Ascension Presbyterian Lord's Day Worship

Ascension Presbyterian Church Longwood iconAscension Presbyterian Church Longwood

0 views

0 comments

00:00
Let's take just a moment to transition and prepare our hearts for worship. Grace and peace to you in the name of the
00:26
Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome to the corporate worship of our God. Please stand.
00:37
Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to your name give glory.
00:43
Because of your mercy, because of your truth, why should the Gentiles say, so where is their
00:51
God? But our God is in heaven. He does whatever he pleases.
00:57
Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak.
01:06
Eyes they have, but they do not see. They have ears, but they do not hear.
01:12
Noses they have, but they do not smell. They have hands, but they do not handle. Feet they have, but they do not walk, nor do they mutter through their throat.
01:21
Those who make them are like them. So is everyone who trusts in them.
01:27
O Israel, trust in the Lord. He is your help and your shield.
01:32
O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. You who fear the
01:38
Lord, trust in the Lord. He is your help and your shield. The Lord has been mindful of us.
01:45
He will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron.
01:52
He will bless those who fear the Lord, both small and great. May the Lord give you increase more and more, you and your children.
02:02
May you be blessed by the Lord who made heaven and earth, the heaven. Even the heavens are the
02:07
Lord's, but the earth he has given to the children of men. The dead do not praise the
02:12
Lord, nor any who go down into silence. But he will, we will bless the
02:19
Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the
02:25
Lord. Amen. Please pray with me, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
02:32
We joyfully enter your presence with thanksgiving, with singing, with praises in our hearts and on our lips.
02:41
We pray that this worship would be pleasing and acceptable in your sight through the perfect mediation of our
02:48
Lord and Savior, our King, Jesus Christ. It's in his name that we pray.
02:54
Amen. Please kneel for the corporate confession of sin. Let us join together with one voice in confession.
03:09
Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep.
03:17
We have followed too much the vices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against your holy laws.
03:26
We have left undone those things which we ought not to have done.
03:33
And there is no help in us. O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders.
03:40
Spare those, O God, who confess their faults. Restore those who are penitent.
03:46
According to your promises, declare them to mankind in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
03:51
Grant that we may hereafter live a godly and righteous and sober life. For the glory of this holy name.
03:59
Amen. Please stand. Redeemed sinners come into the presence of a holy
04:08
God. And there may be fear and trembling, and rightfully so, for our God is a consuming fire.
04:14
But we are loved of God, and he has sent his Son to save us, to redeem us from our sins.
04:20
So take heart, people of God, and receive now this assurance of pardon. Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.
04:31
So that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the
04:37
Lord. O Lord, we ask that you would refresh us in your presence. People of God, take heart today in Christ.
04:45
Your sins are forgiven. Amen? Let us respond now with a great hymn of the faith, number 164.
04:54
We are few in number, but let us make the noise of a thousand tongues. 164.
05:00
O for a thousand tongues to sing. Insert and find
07:10
Psalm 83. We just practiced just before the service began. So we should be ready to go.
07:17
Do not be silent, God, or unresponding. Psalm.
10:36
Please remain standing for the reading of the word.
11:12
We continue reading now through the book of Genesis. Genesis chapter 15.
11:31
Genesis chapter 15. After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,
11:39
Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward. But Abram said,
11:45
Lord God, what will you give me? Seeing I go childless, in the heir of my house is
11:51
Eleazar of Damascus. Then Abram said, Look, you have given me no offspring.
11:56
Indeed, one born in my house is my heir. And behold, the word of the
12:02
Lord came to him, saying, This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.
12:08
Then he brought him outside and said, Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.
12:15
And he said to him, So shall your descendants be. And he believed in the Lord, and he accounted it to him for righteousness.
12:23
Then he said to him, I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to inherit it.
12:30
And he said, Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it? And he said to him, Bring me a three -year -old heifer, a three -year -old female goat, a three -year -old ram, a turtle dove, and a young pigeon.
