Please turn with me tonight to Galatians chapter 6 as we read a few verses there in connection with the fifth head of doctrine of the Canons of Dort where we will turn in a few moments. Galatians chapter 6 as we read together verses 7 through 10, just a few verses there. Before we do so, let's ask for the Lord's blessing upon our consideration of His Word tonight. The dear Heavenly Father, we do again this evening hour come before You, desiring Your blessing even as we look to You. Look to Your Word. We pray for Your instruction. We pray for Your counsel. We pray for Your guidance and encouragement and admonition and all that You have for us. We thank You for the truth of Your Word. Open our hearts, our minds, by the power of Your Holy Spirit that we might see and understand. To Your name's honor and glory. To the edification of Your people. To the conversion of sinners. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray these things. Amen. The Word of God. Galatians 6, beginning at verse 7. Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature from that nature will reap destruction. The one who sows to please the Spirit from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, Let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. And God had His blessing to the reading of His Word. Please turn in the back of the Psalter hymnal to page 109. We began to consider the fifth head of doctrine of the canons of Dort last week. We conclude it tonight. We read a number of articles last week. We're going to read a number of them again tonight. Page 109 and the pages following, beginning with Article 2. Hence spring forth the daily sins of infirmity, and blemishes cleave even to the best works of the saints. These are to them a perpetual reason to humiliate themselves before God and to flee for refuge to Christ crucified, to mortify the flesh more and more by the spirit of prayer and by holy exercises of piety and to press forward to the goal of perfection until at length, delivered from this body of death, they shall reign with the Lamb of God in heaven. Turning to number 9. Of this preservation of the elect to salvation and of their perseverance in the faith, true believers themselves may and do obtain assurance according to the measure of their faith, whereby they surely believe that they are and ever will continue true and living members of the church and that they have the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Going on to Article 10. This assurance, however, is not produced by any peculiar revelation contrary to or independent of the Word of God, but springs from faith in God's promises, which He has most abundantly revealed in His Word, for our comfort, from the testimony of the Holy Spirit, witnessing with our spirit that we are children and heirs of God, and lastly, from a serious and holy desire to preserve a good conscience and to perform good works. And if the elect of God were deprived of this solid comfort, that they shall finally obtain the victory and of this infallible pledge of eternal glory, they would be, of all men, the most miserable. Article 12. This certainty of perseverance, however, is so far from exciting in believers a spirit of pride or of rendering them carnally secure that on the contrary, it is the real source of humility, filial reverence, true piety, patience in every tribulation, fervent in prayers, constancy in suffering and in confessing the truth, and of solid rejoicing in God so that the consideration of this benefit should serve as an incentive to the serious and constant practice of gratitude and good works as appears from the testimonies of Scripture and the examples of the saints. Article 13 Neither does renewed confidence of persevering produce licentiousness or a disregard of piety in those who are recovered from backsliding, but it renders them much more careful and solicitous to continue in the ways of the Lord, which He has ordained that they who walk therein may keep the assurance of persevering. Lest, on account of their abuse of His fatherly kindness, God should turn away His gracious countenance from them, to behold which is to the godly dearer than life, and the withdrawal of which is more bitter than death, and they, in consequence thereof, should fall into more grievous torments of conscience. And finally, Article 14. And as it has pleased God by the preaching of the gospel to begin this work of grace in us, So He preserves, continues, and perfects it by the hearing and reading of His Word, by meditation thereon, and by the exhortations, threatenings, and promises thereof, and by the use of the sacraments. Well, beloved in Christ the Lord, one last time in this series, we turn again to our confession, the Canons of Dort, where together we have considered God's gracious way with His people in salvation. We have seen together how the doctrines of grace that we know through the acronym of TULIP, how these doctrines of grace show God's goodness in the gift that He has given. And as we began to see last week with consideration of the fifth head of doctrine, that He preserves and keeps us in true faith. He not only gives us that