May 22, 2022 – Sunday Service Live Stream

Ascension Presbyterian Church Longwood

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Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, what a privilege it is to be summoned into your glorious presence.

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We don't have clean hands or clean hearts, but Christ does, and we are united to him because of your grace.

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So we boldly approach your throne, confident in the merits of our mediator, the

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Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that our worship would be pleasing in your sight, and that your church would be strengthened and built up, and wage the good warfare of your grace in the glorious gospel of Christ.

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We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Please kneel for the corporate confession of sin.

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I remind you that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

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Let's confess our sins together in unison. Have mercy on me,

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O God, according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy.

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Blot out my transgressions, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

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For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

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Reverge me with thyself, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

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Let me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

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Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

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Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

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Pass me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

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Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

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Please stand. Come and let us reason together, since like crimson they will be like wool.

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Murder their sins no more. If you be in Christ. And this week

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I'm going to allow DJ to start every hymn. 642, everyone here knows this hymn.

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We have no musical accompaniment again today. So we can sing earnestly to the Lord. Everyone here knows

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Be Thou My Vision. Let us begin. All the music that you see on there, we're going to be singing this to the tune of 04 ,000 tongues to sing.

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Which again should be a very familiar, approachable one. I'll get us started off.

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Don't confuse yourself by trying to follow along with the notes because they will not match. To the tune of 04 ,000 tongues to sing.

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And then I will get us started. I cried in trouble to the

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Lord, and he has answered me. Left me tumbled, set free.

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Shall me give... Jeremiah 14

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The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the droughts. Judah mourns, and her gates languish.

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They mourn for the land, and the cry of Jerusalem has gone up. Their nobles have sent their lads for water.

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They went to the cisterns and found no water. They returned with their vessels empty.

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They were ashamed and confounded and covered their heads. Because the ground is parched, for there was no rain in the land.

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The common were ashamed. They covered their heads. Yes, the deer also gave birth in the field.

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Because left, but left because there was no grass. And the wild donkeys stood in desolate heights.

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They sniffed at the wind like jackals. Their eyes failed because there was no grass.

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O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do it for your name's sake.

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For our backslidings are many. We have sinned against you. O the hope of Israel, his

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Savior in time of trouble, why should you be like a stranger in the land, and like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?

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Why should you be like a man astonished, like a mighty one who cannot save? Yet you,

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O Lord, are in our midst, and we are called by your name. Do not leave us.

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Thus says the Lord to this people. Thus they have loved to wander. They have not restrained their feet.

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Therefore the Lord does not accept them. He will remember their iniquity now, and punish their sins.

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Then the Lord said to me, Do not pray for this people, for their good.

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When they fast, I will not hear their cry. And when they offer burnt offering and grain offering,

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I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.

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Then I said, O Lord God, behold, the prophets say to them, You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.

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And the Lord said to me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them.

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They prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart.

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Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name, whom I did not send, and who say,

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Sword and famine shall not be in this land. By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed, and the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword.

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They will have no one to marry them, them nor their wives, their sons nor their daughters, for I will pour their wickedness on them.

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Therefore you shall say this word to them, Let my eyes flow with tears night and day, and let them not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people has been broken with a mighty stroke, with a very severe blow.

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If I go out to the field, then behold, those slain with the sword, and if I enter the city, then behold, those sick from famine.

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Yes, both prophet and priest go about in a land they do not know. Have you utterly rejected

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Judah? Has your soul loathed Zion? Why have you stricken us so that there is no healing for us?

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We looked for peace, but there was no good, and for the time of healing, and there was trouble.

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We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness and the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against you. Do not abhor us for your name's sake.

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Do not disgrace the throne of your glory. Remember, do not break your covenant with us.

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Are there any among the idols of the nations that can cause rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are you not he,

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O Lord our God? Therefore we will wait for you, since you have made all these. This is the word of the

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Lord. Thanks be to God. Let us now join together with one voice and sing the

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Apostles' Creed. Let's begin. ...the

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resurrection of...

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...for Jesus, ruler of...

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...make preparations for the prayers of the people.

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As was mentioned in Sunday school this morning, we worship God with the entirety of our beings.

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We do that in the postures that we assume in the presence of the Lord. Men, we are on the

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Ten Commandments today, so many of you may need to do extra double duty. Let's pray with one voice now.

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O God, from whom come all holy desires, all good counsel, and all just works.

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Give to us your servants that peace which the world cannot give, that our hearts may be set to obey your commandments, and also that we, being defended from the fear of our enemies, may live in peace and quietness through the merits of Jesus Christ our

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Savior, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, God forever.

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Amen. The Lord says, I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me.

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Keep this your law. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above, or on the earth beneath, or in the waters below.

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Lord, have mercy on us, and incline our hearts to keep this your law.

