an hour a week when I stand in this pulpit.
00:55:10 I have never preached a sinless sermon.
00:55:14 And because I've never preached a sinless sermon, no man has.
00:55:18 Because I've never preached a sinless sermon, there are, I'm saying all this as a theological disclaimer,
00:55:24 there are objective theological reasons to not like some of my preaching.
00:55:31 Right? Again, premise, conclusion.
00:55:32 Because I've never preached a sinless sermon, there are good reasons to not like all of my preaching.
00:55:39 Okay? That's a disclaimer. Now, on the whole, that's a theological objective footnote. On the
00:55:47 whole, though, the headline is this. If you are regularly walking away from the preaching of God's
00:55:53 Word here at Covenant Bible Church saying, I hate that preacher, and I hate his sermons, 0.99
00:55:59 you're probably going to hell. You're probably not a Christian. And that's not because I'm the 1.00
00:56:06 the gold standard of theological accuracy and truth, but that's because by God's grace and
00:56:12 His grace alone, our church is an orthodox church. And although I've never preached a sinless sermon,
00:56:19 by God's grace, on the whole, I preach the Word of God. And I do it reasonably faithfully.
00:56:29 And so, on the whole, not all the time, not perfectly, because I'm not a perfect preacher,
00:56:35 you can reject a few things here and there but if your basic assessment is i don't like any of
00:56:42 his preaching i hate it that's not a good sign so i'll add that as a sign of assurance if you're
00:56:51 coming in here on the lord's day and you confess your sin and you mean it i'm a sinner and i need
00:56:59 pardon you receive through faith christ pardon and then you confess your faith you confess i believe
00:57:07 in god the father almighty creator of heaven and earth and you believe that there is a god in
00:57:12 heaven who made the heavens and earth and you believe in jesus christ his son that he is the
00:57:19 god man that he died for your sin that he rose again and ascended to heaven you believe in the
00:57:25 Holy Spirit you believe in the one apostolic church you believe in the communion of saints
00:57:32 the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting and you can sit
00:57:38 through an hour of my preaching and let's be honest from time to time 75 minutes 80 minutes
00:57:45 over an hour of my preaching and on the whole in general say
00:57:49 he yells a lot but he preaches god's word and i love god's word what does jesus say my sheep
00:58:01 hear my voice that would be another thing that you could cite as assurance so my point is this
00:58:08 if from monday through saturday you lived according to the flesh you were carnal you're the kind of
00:58:17 christian like the corinthians that paul would have to address and say i can't speak to you as
00:58:21 spiritual meaning the implication there is spiritually mature i've got to speak to you as
00:58:26 a babe as an infant in christ because you're living according to the flesh and not walking
00:58:31 according to the spirit monday through saturday you live like a pagan but you walked in by god's
00:58:36 grace on the lord's day and despite all your failures and all your sin you heard the law of
00:58:43 god read you were convicted of your sin you confessed your sin corporately and you meant it
00:58:49 you received through faith knowing that you don't deserve it but in faith in christ and his finished
00:58:54 work alone received pardon and then you confessed your faith in the triune god in the work of the
00:59:00 gospel and then you sat through an hour plus of yelling old-timey religion preaching and you
00:59:07 generally liked it you're a christian more likely than not again it's not 100 percent
00:59:16 pass fail but there is a sliding scale of metrics and shoring up our assurance
00:59:24 examining ourselves to see whether we're in the faith and that's one of them it's the doctrinal
00:59:30 test the truth test now monday through saturday is still a big deal because those are the other
00:59:36 test the moral test obeying his commandments sounds like we got to work on that and the love 0.99
00:59:44 test or relational test loving our brothers and sisters in christ so if you were a jerk to your 0.99
00:59:51 spouse for six days short with your kids for six days not obedient to god's law for six days but 0.99
01:00:01 you did all the stuff this morning that i've already covered then you should have some assurance
01:00:07 but not perfect assurance you should have some assurance but here's the key that assurance that
01:00:15 you do have that's the fuel in your tank for growing in those other categories because the
01:00:21 person who will not be sanctified and i have learned this the hard way i have had seasons
01:00:27 of my life, as the Puritans would say, as someone who I do in hindsight look back and I believe
01:00:34 that I was a born again Christian, but I had very little, little to no assurance during seasons of
01:00:41 my life because, because I was living in sin. I was, I was giving quarter to sin. I was managing
01:00:50 rather than mortifying sin. And there is a difference, right? I've used this illustration
01:00:55 before. I was treating sin like Batman treats the Joker, right? Let's subdue him. Let's tie him up.
