Ascension Presbyterian Lord's Day Worship

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Grace and peace to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome to the corporate worship of our
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God. Please stand. Oh, brethren, you have come to Mount Zion and the city of the living
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God, the heavenly Jerusalem and to innumerable company of angels to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven and to God, the judge of all and to the spirits of just men made perfect and to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
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Oh, brethren, come now. Let us worship him. Please pray with me. Father, son and Holy Spirit, it is no small thing that you would call us into your presence.
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And even more so, Lord, that you would accept us here. We rejoice that in Christ you accept us and our worship, and we pray in the power of your
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Holy Spirit that this worship would be pleasing in your sight. That the scripture reading, the singing, the preaching, the observance of the
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Lord's Supper, all of this would tend toward your glory and the edification of your people.
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We have confidence in this because we have a savior and a mediator who is
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Christ the Lord and is in his name that we pray. Amen.
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Please kneel now for the corporate confession of sin. Let us now confess our sins with one voice.
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Almighty God, we acknowledge and confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed.
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We have not loved you with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We have not loved our neighbor as ourselves.
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Deepen within us our sorrow for the wrong we have done, and for the good you have left us.
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Lord, you are full of compassion and gracious. Slow to anger and plenteous in mercy.
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There is always forgiveness with you. Restore to us the joy of your salvation.
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Bind up that which is broken. Give light to our minds, strength to our wills, and rest to our souls.
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Speak to each of us and let your word abide with us, until it has wrought in us your holy will.
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Amen. Please stand. Come now, let us reason together, says the
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Lord. Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow.
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Though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool. The Lord says, for I will have mercy on their iniquities, and I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.
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O people of God, take heart today. If you be in Christ, your sins are forgiven.
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Amen. Take up the hymnal. It is number 295.
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We serve a great king, and we need to sing with great zeal and joy.
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Let us now crown him with many crowns. Number 295. Please take up the insert, and as D .J.
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has already instructed us, this is to the tune of St. Patrick's Breastplate, Psalm 74, the
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Psalm of the Week. Let us begin. Please remain standing for the reading of the word from Genesis in chapter 6.
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Genesis chapter 6. And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them.
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But the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose.
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And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he is also his flesh, yet his day shall be in hundred and twenty years.
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There were giants in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came into, came in unto the daughters of men, and they bared children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
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And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
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And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
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And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them.
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But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of Noah.
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Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. Noah begat three sons,
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Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
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And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
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And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them, and, behold,
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I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood.
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Rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without the pitch.
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And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of. The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
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A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above. In the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof.
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With lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. And, behold, I, even
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I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh wherein is the breadth of life from under heaven, and everything that is in the earth shall die.
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But with thee will I establish my covenant, and thou shalt come into the ark, thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.
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And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort, shalt thou bring into the ark to keep them alive with thee.
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They shall be male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee to keep them alive.
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And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee, and it shall be for food for thee and for them.
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Thus did Noah, according to all that God commanded him, so did he. This is the word of the
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Lord. Thanks be to God. Let us now confess our faith with the joyful singing of the
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Apostles' Creed. Let us begin. ...of
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the third day he rose again from the dead into man, and was seated at the right hand of God.
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...to John's the Holy Spirit.
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I believe the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body.
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Please take up the hymnal again and find hymn number 100.
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It's important to remember in this age of such a lack of reverence and everything is so casual that our
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God is a thrice holy God and we should approach him as such. Let us sing this earnestly unto the
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Lord. Let's begin. Please make preparations now for the prayers of the people.
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Let us now pray together in unison. O God's hires, all good counsel and all just works, give to us your servants that peace which the world cannot give, that our hearts 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 and the Holy Spirit, God forever.
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For the church of Jesus Christ, that it may be filled with truth and love and be found without fault at the day of your coming, we pray to you,
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O Lord. I pray that you would guide them and give them wisdom.
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Father, we ask that you would allow us to acknowledge you as our Lord, our King, and Father God, our first love.
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I pray that we would be found without fault only through the covering of the blood of your Son, Jesus Christ.