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Gracious Heavenly Father, you know that our hearts are prone to create idols, and that we, in our own steam and in our own power, will raise anything to a level of an idol, whether it be things undeserved, or things of heaven, even things which by themselves may be good.

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But Father, we pray that you would help us to always rightly align our worship upon you, and you only, that anything that we may think that might help us, if it trips us up in any way, may be casted aside.

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Father, give us the grace to do this, and we ask this in Christ's name. You shall not take the name of the

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Lord your God in vain. Lord, have mercy on us, and incline our hearts to keep this your law.

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Our Lord and our God, you who have put your name upon us, we pray, Lord, that you would cause us, allow us, incline us to make your name hallowed in our hearts, in our minds, on our tongues.

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We do pray, Lord, that we would be far away from being ashamed of the name of the

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Lord Jesus Christ. That as you have put his name upon us, Lord, that we would bear it faithfully, with reverence, and I pray,

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Lord, that we would speak with boldness the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the

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Holy Spirit. God, we ask for your help in Jesus' name. Amen. Remember the

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Sabbath day to keep it holy. Lord, have mercy on us, and incline our hearts to keep this your law.

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Father, you have taught us so far to have you alone as our

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God. You have taught us so far not to create idols. You have taught us to honor and respect your name and all that is bound up therein.

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Now you are teaching us from your commandments always to remember the day that you have set apart for us, that one day and Sabbath which we may come into your presence in a public worship, to lift up our voices in prayer and in song, to be attentive to your word and preaching and to community with you at the

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Lord's Supper. We know, Lord, that this is also a day of rest, reminding us of that day, that great day when we will stand with you in your kingdom.

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We pray this in Christ's name. Honor your Father and your

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Mother. Lord, have mercy on us, and incline our hearts to keep this your law.

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Father, we lift up this prayer to you, that we would honor our

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Father and our Mother by the Spirit giving us grace to do so.

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We know that there is no expiration to your law. This is a command for your children and adults alike.

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We pray that as we grow, we would find this area that we would respect and honor our

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Fathers and our Mothers. Know that not all of us here have fathers and mothers that are saved, and it may be difficult to navigate the waters of honoring them.

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We pray that you would grant us wisdom and guide us in the Scriptures, to search out the

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Scriptures in ways in which we may honor them, we may love them, and we may speak the truth and share the

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Gospel to them. So that we would fathers and mothers, as we are, some of us are currently, raise our children in a way that they would honor us, that we would show the example to them as they are watching and grant us this according to your

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Son. You shall not kill. Lord, have mercy on us and incline our hearts to keep this your law.

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If we are even angry with our brother, we'd have pray,

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Father, that while there may certainly be no risk of murdering somebody, we pray that you would keep us from murdering people in our hearts, that we would be people who love one another, that we would not hold grudges and have resentment.

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So be with us, Father. Help us to forgive as you have forgiven us. You shall not commit adultery.

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Have mercy on us and incline our hearts to keep this your law. Dear Heavenly Father, we live in a time that is saturated with sexual immorality of all kinds.

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Lord, we pray that you would be with us and you would give us the strength and the wisdom to flee from temptation, to flee from what is wicked and to pursue what is good and holy and right.

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We pray, Lord, that you would help us to be faithful to your command, that we would seek to obey your command, and that we would honor you in all of our ways, that by your strength we would abstain and refrain from engaging in any kind of sexual immorality.

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We pray this in Jesus' name. You shall not steal.

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Have mercy on us and incline our hearts to keep this your law. God, you've told us that work is from you, it is a blessing, and that we may not steal, but rather let us work, that we may be able to provide and help when someone is in need.

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We pray, God, that you would protect us from all forms of stealing, and that rather we would work, that we would work whatever our hand finds to do, that we would do it for your glory, that you would bless and establish the work of our hands, and that you would find us fruitful and productive for your name's sake, for the sake of the church, and for the sake of the world.

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In Jesus' name, amen. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

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Lord, have mercy on us and incline our hearts to keep this your law.

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Keep us from being, keep us honest, make us lovers of truth.

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Particularly, Father, when it regards other people, help us to be charitable to one another in the way we speak about one another.

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Do not let us slander one another or say things about each other that are untrue, or even help us to care for with the same respect that we ourselves would like to be treated.

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You shall not covet. Lord, incline our hearts to keep this your law.

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Father God, we live in a wicked and covetous nation, where many are casting their eyes upon other people's possessions with a great desire to have them, and often citing justice and equity in order to receive them.

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But Father God, let it not be so amongst us. Give us the grace to be thankful and to be content with the blessings that you have given us, knowing that all things flow from your hand.

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We pray, Father, that you would strengthen us in the name of Christ our Lord. You shall love the

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Lord your God with all your heart and soul, mind, and strength. Lord, have mercy on us, and incline our hearts to keep this your law.