01:01:02 Let's hand him over to the Gotham police, right? Because they've proved to be real competent in
01:01:07 the past. And now, no, you just, with sin, you just kill Joker. You don't capture him. You don't
01:01:16 imprison him. You kill him. And that's how we're supposed to treat sin. But the problem is you 1.00
01:01:21 can't really kill a sin that you don't hate. The reason why we don't mortify our sin is because we
01:01:27 like our sin. That's why we keep doing it. And so I've had seasons in my life where I was harboring
01:01:34 sin. And as the Puritans would say, it's not as though I wasn't a Christian. Therefore, God is not
01:01:41 my father. But there is a category. There is such a thing for someone who's truly born again, but
01:01:46 they are living and harboring sin in particular area, despite they're resisting the conviction of
01:01:52 the Holy Spirit. And the Puritans would call it this. They would say, it is living underneath
01:01:56 God's fatherly displeasure. He is objectively your father, but you are in a season of living
01:02:02 underneath the fatherly displeasure of God. And that becomes a vicious cycle. It becomes a vicious
01:02:08 cycle because again, assurance of justification is the fuel for sanctification, mortifying sin.
01:02:15 and mortifying sin, sanctification, being able to witness that and see that is part of what
01:02:22 encourages us and gives us assurance of justification. It's a cycle. Justification
01:02:28 fuels sanctification and sanctification is an evidence for justification. I'll say it again.
01:02:35 Justification fuels sanctification. How do I get sanctified in the area of sexual purity? Well,
01:02:41 Paul says that it comes from justification, knowing you were bought with a price, knowing
01:02:47 that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, knowing you are members of Christ. If you're
01:02:52 doubting that, well, I don't know if I'm really a member of Christ. Maybe I'm not saved. I don't
01:02:56 know if I really have the Holy Spirit. I don't know if I'm saved. I don't know if I was bought
01:03:00 with a price. What if I'm part of the non-elect and Christ didn't die for me? Then it's like
01:03:06 like trying to grow now impurity and sanctification is like trying to drive a car when the gas tank
01:03:13 is empty. It's going to be real hard. And it becomes this vicious cycle of I'm struggling
01:03:20 to grow in sanctification because I don't have any assurance of justification. And I don't have
01:03:25 any assurance of justification because one of the things that first John says again and again and
01:03:30 again that you would cite as an evidence as proof of justification is sanctification
01:03:37 john says this is how we come to know that we have believed that we love the brothers the brethren
01:03:45 this is how we can know that we have come to believe that we obey his commandments this is
01:03:51 how we can know that we have the spirit of god that we confess that jesus has come in the flesh
01:03:56 meaning that each of these areas of sanctification,
01:04:01 sanctification in doctrine,
01:04:03 sanctification in love,
01:04:05 sanctification in obedience to God's law,
01:04:07 the moral categories,
01:04:09 sanctification in these areas
01:04:10 is the evidence that we can put our fingers on
01:04:13 and say these are signs that by the grace of God
01:04:16 I have been born again.
01:04:18 And that's not inserting works
01:04:20 into the gospel of free grace.