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Pray for all ministers, missionaries, and the mission of the church, that in faithful witness the gospel may be preached, we pray to you,
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O Lord. Lord, hear our prayer. For those in positions of public trust, that they may serve justice and promote the dignity and freedom of every person, we pray to you,
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O Lord. Lord, hear our prayers. Pray for the poor, the persecuted, the sick, and all who suffer, for refugees, prisoners, and all who are in danger, that they may be relieved and protected, in this we pray to you,
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O Lord. Lord, pray for this congregation, for those who are present, and for those who are absent, that we may be delivered from hardness of heart and show forth your glory in all that we do, we pray to you,
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O Lord. Lord, hear our prayer. To each other, families, and across families in our church, it is our great hope,
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Lord, that we would be so united and so one, and that we would love one another.
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Love covers a multitude of sins, and whoever repeats a transgression separates from us.
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We pray, Lord, that we would cover sin with love, and that we would be so united so as to move forward to expand your kingdom here.
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We ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Thank you, brethren. Please stand.
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Hopefully you have remembered the instruction that we received a few moments ago. It's a joyful time to embark on a new psalm.
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I think this is going to be very good for us. Psalm 148. Let's do it. Please remain standing and turn in your
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Bibles to the first epistle of John. I'm going to read the entirety of chapter one.
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This is God's holy and infallible word. First John one.
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That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word of life.
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For the life was manifested, and we have seen it and bear witness and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the
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Father and was manifested unto us. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that you also may have fellowship with us.
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And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
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And these things we write unto you that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.
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If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.
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But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin.
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If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
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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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If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.
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May the Lord be pleased with our consideration of his most excellent word. Please pray with me.
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Lord, we thank you for the salvation that you bring to us, your people.
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We thank you for the victory we have in you. Oh, Lord, we also give thanks today that that you give help to us, not just in a categorical or conceptual way, but you help us with our sin, even our sin today.
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Oh, Lord, I pray that we would be a confessing people that we might be cleansed.
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Let me ask all this in Jesus name. Please be seated. What happens when you begin to meditate on a certain passage of scripture?
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Over time, a theme or an idea will emerge that is more prominent than you first expected.
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After reading the text dozens of times, it occurred to me that sin is very prominent in our last section of chapter one.
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And so the title of the message today is what about sin? What about sin?
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We're going to look at the last half of verse seven through verse 10.
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Christianity is the religion for sinners. Christianity is the religion for sinners.
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For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The Christian, as we've been learning recently in James and even in First John, must take ownership of his sin.
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And he does this so that his sin might be purged. He must cut off the full extent of his disease.
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We often hear of oncology surgeons wanting clean margins.
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So too, the Christian must accurately see the breadth and depth of his own sin that the curing balm of Christ may be fully applied and that he might be cleansed and healed and purged.
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It's not surprising that as the scripture interprets scripture, there's similar language found in Paul and elsewhere in the scriptures that resonate with First John.
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It says in Ephesians one in Christ, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.
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We must rightly understand sin that we might apprehend the riches of his grace.
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I have a thesis statement which should be broken into an outline that would be helpful for you if you need that.
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It's this. Christ frees us from both the pollution and power of sin.
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Christ frees us from the pollution and power of sin.
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John has established, you'll remember, the divine nature of the
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Lord Jesus Christ. And we should be struck again with the incredible power of the language that the one who was from the beginning has come in the flesh and he has revealed himself to disciples and to women and to the early church.
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The creator of all things has come to rescue his creation from sin and death and to make it a new creation in him.
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And he has built and formed a church, a fellowship of believers, and he is drawing men, women and children unto himself and bringing them and fixing them into this fellowship, which is a cause of great rejoicing and the fullness of joy.
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And last week we learned about God is light and that there is no darkness at all in him and that we are obligated to walk in the light in order to have a proper fellowship with God and his people.
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And then our text today, beginning in verse seven, the last half. And oh, what a truth it is in the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin.
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Brethren, there is nothing more glorious than having your sins forgiven, to be reconciled to God, to have your guilt and your shame covered by the blood of Christ.
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It's a very famous quote from Thomas Watson, and he says,
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Until sin become bitter, Christ will not be sweet.
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Until sin becomes bitter to us, then that's the time that Christ will be sweet.
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So the first question I have for you today is sin, your sin, odious to you?
