Ascension Presbyterian Lord's Day Worship

Ascension Presbyterian Church Longwood

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October 28, 2024

00:00: corporate worship of our God. Please stand. Oh come, let us sing to the
00:08: Lord. Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
00:14: Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving. Let us shout joyfully to him with psalms.
00:20: For the Lord is the great God and the great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth, the heights of the hills are his also.
00:32: The sea is his for he made it and his hands formed the dry land.
00:38: Oh come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the
00:43: Lord our maker for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
00:52: Therefore, come now, let us worship him. Please pray with me.
00:59: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we joyfully enter into your presence rejoicing that you have called us to be your people, you have declared yourself to be our
01:15: God. We come treasuring the merit of Christ, sinless, perfect savior and we ask that you would accept our worship through his perfect high priesthood and we ask this all in Jesus' name, amen.
01:34: Please kneel as you are able for the corporate confession of sin.
01:42: Let us confess together with one voice. We confess our father that we do not live up to the family ready to manipulate than to serve here than to love, more ready to keep our distance than to welcome, more ready to compete than to help.
02:10: At the root of this behavior is mistrust. We do not love one another as we should because we do not believe that you love us as you do, amen.
02:22: Please stand. If you should mark iniquities, oh
02:28: Lord, who can stand? But there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared.
02:36: Oh, people of God, take heart today. If you be in Christ, you have the forgiveness of sins, amen?
02:44: Amen. Please take up the hymnal now and let us turn to number 55, to God be the glory, number 55.
04:07: Yes, I applaud you truly.
06:07: Please find the bulletin insert that has Psalm 95. It was our call to worship today and we're going to sing it.
06:17: And the tune is Faith of Our Fathers, Psalm 95. Let us begin.
06:26: Oh, come. Please remain standing for the reading of the word from Genesis chapter 27.
10:26: Genesis 27. Now it came to pass when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see that he called
10:35: Esau, his older son, and said to him, my son. And he answered him, here
10:43: I am. Then he said, behold, I am old. I do not know the day of my death.
10:50: Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow and go out to the field and hunt game for me and make me savory food such as I love and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.
11:10: Now Rebecca was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau, his son, and Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it.
11:20: So Rebecca spoke to Jacob, her son, saying, indeed, I heard your father speak to Esau, your brother, saying, bring me game and make savory food for me that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the
11:35: Lord before my death. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what
11:41: I command you. Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father such as he loves.
11:54: Then you shall take it to your father that he may eat it and that he may bless you before his death.
12:01: And Jacob said to Rebecca, his mother, look, Esau, my brother, is a hairy man and I am a smooth -skinned man.
12:10: Perhaps my father will feel me and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him, and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.
12:21: But his mother said to him, let your curse be on me, my son. Only obey my voice and go.
12:28: Get them for me. And he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food such as his father loved.
12:39: Then Rebecca took the choice clothes of her elder son, Esau, which were with her in the house and put them on Jacob, her younger son.
12:52: And she put the skins of the kids, of the goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck.
13:03: Then she gave the savory food and the bread which she had prepared into the hand of her son,
13:09: Jacob. So he went to his father and said, my father. And he said, here
13:15: I am. Who are you, my son? Jacob said to his father, I am Esau, your firstborn.
13:21: I have done just as you told me. Please arise, sit and eat of my game that your soul may bless me.
13:31: But Isaac said to his son, how is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?
13:38: And he said, because the Lord, your God brought it to me. Isaac said to Jacob, please come near that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son
13:50: Esau or not. So Jacob went near to Isaac, his father, and he felt him and said, the voice is
13:59: Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. And he did not recognize him because his hands were hairy like his brother
14:09: Esau's hands. So he blessed him. Then he said, are you really my son
14:16: Esau? He said, I am. He said, bring it near to me and I will eat of my son's game so that my soul may bless you.
14:26: So he brought it near to him and he ate and he brought him wine and he drank.
14:32: Then his father Isaac said to him, come near now and kiss me, my son. And he came near and kissed him and he smelled the smell of his clothing.
14:44: And he blessed him and said, surely the smell of my son is like the smell of the field which the
14:50: Lord has blessed. Therefore, may God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine.
15:03: Let people serve you and the nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren and let your mother's sons bow down to you.
15:17: Cursed be everyone who curses you and blessed be those who bless you. Now it happened as soon as Isaac had finished blessing
15:26: Jacob and Jacob had scarcely gone from the presence of Isaac, his father, that Esau, his brother, came in from his hunting.
15:39: He also had made savory food and brought it to his father and said to his father, let my father arise and eat of his son's game that your soul may bless me.
15:51: And his father Isaac said to him, who are you? So he said, I am your son, your firstborn
15:57: Esau. Then Isaac trembled exceedingly and said, who? Where is he?
16:04: Where is the one who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came and have blessed him.
16:14: And indeed he shall be blessed. When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, bless me.
16:25: Me also, oh my father. But he said, your brother came to deceit, came with deceit and has taken away your blessing.