01:04:22 That's simply saying that if there's fruit,
01:04:25 that is proof that the root is there we're saved by grace alone through faith alone in christ alone
01:04:32 but faith will always work itself out in obedience faith and works it's not faith plus works equals
01:04:41 salvation no the formula is faith equals salvation plus works not faith plus works
01:04:50 equals salvation faith alone equals salvation and works meaning that if you truly have faith
01:04:59 in christ you have salvation and the proof of that faith is that it will work itself out in love
01:05:07 as the scripture says and obedience to god's commandments and love for god's people
01:05:13 so you have to have some measure of sanctification to point to to say this is why i have assurance of
01:05:22 justification and you have to have assurance of justification as a fuel in the tank for mortifying
01:05:29 sin and sanctification and sometimes a christian because of unconfessed sin would be a leading
01:05:37 calls and resistance to the conviction of the Holy Spirit can get stuck. And the beautiful cycle,
01:05:45 because it's meant to be a beautiful cycle, justification leading to sanctification and
01:05:50 sanctification, giving greater and greater reason to be assured of your justification, which gives
01:05:55 more fuel in the tank to be sanctified, which gives you more reason to know that you've been
01:05:59 justified, which motivates you more to be sanctified. This is a good thing. This is a
01:06:04 beautiful cycle. But when someone falls underneath God's fatherly displeasure, it becomes a vicious
01:06:10 cycle. A vicious cycle. John Bunyan was there for seven years with no assurance, little to no
01:06:19 assurance. He would look back and say, I actually was a Christian. In hindsight, he's able to say,
01:06:25 I was converted. But for seven years, I doubted it. I doubted it. Instead of justification fueling
01:06:33 sanctification and sanctification giving reason, giving, providing reason for believing that I've
01:06:39 been justified. Instead of that, it was, I don't know if I'm justified, therefore I'm not motivated
01:06:44 to be sanctified, which means I'm not being sanctified, which gives me little reason, little
01:06:47 evidence to believe that I'm justified. And it becomes this horrible cycle of falling further
01:06:53 and further underneath the fatherly displeasure of God, shrinking in assurance, and then shrinking
01:07:00 in sanctification. That's the tragic irony. The person who needs to be sanctified to be assured
01:07:05 more than anyone else is a person who doesn't have assurance and therefore is greatly the most
01:07:11 inhibited in their sanctification. You will not be sanctified if you don't believe that God is
01:07:18 your father and that your sins are forgiven. You will not grow in sanctification if you are
01:07:25 constantly severely doubting that god is your father and that your sins are forgiven because
01:07:32 that's the basis that's ground zero for catapulting you into obedience and sanctification so you will
01:07:39 not be sanctified if you don't believe god is your father and that your sins are forgiven and
01:07:45 if you're not sanctified and you're pigeonholed and stuck in a rut then you're going to have even
01:07:51 less and less reason over time to believe that you've been justified. You've got to get out of
01:07:58 that rut. And in God's grace, that's why there is shotgun assurance and not just one test that's
01:08:06 either pass or fail. No, it's a sliding scale and it's in multiple arenas, multiple categories.
01:08:15 So right now, if you feel like I'm under the fatherly displeasure of God, I don't feel a
01:08:20 sense of security and assurance and confidence in his fatherly love for me i don't feel necessarily
01:08:27 confident that i'm actually in the faith that i've truly been born again because of this reason this
01:08:34 area of my life where i feel like i'm utterly failing the test i'm not growing in sanctification
01:08:39 i'm not doing well i'm struggling to obey his commandments here i'm struggling to love the
01:08:45 people of God over there, then pivot and look at another test. And one of the tests that I
01:08:53 would encourage you to look at, I think it's the first one that God gives to us, is the doctrinal
01:08:58 test. Do you confess that Jesus is the Christ? In conversion, the first thing that we do,
01:09:06 regeneration precedes faith. But the first thing that we do after having been born again
01:09:12 by the work of the Spirit and the sheer grace of God,
01:09:15 one of the first things that we do,
01:09:17 having been born again and given the gifts of faith and repentance,
01:09:20 is we confess with our mouths.
01:09:23 We believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths
01:09:27 that Jesus is Lord and that He is Savior,
01:09:31 that He is the Christ.
01:09:34 And the Bible says that no one can truly do that
01:09:36 without having been born again.
01:09:38 the first test for someone who is literally not just hours but seconds someone who has been
01:09:45 converted for seconds already has something that they can point to and say by God's grace and his
01:09:51 grace alone there's already fruit that is that is being brought about in my life if in no other
01:09:59 area the fruit that's being brought about in my life is conviction of sin and a confession of faith
01:10:05 and that's why we begin our lord's day liturgy it's one of the reasons but it's one of the
01:10:12 theological reasons why our lord's liturgy begins with the reading of god's law a confession of sin
01:10:19 an assurance of pardon and a confession of faith so that when we go into the sermon the hearing of
01:10:27 god's word preached that ordinarily you would be assured that you are a christian and therefore
01:10:33 would listen to the Word of God
01:10:35 as though you are His Son.
01:10:38 You would hear God's Word as a Christian
01:10:40 because there is at least some measure
01:10:44 of assurance that comes
01:10:46 from confessing Christ.
01:10:49 If you confessed Christ this morning,
01:10:51 then you should have some measure of assurance.
01:10:54 So then take that assurance that you do have.
01:10:56 Don't focus on all the ways you've failed.
01:10:59 Take the assurance that you do have
01:11:00 by God's grace
01:11:01 and put it in the tank in those other areas and grow.
01:11:06 And grow.
01:11:09 The general disposition of the Christian
01:11:11 should not be a disposition of doubt.