12:42
Then he brought all these to him and cut them in two down the middle and placed one piece opposite the other, but he did not cut the birds in two.
12:50
And when the vultures came down the carcasses, Abram drove them away. Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram, and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him.
13:03
Then he said to Abram, Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them for four hundred years.
13:13
And also the nation whom they serve I will judge. Afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
13:19
Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace. You shall be buried at a good old age.
13:25
But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.
13:31
And when it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces.
13:40
On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river
13:48
Euphrates, the Kenites, the Kesezites, the Kadamites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the
13:54
Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites. This is the word of the
14:00
Lord. Let us now confess our faith through the joyful singing of the
14:10
Apostles' Creed. Let us begin. Number 499,
15:56
Rock of Ages. This is the traditional tune. Is that right? 499,
16:02
Rock of Ages. Please make preparations now for the prayers of the people.
18:18
If you are able to kneel, please do so. After this manner, therefore, pray ye.
18:43
Thy kingdom come, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
18:55
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.
19:03
Amen. Pray that we may glorify God in all that we do as we live and work in the creation that displays
19:12
His power, and be pleased to dispose all things to His own glory.
20:30
Pray that Satan's kingdom may be destroyed and the kingdom of grace advanced, ourselves and others brought into it and kept in it, and the kingdom of glory hastened.
21:23
Pray that God, for Christ's sake, would freely pardon all our sins. And we are encouraged to ask this, because by His grace we are able from the heart to forgive others.
21:36
Lord, hear our prayer.
22:47
Pray that God would either keep us from being tempted to sin or support and deliver us when we are tempted.
22:55
Lord, hear our prayer. Our Father, taking encouragement and prayer from You alone, in our prayers we praise
23:32
You, ascribing kingdom, power, and glory to You, and testify of our desire and assurance to be heard, we say together,
23:42
Amen. Amen. Please stand. Take up the insert.
23:47
Find Psalm 127. This is our Psalm of the Month. We did our last practice for this just before worship.
23:56
That's why you should come early. Be on time so you can practice. To point out a couple of things to you.
24:02
If it says you see an italics D -E -C, some Latin word, ask Ruben what that means later.
24:08
That is the men. And the C -A -N, I think it's related to the idea of cantor, that's the ladies.
24:15
And then on the back page we have full, which is everyone together. So we have a back and forth, two sides of the choir.
24:23
And in this case it's men and women. Men sing the D -E -C portions. Ladies sing the
24:28
C -A -N's. We all sing together on full. With great abandon, reckless joy, in spite of what we may sound like, let's sing
24:39
Psalm 127 to the glory of God. Amen? Let's begin. Please remain standing for the reading of the word from 1
29:19
John 3.
29:28
I'm going to read the first nine verses. This is
29:34
God's holy and infallible word. It has not yet been revealed what we shall be.
30:06
But we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him. For we shall see him as he is.
30:16
And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure.
30:25
Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness. And sin is lawlessness.
30:33
And you know that he was manifested to take away our sins. And in him there is no sin.
30:42
Whoever abides in him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen him nor known him.
30:49
Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous just as he is righteous.
30:58
He who sins is of the devil. For the devil has sinned from the beginning for this purpose.
31:06
The son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil.
31:12
Whoever has been born of God does not sin for his seed remains in him.
31:18
And he cannot sin because he has been born of God. May the
31:26
Lord bless our consideration of his most excellent word. Please pray with me now.
31:36
O Lord, the wonder and joy that we would be called children of God.
31:46
O Holy Spirit, I pray that you would supply light and heat. That we would be deeply moved and convinced again of the great love that you have for us as your people.
32:01
We have a hope for today and for tomorrow and for all eternity.
32:06
We have been loved by you, O God. And we have this hope. And this hope purifies us and enables us to walk as is fitting for your people.
32:18
Your children. We ask for your blessing now and the powerful working of your spirit.
32:25
A ready obedience to put this into practice. We ask this all in Jesus' name.