16:37: And Esau said, is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times.
16:48: He took away my birthright and now look, he has taken away my blessing.
16:55: And he said, have you not reserved a blessing for me? Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, indeed
17:02: I have made him your master and all his brethren I have given to him as servants with grain and wine
17:12: I have sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?
17:18: And Esau said to his father, have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me, me also, oh my father.
17:28: And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. Then Isaac, his father answered and said to him, behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth and of the dew of heaven above.
17:42: By your sword you shall live and you shall serve your brother.
17:48: And it shall come to pass when you become restless that you shall break his yoke from your neck.
17:56: So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him.
18:02: And Esau said in his heart, the days of mourning for my father are at hand.
18:08: Then I will kill my brother Jacob. And the words of Esau, her eldest son, and the words of Esau, her eldest son were told to Rebekah.
18:20: So she sent and called Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, surely your brother
18:27: Esau comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice, arise, flee to my brother
18:39: Laban in Haran and stay with him a few days until your brother's fury turns away, until your brother's anger turns away from you and he forgets what you have done to him.
18:53: Then I will send and bring you from there. Why should
18:59: I be bereaved also of you both in one day?
19:06: And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth.
19:12: If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters in Heth, like those who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?
19:22: This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated.
19:32: Thank you. If you look, we have some covenant membership vows in the bulletin today as an insert, and we are going to be welcoming
19:44: David into the membership of our church. So I'm gonna come down and do this down with David on the first row.
19:51: So please take up. This will be asked you to ascend to the following declarations and promises by which you enter into solemn covenant with Christ.
20:21: Do you acknowledge yourself to be a sinner in the sight of God, justly deserving his displeasure, and without hope, save in his sovereign mercy, do you?
20:32: I do. Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the son of God and savior of sinners?
20:39: And do you receive and depend upon him alone for salvation as he is offered in the gospel?
20:46: I do. Do you now resolve and promise and humble reliance upon the grace of the
20:53: Holy Spirit that you will endeavor to live as becomes the followers of Christ?
20:59: I do. Do you promise to serve Christ and his church by supporting and participating in its work and worship to the best of your ability?
21:09: I do. Do you submit yourself to the government and discipline of the church and promise to further its purity and peace?
21:18: I do. I'm gonna ask the congregation of members to stand. Congregation of Ascension Presbyterian Church, do you resolve to remember your own membership vows and resolve to hold
21:35: David accountable to covenant membership for the glory of God and the peace and purity of Christ's church?
21:44: Do you? We do. Welcome to our council. Please remain standing and let us now take up the singing of the
21:59: Apostles' Creed. Let us begin. ♪ I believe in God the
22:20: God and Son our Lord ♪ ♪ Who was conceived by the
22:25: Holy Spirit crucified ♪ ♪
22:43: Ascended into hell to judge the
23:13: Holy Spirit ♪ To sing number 92.
23:55: Oh Lord, we thank you for David and we thank you for covenant membership in your church.
24:04: Lord, we pray that we would be faithful to David, that he would be faithful to us, that we would encourage him in the faith, that he would use his gifts here to serve us.
24:17: And this would be a mutual encouragement to us all as we are built up and the body strengthened in faith.
24:26: Oh Lord, I ask your blessing on David and on our church. And I ask this in Jesus' name.
24:32: Amen. It is Reformation Sunday after all, so we have to sing this.
24:38: Turn to number 92. A mighty fortress is our God. Let us sing it to the
24:44: Lord. Great zeal. Please make preparations now for people.
29:05: I'll pray together in unison. Oh God, from whom come all holy desires.
29:17: Give to us, your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, that our hearts may be set to obey your commandments, and also that we, being defended from the fear of our enemies may live in peace and quietness through the merits of Jesus Christ, our
29:37: Savior, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit. God forever.
29:43: Amen. The Lord says, I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me.
29:53: Lord, have mercy on us and incline our hearts to keep this your law.
29:59: Heavenly Father, I pray,
30:06: Father, that you would have grace upon us and that you would recognize and that you would forsake all of our idols.
30:14: Lord, help us to remember that you alone are worthy and help us to put everything in our life in its proper place.
30:23: Lord, we ask that whether it be work, relationships, property, ownership, or anything else, we ask,
30:33: Father, that you would allow us to not put any of these before you, but as you are the
30:38: God who created the heaven and the earth, who has given us these things, which we are thankful for, we ask that everything would fall in its proper place after you, you alone are
30:52: God, and we thank you for your kindness and mercy. The grace of Christ, amen.
30:59: You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
31:11: Our hearts to keep this your law. Heavenly Father, we pray that you would keep us, your people, not only from making idols to false gods, but using anything that's inappropriate in the worship and true worship of you, the one true
31:25: God. I pray that you would show us here at Ascension what it means, God, to worship you in spirit and in truth.
31:32: God, keep us from error, from breaking this, your commandment, from worshiping you in ways that you do not desire.