01:11:13 Your Christian life, the ordinary Christian life,
01:11:15 is not like a little five-year-old girl
01:11:17 sitting on a grassy hilltop with a lily in her hand,
01:11:21 taking the petals, saying,
01:11:22 God loves me, He loves me not.
01:11:24 He loves me, He loves me not. 1.00
01:11:26 That is not the Christian life. 1.00
01:11:29 The Christian life is 1 John 3, 1.
01:11:31 see what love the father has for us that we should be called the children of god and so we are
01:11:39 you are a christian he loves you he loves you he loves you he loves you he loves you
01:11:48 deuteronomy i believe it's chapter 7 talks about us being his treasured possession he says this
01:11:53 is why i chose you not because you were great in number oh israel and you are true israel by the
01:12:00 way. Not because you were greater in number than any of the other nations of the earth, but I chose
01:12:05 you because I set my love on you. I chose to love you because I set my love on you. You know
01:12:12 essentially what that text is saying? It's saying this. God is saying, I chose to love you because
01:12:17 I love you. Why does God love us? Because he loves us. He loves us because he loves us, because he
01:12:23 loves us because he loves us because he loves us. Gerhardus Voss said, I am convinced that there
01:12:31 is never a time when God will ever stop loving me precisely because he never began to love me.
01:12:39 For the person who is not yet converted, there is an objective theological sense in which they
01:12:45 are an enemy of God under his wrath. And simultaneously, they are also still not a goat,
01:12:52 but a sheep. Not a found sheep, but a lost sheep. And they are a sheep that God has determined,
01:12:58 he has set his sovereign decretal love upon. Meaning that even before you're born again,
01:13:06 even before salvation, for the elect, God has always known you and God has always loved you.
01:13:14 We know that our lives are eternal in the sense that there is no mere mortal, as Lewis would say,
01:13:21 That we are going to live forever.
01:13:23 There is a life that comes after this.
01:13:25 But did you know, not only will you live forever going in the future,
01:13:29 but there is a sense in which you have always eternally existed, even in the past.
01:13:34 Not in an ontological sense, but you have always existed in the mind of God.
01:13:40 There has never been a time that the eternal triune God, who has no beginning,
01:13:46 there has never been a time that He did not know you.
01:13:49 and that he was not committed to loving you it was never a matter of if it was always only a matter
01:13:58 of when when and how how God in redemptive human history would bring about your eternal salvation
01:14:07 he has always known you and he has always loved you Christ did not die to make us lovable
01:14:15 entirely that is true but it is a half truth the reality is that christ the full truth is that in
01:14:24 his death he died to wash us by his blood atone for our sins fulfill all righteousness through
01:14:31 his act of obedience in his life and for that to be received by us through faith in that sense
01:14:36 Christ died to make us lovable, but he also died because we were loved. It's not as though God
01:14:45 hated us and only hated us, but chose to make us lovable. God was willing to send his son because
01:14:53 God so loved the world. Don't ever get too cool for John 3 16. It is still one of the greatest
01:15:01 verses in all the Bible. For God so loved the world. That means for this reason, the reason being
01:15:07 God's love for the world, he sent his only son. It is not for God hated the world, but he was tired
01:15:14 of hating. So he sent his son to make some of the world lovable so that he could at least stop
01:15:19 hating someone. That's not it. For God so loved the world, he sent his only son that whoever should
01:15:26 believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life god sent jesus to make you lovable but he
01:15:34 was willing to send jesus and make you lovable because he already loved you hated you as a
01:15:40 sinner on the one hand before conversion but on the other also loved you as his eternal elect
01:15:47 there is never a time that god has not known you and there has never been a time that in his
01:15:53 foreknowledge that he hasn't pre-loved you. It has only ever been a matter of when. When he would
01:16:02 save you. Not if. God will never cease to love you because God never began to love you. See what love
01:16:11 the Father has for us that we should be called the children of God and so we are. The ordinary
01:16:18 disposition of the Christian should be assurance, not doubt. It should be assurance. That's why even
01:16:28 in our catechism and discipleship and parenting of our children, we are not trying to disciple
01:16:35 them in doubt. We don't know if they're yet born again. We don't know the exact moment when
01:16:41 regeneration takes place and yet i am teaching my children as though they are children of god 0.51
01:16:50 i don't know when it's going to happen but i'm training them as pre-christians i don't teach
01:16:56 my two-year-old to pray our great enemy who art in heaven hallowed be thy name you hate me with
01:17:03 a fiery just hatred you are righteous no i teach my two-year-old to pray our father not mom and
01:17:12 dad's father not just jesus father but our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name do i know
01:17:18 and the objective theological sense that my two-year-old is regenerate and that god has
01:17:25 already adopted them as their father no i don't but i believe that it's only a matter of when
01:17:31 not if that if god wasn't going to save my kids he could have given them to my pagan neighbor
01:17:38 but he gave them to me and i'm not going to sever the predestinated ends of god namely who he is
01:17:47 pleased to save from the predestinated means of god the way in which he brings about that salvation
01:17:53 and god ordinarily throughout human history and church history in particular has predominantly
01:18:00 brought about salvation through Christian parenting. If you were born in a Muslim country,
01:18:08 statistically, you're going to be a Muslim. And if you're born in a Christian country, 0.53
01:18:14 statistically, you're going to be a Christian. Why? Because God saves through means, 0.77
01:18:20 the ordinary means of grace, preaching, parenting.