32:32
Amen. Please be seated. Today we will be considering verses 1 -3 of chapter 3 of 1
32:45
John. We're continuing our series in the first epistle of John.
32:51
The title is Children of God as has already been mentioned. A five word thesis for you to organize the overall thoughts of this.
33:01
These are all really applications of being loved by God and being children of God. Is the hope of God's children.
33:09
You should be filled with hope. And as I posted on the
33:15
Slack channel, the outline is the first point. Behold the love of God.
33:22
The second is we shall see him as he is. And third, the hope that purifies this week.
33:30
Again, like last week, each verse has a point attached to it. The toughest and strongest among us.
33:43
The most wise and discerning down to the least and the frailest, the oldest, the youngest.
33:50
There is something deeply rooted in man that he desires to love and to be loved.
34:01
I have rhinoceros skin because I am loved by God and I'm loved by my wife and my children.
34:08
They have to love me because I'm their husband and father. But that love propels me into my life.
34:17
I am able to do a lot of things because I am loved by my wife and children.
34:24
How much more so because I can say I'm loved by God.
34:31
Believer today, whatever discouragement befalls you.
34:37
Whatever trouble there is, whatever snares of temptation you have been drawn into today, take heart, rejoice, be glad you are the children of God.
34:56
What an amazing thing to consider. Loved by God, the children adopted as sons of God, the
35:10
Holy One, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They have made you the people of God, the object of his affection, their affection.
35:22
There is great hope for God's children. Let's consider the verses.
35:30
When we think about hermeneutics and the interpretation of Scripture, there are a whole host of things that run through a pastor's mind.
35:40
There's the verbal plenary inspiration of Scripture. We believe that the very words that God uses are inspired.
35:49
We don't think just the ideas. We think he chose the words. He crafted the language and the power of his spirit that we might more fully understand his revelation.
36:03
And so it is today. The word first word in my Bible says, behold.
36:11
And this means to see, but probably more deeply to see with the mind.
36:19
To perceive with an inward spiritual perception,
36:25
I could say you are the children of God. You say, that's great.
36:31
We have to have a deeper peering into the reality that we have been loved by God.
36:39
That we have been called his children. We have to behold.
36:45
There's weightiness to that word. We don't merely see.
36:51
We don't merely think. We perceive with an inward perception.
36:57
There is an intimate knowledge of God that may be observed and perceived as what he has done for us.
37:06
And this, of course, affects us now and in the future.
37:12
So one of the first questions I have for you to ask the liturgies already supplied ample fodder for this.
37:20
Are you beholding? This love that God has for us.
37:26
The manner of love that the father has bestowed.
37:33
This interesting the word what? Comes from literally from what country?
37:38
In reality, and that, of course, there's all kinds of idiom and things in language.
37:45
And where does this love spring from? Where does it come from?
37:51
It comes from the heavenly country. It comes from God in his own person.
37:57
The very essence and substance of theology proper. God is love. God has loved us in Christ.
38:07
Where does this love come from? It comes from heaven. And as we've seen a couple of times in recent months, that the end of the day, the ultimate causality of our salvation in Christ is found in this simply at the end of the day.
38:24
The last question, the final analysis. Why does God save sinners? The last answer really almost has to be because he loves them.
38:40
Is there anything better than being loved? It's the epitome of human interaction to be loved, to love someone.
38:52
What kind of love is this? Where does this love come from? It comes from God himself.
38:59
This is the manner of love. This is the quality of love from God in his own person and his perfection, his attributes.
39:07
He loves the people of God so much that he would send his son, that he would send the spirit to apply the work of redemption.
39:17
This is the manner of love. This is the sort of quality of the love that God has for us.
39:28
This word Agape, as you know, and love is central to John's conception of love in the letter.
39:36
And it's our duty now. We're being challenged. There's an imperative element in this.
39:43
We have to now behold. You and I have to peer deeply into the things of God in our own experience, the revelation of Jesus Christ, the world and reality as it is.