31:40: I pray that you'd show us this, Lord, as we kneel, as we stand, as we lift our hands.
31:46: I pray, God, that you would keep us mindful of what this commandment means, and we ask in Jesus' name, amen.
31:53: Amen. Amen. You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain.
32:00: Lord, have mercy on us and incline our hearts to keep this, your law. Father, we have been, we ask that you would be with us as we are bearers of his name, of your name.
32:24: We ask, Father, that you would be gracious upon us, that we would keep this commandment. Our Lord, we ask that in our speech that we would not be so quick or willing to use your name as a simple curse word, that we would not offend your name.
32:40: And Lord, we ask that also, as we go about our lives, that we would not be hypocrites, that we would not live in such a manner that would give our enemies cause to blaspheme our
32:54: God. We ask, Father, that as we bear your name, that we would represent you well, that we would live to your glory, and that our enemies would not have cause to blaspheme you, that they would be silenced in their criticism.
33:11: We pray this in Christ's name. Remember the
33:17: Sabbath day to keep it holy. Lord, have mercy on us, incline our hearts to keep this your law.
33:30: Father God, thank you for your Sabbath days that you have given to us. We ask that we were truly honored then.
33:37: We ask that your people would be able to honor them by resting from their weekly economic endeavors.
33:44: Lord God, we ask that we would not break this commandment by forcing, not giving others their due rest.
33:54: Father God, we ask that we would also be keeping this law and by not forsaking your public assemblies, by not forsaking the gathering together of your people.
34:07: Perhaps more importantly, Lord God, we ask that we not abuse this law by simply coming to churches and to Wednesday gatherings simply out of road or simply out of mere duty and not hearing the word or not paying attention to it, that we actually do eagerness and due diligence to hear, to apply, to come and see the word, that we would eagerly come to receive the benefits that you give out to your people here.
34:38: And Father God, most of all, we ask that we would, in remembering this commandment, we would cease from not just the mundane works of our hands,
34:48: Lord, but we would cease from trying to earn any righteousness or any standing with you.
34:54: Help us to rest, Lord God, on our self -righteousness, Lord God, and rest in the true work that you have accomplished.
35:01: We ask all this, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen. Honor your father and your mother.
35:09: Lord, have mercy on us and incline our hearts to keep this, your law. Pray that you would provide the conviction that's necessary by your
35:20: Holy Spirit, that we would view our mother and our father and our grandparents in a way that would be pleasing to you, knowing that you have put them over us, knowing,
35:30: Lord, that we were not born in isolation, but that we were born to families. I pray,
35:35: God, that you'd have mercy on us and forgive us, Lord, we have disrespected and dishonored our parents.
35:41: And I pray, Lord, that we families would remember that our children are gonna treat us just like we treat our parents.
35:50: God, I pray that you'd have mercy on us, correct us, and encourage us that you give us a promise with this commandment, that our days may be long, that you may give us the earth, which you've purchased with Christ and for Christ.
36:04: God, encourage us in this way, and we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. You shall not kill.
36:12: Lord, have mercy on us and incline our hearts to keep this, your law.
36:17: That you would allow us to preserve life, however it comes to us,
36:23: Lord God, that we would be those who understand that the life you have given us is precious, and,
36:29: Father, it is a gift that cannot be squandered. Lord, I pray that we would speak out in protection of those who are being killed.
36:37: Lord, that we would have a voice for the voiceless. And, Father God, even as it pertains to our local elections and laws in this state and this country,
36:47: Father God, I pray that we would influence our culture and our country to be a country that preserves life.
36:53: Father, I ask that you would allow each and every one of us to fulfill the deeper meaning also of this commandment as Jesus laid out in the
37:00: Sermon on the Mount. Father God, that we would not have anger in our hearts towards any of our brothers. Father God, that we would be able to have conflicts, but,
37:09: Lord God, to resolve them, to live at peace with our fellow man. Lord God, and in doing this, to be salt and light and a witness for your kingdom.
37:18: In this Christ's name we pray, amen. You shall not commit adultery. Lord, have mercy on us and incline our hearts to keep this your law.
37:37: Father, I ask that you would allow us to preserve the marriage bed, Lord God, and to preserve all the sexual rights of marriage to that place.
37:47: And, Father God, I pray that you would allow us to be a culture and be a church who esteems the sexual morality of its people.
37:55: Lord God, we live in a culture and society that more and more is degrading and debasing itself in more and more public fashions, but,
38:02: Father God, this is an abomination. And, Father God, all of these sexual deviations and sins are proclaiming themselves better than your ways.
38:11: They say that their way is better than your way, but, Lord God, we know that ultimate joy and satisfaction and fulfillment is found in marriage.
38:19: Father God, I pray that you would be with all of the husbands here. Lord God, that you would keep their eyes from lusting, that they would take a whole joy and delight in their wife, and, likewise, for wives with their husbands,
38:29: Father, that they would look to them, Lord God only. And, Father, I pray that you would protect our church in this way.
