Ascension Presbyterian Lord's Day Worship

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Good morning, everyone. We have a good, full crowd, and we're glad to be here.
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I was glad when they said we were going to the House of the Lord. Let us take a few minutes to prepare our hearts for worship this morning.
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Good morning, my brothers and sisters in Christ. Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and the
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Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome to the corporate worship of our God. Please stand and hear
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God call you to worship through his word. The Lord reigns.
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Let the peoples tremble. He dwells between the cherubim. Let the earth be moved.
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The Lord is great in Zion, and he is high above all the peoples. Let them praise your great and awesome name.
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He is holy. The king's strength also loves justice. You have established equity.
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You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt the Lord our
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God and worship at his footstool. He is holy. Moses and Aaron were among his priests, and Samuel was among those who called upon his name.
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And they called upon the Lord, and he answered them. He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar.
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They kept his testimonies and the ordinance he gave them. You answered them,
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O Lord our God, and you were to them God who forgives.
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Though you took vengeance on their deeds, exalt the Lord our
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God and worship at his holy hill. For the Lord our God is holy.
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Let us pray. O Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.
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You made the heavens and earth by your great power and your outstretched arm.
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Your invisible attributes, your eternal power and divine nature are clearly seen through what you have made.
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The heavens declare your glory. We praise you for your providence.
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You are the governor and sustainer of all things. In you all things hold together. In you we live and move and have our being.
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You give to all life and breath and all things. You work all things after the counsel of your own will.
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You have numbered even the very hairs upon our heads. Not even a sparrow falls from a tree apart from your will.
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We praise you, our God, for your great works of creation and providence.
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Above all, we praise you for redemption. There is no other God besides you.
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No other savior, no other rock to whom the ends of the earth may turn and be saved.
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We rejoice that you so love the world that you gave your only begotten son, the
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Lord Jesus Christ, to be the savior of the world. You gave your spirit to abide with us and in us and teach us all things.
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May we have fellowship with you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We ask in the name of our
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Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Please kneel as you are able for the corporate confession of sin.
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Let us join together in confessing our sins. Almighty and most merciful
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Father, we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts.
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We have offended against your holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done.
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We have done those things which we ought not to have done. And there is no help in us.
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O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Scare those,
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O God, who confess their faults. Restore those who are penitent. According to your promises declared unto mankind,
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Christ Jesus our Lord. Grant that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous and sober life.
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To the glory of his holy name. Amen. Please stand. We have just read that according to the promises declared unto mankind, we who are children of the new covenant, the covenant that is established on better promises, have a mediator, a better mediator than that of the old covenant that we have just turned to, to appeal to the
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Lord on our behalf, the Father on our behalf. Receive this assurance of pardon.
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He himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness.
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By whose stripes you are healed. My brothers and sisters in Christ, rejoice!
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Your sins are forgiven. Amen. Please take up the
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Trinity hymnal and open to hymn number two. O worship the King.
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Hymn number two. Peace and true love.
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Please take up the insert and look for Psalm 58.
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Psalm 58. Gods, do you really speak with righteousness?
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Psalm 58. We'll be singing this to the tune of Abide With Me. So brother, any instruction, encouragement?
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It will be, right? God, do you really speak with righteousness?
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Do you love untold people?
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Your sins they justly have you judged.
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Amen. Please remain standing and open your Bibles to Revelation chapter 10 for the public reading of the word.
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This is the word of God. I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud, and the rainbow was upon his head.
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And his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. And he had in his hand a little book which was open.
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And he placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land. And he cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars.
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And when he cried out, the seven peals of thunder uttered their voices. When the seven peals of thunder had spoken,
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I was about to write, and I heard a voice from heaven saying, Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken, and do not write them.
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Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven, and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there will be delay no longer.
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But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as he preached to his servants the prophets.
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Then the voice which I heard from heaven I heard again speaking with me, saying, Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land.
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So I went to the angel, telling him to give me that little book. And he said to me, Take it, and eat it.
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It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey. I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey, and when
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I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. And they said to me, You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.
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This is the word of God. Let us join our voices together now and confess our common
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Christian faith in the singing of the Apostles' Creed. His only begotten
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Son was conceived by the Holy Spirit, was crucified, he descended into hell.
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The third day he rose again, ascended into heaven.
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I believe in the
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Holy Spirit. I believe the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of...
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Please take up the hymnal once more and open up to hymn number 100. Holy, Holy, Holy.