39:55
And we must see and discern and appreciate and delight in this love of God requires the full engagement of mind and heart.
40:10
To behold the manner of love that has God has for his children.
40:18
Now, one counter argument that could be made, and I think it's answered ultimately in our text is
40:24
I don't really feel it today. Things are hard. God seems very far away.
40:33
This requires great faith on our part. We have to look through all of the difficulties, all of the hardships, all of the doubts.
40:45
And still, through all of it, see and perceive the reality of God's love for us as people.
40:55
Whatever you're feeling may not be speaking to the truth.
41:02
If you're a Christian, you are loved of God. And today, whatever befalls you, unburden yourself, rejoice, give thanks, delight in the love that God has shown us.
41:17
He's conferred it to us. He's laid it upon us. He's showered it on us in Christ.
41:27
And in the end, we are in the exclamatory tense called children of God.
41:37
I told my daughter
41:44
Savannah after she had her first child, and I said it to Jacob when he had his first child.
41:54
And I reckon I'll be saying it to Caleb within a week or so when he has his first child.
42:01
You really begin to understand what love is when you are a father and a mother.
42:11
I know that I could never love my parents the way that my parents love me.
42:19
I know that my children could not love us the way that we love them. There's something about this paternity, this parenting.
42:29
The great love of God has been bestowed on us.
42:36
And our human relationships, just like marriage signifies our reunion with Christ, I think our fatherhood and our motherhood gives us insight into what it means for God to love us.
42:51
To call us his children. Remember that to be a father is to be one who imparts life.
43:02
Even from the physical conception, there is an impartation from the father and birth.
43:12
Fathers are those who impart life. Now, fathers, not only do we supply biological things, we supply spiritual things.
43:23
We inculcate our children in the life of Christ. We're the importers of life.
43:31
It's our responsibility to shepherd and disciple and lead our families in this way.
43:40
He also supplies, and I think we often say maybe the Holy Spirit gets a bum rap in the
43:46
Trinity. I think the father is underserved in our understanding of the
43:52
Trinity. The gift of eternal life through the second birth in the person of Jesus Christ, regeneration, being born again.
44:03
This all happens because of the father's love. He sends the son to accomplish this work.
44:10
He sends the spirit to seal us with the work of Christ's salvation.
44:17
Literally, the father is the nourisher, the protector, the upholder. We need to apply that to our own fatherhood.
44:24
We also need to think of it in terms of God's relationship to Christ. That's how we think of the
44:30
Trinity, the father and the son. But we also have to see now that Christ's father is our father.
44:40
He's the nourisher and protector. He has taken us and adopted us as sons.
44:49
In the culture, there's a mantra I've heard, and I regret that I've not corrected it more.
44:57
It says, we are all God's children. Do you know that that cultural lie is not found in either the
45:11
Old or New Testament? We say that mankind is created in the image of God, the imago
45:21
Dei. It's true. But not everyone who breathes and has blood coursing through their veins and walks on this earth and breathes his air and drinks his water and eats his food and dwells on his dirt can say that God is their father.
45:40
Only those whom he has loved and turned the hearts of to himself.
45:45
This idea of paternity reference to Christians.
45:54
First, those who, through Christ, have been exalted to an especially close and intimate relationship with God.
46:05
And maybe most importantly for us today. And who no longer dread him as the stern judge of sinners, revere him as their reconciled to and loving father.
46:24
In John, both in the gospel and his letters, it seems to include the idea of the one who, by the power of God's own spirit operative in the gospel, has begotten them anew to a life of salvation.
46:40
And as is reflected in our text of holiness, the father is in that intertenitarian relationship, the father of Jesus Christ.
46:57
Our union is so deep and complex that we can say that the father of Jesus Christ, the first person of the
47:05
Trinity, is also the father of all of those who are united to Christ.
47:11
Oh, people of God. You have a righteous, loving father who cares for you so deeply.
47:24
This shows us the depth of love that God has for his church. He gives birth to her.