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We find fault with the culture. We can tell you what's wrong with all the churches. But is your sin odious and bitter to you?
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If it's not bitter to you, then Christ will not be sweet. If you are comfortable with your own sin, if you can tolerate it, if you can swish it around in your mouth and you can stomach it, that bitterness, you've been deceived into thinking maybe that's sweet.
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Maybe that sinful tendency is sweet. Maybe the sins that I cherish are sweet.
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Until those sins become odious and bitter to us, Christ will not be sweet.
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We have a Savior who cleanses us from all sin.
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It is Jesus Christ, his son. And this is a glorious truth.
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So why do we need confession? Look again at our order of worship today.
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On the left page, on the inside, we have a corporate confession of sin.
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And one of the things we sometimes get from people who are visitors, they wonder about this practice of confessing our sins.
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Why do you confess your sins? Didn't Christ in his sacrifice, you've just read it, the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin.
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It's done. It's covered. It's taken care of. Why would you go back in there again?
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Are you denying the gospel of Christ? Why are you confessing your sin again if Christ has forgiven you?
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And the very theological and sophisticated answer is we confess our sin because we continue to sin.
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That's why we confess our sins. Our sins are forgiven in Christ, but doesn't our life show that we continue to sin?
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And so it follows then that being redeemed and saved in Christ and having your sins forgiven and to be cleansed and washed in this way leads to a new kind of pattern, a new way of living.
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We become confessors of sin. And there's great hope for us in this.
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Let's consider verse 8. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
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Now you would say, I understand total depravity. I understand radical corruption.
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I understand my own heart and I understand that I am a sinner.
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And today I want you to go down deeper from that category, that kind of blanket statement.
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I am a sinner. And I want to ask the question, how are you a sinner? In what ways in particular are you a sinner?
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Christ died on the cross to save me from my sins. He did. Which sins for you?
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How are you a sinner? How does a sinful nature in your life, what does it look like?
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What are the sins of pride and and haughtiness and bitterness and lust?
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What is your sins? To say that you have no sin or to minimize the extent of your sin is to be self -deceived.
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Sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God, according to our shorter catechism.
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But it most definitely is guilt and failure, a failure to hit the mark or the target.
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It's bad actions and evil deeds and evil thoughts. And it is for this very reason that Christ has to come into the world and to take on flesh that we might be cleansed.
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Nothing could be more irreverent for the people of God than to take sin, their sin, lightly or so theologically sophisticated.
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We understand homardiology. But here today, pastorally,
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I'm urging you to identify your particular sins.
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How are you sinning today? You say, why is this important?
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Because if you do not confess it, if you do not repent of it, you are effectively saying that you have no sin.
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That's what you're saying. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.
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We're led astray. We go off course. We deviate from the correct path.
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We cannot minimize sin, downplay it or ignore it.
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To diminish our sin is to diminish our need for Christ.
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To diminish our need for Christ diminishes the glory and the significance of the salvation that is ours in Christ.
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I believe walking in the light, serving a God who is the light and a
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Savior who is the light of the world and a Holy Spirit who illumines our minds and our hearts requires us to shine a bright light on our own hearts that we might confess our own sins.
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I'd like you to turn to the book of Psalms and Psalm 32, one of the more familiar texts to us on this subject.
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This is a popular message today. I can tell we're rejoicing in it. Psalm 32.
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Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
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We need to uncover our sin that Christ might cover it and his righteousness.
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If we hide it, if we conceal it, we don't enjoy the benefits and blessings practically that is there and reserved for the people of God who are cleansed by Christ.
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Verse two says blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputes not iniquity.
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And in whose spirit there is no guile.
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We're self deceived if we don't confess our sins. Isn't this crazy? We believe that Jesus Christ has atoned for our sin on the cross and we believe also that we have a practical ongoing need as a work of our own sanctification to confess our sin, to not be self deceived so that we can be ones in whom there is no guile.
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What are the negative consequences of failing to confess?
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David says, verse three, when I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all day for day and night, thy hand was heavy upon me.
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My moisture is turned into the drought of summer.
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The Christian not confessing his sin wears a heavy burden on his back and it need not be so.
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You and I, all of it as David prayed is laid bare before him in his sight and it is the highest form of folly for us to try to conceal it.