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Father, we are all instructed in how we may love you with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

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We pray that you would grant us this grace today, that you would that your law would be written on our hearts, that we would be thinking of meditating on it day and night.

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We pray that as we leave church today, that we would not cease in thinking about your law and how we may love you with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

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We pray that you would equip us our hands, equip our feet, our minds, every aspect of our being and all the fibers of our bodies,

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Lord God, that we would do all things in love towards you, glorifying and being speaking that King Jesus would be glorified in every little thing, in every little area of our lives.

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We pray this in the Son's name. Amen. Please stand and take up the insert for Psalm 8.

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It is the Psalm of the month. We have two more corporate Sunday gatherings to sing this together, and let us sing it heartily unto the

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Lord. In one moment. ... Please remain standing and take up your

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Bibles and turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 11. 2

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Corinthians 11. Begin reading in verse 22. Message from last week.

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2 Corinthians 11 22 Are they Hebrews?

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So am I. Are they Israelites? So am

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I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ?

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I speak as a fool, I am more. In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.

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From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times

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I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked.

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A night and a day I have been in the deep. In journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen.

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In perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren.

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In weariness, in toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

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Besides the other things, what comes upon me daily, my deep concern for all the churches.

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Who is weak and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble and I do not burn with indignation?

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If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity.

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The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.

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In Damascus, the governor under Aretas the king was guarding the city of Damascenes with a garrison desiring to arrest me.

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But I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped from his hands. It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast.

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I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago, whether in the body

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I do not know or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows, such a one was caught up to the third heaven.

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And I know such a man, whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know, God knows, how he was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible words, which is not lawful for a man to utter.

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Of such a one I will boast, yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities.

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For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will speak the truth.

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But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me.

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This is God's holy and infallible word. May we be instructed and changed by it in the power of the

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Holy Spirit. Please pray with me. O Lord Jesus, we rejoice that the power and the glory and the honor come from and belong to you alone.

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Help us to be ever mindful of your preeminence over all things and the requirement for us being faith and obedience.

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Help us to be more like your servant Paul, who had much to boast about, but he only boasted in his weakness that you,

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King Jesus, would be magnified. And we ask all of this in the name of Christ.

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Amen. Please be seated. Paul continues this very lengthy defense of his apostolic authority and the purpose of it isn't, as we've already prayed, that Paul might get the honor, but that they would recognize his authority because he is

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Christ's ambassador. He is his emissary. He is the one who has been sent to preach to them, to establish this church, and to give to them sound doctrine that they might operate faithfully as the people of God.

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Today I have an outline for you. It's very simple. I have four points that will be pretty brief, each of them.

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First, the overarching theme of our section, Paul boasts in his infirmities.

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Paul boasts in his weakness. Second, we're going to hearken back to Acts chapter 9 because it contains the reference that he alludes to about the incident in Damascus.

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Point two, Paul's deliverance from unbelief and wicked men.

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Paul's deliverance from unbelief and wicked men. Number three will be

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Paul's heavenly vision. Number four,

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Paul desires men to see Christ. Paul desires men to see

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Christ. Paul boasts in his infirmities, one. Paul's deliverance from unbelief and wicked men, two.

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Paul's heavenly vision is three. Paul's desire for men to see

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Christ is four. Let's begin looking in verse 30 of chapter 11.

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If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity.

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What's all this talk of boasting? The false teachers have been boasting a lot about their pedigree, which we recognized last week that Paul had maybe a superior pedigree to them.

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They're boasting in their knowledge, their ability to communicate. They were great orators.

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They had great charisma. They were very influential in the people. And Paul matches their boasting, but it's very unconventional, and it's really very different than the way that we boast when we're in the flesh.

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When we boast in the flesh, we boast of our accomplishments. We talk about all the things that we have done.

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We beat our breasts and extol the virtues that we possess in superiority to others.

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But Paul does something very different. He says, if I'm going to boast, I'm going to boast in my weakness.

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Now you can imagine in the Greek world, this is so antithetical to all that they understood and thought.

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They were very much a prideful people. Humility was not esteemed like it was in the

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Hebrew culture in the same way. Being proud was a sign, and even in our culture, similar, it's a sign of strength.

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But Paul chose a different route, a biblical route, a Christ -like route. He boasts in his infirmities.

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I'd like you to turn back a couple chapters because this theme has really been throughout the 2nd

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Corinthians letter. I'd like you to turn to 2nd Corinthians chapter 4, a very memorable section. 2nd

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Corinthians chapter 4. Begin reading in verse 1, only a few verses here.

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He says, Since we have received this ministry, and as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart.

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But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully.

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I should point out this is the charge that he's leveling against the false teachers. There are teachers all who are very prominent in our culture today who are doing this very thing.