47:33
He breathes life into her nostrils. He nourishes her with his word and.
47:40
He gives us his son to feast upon. He comforts and helps us with the
47:50
Holy Spirit. It seems fitting that we now named
47:56
God's children would want to function properly as members of the divine royal family.
48:04
That there would be conformity to his will and his standards, and most certainly to Christ likeness.
48:12
Our life would be filled, or it should be, with doxology, with right doctrine and practice, with an aspiration for greater degrees of holiness.
48:25
Oh, people of God. Today, will you see with the mind? Will you perceive with that inward spiritual perception?
48:36
Will you have that intimate knowledge of God? And will you consider? Will you live and act upon the truth that God has so loved you that he calls you his children?
48:49
Second half of verse one says, therefore, the world does not know us because it did not know him.
49:05
I've been surprised. I don't know why, but I've been surprised over the years. By the indifference of the world to the
49:14
Christian message and to the church. To me, it makes sense because the unconverted man doesn't know what the love of God is.
49:29
He doesn't love holy things because he's not united to the holy one. We are speaking the most foreign of language when we talk to unbelievers about Christ and his benefits.
49:44
They don't understand it. They don't understand what the fuss is. They see no need for it because their eyes have not been opened.
49:52
Life has not been breathed into them. They don't understand. And so when they see us, they say, well, this helps them in their life somehow psychologically.
50:03
The world doesn't have an intimate knowledge of us because we have been now known by God and reflexively we respond in a greater degree of knowing him.
50:17
The son of God, the second person of the Trinity is illustrated in 1 John 1.
50:23
The prologue to his gospel. He comes to the creation, the creator himself, to save and rescue them.
50:30
To rescue Israel from all of her trouble. To bring salvation to them and to the nations.
50:37
And they think, this is Mary and Joseph's son. Can anything good come out of Galilee?
50:51
Do any prophets come from from Nazareth? So this explains and gives us some insight into the world in which we live.
51:05
The world doesn't know us. It doesn't recognize the benefits of God and us because they're largely spiritual.
51:13
They're not necessarily tangible. The people of God have many sorrows.
51:19
They're poor. They're afflicted. They're they have many griefs in this life. They cannot discern us because they do not know
51:27
Christ. And we are so united to him that our identity is also obscured from their vision.
51:39
The idea of being called. The great nuances of the language. I blew over this too quickly.
51:46
Being called a child of God. The same language is used to Abraham. It's used to describe the relationship of Isaac and contradiction to Ishmael.
52:06
See, Abraham has entered into a relationship with Hagar, the endorsement of his wife.
52:14
And he's produced a son, Ishmael. And this son, Ishmael, rightfully so, receives the sign of the covenant.
52:25
But back in Genesis 18, a promise was restated.
52:31
And Sarah and Abraham are reminded that Isaac is the one and whose posterity shall obtain the name and honor of God's descendants.
52:49
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jesus, the church.
52:55
For in Isaac, it says your seed shall be called.
53:01
The child of promise is Isaac. And so are every one of the people of God called children.
53:10
They are the called ones. And they're not merely identified as those who are the children of God.
53:17
Literally, we could say children of God, we should be called. And we are.
53:25
I want you to catch that. We should be called the children of God. We designate people with labels.
53:31
We should be called the children of God. But the language of the text is and we are.
53:37
It's not just a designation. It's a reality. We are the children of God.
53:45
The world in opposition to God, the cosmos. That ordered system of man and rebellion to God does not recognize us, doesn't know us.
54:02
Later in this chapter, in a couple of weeks, we'll probably get to it says in 1st John 3 15. Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you.
54:13
This should alleviate our frustration and discouragement. That we experience as saints living in the midst of the wicked.
54:22
The wicked are wicked because they have not been loved by God. And so it would be for us.
54:33
Except the grace of God and Christ would come upon us. Let's look at verse 2.
54:42
Consider the second idea. We're called to spiritually perceive a manner of love.
