Our reading today from the Second London Baptist Confession comes from chapter 3 of God's decree, paragraph 3. Are predestinated or foreordained to eternal life through Jesus Christ, to the praise of His gracious, glorious grace, others being left to act in their sin to their just condemnation, to the praise of his glorious justice. Okay, we continue today in our study of God's decree. Our focus will be primarily on predestination, with a brief comment on the inclusion of angels in our discussion. Although there are disagreements on the doctrine of election and predestination, we normally have these discussions about people, not angels.

So why did the authors of the confession deem it necessary to include angels in this discussion? Well, scripture indicates that there are some angels who rebelled and some who didn't. We find at the end of the creation, God saw everything that he had made and indeed it was very good. Genesis 1.31. Thus at that point all of the angels were considered good.

We know that the devil and his angels rebelled against God and were cast down from heaven. We see that in Ezekiel 28, 16. Therefore, we know that some of the angels rebelled, call them fallen angels, and some remain faithful to God. These in scripture are listed as holy angels in Mark 838, and elect angels in 1st Timothy 521. The Greek term for elect used by Paul here, eclecton, is the same word he used in Romans 8 33 and Titus 1 1 in describing people who are elected and chosen by God and this leads us to understand that some angels were chosen or elected by God also just as he does with mankind.

It then becomes reasonable in our discussions of predestination or election that we would group both men and angels together. Predestination. I think this topic makes a lot of Christians, a lot of people uncomfortable. There are a lot of objections and disagreements, and there are a lot of positions or viewpoints. I will look at the position of our confession and also touch on some objections and alternative viewpoints and hopefully the result will be more clarity and understanding and not confusion.

So let's look again at what our paragraph is saying. First, God decrees that His glory, His glory shall be manifested or revealed. To this end, God decreed that some men and angels are predestinated to eternal life through Jesus Christ. He did this to the praise of His glorious grace. God also decreed that some men and angels are predestinated to eternal life through Jesus Christ.

He did this to the praise of His glorious grace. God also decreed that some men and angels are left to act in their sin to their just condemnation. He did this to the praise of his glorious justice. There are two things going on here. In the first, it's easy for us to see how God's glory is revealed in the saving of a fallen sinful man who is utterly incapable of saving himself.

But is everyone saved or predestinated to eternal life? We call this universalism. We don't believe that. Paul writes, he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love, He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of His will to the praise of His glorious grace.

Ephesians 1, 4-6. There is a choosing that takes place and this is done by God the Father. More directly we find Jesus himself drawing a distinction between the elect and the rest in Matthew 25 46 and these the wicked will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. But is it unfair that God would give saving grace to one person and not to another? Both are equally sinful and guilty before God.

And then furthermore, how can God be glorified in the eternal punishment of the wicked? These are very common questions that people raise when we talk about predestination. And how do we respond? First, no, it's not unfair. Paul addresses this objection specifically in Romans 9, 14 through 16.

Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not. For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on who I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion. So then it is not of Him who wills nor of Him who runs but of God who shows mercy. God is not obligated to pour out His grace to all.

He is sovereign and He can show mercy and grace upon anyone he chooses. What about his glory? Can his glory be manifested by people tormenting in hell forever? We know that God is perfectly just. His justice is a fundamental aspect of his character, of His holiness, of His goodness.

In fact, the ultimate expression of God's justice is seen in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Dr. Sproul says it well, in the grand narrative of salvation, God's justice and mercy meet at the cross, providing the perfect atonement for our sins. So yes, God is not only glorified through His mercy and grace, but also through His perfect justice. Okay, let's get back to the second group mention, those left to their own devices.

Our confession states that God decreed that some men and angels are left to act in their sin to their just condemnation, to the praise of His glorious justice. Jude warns the churches to Beware of the ungodly men who have crept in among them, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation. Ungodly men who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Jude 4. Jude tells us that the ungodly were marked out long ago for condemnation.

Peter also indicates this for the disobedient, for those who don't believe in Christ. In 1 Peter 2, 8, they stumble being disobedient to the word to which they also were appointed. But if the ungodly were marked out long ago or were appointed from the verses we just looked at, does this mean that God actively is intervening to cause their disobedience, to cause their rebellion. Does this mean that God is even considered as the author of sin? This brings us to the point of describing some of the different viewpoints related to predestination.