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They're walking in craftiness and they're handling the word of God deceitfully. This is an age -old systemic problem in the life of the church.

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The church is always facing this. But, he says, by manifestation of the truth.

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Paul is saying that the doctrine that I'm preaching is the truth. It's Christ's doctrine. I come with the right commissioning.

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I'm bringing the truth about Christ and his gospel to you. And he commends themselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

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And he says, Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the

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God of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

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Now, this is very important. Now, children, pay close attention. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the

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Lord. And ourselves, your bondservants for Jesus' sake.

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Now, I want to pause here. The more famous a preacher becomes, the more haughty he is in his spirit, the more he will talk about himself.

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It would be his experience with the Lord, and that would be the example that someone would follow. This man has had experience like no other.

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He preaches Christ. The false teachers are saying, look at us, look to us.

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We're the ones who have the truth. Look to us. Paul says, look to me because I'm pointing you to Christ.

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It's a big difference. Those are the kind of people we need to be. We're not apostles. We're not all pastors and elders and teachers and those things.

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But we need to reflect the glory of Christ. When people look upon us, they need to see

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Christ. We need to divert their gaze away from ourselves and point them to Christ.

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Continuing. Verse 6. It's God who commanded light to shine out of darkness.

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Reference, of course, the creation account and also the new creation account. God is the one who commands light to shine out of darkness.

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He's the one who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

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How is one saved? By an act of God. How was the world created?

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How is there the world that we existed? God commanded there to be light. He put all of these things into place.

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He created them by the word of His mouth. And the greatest revelation of all this, of course, is the person of Christ.

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The most direct reference I want us to consider in this section is verse 7, a little bit following. It says,

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But we have this treasure in earthen vessels. One of the things that has captivated my interest more recently is archaeology.

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And I've always enjoyed hearing reports of archaeological finds supporting something in scripture.

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And I always laugh because there's almost a surprise on the part of the people who report it. There was a king that had that name.

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The Jews were in this part of the world at that time. Those kinds of things.

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But if you were to go into the Middle East, into Canaan and this area that Jesus and Paul were traversing and living in, and you dug down in the ground, there would be jars everywhere, most of them broken.

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Imagine all the Tupperware and all the plates and all the bottles and all the lids and all the things you have in your own house.

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All of those things were put into very common earthen vessels.

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And Paul says, This treasure, the glorious gospel of Christ, is housed, it's stored, it's kept in earthen vessels.

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These things are brittle. They crack. They fall apart.

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This is God's doing in His plan. It's very important. The last half of verse 7 very much speaks to what we're learning in our section.

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Why does He put the treasure in earthen vessels? That the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

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If there be any spiritual fruit in our lives and ministry and the glorification of Christ, we have to recognize it's

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His doing. If you were to have a tremendous evangelistic impact on your community and many people came to Christ, it would be a temptation for you to be prideful about your ability to package and present the gospel.

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The reality would be that you would be God's mouthpiece and that He Himself, using you, an earthen vessel, subject to all that weakness and frailty, that He would use you to bring someone to know

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Christ so that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

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Paul lives this comprehensively. Now for us, there's a little bit of a warning.

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We have a lot of great convictions here in our church that we should hold to, but we are sometimes haughty and prideful about it.

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We are, in fact, sinners. We must always be on guard and say,

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I want my life to so reflect the glory of Christ that people don't see me.

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And in fact, when you're teaching or when I'm preaching, I want to be in a place where I have no self -awareness.

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I want to only be thinking about Christ and glorifying Him. Think about how dark it would be for us to take pride and honor from something that God did.

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How idolatrous would that be? For us, the people of God, to take credit or have a haughty spirit about the blessing of God in our own lives.

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The excellence of the power must be of God and not of us. The false teachers, they want to get a little bit of that glory.

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Resist the temptation in your own heart to get some of the honor and glory, which is only reserved for Christ.

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He's the only one that gets the glory and the honor. We're all second fiddle to Him.

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May the Lord be pleased to make that so in us. Paul boasts not in his accomplishments, which are legendary, but in his weakness.

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Go back to our text if you have turned there. Next week, Lord willing, we'll be in the second half of chapter 12.

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And to show how this theme is kind of put, threaded throughout this whole section, verse 9 of chapter 12 says,

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My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

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Paul's got a thorn in the flesh. He's got a tremendously hard thing to deal with. He's pleading with God to remove it from him, and the

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Lord says to him, this trial, this affliction is going to be the occasion that my grace will be the provision for you, and that your weakness will be the fertile ground for my strength to be displayed.

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That's something, isn't it? A lot of posturing in this world, a lot of puffing of the chest, a lot of gamesmanship by us.

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Paul is absolutely freed from all of that. There's no false machismo in him.