38:36: I pray, I pray, I pray. Amen. You shall not steal.
38:42: Lord, have mercy on us, and combine our hearts to keep this your law. Father, we come before you, and, first and foremost, let us acknowledge that all is yours, that everything that we have is a blessing from you.
38:59: So, first and foremost, we should not steal from you, Father. And, as we turn to our neighbor and our brothers and sisters,
39:09: Lord, that we might be a blessing to you and a blessing to others, Lord. Let us be givers and not takers,
39:18: Lord, and let us serve one another in a way that will glorify you. And we just thank you for your providence and your provision for us,
39:29: Lord. And we just pray that you would put in our hearts a mind of certainty.
39:37: I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
39:45: Lord, have mercy on us, and incline our hearts to keep this your law. Steal away that we would not squander.
40:50: You shall not covet. Have mercy on us, and incline our hearts to keep this your law.
41:00: Heavenly Father, we pray that in a generation where the grass is always greener, that we would understand that there is sin, where we are unthankful, ungrateful, looking inside at what our neighbor has, what our brother or sister has.
41:16: God, help us to know that this is an offense to you, that you hate covetousness.
41:22: And I pray, Lord, that in our desires to be ambitious and productive, you would protect us, your servants, from being covetous.
41:31: Forgive us, Lord, and help us. Give us direction by your
41:36: Holy Spirit so that we can tell the difference between a good ambition and being covetous.
41:43: I ask this in Jesus' name, amen. You shall love the
41:48: Lord, your God, with all your heart and soul, mind, and strength.
41:55: Lord, have mercy on us, and incline our hearts to keep this your law. Amen. Please stand and take up Psalm 133, the
43:18: Psalm of the Month. I should point out to you that today we had a very long
43:24: Bible reading in Genesis. We had a covenant membership vows taken.
43:30: We had our longest prayers of the people, the 10 Commandments. And we don't despise the length of these things.
43:39: We cherish them, we love them. We're not in a hurry. We're not trying to get out of here to go somewhere else.
43:44: We are here to worship our God. So let us sing Psalm 133 with great joy, the last time as the
43:52: Psalm of the Month for October. Psalm 133, let us begin. He will not fail.
45:01: I ask you to remain standing for the reading of the Word taken from 1
45:06: John in chapter five. I'm gonna read verses one through eight.
45:16: This is God's holy and infallible Word. Whoever believes that Jesus is the
45:27: Christ is born of God. And everyone who loves him, who begot also loves him, who is begotten of him.
45:39: By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments.
45:47: For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not burdensome.
45:55: For whatever is born of God overcomes the world and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith.
46:06: Who is he who overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the
46:12: Son of God? Now our section for today, verses six and following.
46:19: This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ.
46:26: Not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the
46:31: Spirit who bears witness because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness in heaven, the
46:39: Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. And these three are one.
46:46: And there are three that bear witness on earth, the Spirit, the water and the blood and these three agree as one.
46:57: May the Lord bless our time as we study his word. Please pray with me now.
47:07: Oh Lord, help us to believe in the truth. Help us to believe that Jesus is the
47:17: Christ and that he's come in the flesh. That he lived a sinless life.
47:25: That he became sin for us. That you were satisfied with his efficacious, atoning death on the cross.
47:40: You saw Christ risen. You saw him ascended and reigning and ruling even now.
47:49: Oh Lord, help us to believe these things and we ask this in Jesus' name.
47:55: Amen. Please be seated. I'm going to get this out of the way at the outset because I'm not going to devote attention to it during the body of the message.
48:10: This is a very controversial section of scripture. This is the portion of scripture that is known as the
48:20: Yohannine Comma and there's great dispute about whether a sizable portion of our section is part of the best manuscripts.
48:31: I am going to preach it straight and I'm not going to pretend or act as if I believe that I need to withhold this information because I believe all of the information given in the text is 100 % true.
48:47: There are many questions that could be raised and asked about the Yohannine Comma but I am not going to give much attention to it.
48:55: I do know it's there. I know all about the problems but I have little ones in the church and I don't want to spend a lot of time and we spend a lot of time on controversies.
49:06: That becomes the focus of the sermon and we talk about the controversy and we miss the big point.
49:13: What God is trying to communicate to us in Christ. So I know the Yohannine Comma issue is there and I'm plowing through.
49:23: The Apostle John in his first epistle here is eager to have his hearers have a genuine faith in Christ and an objectively defined assurance of that genuine faith in Christ.
49:39: It doesn't feel like it all the time in 1 John. He's not trying to kick us out of the kingdom or out of the church.
49:48: He's actually trying to deepen our roots within. He wants us to have increasing confidence in our faith, really increasing confidence in Christ.
50:00: Today in our text, he supplies witnesses that testify that Jesus is the
50:08: Christ and whoever believes that, as we've already read, is born of God and those born of God love the people of God and they keep his commandments.
50:20: They don't find his commandments to be burdensome because by faith they have victory and have overcome the world.