gift, but He preserves and keeps His people in true faith. And then, as by faith, we understand that He preserves us to salvation, as Article 9 says. The child of God then responds by persevering in the faith. God preserves His people, and He does so by means of the believer's perseverance in the faith. He equips and enables His children by the Holy Spirit to persevere. He preserves them in that way through their perseverance. Now last week we spoke of the mischaracterization and the misapplication of the perseverance of the saints. There are those who say, well, okay, once saved, always saved. Therefore, I can do what I want. I can live like I want because I'm safe anyway and it really doesn't matter. Well, that kind of a careless attitude may be true when it comes to certain situations in this life. As I was thinking about my own life, I thought back to my college days, and often as students, when it came time for a final examination, somehow we were able to figure out how we were doing in the class and whether or not how we did on the exam would affect our grade. And I should say, sadly, that if we found out that the exam wasn't going to affect our grade at all, we wouldn't study because it didn't matter anyway. And also, back in the Midwest, I recall that there were certain roads that we all happened to know that the highway patrol didn't spend much time patrolling. And therefore, in our ignorance, we thought we were safe speeding a little bit more because it didn't matter. But you see, beloved, that kind of a careless attitude cannot, simply cannot, and will not be true for the saint, for the child of God. Because that kind of a complacent attitude is not the attitude of one who is saved. One whose mind and heart and will, as we have considered, has been transformed by the irresistible grace of God. Transformed from the way of sin and desiring the things of sin and changed over to the things of God and desiring the things of God. Knowing that God is not mocked. knowing that our God knows the true state of your heart and my heart. And Scripture points to the impossibility of this attitude in God's people. Again, not to say that we don't slip. Not to say that we don't fail. Not to say that we are always as zealous as we ought to be. But the Word of God points to the impossibility of this full-fledged attitude in the heart of a child of God. The psalmist in Psalm 119, verse 72 says, Your law is precious to me. In verse 92, the psalmist says, Your law is my delight. In the very same psalm, verse 97, the psalmist says, Oh, how I love Your law. I meditate on it all day long. Paul in Philippians 2, verse 12 says, Work out Your salvation with fear and trembling. And then he goes on in chapter 3 to say, I press on. The Christian life is a life of pressing on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus has already taken hold of me. In Colossians 3, Paul says that we are to put to death the things of the flesh and to clothe ourselves. We might say with the attributes of the new man. In Titus 2, verse 11, he says, the grace of God has appeared teaching us to say no to ungodliness. And of course, then we cannot overlook what Peter has to say. In 2 Peter 1, he says, beginning in verse 3, His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Really pointing to the preservation of God. And he goes on, verse 4, Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires, pointing to the perseverance of the believer. And he continues, For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness and to goodness knowledge and to knowledge self-control and to self-control perseverance and to perseverance godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness love. And jumping to verse 10, he says, Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. The Word of God clearly points out the impossibility of this kind of a complacent, careless attitude in the heart and life of the saints. Instead, in response to God's promise to preserve and to keep His believers in the faith, in salvation, the believer then is called to persevere in the faith. God's preservation of the saints as we considered last week then motivates perseverance of the saints. Perseverance. Pursuing piety. Maybe you notice the word piety in several of the articles that we read together in another version of the Canons of Dort. You don't find the word piety. There's another word used instead, the word godliness. Now we often use the word piety. It's often spoken of negatively as if to say, well, someone is so pious, as if someone is so holy. We're kind of putting them down sometimes when we use that word in that way. But piety very simply means godliness. It's talking about our walk with God. Our desire to be obedient to Him. To do what pleases Him out of thankfulness. As we considered this morning, not to earn a ticket to heaven. That's impossible as we considered. But those who have been given entrance through the Lord Jesus Christ, their life then is transformed. It's a life of perseverance. Godliness transforms our attitude, our outlook on life, our involvement in the communion of the saints. Godliness, beloved, is what