01:18:25 and that's the way that we want to believe we don't want to constantly model for ourselves
01:18:33 for our spouse for our children doubt we do not want to model that the normative christian position
01:18:39 is thinking that chances are i'm probably going to hell no no if that's how you feel this morning
01:18:49 then look to the objective covenant look to the objective promises of god
01:18:54 do you confess that christ has come in the flesh
01:18:58 do you confess that you're a sinner in need of grace do you believe that jesus sacrifice is
01:19:05 sufficient are you trusting in christ to grow by grace and sanctification
01:19:11 okay then you're a christian therefore now honor god with your lives
01:19:19 act like it. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for your promises. And thank
01:19:25 you for the precious gift of assurance. Like Christian in Pilgrim's Progress, who's given
01:19:31 by the three shining ones, a scroll that represents his assurance of salvation.
01:19:36 There's a moment where he neglects the scroll and loses it. Father, I pray that we would view
01:19:41 the assurance of our salvation as something precious, something priceless, and that we
01:19:48 would guard it that we would take care not to neglect it to keep it that we would fight for
01:19:54 our assurance and that we would not allow into our our spiritual lives those things which zap
01:20:01 assurance one of the chief culprits being unconfessed sin i pray that we would be quick
01:20:09 to confess when we sin quick to ask for forgiveness and lord i pray that you would give us
01:20:18 an increased hatred of sin
01:20:20 that we wouldn't just manage it
01:20:22 or harbor it 0.98
01:20:23 but that we would seek to put it to death
01:20:26 to mortify sin by grace
01:20:28 and as we do these things by your grace
01:20:32 that our assurance would only grow
01:20:34 that we would have more confidence than ever before
01:20:37 not confidence in the flesh
01:20:39 but confidence in your work
01:20:42 in and through us
01:20:43 by your grace
01:20:45 by the spirit
01:20:47 We pray all these things in the name of Jesus Christ, your son. Amen.
01:20:52 Can I be frank with you for just a second right here at the end?
01:20:56 Look, some of you guys, you're financially supporting this ministry.
01:20:59 And from the bottom of my heart, I say, thank you.
01:21:02 I cannot thank you enough.
01:21:05 However, some of you, you just, you can't afford it.
01:21:08 In fact, some of you, you shouldn't afford it.
01:21:11 Let's be honest. 0.91
01:21:12 I mean, we're living in Joe Biden's ridiculous economy. 0.97
01:21:16 our nation and our totalitarian political elites lost their minds over the last three years 0.91
01:21:24 due to COVID. We have written checks that we simply cannot cash. It doesn't matter if people
01:21:31 change the definition of a recession. We are living in a recession right now regardless.
01:21:38 Some of you are struggling to afford a carton of eggs at the grocery store. You cannot support
01:21:44 financially this ministry at this time, nor should you, but you could still help us tremendously.
01:21:51 I am asking you, please, if you're willing to do so, take one minute of your time. Leave us a
01:21:58 five-star review on your favorite podcast platform, iTunes, Spotify, whatever that might be.
01:22:05 This is the way the system works. We want to be innocent as doves, but shrewd as vipers.
01:22:11 We need to be strategic.
01:22:13 You leave us a five-star review, and our podcast shows up for more people.
01:22:18 And the Word of God and courageous theology applied in practical ways to every realm of
01:22:25 life gets out there.
01:22:27 Help us get it out there.
01:22:29 Thanks for tuning in.