50:31: But today, maybe your life doesn't look or sound as victorious as it's presented in the first half of 1
50:40: John 5. What if you are not loving God with all of your heart and all of your mind and all of your soul and all of your strength as we've prayed?
50:54: What if you do not love your neighbor as yourself? What if your heart is cold here, even though it's been stoked with liturgical elements that should have helped you?
51:06: Maybe your heart is cold here. Your love for God may have grown cold.
51:11: Your love for the brethren may have waned. Keeping his commands for you feels burdensome.
51:22: What do you do in times like this? Subjectively, your faith is not looking so great.
51:33: Your personal testimony is checkered. There's some bad mixed in with the good.
51:42: Brethren, you need better witnesses to assure you of God's love and the certainty of his salvation in Christ.
51:55: We need to hear of the steadfastness of God's love, the provision of Christ.
52:02: We need to hear about the promise of truth and sanctification by his spirit.
52:12: And so today we're going to deal in some objective realities about our cherished faith in Christ.
52:22: For those of you who are taking notes today, each of the verses has a point in which you could build some notes if you are interested in doing that.
52:32: And the first one is found in verse six. It says, Jesus came by water and blood.
52:39: What does that mean? Jesus came by water and blood. Secondly, in verse seven, we're going to hear that there are three that bear witness in heaven, the
52:54: Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. And as a side note, I would put on your notes, in case
53:02: I don't give as much attention to it as I should, salvation is a Trinitarian work, a
53:09: Trinitarian work. Three bear witness in heaven, the Father, the
53:15: Word, and the Holy Spirit. And finally, in verse eight, there are three that bear witness on earth, the spirit, the water, and the blood.
53:30: Jesus came by water and blood, verse six. Three bear witness in heaven, verse seven.
53:36: Three bear witness on earth, verse eight. What does it mean that Jesus came by water and blood in verse six?
53:48: There is a great diversity of opinion about this. There are many views.
53:53: I'm going to give you five of those views. I'm gonna show you what I believe to be the emphasis in verse six and how some of the other views are incorporated into the rest of the body so they're not completely false, if that makes sense.
54:09: The first view is that water and blood refer to the sacraments of baptism and Lord's Supper.
54:16: And I'm excited about that as the meaning of this, but I think that comes later in the section.
54:23: I don't think it's the primary focus of verse six. I believe it to be true, however. The second view is that the water and blood refers to the blood and water that poured out of Jesus' side on the cross.
54:39: Some good merits, some important things happening there at the cross. I don't believe that's primarily what's happening in verse six, a very significant event.
54:51: Third, the water and the blood are reference to Jesus' baptism by John and his atoning death on the cross, his blood.
55:03: The water and the blood tied to Jesus' own baptism and his atoning death on the cross.
55:10: That's what I think verse six is. That's my opinion. The fourth view, water and blood as a reference to natural birth, making the case for his real humanity.
55:23: This is usually panned as insignificant. I believe this is woven into our section as well.
55:31: I don't believe it's the emphasis of verse six, but it's in verses six through eight, at least secondarily.
55:39: And finally, some good internal evidence. Water and blood as a unit here reflect the
55:46: Jewish understanding of the body as composed of water and blood, analogous to John's statement back in chapter four, verse two.
55:57: By this you know the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God.
56:11: I brought this in several months ago, but it probably bears some repeating.
56:17: One of the elements of the false teaching and why it's so harped upon by John about believing that Jesus came in the flesh, there was a pre or early
56:29: Gnosticism that was in vogue. We see it in Paul's letters. There's a good chance that John is writing even to Ephesus.
56:38: We see it in Colossae. We see some elements possibly in Ephesus dealing with this early form of Gnosticism.
56:46: And what it means is this. The body and matter are evil, and the spirit is good.
56:56: And so there were some who could not comprehend, certainly from a Greek background, could not comprehend the notion that the divine could also be human.
57:09: And so one of the perspectives was that Jesus' son of God status, and children, this is an error.
57:17: Parents, make sure you clarify this question comes up later. I'm speaking now of the error. Do not believe this.
57:23: This is the error. That the spirit descended upon Jesus at his baptism, and he's the son of God in that role, and then the spirit leaves him just before his death so that his divinity could not be compromised.
57:42: You lose the gospel if you believe that. Jesus is the son of God and the son of man.
57:51: He doesn't have a force of spirit over him for a period of time to fulfill this role, and then returns to some humanity.
58:00: He is the second person of the Trinity come in the flesh.
58:07: That's why I think the water and blood reference to natural birth is important.
58:14: Jesus broke the waters of Mary when he was born.
58:22: And Jesus lived an entire life as the son of God and the son of man.
58:29: He was a child who was the son of God and the son of man. He was a teenager. He was a younger man who was the son of God and son of man.
58:40: And so this particular issue is very central to John's life and his argumentation.
58:49: Let's go back to John's gospel really quickly. I'm not gonna have you turn to a lot of places.
58:54: I have a lot of the verses down that you don't have to turn there.