the Christian life is all about. It's about perseverance in the faith. How to show God love and obedience. It has to do with the way that we live before this God who holds us eternally into the palm of His hand. And therefore, we consider, first of all, its importance. The importance of persevering in godliness and piety. And it is important, we might say, first of all, as a demonstration of gratitude. If you have the Psalter hymnal open yet, article 12, This certainty of perseverance, however, is so far from exciting in believers a spirit of pride or of rendering them carnally secure that on the contrary, it is the real source of humility, filial reverence, that is, childlike reverence, true piety, patience in every tribulation, fervent in prayers, constancy in suffering and in confessing the truth, and of solid rejoicing in God, so that the consideration of this benefit should serve as an incentive to the serious and constant practice of gratitude and good works as appears from the testimonies of Scripture and the examples of the saints. Persevering in the faith is a demonstration of gratitude. That's an appropriate response for a gift, isn't it? As parents, we teach our children from a young age, We teach them that the first thing you do or say when someone gives you a gift is you say thank you. The believer's life of obedience is a response of gratitude. It says thank you to God for the precious, unchangeable, unlosable gift of salvation through a life of love and obedience and service. That's the goal of new life in Christ. there's a fly bugging me, so if I happen to move my hands, it's because of that. It's getting too close for comfort. But that is the goal of new life in Christ. Beloved, that goal is to please God, to thank Him for that gift of new life. The goal of new life in Christ is not to get to heaven. Now that I've probably shocked some of you, let me say that again. The goal of the believer's new life in Christ is not to get to heaven. That's the Arminian goal. To do, to say, to act a certain way in order to get to heaven. Sometimes one, a well-meaning believer, will be very burdened. And if you ask them, well, why are you so burdened? The answer will be, well, because I'm not doing enough for God. I should do more for God. And at that point, we must ask, for what? And I want to be careful here because there are times we say, well, I should read my Bible more and indeed that is true. But still, the answer is, for what? Or what for? What's the motivation? Because, people of God, it's not about doing enough. For one thing, we can never do enough. It's not about doing enough because all of life, thoughts, words, and actions, all of life is to be characterized by godliness and thanksgiving. As we sang last week, that all my life in every step would be in fellowship with Thee. Even when we fail, beloved, even when we sin, which of course proves to us that it's not about doing enough, but even when we fail and sin, and by faith, by the grace of God through faith, we understand our sin and repent of it and ask for forgiveness and are given the blessed assurance of that forgiveness, that too is an incentive to persevere with greater vigor because it's not about trying to get to heaven. There's nothing that we can do to even take that first step. But we already have heaven. In essence, in Christ Jesus, we are already there as we considered this morning. God has already accomplished that goal through Jesus Christ. He has secured our place in heaven. Our perseverance in godliness is about what God has done. And our goal is thankful obedience here as we travel this earth. And this importance of persevering in godliness as a demonstration of gratitude then also answers to that false claim that is made that the person of virions of saints makes us carnal Christians. Article 13, Neither does renewed confidence of persevering produce licentiousness or a disregard of piety in those who are recovered from backsliding, but it renders them much more careful and solicitous to continue in the ways of the Lord, which He has ordained that they who walk therein may keep the assurance of persevering. It doesn't make the believer a carnal Christian. living like I want because it doesn't matter anyway? Instead, it makes them much more careful and solicitous to continue into the ways of the Lord. The truth is, instead of making God's people carnal Christians, it motivates, it excites, it makes them willing to live for Him. Because His preservation is also, along with being a demonstration of gratitude, it is a source of humility. and perseverance demonstrates the saint's humility. If I can direct you again to article 12, a portion of it. This certainty of perseverance, however, is so far from exciting in believers a spirit of pride or of rendering them carnally secure, that on the contrary, it is the real source of humility, filial reverence, true piety, patience in every tribulation, fervent in prayers, constancy in suffering, and in confessing the truth. And that confessing the truth includes confessing the truth, as article 2 says, of the daily sins of my daily sins of infirmity. And the blemishes that