There is the viewpoint of single predestination in which there is a decree of election in Jesus Christ, wholly and entirely from God's sovereign freedom, but there is not found explicit in Scripture a decree of rejection or reprobation that seems more a separation and judgment, as comes from Emil Bruner. Thus predestination is only one side, that God's decree is only positive with no negative side to it. Some view predestination as a coin only seeing one side in this case as if it were lying on a table. But we can't ignore those who weren't saved. The view that there is only one side to predestination rejects the logical implication that if God has chosen those who will be saved, It must be equally true that he has chosen the rest not to be saved.

This leads us to another viewpoint, that of double predestination. This is the Reformed view. It is called double predestination because there are two sides, like you would find on a coin. It includes both election, a positive side, and reprobation, a negative side. But we have to be careful in how we think of double predestination and we have to be even more specific.

Dr. Sproul explains, one kind of double predestination argues that the decrees of election and reprobation are symmetrical. This means that both election and reprobation are equally ordained and enforced by divine intervention. With respect to the elect, God intervenes in their lives to create faith in their souls and bring them to a state of salvation. I think we can all agree there.

But in like manner in this view, God intervenes in the lives of the reprobate to create a hardness of heart or a fresh evil in their heart, which becomes the grounds of their justifiable damnation and reprobation. We don't agree with this kind of double predestination since it leads to charges of unfairness and concludes that God is the author of sin. With the example of Pharaoh, one might argue that it wasn't him. It was God that hardened his heart. It's God's fault.

Well, God forbid Scripture does say God hardened Pharaoh's heart. Luther tries to clarify the idea of hardening in two ways. First, God gives people over to their already evil inclination. He gives them over to their own sinful desires. And second, God withholds his restraining grace.

Understanding this, we can see that it is not unfair for God to remove his restraining hand, and it's not unfair to allow us to pursue our own sinful desires. It's not God forcing us to act wickedly. It's our own sinful nature. What we do hold and confess is the other view of double predestination which argues that the decrees of election and reprobation are asymmetrical, not symmetrical. That's probably too much in the weeds, but that's the words.

We'll turn again to Dr. Sproul for an explanation. When God made his eternal decrees of salvation and reprobation In light of the fall, his decision to elect some people was based on his knowledge that people need salvation. God knew that every person would be dead in sin and trespasses, fallen, corrupt, hostile to him, having no inclination toward divine things. Every one of them would be a slave to sin.

And out of this group of rebels, God in His mercy elected to save some and to visit them with His eternal grace of redemption. He positively intervened in their lives to quicken them from spiritual death and to work faith in their hearts, thereby meeting the condition for salvation. The others, he passes over, leaving them in their sin. He does not force them into unbelief, but he knows that unless he intervenes they will indeed persist in unbelief and end up in damnation. In this case, God actively intervenes to save his elect, but he passes by or leaves the others to act in their sin to their just condemnation.

Christ says, no one can come to me unless it is granted to him of the Father. John 665. It is only by the glorious grace of God that we have life through Jesus Christ. In Genesis 1825, we read, Will not the judge of all the earth do what is right? God who is perfectly just and merciful has decreed that those not elect will be left to act in their sin to their just condemnation.

In both, God's glory is made manifest. So what shall we take with us? First, humility. Humility before God and humility before others. As Christians, We owe our salvation to God and to God alone.

We did nothing. We deserved nothing, only hell. Do you have an attitude that you are better than others? Is your behavior, and not only here in church, but elsewhere, is your behavior one that shows reverence and awe toward a holy and merciful and just God. Do others match your own perception of yourself?

Second, sobriety and compassion. What is your attitude towards others? Towards the lost? Are you quick to assign a label? Are you cold or arrogant?

Remember in Luke 19 41 Jesus wept, he wept over Jerusalem knowing many would not be saved. We should grieve and pray and we should show compassion for the lost, remembering, but for the grace of God go I. We should be gentle, kind, and patient as we interact with others, especially believers. We are all part of the body of Christ, even when we're holding to different doctrinal positions. I'll close with some words from Paul in Galatians 6, 9, and 10.

Let us not grow weary of doing good. As we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are the household of the faith. Amen.