59:02: Why is he so emphatic in his gospel to describe
59:08: Jesus as God in the flesh? I think this reason is at least part of it.
59:15: He understood the word to be the divine wisdom of God, and the idea of the
59:20: Greek logos was not lost or hard on the people. What was really hard for the
59:25: Jews and the Greeks and all the unbelievers to believe is that the divine wisdom is incarnate in Christ.
59:37: That's why we have to believe with John that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.
59:43: He's God who's taken on humanity to save his people from their sins.
59:51: Listen to the language of John's gospel, the prologue. In the beginning was the word, the word was with God, and the word was
01:00:04: God. Now you can imagine a
01:00:10: Greek person loving this part, thinking, yes, the divine wisdom. He's with God.
01:00:16: I get it, I'm with John here. All things were made through him, very personal, corporeal almost, right?
01:00:29: He's a person. He's without a body yet. He's incarnate, not incarnate in this description.
01:00:37: He's the creator. And without him, nothing was made that was made.
01:00:43: The man, the baby that broke Mary's waters who comes by water and blood is the creator of the universe.
01:00:55: This is what John is saying. In him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light shines in the darkness.
01:01:08: The darkness does not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God whose name was
01:01:15: John. John's very important in our text here today. This man came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all through him might believe.
01:01:26: He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light, which gives light to every man coming into the world.
01:01:37: Now I want you to pay close attention again. Jesus is the light of the world. He is the great
01:01:43: I am. He comes to the world. Verse 10, he was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him.
01:01:55: He came to his own, and his own did not receive him, but as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God.
01:02:07: Remember our text, born of God, children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
01:02:23: And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
01:02:32: Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of him and cried out, saying, this was he of whom
01:02:40: I said, he who comes after me is preferred before me, for he was before me.
01:02:48: And of his fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
01:03:00: No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten son who is in the bosom of the
01:03:06: Father, he has declared him. John wants to silence the false teachers because they're preaching a different Christ and therefore a different gospel.
01:03:20: This crazy notion is even a little bit in our time today. There are people who kind of almost believe this in the church, that the spirit comes upon Jesus at his baptism and that's kind of when he becomes the son of God.
01:03:35: And then I hope they don't believe the other part of that divine essence departing just before the crucifixion.
01:03:45: Again, children, that is the error. Now let's turn back to our text. Jesus does not merely appear to be human.
01:04:04: He was truly flesh and blood. Nor was he only
01:04:09: God's son during his baptism and ministry. Jesus, when he was helping his earthly father
01:04:15: Joseph build stuff, he was the son of God and the son of man there too.
01:04:22: As God's son, he did not escape the full range of implications of being human.
01:04:28: He shared the full human experience of living and dying.
01:04:37: Jesus was born, Jesus was baptized, and he was crucified to cleanse us that we might be
01:04:46: God's children. Let's look at our text again.
01:04:56: This is he who came by water and blood, not only by water, but by water and blood.
01:05:09: I believe this is baptism and crucifixion. I guess we'd view here, okay?
01:05:17: Matthew three says this. This is the account of the baptism. I'm gonna read a couple of these of Jesus.
01:05:26: And it's interesting. John's appeal to the witness of Jesus in his baptism is a defense of his divinity and full humanity.
01:05:42: We too must objectively look back to baptism. We too must objectively look back to the cross.
01:05:52: Not feeling very Christ -like today, you might say. Look unto Jesus, look to the cross, look to the one who suffered and died, place all of your trust in him.
01:06:05: You can't put any confidence in yourself. Your emotions fade, your thoughts wane.
01:06:14: Objective realities, Jesus is the Christ. Now here's John's defense,
01:06:20: I believe. This is from Matthew three. When he had been baptized,
01:06:26: Jesus came up immediately from the water. Children, this is very exciting. This is an incredible moment.
01:06:34: The three persons of the Trinity have broken through and they're going to be present and visible and speaking at the baptism of Christ.
01:06:43: There are three witnesses that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, the
01:06:49: Son, and the Spirit. When he had been baptized, Jesus comes up out of the water and behold, the heavens were opened to him.
01:07:00: And he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him.
01:07:07: And suddenly a voice came from heaven saying this, this is my beloved
01:07:13: Son in whom I am well pleased. John was an eye and ear witness to this.
01:07:23: The baptism, he heard the voice, he saw the Spirit descending like the dove, he saw the
01:07:28: Lord, the King of glory in the water. He recognized that the
01:07:33: Father's stamp of approval is on him. He knew Jesus not to be anything but a man and God himself in the flesh.
01:07:43: Without division, John's account of this himself from the first chapter of his gospel.
01:07:54: The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold, the
01:07:59: Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is he of whom
01:08:06: I said, after me comes a man who is preferred before me for he was before me.
01:08:12: I did not know him, but that he should be revealed to Israel therefore
01:08:17: I came baptizing with water. And John bore witness saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and he remained upon him.