cleave even to the best works of the saints, that cleave to my best works. These daily sins of infirmity, these blemishes are a vivid, a daily reminder that we're not saved because of anything that we have done or can do or continue to do. In and of ourselves, we cannot even persevere on our own strength. We depend on the Holy Spirit to equip and enable us to persevere. But when we see, beloved, that God chose to save us simply for His good pleasure, simply of His grace alone, then we have absolutely nothing to boast about, absolutely nothing to be proud of, even in our walk before Him. He will not pat us on the back for piety. It's what we are called to do as His people. Perseverance expresses humility. And we are called to be humble before Him with a humility expressed in a desire to live in a godly way, recognizing that my life belongs to Jesus Christ because He purchased me, He bought me, He owns me. And beloved, there is no more faithful, caring, or loving owner than Jesus. But there is a caution when it comes to this talk of humility. As I heard one minister say, we must be careful that the practice of piety, does not undermine the heart of piety. That the practice of piety does not undermine the heart of piety. What that means is simply this. Humility comes in us, is worked in us by the power of the Holy Spirit as we recognize, again, that there is nothing that we can offer to God. Yet the danger is that when we begin to live in the ways of obedience, it's easy then to say, well, look what I have done. Look what I am offering to God. look at my diligence, look at all that I do. I volunteer, I give, I help, I participate in the life of the church, I live honestly, certainly God must be pleased with me. And on the one hand, we can say that indeed all of these things are necessary because they ought to flow from repentance and faith, but these are not in any way the reason for boasting. Our good works, our godliness, is only our response to what God has done and not the reason that He has done it. Only our response to what God has done and not the reason that He has done it. Our sin that still clings to us makes it impossible to offer perfect obedience. Indeed, there's no room for boasting. There's no room for a spirit of pride. As the Bible says, even our best works are as filthy rags. Yet amazingly, He simply and graciously accepts our works in Jesus Christ. Beloved, it is an exercise in humility as we recognize that it's all of Him. It is an exercise in humility when we live before the face of God in obedience. It's an exercise in humility. Because it's not what my hands have done. But it's what God has done through Jesus Christ. This perseverance and godliness and piety is also important not only as a demonstration of gratitude and as a source of humility, but also as a measure of our assurance. God gives us assurance through that. Article 9, of this preservation of the elect to salvation and of their perseverance in the faith, true believers themselves may and do obtain assurance according to the measure of their faith, whereby they surely believe that they are and ever will continue true and living members of the church and that they have the forgiveness of sins and life eternal. And Article 10 goes on to say that this assurance comes from the Word of God by the testimony of the Holy Spirit. And also that God's saints receive assurance, Article 10 says, from a serious and a holy desire to preserve a good conscience and to perform good works. Persevering in godliness is to be a reflection of who we are in Christ Jesus. That new life. And that new life we know is only possible by the power and the work of the Holy Spirit. And therefore, that new life shows Him at work. And through that, our God gives us assurance that the Holy Spirit is at work in you and me. And in spite of my sin, and even though imperfectly on my part, He allows me to desire after Him, to delight in Him, because I would never do that if I was left on my own. When I begin to find that I desire the God who loved me first, And when I begin to see the practice of piety in my life offered gratefully and humbly, then I can say confidently that God is at work in me. He gives me the assurance that I am His child. And Paul points to that work as well in verses 7 and 8. He says, Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature from that nature will reap destruction. The one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Notice, Paul also says there is a connection between what we do and our eternal state. There is a connection there. Sowing to please the flesh. Sowing, doing only to please oneself. That one will then reap what that one has earned. Destruction. Nothing but emptiness and death. But sowing to please the Spirit, which we know only takes place in the power of the Holy Spirit, desiring after the things of God then from the Holy Spirit that one receives that for which God has saved us and preserved us, namely eternal life. Desiring after the things of God is evidence of the powerful work of the Holy Spirit in your life and my life. It is evidence of what Jesus Christ has already secured for you and