54:53
That God has showered on us that we'd be called children of God. It says and restates the idea beloved this term of endearment.
55:01
We are children of God. And it has not yet been revealed what we shall be.
55:09
But we know that when he is revealed. We shall be like him for we shall see him as he is.
55:20
I don't know what the glories of heaven entail. But I know that what is required is that I put off this defiled flesh.
55:33
Before I can enter in there. This brings in the idea of resurrection.
55:40
We have the position as children of God. We are purified. We are made as holy ones as the saints.
55:48
But there is something yet to happen for us in order to see God as he is.
55:54
To see God in the flesh. To see with our own eyes in presence God as he is.
56:03
We have to die. We have to be resurrected. So the reality of our station.
56:11
The joys of heaven. The citizenship. The joint airship with Christ. All of those realities are true for us.
56:18
And we must by faith lay hold of them. But someday faith will be replaced by sight.
56:26
Someday without sin in our glorified state we will see God as he is.
56:34
This should be a great cause of your hope. Are you fearing death as a Christian? Don't fear death.
56:41
You enter into glory. A greater degree of beholding the glory of God.
56:48
Set free from the bondage of sin. Set free from all the infirmities. Not able to sin against him any longer.
56:56
The future is bright for God's people. It's not yet been revealed.
57:05
The world would roll out the red carpet for us. And bow down and kiss our rings if they knew who we are.
57:15
Would be who we are in Christ. But they didn't know Christ.
57:22
But one day they will. I love the idea. It's part of my sin nature. I love the vindication of Christ and his honor.
57:31
I love that the wicked will be judged. Because they've rejected
57:36
Christ. I know it goes on the side of not being proper. I want to see the world say.
57:42
But a part of me. The rebellious wicked. I want them to see the vindication of Christ and his honor.
57:52
Someday every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is
57:58
Lord. So you and I living in a hard life. Difficult things have to live in the already and the not yet.
58:07
But the not yet is our reality. It is the truth about who we are in Christ.
58:16
We're going to be like him. What does that mean? A resurrected body?
58:24
Eyes that can see? Oh, what a day that will be for us.
58:31
What hope for a future the Christian has. That he will see
58:37
Christ as he is. Well, universal revelation of Jesus Christ to the world is coming.
58:48
As we learned. We don't know when that's coming. There will be judgment.
58:53
As we learned last week. You and I are going to be able to stand in the judgment. And enter into the eternal state.
59:00
In a place of honor and love. But not yet.
59:07
Someday. When he is revealed. We will be like him. We will see him as he is.
59:16
Well. This takes us to the last point. The idea of hope.
59:25
If you are a child of God. You behold the manner of love that the father has showered on us.
59:34
You recognize with increasing clarity and understanding and depth of knowledge.
59:39
That you are a child of God. You understand the world around you better.
59:45
You understand the world does not recognize you. Because it does not recognize our master. The Lord Jesus Christ.
59:52
But there will be a day where they will. They will recognize them in us.
59:57
Christ's honor will be vindicated. Verse 3 says.
01:00:04
And everyone who has this hope. This hope is the expectation of good.
01:00:16
In the Christian sense. The joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation.
01:00:23
Which is nothing less than eternal blessed communion with God.
01:00:28
That is what waits for us. We should be filled with hope. The hope of God's children is.
01:00:41
They have been loved by God. They are poised to inherit an inestimable fortune of blessings.
01:00:51
You have as God's people a certain and secure future.
01:00:58
And you will be transformed to a greater and greater likeness. So I have some very hard questions for you.
01:01:09
This is sincere. What are you whining about? What are you complaining about?
01:01:20
What are you discontent about? All these things are true.
01:01:26
Stop whining. Stop complaining. Stop being discontent. Why are you grumbling in adversity?
01:01:34
You are being sanctified and being made more and more like your Savior Christ. Why do you grumble in adversity?
01:01:42
Why are you riddled with angst and fear? I think it's because you're not beholding.
01:01:53
You're not meditating upon what is true. Behold the love of God.