01:08:28: I did not know him, but he who sent me, now children, he's referring to the
01:08:33: Father to baptize with water said to me, upon whom you see the
01:08:38: Spirit descending and remaining on him this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.
01:08:46: And I have seen and testified that this is the
01:08:51: Son of God. Psalm 2, seven says,
01:08:57: I will declare the decree. The Lord has said to me, you are my son today.
01:09:07: I have begotten you. Luke chapter three, another account of the baptism.
01:09:14: When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus was also baptized and while he prayed, the heavens were opened and the
01:09:23: Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon him and a voice came from heaven which said, you are my beloved son and you
01:09:34: I am well pleased. Back to our text.
01:09:41: John knows this historic objective reality.
01:09:47: He knows that the descent and alighting and remaining upon Jesus bears witness and testifies.
01:09:56: Look at our text, the last part of verse six. And it is the Spirit who bears witness because the
01:10:02: Spirit is truth. Our catechism says that God is a spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable and his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.
01:10:28: God the Father himself is truth. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.
01:10:35: The Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth. The truth is a character and attribute of God.
01:10:44: God cannot lie. The testimony of the three from heaven is that Jesus is the
01:10:51: Christ. The word made flesh is the Christ. The second person of the
01:10:57: Trinity has come down. He is the Christ. If that weren't enough evidence,
01:11:04: I give you the
01:11:09: Mount of Transfiguration. Guess what? John was there too. James, John, Peter were all at the
01:11:21: Mount of Transfiguration. I'm gonna read this account. I don't need you to turn there. I'm gonna go quickly. Jesus took
01:11:30: Peter, James and John, his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves and he was transfigured before them.
01:11:44: And his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light.
01:11:55: And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him.
01:12:01: And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, let us make here the place of three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.
01:12:16: And while he was speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud saying, this is my beloved son in whom
01:12:28: I am well pleased. Hear him. When the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.
01:12:39: But Jesus came and touched them and said, arise and do not be afraid. And they had lifted up their eyes.
01:12:48: They saw no one but Jesus only. Now, as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them saying, tell the vision to no one until the son of man is risen from the dead.
01:13:02: Three witnesses in heaven, they bear witness of the Christ, the father, the son, and the
01:13:09: Holy Spirit. You can understand how animated John is when these people, these so -called teachers, false teachers though they be, would say that Jesus didn't come in the flesh.
01:13:24: Our text continues. It's the spirit who bears witness because the spirit is truth.
01:13:37: There are three witnesses that bear witness in heaven, the father, the word, and the
01:13:44: Holy Spirit. And these three are one. What a great defense of the
01:13:52: Trinity right there in the scripture. Right there, it's there. Father, the son, and the spirit.
01:14:00: It continues and it says there are three that bear witness on the earth. The spirit has been in every one of the verses.
01:14:09: The spirit is the one who's declared that Jesus is the Christ. The spirit is what caught
01:14:15: John's attention originally in the baptism of the spirit's descent upon him. The spirit is the one who gives us all truth and guides us into all truth.
01:14:26: And here in this testimony on earth, the spirit conveys another witness bearing.
01:14:33: He is here with us. The spirit bears witness even here on earth because Jesus has left the spirit for us.
01:14:44: He says, if you love me, keep my commandments. Does that sound familiar? So our text is riddled with that.
01:14:51: This is from John 14. And I will pray the father and he will give you another helper that he may abide with you forever.
01:15:01: So the spirit can be a witness from heaven and a witness on earth because of his abiding with us, because of the promise of Christ.
01:15:10: The spirit of truth he's described as in John 14, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him for he dwells with you and he dwells in you.
01:15:26: I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. Whoever believes that Jesus is the
01:15:34: Christ is born of God. He's going to send his spirit.
01:15:41: Later it says, when the helper comes whom I shall send to you from the father, the spirit of truth who proceeds from the father, he will testify of me.
01:15:52: For you theology nerds, wow, what a defense of the Eastern position on the filioque controversy.
01:15:59: Says it right there in John 15. I think it should say in the son, but right there on the text, side note.
01:16:07: He will testify of me. And you also will bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning.
01:16:14: And this is what John himself is doing, bearing witness. John 16 says, and when he has come, he will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.
01:16:32: How's your life today? Is it reflective of a pure love of God?
01:16:40: Do you purely love and perfectly love the children of God? Was there any indictment in the praying through the 10 commandments today?
01:16:49: Do you love God? You keep his commandments. Are his commandments now burdensome?
01:17:00: Today, if there be any imperfection in your conduct in life, let there be a perfection in your belief and faith in the witnesses, the testimony of God himself and the three that bear witness on earth.
01:17:18: For as many as are led by the spirit of God, these are the son of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you receive the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out,
01:17:33: Abba, Father. The spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
01:17:44: That answers the question about the witness. Doesn't it? Spirit himself bears witness that we're children of God.
01:17:54: The baptism of Jesus, John points to as definitive proof of divinity because of what he saw and experienced there.