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Hymn 100. Holy, Holy, Holy.
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Holy, Holy, Holy.
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Amen. Amen. Please make preparations for the prayers of the people.
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And seeing the multitudes, Jesus went up on a mountain, and when he was seated, his disciples came to him.
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Then he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
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Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
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Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.
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Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see
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God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
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Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
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Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
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Finding ourselves in agreement with all these things, we join our voices together and say, Amen. Amen. Please stand and take up, for the last time, our
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Psalm of the month. It's been our companion here throughout January.
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With all my heart, my thanks I'll bring. Psalm 138. Amen. Please turn in your
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Bibles to the book of James, in chapter 4. Before I read the text,
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I wanted to thank you for your prayers and support as I traveled to Ohio over the last several days, and attended the funeral of a friend of mine who was a minister and his two children.
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And there's a lot of hard things in relationship to not just the death, but the relationship between him and the
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CPC and other things. And it was a good time, and pray for a continued reconciliation, and that we'd be able to minister to the family in the future, and that relationships that are hard in town there would also, there'd be reconciliation there.
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I really thank you for your prayers and support in that. James, chapter 4.
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I'm going to begin reading in verse 1. Where do wars and fights come from among you?
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Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?
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You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain.
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You fight and war, yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss that you may spend it on your pleasures.
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Adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?
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Whoever, therefore, wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that as the
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Scripture says in vain, the spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously, but he gives more grace?
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Therefore, he says, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
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Therefore, submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
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Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double -minded. Lament and mourn and weep.
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Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the
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Lord, and he will lift you up. And now our text for today. Do not speak evil of one another, brethren.
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He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law.
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But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy.
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Who are you to judge another? This is
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God's holy and infallible word. Please pray with me now. Oh Lord, we are a people of unclean lips.
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We run our mouths improperly. We talk too much. Lord, we condemn with our words those for whom you have died, and we seek to take the place of you as the righteous judge.
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Oh Lord, I pray that you would bring conviction upon us that would lead to repentance and greater faithfulness and joy and thanksgiving as a result.
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And we ask this all in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated.
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I'm also happy to report that my grandson, Callan, is here today for his first worship service.
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I'm so happy to see Jacob and Veda and Callan. What a great blessing to have you here today.
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Who are you to judge another? Today the message really hinges on verse 11, the command that's given there.
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Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. James has already, it seems exhaustively so, talked about the tongue and bridling it and the dangers of misusing it.
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Here he continues another illustration, another example about how the people of God can misuse their words in such a way to do harm to other real brethren.
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And if you ever have spent any time on the internet or gone to a conference or gathered around with a group of Christians, we speak evil of one another regularly.
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We speak evil of those for whom Christ has died and we need to repent and to stop doing that.
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So today there are two kind of sections that I'd like us to consider. First, the command and the implications of it.
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Do not speak evil of one another. And second, the consequences that would happen if we violate it.
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Let's look at verse 11 again. Do not speak evil.
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The word that is most commonly associated with this term for us is probably slander.
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And to slander is to defame, to injure by maliciously uttering a false report, but it also entails uttering a true report that goes outside the definition of what we think of as slander, but that could be evil speaking, if that makes sense.
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We can tarnish or impair the reputation of another by false tales or true tales maliciously told or propagated.
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To speak evil is to speak against, to backbite, to speak down in a hostile deriding way, to mock, and even as we prayed, to revile.
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It is a malice of speech that's directed against one's neighbor.
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And positively, as was prayed in our prayers of the people, when Christ was reviled, he did not revile in return.
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Why do we speak evil of one another? Why is this true for us who have tasted and seen that the
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Lord is good, that they have been the recipients and beneficiaries of his grace and mercy?
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Christ does not speak evil of us. The Father and the Spirit do not speak evil of us because we have been united to Christ in faith and we have been washed.
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The righteous judge doesn't speak evil of his people. Why do his people speak evil of his people?
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There's another element to this I'd like you to consider. There are two sections.
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Lord willing, next week we'll consider the section that begins in verse 13. And both of these still deal with the tongue.
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This is a condemnation in our section, in verses 11 and 12.
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But in verse 13 there's also the boasting. So we see these are two sides of a similar problem and has been the case in James.
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What we realize is our speaking evil of another is rooted in our pride.
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When I can point out your deficiencies, I can elevate my superiority.
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You could say you're doing it because of orthodoxy, but in reality you're probably not doing it for that reason.
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You're probably doing it because of your pride. We are, particularly people who care about the culture and the things, we are grieved by the sins of the world.