me. Beloved, as we examine our lives, we should ask, is it our desire to follow after, to please, to thank God? Is it our desire to stand firm in and live by faith? Though we will do it imperfectly, is that our desire? See, the Bible says that it will be the desire for those who are born again. If there is no desire whatsoever, then what assurance do we have that we belong to Him? That desire, indeed, it may be weak, it may be lacking. It is according to the measure of our faith as well. The assurance is, as the Confession says. Yet it includes sorrow for sin. It includes a sense of unworthiness. It includes a desire to flee from sin. All that is worked in the believer by the Holy Spirit. Perseverance in godliness is an important part of gratitude. humility, and assurance. But what then, in the second place, is its practice? The practice of perseverance, of piety. What's included, might we say, in the things that we might do to show our devotion and love and thankfulness and humility and assurance? What are the means by which God preserves us? How does a believer practice that perseverance and piety? Well, not through great and wonderful things. that can't help but to get the attention of the world, such as great acts of philanthropy or charity or a life of missions. Indeed, those things may be the result of, but are not the means of persevering in true faith. And God does not equip all the saints the same. Very simply, those means, the practices by which God's people persevere in faith and repentance, are an ordinary part of the believer's life right where God has placed us. Notice article 14, And as it has pleased God by the preaching of the Gospel to begin this work of grace in us, so He preserves, continues, and perfects it by the hearing and reading of His Word, by meditation thereon, and by the exhortations, threatenings, and promises thereof, and by the use of the sacraments. The very same Gospel of Jesus Christ that our God uses to bring one to faith is the very same means by which He preserves one in that faith. The hearing of God's Word. Perseverance and godliness include caring about the preaching of the Gospel. Coming to hear the Gospel proclaimed. Ask yourself, why did you come today? Why did you come back tonight? Is it because you wanted and needed to hear the Gospel proclaimed again? Is it because you can't get enough of it? Is it because you need to be reminded of the fact that God has saved you from your sin? Indeed, that's how God preserves His people in the faith. Or did you come for other reasons? Is it because of what some might say if you didn't come? Or did you come out of duty, out of custom, habit. You see, the reason that you and I come determines our attitude toward the preaching of the gospel. It determines how you listen to it. What is your attitude toward the preaching of the gospel? Not your attitude toward the preacher. You may like or dislike the preacher and the way he preaches. That's a whole different matter. But what is your attitude toward the preaching of the gospel? The gospel preached is of ultimate importance for you and me in our persevering. We come to hear God's message, not a man. The psalmist again in Psalm 119, the words that we sang, he helps us to focus on the true state of worship, how we are to look at it. How I love thy law, O Lord. Worship, hearing the gospel preached, is not a matter of legalism. that I come because I have to. Now, boys and girls, you might want to argue with me. Maybe at this stage in your life, you think you do come because you have to, because your parents don't give you a choice. But I hope and pray you will come to desire it. Because worship is not a matter of legalism. I have to do it. In a sense, we need to be here, of course. But it's a matter of love and devotion. I get to. Hearing God's Word. But the practice also includes, as the confession continues, the reading of and meditation on the Word of God. Not a mountaintop meditation, sitting there with your legs crossed and your fingers pressed together and humming and trying to empty your mind of everything, but being engaged with the Word of God. Filling your mind with the Word of God. And not only again in public worship, but in the private intake of the Word of God. Regularly reading the Word of God, thinking about what God says and how it applies to God's people. And not just parts of God's Word, but all of God's Word. As again, the Confession says, its exhortations, its threatenings, its promises, all of it. Not just the comfortable parts, the parts that we like, but the parts that also make us uncomfortable, the parts that would convict us. And then the Confession points out the sacraments. The regular ordinary means of grace alongside of the preaching of the gospel is a practice of godliness, of persevering. Though the vast majority of us do not remember our baptisms when it took place, when that water was sprinkled on our forehead, yet every time we have the privilege to participate by witnessing the sacrament of baptism administered to an infant child every single time, that baptism is a reminder to you and me personally of the promises of God that were