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We are burdening ourselves. We are filled with guile.
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We are self deceived if we don't speak the truth about our hearts before God. And this may be the reason some of us aren't experiencing the joy of our salvation today.
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It's not that your salvation is in jeopardy. You're not reaping the benefits of your salvation.
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There is cleansing and forgiveness there for you in Christ. Avail yourself of the cleansing and the freedom and the liberty that God has secured for us in Christ.
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This is what David says about confessing his sin. I acknowledge my sin unto thee and mine iniquity
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I have not hid. I said I will confess my transgressions unto the
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Lord. And you, O God, forgave the iniquity of my sin.
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Hallelujah. What a Savior. What a gospel. Why would you deprive yourself of the joy and the blessing of being unburdened of your sin?
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Why would you cling to it? Why would you hold it in? Why would you conceal it?
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Bring your sin and the transgression of your heart, the ugliness of it all, and bring it to the
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Lord Jesus Christ and find forgiveness and salvation and hope and joy and thanksgiving.
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Says for everyone that is godly. Praise unto you in a time when they may be found.
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Surely in the floods of great waters, they shall not come nigh unto him.
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Isn't it nice how the Lord puts the story of Noah together with Psalm 32 for us today.
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O Lord, you are my hiding place. You shall preserve me from trouble.
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You shall compass me about with songs of deliverance.
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I think that great idea of the Lord being the great liturgist singing over us.
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Christ singing songs of deliverance and salvation. Come to me, all you who are burdened and heavy laden.
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Confess your sins to me and I will forgive you. Bring your filthy bodies to me and I will wash you and make you whiter than snow.
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We're so foolish to deprive ourselves of these good gifts.
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There's another component in relation to the confession of sin. Certainly, repentance is an element where we're really not confessing if our heart's desire is not to repent.
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And we we don't confess often because we don't want to repent. But if your desire is to confess your sin, if your desire is to repent and to walk in his ways, you have assurances that God himself will instruct you and teach you in the way that you ought to go.
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He appeals to our pride a little bit and says, be not as the horse or the mule, which have no understanding.
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Whose mouth must be held in the bit and brittle. Lest they come near unto thee.
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Verse 10 says, many sorrows shall be to the wicked. But he that trusteth in the
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Lord, mercy shall compass him. About be glad in the
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Lord and rejoice you righteous and shout for joy. All ye that are upright in heart.
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In order to be upright in heart, we have to confess our sins.
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Let's go back to our text. Proverbs 28 says, he that covers his sins shall not prosper.
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But he who confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy.
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Happy is the man that feareth always. But he that hardens his heart shall fall into mischief.
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Oh, brethren, it is great mischief to not confess.
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Forsake, repent. And walk in newness of life in Christ. We know better.
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We need to be wiser as a result. Let's look again at our text.
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I don't want to be self -deceived. I want to be a man of the truth.
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I have to think rightly about my sin. I have to be honest. I told my boys growing up and girls too,
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I'm sure. Integrity is what you are in secret. You can look good on the outside, but who are you in secret?
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We don't want to be self -deceived. We want to be the same in public as we are in secret.
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We want to be cleansed. We want to be washed, but you're feeling discouraged. I want to bolster your spirits.
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Look at verse 9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
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And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He doesn't give us a litany for penance.
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He doesn't call us to sing, to pray a bunch of formulaic prayers.
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He doesn't say go out and do these a hundred deeds and maybe your sin could be atoned for.
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He says to us as the people of God, I have forgiven you.
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You are my children. I have cleansed you. Now you have gone and sullied yourself in the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the lust of the world.
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You have been haughty in heart and spirit. Come unto me and confess your sins and I will wash you.
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This is so glorious. This is so much better than any human conception about what religion is.
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Your filthy sin brought to Christ, confessed, owned, taken responsibility for, repented of.
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You can have full and complete assurance that Christ will cleanse you and wash you and purify you again.
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So why do we fail to confess our sins? I think there's a discipline to this.
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I think our daily pattern may be before we go to bed, maybe we should take a couple of moments and reflect upon the day and see if there be any sinful way in us and ask the
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Lord to forgive us. How many months and years have we carried around a burden of sin, shame and guilt and weightiness and heaviness and discouragement and a lack of joy when we can unburden ourselves?