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In fact, we hate the sins of our wives and our husbands and our children and our extended family.
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We hate our sin. Excuse me, we hate their sins. But the real question for us is, and this is really at the heart of a true revival of religion in a person's life and heart and in a church and a denomination and a region and the nation and the world, is do we hate our sin?
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We hate the homosexuality. We hate the transgenderism. We don't hate the pride in us.
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We can tell you all the things that are wrong out there, but we don't look inwardly and say, what's wrong in here?
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Let's build the kingdom of God, we might say, but can we build the kingdom of God without addressing that resident problem within?
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The Christian needs to speak the truth about sin, and this is not to say that we can never say that a person is doing something wrong, but I fear too often our speaking evil is filled with malice.
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There's another element that I'd like us to consider here, and one of the things that's hard about this particular section is it doesn't seem to be properly tied, as it has been recently with other parts of the immediate preceding context, upon first glance.
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But it does have to ask the question, if God resists the proud, and speaking evil of one another is a symbol and sign of pride, then it follows that in order to not be one who is resisted by God as proud, we cannot speak evil of one another, so I see a very strong connection, ultimately, to the previous context.
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If the devil is the diabolical one, the slanderer, it would follow, and it would seem, that in order for me to resist the devil,
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I would not need to follow his ways. If I speak evil of the brethren,
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I am acting like the great slanderer himself. There's a qualification list for elders and deacons in 1
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Timothy 3. I don't want you to turn there. Under the list of the diaconate requirements is something along these lines.
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It says, and of course, because the lesser office includes this, this would be true of the office of the elder as well.
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It says, 1 Timothy 3, 11, Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things.
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In Proverbs 6, there are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him.
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A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren.
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Three of the seven abominations in the sight of God are speaking evil.
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This should cause us to be very cautious with our words. You might say,
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I can speak evil of the pagans. You can't really even speak evil of them because they are made in the image of God.
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They may be numbered among the elect for whom Christ has died. You can't even speak evil of them.
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O Lord, bridle the tongues of us, your people, who run our mouths and deride and tear down and destroy with our lips.
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O Lord, humble us in your sight and do not allow us to speak evil.
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There's another element to this that's important. The next level of discussion here, it says he who, this is the second half of verse 11, he who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law.
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To judge is to come to a decision, to separate.
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But here this isn't necessarily just dealing with right and wrong. This is judging someone in such a way to subject them to censure.
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Those Armenians, they don't know the gospel. Those Armenians may have their doctrine of soteriology wrong, but if they're trusting the
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Lord Jesus Christ, can't speak evil of them. This applies across all of the different disciplines that we consider important.
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To be a judge in this case is to be those who act the part of arbiters and pass judgment on the deeds and words of others.
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This is the judging of motives. We see someone do something, we say that guy is always doing this, he's that way.
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We don't know that that man has not repented. And that was part of his former conduct.
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We are those in our judgment who judge severely and unfairly, finding fault with this or that in others.
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And of course this language in our section, the grammar and the tenses, the moods, all the things that contribute to this.
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This is equivalent in this idea of judging to condemning.
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So to speak evil of a brother is to condemn him. It is to sit in judgment over him.
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In doing this, James says that we are actually speaking evil of the law.
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And I believe the original audience, like us, and them more so, they highly esteem the law of God.
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In order to pass judgment on our brother, to condemn him, we in fact are speaking evil of God's holy law.
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And we are sitting in judgment of the law. Do we do that?
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The law sits in judgment over us. It's God's codified instrument to say this is right and this is wrong.
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And James says when we go outside of that, we become usurpers of the authority of God.
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We're going to be resisted because that is a proud and haughty man and woman and child who sits in judgment of the law of God and speaks evil and judges his neighbor.
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Ecclesiastes 7 says a good name is better than precious ointment.
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Proverbs 22 says a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches and favor is better than silver or gold.
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To bear false witness is a violation of the ninth commandment. And we think this is just merely lying in court.
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If we pronounce condemnation upon a man or woman or child who's redeemed in Christ, we are violating the ninth commandment.
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Thomas Watson says so eloquently, the scorpion carries his poison in his tail.
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The slanderer carries his poison in his tongue. Paul, the apostle was even slandered.
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They said men might do evil that God may make some good come out of it.
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Let us do evil that good may come, they said. It was slanderously reported that Paul was teaching this.
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He wasn't. Christ, the most holy one, was called a glutton and a drunkard.