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He is the real thing, the substance of what a godly man should be, and he acknowledges and recognizes that in order for God's great power to be on display, he must be seen as weak.

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Now, it's interesting. The very thing that he's charged with, of being unimpressive in appearance, not having great speaking skills, all of these things, it seems his point is proven.

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God used the frailty of human Paul to do unspeakably glorious things.

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Well, we're going to go on to the second point, and I want us to consider this in light of what's cited here in chapter 12,

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Paul's deliverance, both from unbelief and from wicked men.

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He says, I'm sorry, at the very beginning, just prior to chapter 12, verse 32, in Damascus, the governor on Eratos, the king, was guarding the city of Damascus, with a garrison desiring to arrest me.

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But I was let down in a basket, through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands, like all of you if you can, to turn to Acts chapter 9.

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This account is largely lost because we think of chapter 9 as being, rightly so, the conversion of Paul on the road to Damascus.

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I want to read this section. It's going to make some sense in light of our context today.

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The Damascus Road incident first, then Paul's miraculous escape from trouble.

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Acts chapter 9, this is the second point. Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the

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Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

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Now I want you to picture this. Paul is planting all these churches. He plants the church at Corinth. It wasn't that long before this that Paul is on a campaign to go round up the

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Christians, who were Jews, and bring them back to Jerusalem to receive punishment. This is a dramatic transformation of a man by Christ.

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Verse 3. As he journeyed, he came near Damascus and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.

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I think his own experience informs the language of 2 Corinthians chapter 4.

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We just read it. A light shone around him from heaven. He falls to the ground and he hears a voice saying to him,

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Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said,

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Who are you, Lord? Then the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

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It is hard for you to kick against the goats. Now, I want you to think about this for a moment because we have a lot of people here that are interested in learning.

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Paul had a PhD in Judaism. He loved the law of God.

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He was trying to be a blameless man as it concerned the law of God. And he got it all wrong because he didn't acknowledge the

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Christ. What are you putting confidence in in your life?

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In your knowledge of Scripture? Satan knows Scripture better than you. What is it that you're putting your confidence in?

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The excellency, the power must be from God. Not us. You say, well,

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I don't understand theology. I know how all these things work. Well, that's not going to save you from your sin.

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You have to know Christ. Learn it, Paul. Learn it in the Scriptures.

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Advancing beyond all his contemporaries. He doesn't even know who's speaking to him.

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The Lord says, I'm Jesus, whom you're persecuting. So he, trembling and astonished, said,

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Lord, what do you want me to do? And the Lord said to him, Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.

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And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one.

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I kind of wonder what happened to Paul's fellow persecutors in that situation.

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What happened to them? Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one.

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But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

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The bright light of God's glory blinded Paul's eyes. But there was a certain man, a disciple,

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Damascus, named Ananias. And the Lord said to him in a vision,

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Ananias, and he said, Here I am, Lord. And the Lord said to him,

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Arise and go to the street called Straight. And I should point out that street still exists in Damascus, which is pretty amazing.

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And inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying.

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And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming and putting his hand on him so that he might receive sight.

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And Ananias is genuinely concerned. He says, Lord, I have heard from many about this man how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.

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And here he has the authority from the chief priest to bind all who call on your name.

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The reputation of Saul of Tarsus precedes him. But listen to the

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Lord's response. Go, for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, kings and the children of Israel.

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For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake. Brethren, the only way

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Paul could be saved and turned is by a miraculous working of God.

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The only way Mark Carley and Sheila Carley are saved is by a miraculous work of God.

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The only way Cheryl's and Nathaniel are converted, or Ryan and Shadel are converted, or Mitch or Gina, is because of a miraculous work of God.

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Everything in Paul's world supported and affirmed the course he was on.

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He was a Jew of the Jews. But the light of Christ shone round about him.

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He became alive, transformed. This is not a normative experience.

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None of our conversions are this way. But all of them have this same root.

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God has done something. Paul, in this moment, gets justification in a rapid advance in sanctification.

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Paul was given the regenerative gift of faith. And in this very moment, we're reading, was now consecrated to God's holiness and immediately employed in his service.

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The enemy of God became one of his best friends. That's the power of God.

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That's what he does. And we act as if he doesn't do that for the pagans that we run into on the streets.

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He can make his friends, make enemies, make friends out of his enemies. He can certainly do that. Continuing the narrative, and Ananias went his way and entered the house, and laying hands on him, he said,

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Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the

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Holy Spirit. Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once, and he arose and was baptized.

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So he had received food, he was strengthened. And Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.

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What's the first thing that he began to do? Verse 20. Immediately he preached the

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Christ in the synagogues that he was, that he is, the Son of God. Can you imagine the preaching of Paul, who is so learned in the

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Hebrew Scriptures, and he can see now clearly with these fresh eyes of faith, he can see in all these things, like the

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Damascus, like the road to Emmaus, that Christ is being preached in every page, every jot, every tittle of Scripture.

