The sermon by Eric Bechler, based on the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689, Chapter 5, Paragraph 5, explores the theme of divine providence and how God often allows His elect to experience temptations and the corruptions of their hearts. This is not a permanent state but occurs frequently to serve several purposes: to chastise them for former sins, reveal the deceitfulness of their hearts, humble them, increase their dependence on God, and make them more watchful against future sin. Scriptural references such as Psalm 94:12, Proverbs 3:5-6, and Romans 8:28 are used to illustrate these points. Ultimately, these experiences are designed for God's glory and the elect's good, leading to their restoration and greater appreciation for God's grace and mercy.

Our reading this morning from the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689 continues in chapter 5 of Divine Providence paragraph 5 The most wise righteous and gracious God those oft times leave for a season his own children to manifold temptations in the corruptions of their own hearts, to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they may be humbled, and to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support upon himself, and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin and for other just and holy ends, so that whatsoever befalls any of his elect is by his appointment for His glory and for their good. Last week, Nate did a good job addressing the difficulty between God's divine providence and the sinful acts, stressing that the sinfulness comes from the creatures, not from a holy and righteous God. I got to listen to the audio from Sermon Audio, and you're famous now, Nate, you're online. It's also a reminder to anyone that wants to listen to any of the sermons or any of the confession teachings they are on Sermon Audio, along with thousands and thousands of other sermons.

So it's a wonderful resource for us to take advantage of. If you don't, I would recommend that you look into that. Now back to God's divine providence. This week, our focus is on the idea that God allows his children to fall to their temptations and corruptions of their hearts so that they might be humbled and become more watchful of sin and be drawn closer to himself. Our paragraph this morning begins with the phrase, the most wise, righteous, and gracious God, doth oftentimes leave for a season his own children to manifold temptations and the corruptions of their own hearts.

God is doing something here. God's decrees are immutable. They will be accomplished by God's divine providence. Let's take a look quickly here at the who, what, when, where, and why questions for this passage. When does he do this?

In the passage it says oftentimes. It's not a word that we're regularly using in our own vocabulary today, but it means frequently. So it means God is doing this on a frequent basis. Does he do this permanently? No.

We read in the confession that it's only for a season. God does oftentimes leave for a season. And who is God letting this happen to? The elect, his own children. So what is happening here?

God is letting his elect to fall in the temptations and corruptions of their heart. God is letting his people reap the consequences of their sin. So we see the most wise, righteous, and gracious God, though oftentimes leaves for a season his own children to manifold temptations and the corruption of their own hearts. Why? Why does God do this?

Our confession today lists out six different reasons. To chastise them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they may be humbled, and to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support upon himself, and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for other just and holy ends. We'll take a look at each one of those now. To chastise him, we read from Psalm 94 verse 12, blessed is the man whom you chasten, O Lord, and whom you teach out of your law. When we get off track, when we get distracted, when we rebel, God will chastise us.

He'll discipline us to get our attention and to draw us back to Him. We read from Proverbs 312, for the Lord disciplines the one he loves, as does a father, the son in whom he delights. We praise God that he cares enough to notice, he cares enough to correct us, he cares enough to restore us, to make them aware of the strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts. We see in Jeremiah 17, 9, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?

God will let us fall in our temptations and corruptions to bring us to a place where we can acknowledge how sinful and how corrupt we really are. I'm reminded of one of the approaches used by Ray Comfort. On the street, he confronts people with questions on how well they have followed the Ten Commandments. Would they be found guilty in a court of law? He goes through the process to bring them to a point where they see their guilt.

They recognize that they are guilty and have a need for a Savior. We see here, once they see the need, that they need a savior, they're much more willing to hear more about Jesus. The next, to humble us, to humble them. We are a people prone to pride. We're very good at this.

There was a very popular song back in the late 60s, a lot of you aren't familiar with this, but the older ones will be, that epitomize our culture. It was sung by Frank Sinatra and it was called My Way. Here's some of the words. For what is a man, What has he got? If not himself, then he has not, to say the things he truly feels and not the words of one who kneels.

The record shows, I took the blows and did it my way. And all throughout the song, It's my way. I did it my way. Too often, we conduct our own lives in a way that seemed right in our own eyes. But scripture warns us otherwise.

From Proverbs 14-12, there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. God will allow us to go that way for a time, and He'll use it as a means to humble us and to restore us. Next, to increase their or our dependence on Him, We read from Proverbs 3, 5, and 6, trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not into thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. Throughout our life, we experience many things, things that bless us, things that challenge us, things that shock us to the core.

From these circumstances, hopefully we grow as Christians and we learn to trust more in God and trust more in his faithfulness. Hopefully we find ourselves turning to Him, praising Him for His great mercies and kindness and praising Him for His great wisdom and power, how He works all things to His glory and for our good. To make them more watchful against future sin, This we read directly from scripture in 1st Peter 5, 8. Be sober minded, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

The last one he mentions here is other just and holy means ends. I don't know exactly what that phrase means, but I think it's meant to include any other reason God sees fit. We remember about the sovereignty of God from Psalm 115.3, but our God is in the heavens. He does whatsoever he pleases. And our paragraph ends with the following statement, so that whatsoever befalls any of his elect is by his appointment for his glory and for their good.

Again, this comes straight from Scripture. We can read from Paul's letter to the Romans in 8 verse 28, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose. So All things work together for who? For his elect, for those who he's chosen, for those who love him. In summary, God in dealing with the elect allows his children to experience the consequences, the effect of their sins.

Not because He's abandoned them to their sin, but to draw them to Him, to refine them, to restore them to Himself. Once we see how wicked we are, how rebellious and prideful we are, we can then be more grateful for God's grace, more grateful for God's mercy, for his goodness towards us, and ultimately for his glory and for our good. Amen.