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And be cleansed and be washed simply by bringing our sin to the
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Lord. In this context, the idea of cleansing is to be made clean, obviously, but there's some language and some descriptors that I think are helping me to understand this better.
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And this idea is to be freed from the defilement of sin, to be purified from wickedness, to be freed from the guilt and penalty of sin, to be purified.
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All we have to do is confess. Why do you not confess?
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Why do you not confess your sins? I wonder what percentage of the sins we commit we confess.
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There is going to be no sinless perfection for us, but in our sanctification.
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In this powerful operation of the spirit in us, this covering of Christ and his righteousness in us, certainly we can send less.
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I could be perfect. Certainly we can send less. Oh, today, people of God, unburden yourselves.
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Confess your sins. He's faithful and just to forgive you all of your sins, to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
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If someone comes to you confessing their sin against you, be like Christ and forgive them.
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That's powerful Christianity when Christians act like their savior and forgive those who have sinned against them.
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I like the idea of being cleaned. I used to be a fanatical shower taker.
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I take less showers now, but I used to take many showers. I hated the feeling of being dirty or sweaty.
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How much more so to be filthy for unrighteousness?
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Oh, Lord, wash us and we'll be clean. Dab the hyssop on us and we'll be clean.
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Pour out your blood upon us and make us white as snow. Oh, Lord, Jesus. There's another problem doctrinally and practically.
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Look at verse 10. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.
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You see, going back to the beginning of the chapter. The incarnation, the saving work of Christ, all of this is accomplished to free his people from their sins.
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When we minimize sin, we minimize Christ. When we minimize our guilt, we minimize his grace.
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We have thought too little of Christ and his salvation and his grace and his redemption.
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If we've said sin is no big deal. Can you imagine calling the way, the truth and the life a liar saying that his salvation is of no consequences to trample the blood of the covenant under our feet?
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We could never do that. As the people of God, we could never, ever diminish our view of sin.
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Because if we did, we would diminish our view of Christ and that would be blasphemous.
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Well, I have a couple of ideas for us today to improve our confession.
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When you're feeling a bit dirty from your sin, you ask your question, how are we cleansed?
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And the answer is we are cleansed by the blood of Christ. And I think we have got the idea of the decree of salvation, this monumental justification work of Christ on the cross.
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But we have to now import it into our daily living. Our sanctification is dependent upon us believing the gospel of Christ again and again and again.
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Confessing our sins as the people of God who have the assurance of pardon.
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How can you be deceived if you're minimizing your sin? You're saying that you have no sin in you.
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And I mean this by degrees, you say, oh, I'm a sinner. The catalog of sins is what we have to address.
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If you don't address the catalog of sins, we're in some measure self deceived.
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But when we bring these things into the light as he is in the light, we find that he doesn't throw us away and reject us.
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We would reject one another in our sin, wouldn't we? But he doesn't do that.
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We come with all of that unpleasantness and we unburden ourselves and we lay it all down and he restores us and he washes us.
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He cleans us. What a great savior. What a gospel.
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What a salvation we enjoy in Christ. Are you properly acknowledging your sin?
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Are you being honest with yourself about your condition? If you are, when you confess those sins, he is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
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A couple of words now of application will close. Today, I want you to really rejoice in the forgiveness that is yours in Christ.
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The blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin.
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Rejoice in the forgiveness that Christ gives to us and his gospel.
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Second. You may need to restore the joy of your salvation.
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Because you haven't been asking the question, what about my sin? And you're carrying around as a child of God, the guilt and the shame of sin.
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Restore the joy of your salvation. Confess it. As we've said several times now, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
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To cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Thirdly, confession necessitates both a forsaking of sin and a repenting of sin.
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Coupled with a new and fresh walk in the new life we have in Christ.
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That cherished sin must be repented of and forsaken. And now you have to walk in newness of life.
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What about in your family life and your own personal personal devotion? Have you said that sin is no big deal?
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We minimize sin. Oh, the terrible thought to minimize my sin is to minimize the great work of Christ in my life to save me from that sin.