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He immediately begins to preach Christ, that he is the

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Son of God. Then all who heard were amazed and said, Is this not he who destroyed those who called upon this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose?

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So he might bring them bound to the chief priests? What an amazing transformation!

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He comes to Damascus to put people into captivity, and he himself is set free, and becomes the one who would set many free through the preaching of Christ.

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Paul increased all the more, and strengthened and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this

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Jesus is the Christ. Now, here's our reference in our text.

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Now after many days were past, the Jews plotted to kill him. But their plot became known to Saul, and they watched the gates day and night to kill him.

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Why? Because he's turned his back on Judaism. This is a terrible public relations loss for the

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Jews who don't believe in Christ. The disciples took him by night, and let him down through the wall in a large basket.

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He writes, he cites that in our section today. Now, I think this also speaks to something of the character of God.

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Paul's going to suffer many things. He's a chosen vessel of Christ to suffer these things.

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But he's not going to be executed on this day, because he's got a lot of work to do. He's going to be thrown in prison.

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He's going to be beaten. He's going to suffer many horrible things, but he's not going to be martyred until the work is done.

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You and I can have a lot of fears about our own lives and safety. Our lives are in the hands of God.

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We're not reckless with our lives, but we should live with the freedom and the confidence that our

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God has numbered our days. And not be afraid of the monkey epochs or whatever else is coming down the pike.

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Our God has numbered our days. The very hairs on our head and mine are falling out are numbered.

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Our days are numbered. Our hairs are numbered. He loves us. He cares for us. Oh, what a relief to walk in the peace and security of that.

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What confidence Paul must have had in those early days of God's provision and protection for him.

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Now, I'd like us to go back now to our section. There's another thing that feeds into Paul's confidence.

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And that's this heavenly vision. Chapter 12.

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There's no doubt it's not profitable, Paul says, for me to boast. But I will, in effect he says, answer this charge that these apostles, these false teachers, they have visions and revelations of the

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Lord. Obviously, I'm taking the stand. I think it's very well accepted that Paul is speaking autobiographically about himself in the third person in our section.

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And he's saying it in such a way to keep the honor from falling on him.

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Can you imagine a televangelist preaching on his vision of heaven?

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The whole thing would have been about all that he's seen, what a blessing he is, what a vessel and instrument of God he is.

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And he would describe all of the furniture of heaven. He would describe all of the glory.

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Imagine all the things he might say. And Paul, what does he do? He preaches Christ and him crucified.

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Paul saw the glories of heaven and heard things that cannot be uttered and repeated.

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And he preaches Christ and him crucified. Listen to what he says.

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Again, this is about himself. He's saying it in a way to diffuse, dissuade us from thinking too highly of him.

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He says I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago he doesn't even understand the circumstances entirely, whether he was in the body or out of the body.

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Was it purely spiritual? Was it a trance? Was it a vision? Or was he transported? He doesn't know.

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We cannot speculate. He doesn't even know himself. Imagine Isaiah 6, that glorious appearance that Isaiah has in the presence of God and it's probably akin to that and maybe even greater than what

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Isaiah experienced. That incredible vision of God. He says such a one was caught up to the third heaven.

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What does that mean? Well, as you know, possibly the Jews believed in this hierarchy of heaven, but that's not what

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Paul is talking about here. There are three basic descriptions of heaven in the scriptures.

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The first, I don't know if you recognize it, the second one

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I should say was from our Psalm of the Month. The first heaven is the sky or the

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Earth's atmosphere. Deuteronomy 11, 11, remember last night in the storms that we had last evening.

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Listen to what Moses writes, but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys which drinks water from the rain of heaven.

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Where does the rain come from, children? It comes from the clouds. So the first heaven is the sky, the

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Earth's atmosphere. This is the language of scripture. What is the second heaven?

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Psalm 8, we sang it today. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have ordained, the planets, the stars, the moons, that realm is the second heaven.

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Well, what's the third heaven? Again, to the

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Psalms. Psalm 33. The Lord looks from heaven.

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He sees all the sons of men from the place of his dwelling. He looks on all the inhabitants of the

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Earth. Now you can imagine all of the crazy theories that could happen from description of what

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Paul experienced. Paul saying, I went to the place where God dwells.

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Matthew chapter 6, verse 9.

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Our Father which art in heaven, that place where he is, hallowed be thy name.

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Paul had gone to God's dwelling place. Now, the reason this is significant is it supersedes the claims of supernatural power of the false apostles.

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And if this was an exercise in classic rhetoric of which I'm acquainted with, this would be incredibly powerful because you would almost say this is the zenith, this is the height, this is your best argument.