01:02:04
You're not only called children of God. It's not a fictitious name. You are the children of God.
01:02:12
And the reason for our hope of salvation and ultimate purification is
01:02:21
Christ himself is pure. We are the ones who are being cleansed from defilement.
01:02:30
And this is primarily morally here in our text. That's the language of the original, a moral purification.
01:02:38
You and I have been, in a sense of decree, declared to be pure by virtue of our faith in union with Christ, the operation of the
01:02:49
Spirit. But we're called to greater purification. You and I need to morally cleanse ourselves from defilement as a response in cooperation with the work of the
01:03:03
Spirit. So we have responsibility in this. There's a different word for pure than purifies referring to Christ.
01:03:14
You and I are in a process of purification. A process of sanctification on the way to glorification.
01:03:25
But Christ himself is pure. He's free from every defect.
01:03:34
You are united to the pure and holy one. You have purity because you are united to the pure one.
01:03:44
You have love because the Father has bestowed his love upon us. There should be a great impetus and motivation to set aside all of the sin.
01:03:59
To cleanse ourselves from every transgression and to walk in his righteousness.
01:04:10
A couple of words here of application that I'll conclude. Are you filled with thanksgiving and rejoicing as you behold the love of God?
01:04:32
The lack of thanksgiving and rejoicing has to be because you've not, with spiritual eyes and hearts, discerned the love of God for you.
01:04:47
Second, and this is very important, it's reflected in verse 2 and punctuated in verse 3.
01:04:58
Does your manner of life reflect a grand transformation?
01:05:07
The world should hate us more than it does. Not unnecessarily inciting them to wrath.
01:05:14
We should be so devoted to Christ, so walking in righteousness. We should be drawing greater fire from the world.
01:05:21
In fact, the world's lack of hostility toward us reflects that maybe we're not as bold in this love as we ought to be.
01:05:33
Does your manner of living reflect the transformation of union with Christ?
01:05:39
Loved by God, being called a child. Does the world hate you? And finally, is your life filled with hope?
01:05:52
Is the hope that you have as a child of God invigorating every aspect of your life?
01:06:01
Is your life characterized by the great comprehensive shalom? Do you have courage and boldness to stand before kings and speak the truth about Christ?
01:06:15
Are you bold enough to, in every circumstance, maintain this singular allegiance to him?
01:06:22
Are you hungering and thirsting for righteousness? Is it the defining characteristic of your life?
01:06:31
If the answer is no to these questions, in part, in any way, then we have things to pray about.
01:06:38
Things to put into practice. Things to meditate upon.
01:06:47
I remind you what verse one says. Behold what manner of love the
01:06:56
Father has bestowed on us in the exclamatory that we should be called children of God.
01:07:10
Stop and reflect upon this for just a moment. Let's pray together.
01:07:25
Lord, I thank you that you have called us to be your children. Help us with the aid of your spirit to see the height and depth and breadth of love that you have for your people.
01:07:51
Lord, I pray that this would transform the way we live because we're so secure in your love.
01:08:00
Lord, help us to, in light of these things, discern the times and to understand the world's relationship to Christ in the church.
01:08:09
Help us to faithfully preach Christ that the enemies would be won and brought in.
01:08:19
Help us to boldly sing psalms of imprecation that the wicked would be crushed.
01:08:26
And in that crushing, many would turn and repent and your justice upheld.
01:08:32
Oh, Lord, help us because of our identity in Christ and the father, the son and the
01:08:37
Holy Spirit. Help us to understand what it means to be a child of God, to be loved by God and to understand our relationship to a hostile world.
01:08:48
And also, we pray, oh, Lord, that you would fill us with hope. And this sanctifying activity we find is because we are looking in hope to the pure one.
01:09:01
Who is the Lord Jesus Christ? This spurs us on to love and good works and to radical obedience, the mortification of sin, all of it done in joy and thanksgiving and security.
01:09:16
As the children of God. Help us in all this, we pray in Jesus name.