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And finally, children, I think that you're capable of very great things in the area of obedience.
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I think you guys can do much more than you think. If you're sinning, you're disobeying your parents or not caring about the things of God or being mean to your siblings.
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You need to repent of those to turn from them to confess your sins.
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One of the greatest pieces of advice I ever received. I don't know who the original source of this very simple statement is, but what an impact it would have on the church fellowship and marriages and families and work relationships.
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If we kept short accounts with God and kept short accounts with one another, maybe we need to have a daily confession of our sin to our spouse and say,
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I have not loved you as I ought. Please forgive me. I'm going to vow to labor to do better tomorrow.
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You don't see how. The grace of Christ would work and something like that.
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So ask the question again. What about sin? The blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin.
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Amen. What about our continual practice daily of breaking
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God's commands and failing to love each other? What about those sins?
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He is faithful and just to forgive us all of those sins to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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If we just confess them to him. Hallelujah. What a savior.
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Let's rejoice as we come now and approach the table. Let's pray together. Oh, Lord, we are a stubborn and foolish people.
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But you love us. And in this we rejoice.
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Oh, Lord, a basic truth. A simple fact of our faith.
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Oh, Lord, I pray that you would enable us to perform it. That we would be a confessing, forsaking, repenting and walking a new kind of people for your glory and namesake and for our good.
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We ask this all in Jesus name. Let's continue our worship with the presentation of tithes and offerings.
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Please stand and let's pray together. Oh, Lord, we thank you for this beautiful life that you've given us.
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We thank you for even the hardship. Oh, Lord, and the strife and the difficulties that we have.
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We know that these things are working together for the good. For your glory and our growth and godliness and Christ likeness.
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We thank you for the labor that causes our brows to sweat and the stewardship and the financial decisions that we have to make.
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We pray that these gifts and a growing faithfulness in our ability to produce and create wealth and to share it for your glory.
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Oh, Lord, that you'd bless it. We ask all this in Jesus name. Today is an ordinary
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Sunday. A lot of people out. Last week we had baptism and more things.
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But we have much to give glory to God today. Don't worry much reason to praise his holy name.
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Let's enthusiastically and joyfully give God the glory he deserves and the singing of the glory of God.
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Let us be with you.
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Lift up your hearts. Let us give thanks to the
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Lord. It is right and a good and joyful thing that we should at all times and in all places.
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Give thanks to you. Oh, holy Lord, father, almighty, everlasting
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God. Because you sent your beloved son to redeem us from sin and death and to make us heirs in him of everlasting life.
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And 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.
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We praise and magnify your glorious name evermore, praising you and singing.
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Please be seated.
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Let's pray together. So taken with this idea that we are accepted.
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That the scandal of our sin has been redeemed.
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Our shame has been exchanged for glory. The lie has been exchanged for truth.
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Oh, Lord, in this we rejoice and we thank you that that you have come in the flesh.
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That you've offered your body as a sacrifice, that you have shed your precious blood.
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That there might be the remission of sins for us. Oh, Lord. We partake and we worship and we rejoice that you have accomplished this work of salvation through your sacrifice.
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We ask that you would convey to us through the consumption of bread, the body of Christ crucified.
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From drinking the cup of wine that we would discern the blood of Christ and his atoning sacrifice.
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And all of this, we would see that you have bound yourself to us and and we to you and you have made us one with you.
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You've taken us to be your people and that we ought to love you and love one another as a result.
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Oh, Lord, I pray that that you would grant this gift to us and ask this all in Jesus name.
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Amen. Our Lord Jesus, on the night in which he was betrayed, took the cup after supper, saying,
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This cup is the new covenant in my blood. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, therefore we proclaim the faith.
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Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. Let's approach the table now by praying this together in unison.
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We do not presume to come to this your table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your manifold and great mercies.
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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, he in us.
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Amen. Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.
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The gifts of God for you, the people of God. Let us now make this commitment together.
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Almighty and ever -living God, we thank you for feeding us with his precious body and blood, your
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Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, and for assuring us in 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 O 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 that you have worked in every good deed.
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Now, 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, we honor and glory now and forever.
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Amen. Please stand. Give glory to God.
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Praise God! Receive now the blessing, the grace of the
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Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, in the communion of the