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You have had a supernatural dealing or encounter with God or the angels or some such thing.

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And Paul says, I have done that and I've one -upped it. And then he goes all the way around again and says, but I preach

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Christ. He's not going to tell us what he said. Now, there are two practical benefits

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I think that happen from Paul's heavenly vision. The first is I think

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Paul had an understanding of doctrine about the nature and character of God maybe that no one else had.

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In the sense that he was illumined by the realities of God's glory in a way that we are not yet acquainted with because we didn't see it.

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And secondly, I believe it supplied endurance for the trials and all the suffering that he would face.

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Someday he knew he would be there. What does he say in Philippians 1? For to me to live is

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Christ and to die is gain. If I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor.

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Yet what I choose, I cannot tell for I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ which is far better.

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One of the things that happens at funerals that's actually theologically correct. There's so much bad things that happen at funerals.

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But for the Christian, they will say something like, oh, he's gone to a better place. You have no idea how true that is.

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To dwell in the presence of God perfectly holy and accepted and beloved by him, oh, we have no, we cannot fathom the glories of heaven and how wonderful it will be.

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There should be in us some longing for that, some longing to be in the presence of God and to dwell in heaven.

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Paul's daily burden, we learned last week, is the health, the condition of the churches. He knows that he has to stay to do this work, but he's torn.

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His heart has seen the glory of Christ in heaven. He pods on in faith to bring glory to God.

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Finally, in this section, I want us to consider the fourth point. Paul has gone to the third heaven and caught up into paradise.

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He heard inexpressible words, which is not lawful for a man to utter. Paul will boast of that man, himself, his experience, yet he's not going to let the boasting bring honor to him.

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He turns it back again to this recurring theme. My boast is in my infirmities.

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For I, though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will speak the truth.

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But I refrain, lest anyone should think above me, me above, what he sees me to be or hears from me.

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I think I would have bragged about it. What about you?

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Wouldn't have you felt some sense of accomplishment about how special you would be to have

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God reveal himself to you in this way? Wouldn't that have been a hard temptation? And it seems that Paul has this burning desire for men to see

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Christ. Not himself. Not Paul. I would ask you, is that your desire?

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When you think about your own testimony in the world, isn't there a part of you that wants just a little bit of honor to be conveyed to you?

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We have to acknowledge it. But it seems this greatness, as we mentioned a couple times, really comes through humility and selflessness.

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Paul desired men to see Christ and not himself. You can imagine the false apostles, he's refuting them.

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They say, look at us! Look to us! And Paul says, look at Christ.

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Look to Christ. Follow me as I follow

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Christ. Paul's going to continue to boast in his infirmities.

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We'll consider this a little bit more next week, Lord willing. I have a couple of words of application for you to consider.

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First, even in our zealous post -millennialism, if the realization of some of the things we long and hope for is thousands of years away, potentially, it would seem that a lot of our lives will be spent, our existence,

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I should say, will be spent in heaven. Eternity, which Jameson says is very hard to comprehend.

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You cannot see the infinite. It's hard for him. We're called to meditate on heavenly things, where Christ is.

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We need to think about the glories of heaven. I mentioned recently as I get older, I really love the idea of not sinning against my

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God anymore. That would be a really wonderful part of heaven, to not sin against Him.

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Second, I want you in every sphere and every act and every task to seek the honor and glorification of Christ.

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Resist the prideful inclination to seek your own honor and glory. Man, that is so tough.

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I was raised to do that. I was raised to seek honor and glory in some measure.

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Seek the honor and glorification of Christ. Third, when you're complaining about your weakness and your infirmities, remember that these give occasion for the powerful working of God to be displayed.

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Your weakness, your infirmities, the fertile ground of God's powerful working.

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That's something. It's really something. Number four,

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Paul could have written the Randy Alcorn version book of heaven. It's interesting, isn't it?

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He's converted, the scales fall from his eyes, and he preaches Christ. Some years later, he's called up into the third heaven and he sees and hears things that are unspeakable that other people don't get to see.

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When he comes back from that, he preaches Christ. It seems that you and I should preach

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Christ, his gospel. It's the power of God. The excellency of the power of God unto salvation.

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And finally, this last point, very simple, very subtle. He doesn't want anyone to think of him above what he sees or hears from him.

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Like Paul, our desire should be for all men to see Christ, to see his salvation, to see his glory, and to see

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Christ in us. Is that your desire? That's the stuff of greatness for Christians, really.

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They would see Christ in us, and that we would preach Christ to them, that they might know him.

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If the Lord saves people like Paul, he can save our unbelieving family members and friends and our neighbors.

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Let's preach Christ to them, and let's let them see the glories of what Christ has done in our own lives.

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Amen? Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, I thank you for your servant,

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Paul, and I love the drumbeat of his life that he preaches your glorious name, your salvation, the great hope that there is in you.