01:09:24
Amen. Let us continue our worship through the presentation of our tithes and offerings.
01:09:57
Please stand and let us pray. Our gracious God and father, you indeed pour your blessings out onto us like rain.
01:10:09
And our cup indeed overflows. And father, if we were to count the blessings which you have given to us.
01:10:18
If we were really focused with gratitude on all those things which you have bestowed upon us as our brother has reminded us.
01:10:27
We would indeed be busy for all eternity. We are thankful, dear
01:10:34
Lord, that you have so moved us to give back to the work of this local congregation a portion of those blessings.
01:10:44
We pray, dear father, that as this local congregation uses these blessings, use them wisely.
01:10:54
We ask for grace and wisdom in that matter. We pray all these things in the name of Christ.
01:11:00
Amen. Let us glorify our great God by the singing of the
01:11:06
Gloria Patri. The Lord be with you.
01:11:44
Lift up your hearts. Let us give thanks to the
01:11:49
Lord. It is right and a good and joyful thing that we should at all times and all places give thanks to you, oh holy
01:12:00
Lord. Father almighty, everlasting God. Because you sent your beloved son to redeem us from sin and death.
01:12:10
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.
01:12:19
We may without shame or fear rejoice to behold his appearing. Therefore, with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven.
01:12:29
We praise and magnify your glorious name. Evermore praising you and singing.
01:12:37
Please be seated and let us pray.
01:13:58
Almighty God, you are the creator and Lord of all things. You are the sovereign majesty whom we have offended.
01:14:06
You are our most loving and merciful father. Who has given your son to reconcile us to yourself.
01:14:13
Who has ratified the new testament and covenant of grace with his most precious blood.
01:14:20
And has instituted this holy sacrament to be celebrated in remembrance of him till his coming.
01:14:28
Sanctify these your creatures of bread and wine. Which according to your institution and command we set apart to this holy use.
01:14:38
That they may be sacramentally the body and blood of the son Jesus Christ.
01:14:44
We pray this in his name. Amen. And the night in which our
01:14:50
Lord was betrayed he took bread. And when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them saying take, eat.
01:14:58
This is my body which is broken for you. Likewise after supper he took the cup.
01:15:05
And when he had given thanks he gave it to them saying drink this all of you. This is the new covenant in my blood.
01:15:13
As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup. You proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
01:15:20
Therefore we proclaim the faith. Let us pray together.
01:15:32
We do not presume to come to this your table. O merciful Lord. Trusting in our own righteousness.
01:15:40
But in your manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs on your table.
01:15:49
But you are the same Lord who always shows mercy. Grant us therefore gracious Lord.
01:15:55
So to eat the flesh of your dear son Jesus Christ. The drink of his blood.
01:16:01
That our sinful bodies may be cleaned by his body. Our souls washed through his most precious blood.
01:16:08
That we may evermore dwell in him. And he in us. Amen. Christ our
01:16:14
Passover was sacrificed for us. The gifts of God for the people of God.
01:26:12
Well as we have been fed spiritually. By the word preached and the supper.
01:26:22
Let us make this commitment together. Almighty and ever living
01:26:28
God. We thank you for feeding us with the spiritual food. Of the most precious body and blood of your son.
01:26:36
Our savior Jesus Christ. And for assuring us of these holy mysteries.
01:26:41
That we are living members of the body of your son. And heirs of your eternal kingdom.
01:26:48
And O Lord grant us this other benefit. That you will never allow us to forget these things.
01:26:54
But having them imprinted on our hearts. May we grow and increase daily.
01:26:59
In the faith which is at work in every good deed. Now father send us out to do the work.
01:27:05
You have given us to do. To love and serve you as faithful witnesses. Christ our
01:27:10
Lord. To him to you and to the Holy Spirit. The honor and glory now and forever.
01:27:17
Amen. Please stand. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
01:27:28
Praise him. Praise him.
01:27:52
Receive now the blessing. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the love of God.