01:18:03: And then there's the blood, the blood of the cross. Don't all of these things speak to Jesus?
01:18:13: The truth, spirit reveals it to us. The waters of baptism, the washing of the word, the cleansing that comes, the outpouring of the spirit typified in baptism.
01:18:25: Isn't that fitting for here as a witness? And what about the blood?
01:18:30: The blood of Christ washes away all of our sins. What about the sacrament of the
01:18:38: Lord's Supper in this connection? So today, if your faith is weak, believe the objective realities.
01:18:49: Jesus is the Christ. He's the son of God. Salvation is found in him alone.
01:18:57: Recall your own baptism whenever that was. The promises of God were given to you in baptism.
01:19:06: And here today, as we do every week, we come to the table and objectively we learn and hear again that Christ died for sinners like us to bind us to him and to one another forever by the spirit of truth, by this
01:19:25: Trinitarian work, the father sending, the son accomplishing, the spirit applying the work of redemption to us.
01:19:37: I'm so glad our faith is built on reality, not our feelings or how it's going.
01:19:47: You may have blown it, but today I urge you to put all of your confidence in Christ.
01:19:54: There's witnesses in heaven. There's witnesses on earth. Amen? Amen. Let's pray together.
01:20:02: Oh Lord, we thank you for the truth. We thank you for the signs and the seals and the substance of these things.
01:20:14: I pray you'd pour your spirit out on us that we would be inculcated in the truth, that our objective believing would be turned into joyful feeling, that when our confidence wanes, we'd have even greater confidence because we turn back again and look to you, to your promises.
01:20:42: We thank you for a stable and sure salvation that cannot be shaken by anything.
01:20:49: Oh Lord, I pray that you would bless these, your people, and I ask this all in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's continue our worship with the presentation of tithes and offerings.
01:21:28: Please stand and let's pray together now. Oh Lord, we thank you for the work you have given us to do.
01:21:37: We pray that we would be good stewards of all that you've entrusted us with. And Lord, we ask that you'd use these gifts and tithes for the advance of your kingdom.
01:21:46: We ask this all in Jesus' name. Amen. We've heard some great things about God in the scriptures.
01:21:53: We've sung about them. We heard about it in the preaching. Let us reflexively give the glory back to him by singing now the
01:22:01: Gloria Patri. Let us begin. Give thanks to the
01:22:49: Lord. It is good and right so to do. It is right and a good and joyful thing that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to you, oh
01:23:00: Holy Lord, Father, almighty, everlasting God. Because you sent your beloved son to redeem us from sin and death and to make us heirs in him of everlasting life, that when he shall come again in power and great triumph to judge the world, we may without shame or fear rejoice to behold his appearing.
01:23:24: Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, we praise and magnify your glorious name evermore praising you and singing.
01:24:54: Please be seated. Oh Lord, we thank you for the creatures of bread and wine.
01:25:03: We thank you that you communicate to us Christ and all his benefits, his sinless life, his atoning death.
01:25:15: Oh Lord, we pray that your people, your church would be nourished herein.
01:25:23: That we would be strengthened in our faith to believe, to walk in your ways, to again be zealous for your holy name.
01:25:35: Oh Lord, we pray that the sacraments would be effective for us today and produce a good work.
01:25:41: And we ask this in Jesus' name, amen. Our Lord Jesus, on the night in which he was betrayed, took bread.
01:25:51: We had given thanks, he blessed and broke it and gave it to his disciples saying, take, eat, this is my body.
01:26:00: Likewise, he took the cup after supper saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood.
01:26:07: Drink from it, all of you, he said. This is, therefore we proclaim the faith.
01:26:18: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. Let us approach the table now with humility and that transforms into expectancy and confidence, both elements.
01:26:39: A humility that becomes confident because of the promises of God, amen? Let's pray together.
01:26:46: We do not presume to come to this your table, oh merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness but in your manifold and great mercies.
01:26:57: We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table, but you are the same
01:27:04: Lord who always shows mercy. Grant us, therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of your dear son,
01:27:12: Jesus Christ, and to drink of his blood that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body and our souls washed through his most precious blood and that we may evermore dwell in him and he in us, amen.
01:27:30: Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feasts, the gifts of God for you, the people of God.
01:27:40: Thanks be to the Lord. Of faith.
01:28:35: In love.
01:30:34: In love. In faith.
01:38:06: Let us now make this commitment together in faith. Amen. Almighty and ever -living
01:38:14: God, we thank you for feeding us with the spiritual food of the most precious body and blood of your
01:38:22: Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, and for assuring us in these holy mysteries that we are living members of the body of your
01:38:32: Son and heirs of your eternal kingdom. And oh Lord, grant us this other benefit that you will never allow us to forget these things, but having them imprinted on our hearts, may we grow and increase daily in the faith to have a work in every good deed.
01:38:51: 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
01:39:00: Lord. To him, to you, and to the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory now and forever.
01:39:07: Amen. Please stand. Praise God.
01:39:56: The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and grant you peace.