Levi Hopkins discusses paragraph 5 of Chapter 11 of the 1689 London Baptist Confession, which states that although those who are justified can never fall from that state, they may fall under God's fatherly displeasure and lose the light of his countenance until they humble themselves, beg pardon, and renew their faith and repentance. Hopkins emphasizes the continual need for repentance and forgiveness of sins, the damaging effects of sin on our relationship with God in time, and the various ways in which God may exercise his fatherly displeasure and discipline. He cautions against treating hardships and suffering as signs of God's displeasure, and reminds believers that these things should call for regular soul-searching. Ultimately, our relationship with God is restored through humility, repentance, and faith.

From the London Baptist Confession, Chapter 11, Paragraph 5. God continues to forgive the sins of those that are justified. And although they can never fall from the state of justification, yet they may by their sins fall under God's fatherly displeasure and in that condition they usually do not have the light of his countenance restored to them until they humble themselves beg pardon and renew their faith and repentance." So I'm just gonna go through the paragraph today and try to take it phrase by phrase and just break it down a little bit for our understanding. The confession begins, God continues to forgive the sins of those that are justified. So justification should not be misunderstood as leaving us without a continual need for repentance and forgiveness of our sins.

Jesus, from our proof text this morning that we just read, when teaching his disciples how to pray, taught them to pray for forgiveness. So praying for forgiveness of your sins is not just something you did one time at conversion. It is something that should be seen as a continual theme in the life of every believer. Yes, we've all been forgiven of our sins. We've all been declared just in the sight of God, and we have a perfect fellowship reserved for us with the Father in eternity, but there is a sense in which God continues to forgive us for specific sins inside in time.

The Confession goes on to say, although they can never fall from the state of justification, yet they may by their sins fall under God's fatherly displeasure. Now we don't believe, as the Arminians would believe, that you can in any way lose your salvation. One of our proof texts we read this morning was from John 10 28. The words of Jesus, I give them eternal life. They will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Our sins are not taking away from our justification or in any way affecting our relationship with the Father in eternity, but they are damaging to our relationship with the Father in time. When we are living in sin, the light of His countenance may be removed from us, and we may find ourselves under God's fatherly displeasure or chastisement. So what does this fatherly displeasure look like? Is it hardships? Is it sickness?

Is it suffering or poverty? Is it a removal of a closeness with Him? A coldness of heart? I believe that God can use any of these things to draw us and others closer to Him, but I also believe that we should be very careful not to treat hardships and suffering, sickness and these things as though they are exclusively used for discipline or that they show somehow that you are not in a closeness with the Father. I do think they should call for times of regular soul-searching, but that is something that should be seen in the life of a believer constantly, whether good or bad comes your way.

To believe that these things would be a direct result of our lifestyle would put us in a camp of believing some sort of a prosperity gospel. That if we're doing good, God will bless us. If we're walking in sin, God will cause us to be miserable in our life and that's not the gospel at all. If you believe that these things are always a sign of God's displeasure, you'd have to join in with the friends of Job and conclude that Job must have been living in sin. When in reality, Job was in the midst of God's fatherly pleasure and in the light of his countenance, in the midst of his greatest sufferings.

And his sufferings were just for our edification. He was a man that was considered of God to be upright. So God can show his fatherly displeasure and exercise his fatherly discipline in many ways, but when he expresses his fatherly displeasure, this in no way affects our justification. It only affects our relationship to Him in time. When we find ourselves in sin and distance from God as a result, in the words of the confession, we must humble ourselves, beg for pardon, and renew our faith and repentance, all so that we can renew our relationship and that we may be restored to that closeness in our walk with our Father in time.