given to us and of the obligation that we have to respond to those promises, to embrace those promises, not just that first time, but to persevere in embracing those promises. And the Lord's Supper, just as certainly as we see and touch and smell and taste with our physical senses, the elements of bread and wine just as certainly, just as really, just as truly by faith we are nourished and strengthened spiritually with the body and blood of Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit and therefore that Lord's Supper, it is to be our desire, it is to be our longing to come to the Lord's table because of what God promises us there. Article 4 also points us to prayer. Now we might think that this is the easiest practice, but I think it might be the most difficult. Because we're not just talking about getting it done, getting it over with. As we often treat it, let's be honest, treating it as part of our checklist. I've got to do it. Sometimes when we're rushed through a meal, we say, well, let's just pray. Let's get it done with. Prayer takes work. It takes effort. And we are to be engaged with our whole body and mind and heart in prayer. Even our physical posture has something to do with our attitude and how we are engaged in prayer. Prayer is such a precious gift. We have audience with the God of the universe whom we may call our Father for Jesus' sake and who has promised to hear us and to answer us according to our need. And all of these practices, beloved, then result in the practice of good works. Maybe those great acts of philanthropy. But the confession in article 10 and article 12 points out the practice of good works. And Paul in verses 9 and 10, he says, Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Of course, the examples of doing good are endless. And of course, we know that he's talking about those good works as defined in the Heidelberg Catechism. Those that are done from true faith to the glory of God. Not that which is done according to God's law and to the glory of God. Not that which is done according to the opinions of men. The examples of doing good are endless, but we ought to think especially of persevering in love for and faith in Jesus Christ by doing good works of love. Exercising love for God through loving concern for others. And Paul makes clear that our first priority is to be the household of faith. Those inside the church. Those who are sitting around us. Our brothers and sisters in Christ. Exercising love for God through our actions toward them. Actions of kindness and help and care and encouragement, to mention a few. And because of the sin that we still struggle with, also actions, refraining from certain actions like bitterness and envy, giving the cold shoulder, cheating them or gossiping about them, to mention a few. Instead, living in love and communion with others who are also saved by grace. But also those outside are not to be excluded. Expressing, exercising love for God by declaring to them, as someone has said, the blessing of being inside God's household. The blessing of belonging to Jesus Christ's body and soul. The blessing that is ours of not bearing the burden of sin, but instead the blessing of confessing sin and the blessing of knowing the assurance of forgiveness. Exercising love for God by declaring to them the glory of the gospel even through a cup of cold water. You see, that is where we as believers have the opportunity as we do good works, do good to those outside the church, to demonstrate to them, give them a visible demonstration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, Christians ought to be among the most kind and caring and encouraging and helpful people that exist because of what we have in Christ Jesus, which is simply unimaginable and really unspeakable. Dear people of God, the practice of perseverance in godliness carried out by the influence of the Holy Spirit demonstrates thankfulness to God for His gracious work of salvation. It is a source of humility, knowing that we are hopeless without the work of Jesus Christ. But ours is eternal hope. Eternal hope is my possession because of the work of Jesus Christ. And it's also a means of assurance that not only is God at work in me, but He will complete it. That's the confidence of the saint, of you who believe, of me. Well, we come to the end of our consideration of the doctrines of grace. Unconditional election, limited atonement, total depravity, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints. The doctrines of grace, this is the truth of salvation. This is why and how God saves you and me. This is what the Bible teaches. And our confidence, beloved, is that it is all the work of our sovereign God beginning to end through Jesus Christ. And our comfort is that no one and nothing can undo, change, or interrupt that work. And therefore, as believers, by the grace of God, we are secure in Him both now and forever. That is the comfort of all who trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation unto eternal life. And beloved, what an incentive then to persevere in living for Jesus because we will live with Him forever and ever. Amen.