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Lord, thank you for that. O Lord, we want to look the part, we want to be people who have the honor and approval and praise of men.

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Lord, we crave it. And Lord, I pray that instead we would seek your approval, that we would earn rewards in heaven that far outlast the compliments and praise of men, and that we would truly be great servants in your kingdom by glorifying and magnifying

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Christ. O Holy Spirit, we ask that you would enable us to put on faith and obedience, that you would drive the self -interest out of us, that we might be vessels of honor fit for this service.

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We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's continue our worship with the presentation of offering.

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Get to the front if you would please stand.

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Please stand. Let's pray together. Lord, I thank you for the work that you have given us to do in the provision for our families.

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Lord, I pray that these offerings would be used to advance your kingdom and as we learned recently in our

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Sunday school lessons that we would see more of our dependence and utter trust in need of you through our giving sacrificially.

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And we ask that your name would be blessed and hallowed as a result. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let us sing the glory of Pottery giving glory to our

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God. Let us begin. Glory be to you.

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Lift up your hearts. Let us give thanks to the

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Lord. It is right in a good and joyful thing that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to you

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O Holy Lord, Father Almighty Everlasting God because you sent your beloved son to redeem us from sin and death and to make us heirs in him of everlasting life that when he shall come again in power and great triumph to judge the world we may without shame or fear rejoice to behold his appearing.

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Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we praise and magnify your glorious name evermore praising you and singing.

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Let us begin. Almighty God you are our heavenly

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Father who out of your tender mercy gave your only son

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Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption who made there a full perfect and sufficient sacrifice satisfaction for the sins of the world and he did there institute in his

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Holy Gospel command us to continue a perpetual memory of that his precious death until he comes again hear us so now merciful

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Father we beseech you and grant that we receiving these your creatures of bread and wine according to your son our

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Savior Jesus Christ Holy Institution in remembrance of his death and passion may be partakers of his most blessed body and blood it's in Jesus name that we pray

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Amen. Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread blessed broke it gave it to his disciples saying take eat this is my body likewise he took the cup after supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood drink from it all of you for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the

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Lord's death until he comes therefore we proclaim the faith

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Christ is risen Christ will come again let's approach the table now by praying together in unison we do not presume to come to this your table

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O merciful Lord trusting in our own righteousness but in your manifold and great mercies we are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table but you are the same

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Lord who always shows mercy grant us therefore gracious Lord so to eat the flesh of your dear son

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Jesus Christ and to drink of his blood that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body and our souls washed through his most precious blood and that we may evermore dwell in him and he in us amen

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Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us therefore let us keep the gifts of God for you the people of God thanks be to the

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Lord who has washed us in the holy from his pierced side between him whose love divine gives his sacred blood for life gives his body for the peace

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Christ the victim Christ the priest where the paschal blood is poured death's dark angel sheathes his sword

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Israel's most triumphant goad through the wave that drowns the woe praise we

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Christ whose blood was shed paschal victim paschal bread with sincerity and love he remembered to believers holy father praise to thee with the spirit that saved my guilty soul spirit holy dear lord can give me peace with God this weight of sin

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God to me

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O God my spirit free grace of Lord O God to me can pardons be pray though divine is divine can bear me safely through bless the

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Christ of God divine with unfaltering faith may save your mind his cross dispels the doubt

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I bear praise to each

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God praise the

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God's truth and resting in the joy of what thou beauty fills my peace resting in the joy of what thou art finding out the greatness of thy broader than the sea

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O me in thee beloved my certainty of promise and have made it

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Jesus I am resting resting in the joy of what thou art finding out the greatness of me trusting thee

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Lord Jesus I behold thee as thou art and thy love so pure so changeless satisfies my heart its deepest longing supplies its every need compasseth me round with blessing thine is love indeed

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Jesus I am resting resting in the joy of what thou art upon me resting me thy smile

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Lord Jesus first our shadows flee brightness of my

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Father's glory sunshine of my

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Father's grace keep me ever trusting resting fill me with thy grace

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Jesus I am resting resting in the joy of what thou art

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I am finding out the greatness of God let's make the commitment together praying earnestly sincerely attentively in unison almighty and ever living

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God we thank you for feeding us with the spiritual food of the most precious body and blood of your

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Son our Savior Jesus Christ and for assuring us these holy mysteries that we are living members of the body of your

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Son and heirs of your eternal kingdom and oh Lord grant us this other benefit that you will never allow us to forget these things but having them imprinted on our hearts may we grow and increase daily in the faith and work and every good deed and now

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Father send us out to do the work you have given us to do to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our

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Lord to him to you and to the Holy Spirit be honor and glory now and forever amen please stand let us sing the doxology let us begin praise glory receive the blessing now now may the