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John the Baptist, a holy man, was said of him that he had a demon.
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To speak evil is to strike wounding blows with the tongue.
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To harm our brother, our sister in Christ, to sit in judgment of them.
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When I speak evil of a brother, I lie about God's grace in their life.
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I also deny that God is sanctifying them now or could in the future.
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Why do we discard people? How many preachers have you thrown away?
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John Piper discarded now. Why do older preachers get liberal?
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I don't know. They do. John Piper really loves Jesus. He's got errors.
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We can't discard John Piper. We tear down people.
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We dismiss people. We diminish people. We despise people. We look down upon them.
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We think so highly of ourselves. And as has already been mentioned, under the guise of defending
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Orthodox doctrine, we wound those for whom Christ has died.
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Truth telling is magnified. If I see my brother sinning,
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I have a lot of remedies to help him. I can go to my brother, according to Matthew 18, particularly if I have been sinned against.
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I can come to him with the idea of Galatians 6, to bear his burden and fulfill the law of Christ.
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I can take Paul's example from Ephesians and put away all evil speaking and let all bitterness, wrath, and anger to be put away from us with all malice.
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Why do we pronounce judgment? Why do we subject our brother to censure?
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Why do we pass judgment on the holy, righteous law of God?
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As I've said many times in our study in James, that there is a close connection to James' teaching and the
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Sermon on the Mount. I'm not going to have you turn many times. I'm going to ask you now to turn to Matthew 7. I remember 20 plus years ago now that the most popular
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Bible verse in the culture had been supplanted,
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John 3 .16. And the verse that replaced it was
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Matthew 7 .1. And only 7 .1. No context, no other verses.
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You're not allowed to judge. It's not what it teaches. We are to judge righteously.
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But in our judgment, we're seeking the glory of God, the purity and peace and unity of His church, and the good of our brother.
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None of it entails us dragging them through the mud.
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None of this entails us disparaging them. All of it is for their good.
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We come to them, we confront them, we deal with them. Maybe we, as those who love, we cover their sins, the multitude of their sins, with our love for them.
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See if you can see a connection between Matthew 7 and our text.
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Judge not that you be not judged.
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For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged.
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And with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
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That's a little frightening. If I'm a reviler, covenantally
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I've invited reviling into my life. If I have a critical spirit against my brother or sister,
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I am inviting the critical nature of sinful man into my life.
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We reap what we sow. And now the critical part.
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My brother doesn't have his doctrine or there are things that I like and care about that he doesn't have.
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And so I speak derisively of him. Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?
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Or how can you say to your brother, let me remove the speck from your eye and look a plank is in your own eye.
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This passage speaks to the world in which I live. I can see the speck in my brother's eye and there's a plank sticking out of mine.
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Is that true for you? These things ought not to be.
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And today we are being warned by the Lord and we've been confronted with this. We have to amend our behavior.
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This is fresh to us now. Verse five, it says hypocrite.
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First, remove the plank from your own eye. And you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
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Augustine has said the wounds of the tongue, no physician can heal.
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One time I was asked to preach very early days of me being called into ministry.
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My brother -in -law was ill or something was somewhat short notice and I had to preach day of no previous notice.
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There was a guy there as a visitor. He wasn't the best guy. He was a little bit of a troublemaker and he told me to not quit my day job.
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Now, I don't have the gifts that other men have, but I believe the Lord called me to preach.
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That stung for a young preacher in his 20s trying to be a faithful servant.
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How many times have we done that? Offhanded remarks. Little digs, little jabs.
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It's so cowardly. And what we also do is we're passive aggressive to them in person.
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We don't really say what we think about them, but we talk bad about them behind their backs and slander their good name.
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Three of the great abominations, the things that the Lord hates. This is something that the church now has to look at.
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I don't think you're any worse. You're probably better than the average church, but I think this is a real issue for the time in which we live.
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We speak evil of one another and it's easy. I think we kind of in our flesh,
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I think we like it. It's fun to run some people down who aren't like us.
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It makes us feel good. It's all selfish and it's all. Very unsavory.
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Turn back to James now. David in Psalm 140.
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Was crying out to God for deliverance from wicked men.
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And this language comes up in the words of Jesus and also John the Baptist. And Paul.
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They sharpen their tongues like a serpent. And the poison of Asps is under their lips.
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Think about that great serpent in the garden. What was his weapon? What was the warfare?
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Words. Ecclesiastes 10 says the words of a wise man and wise man's mouth are gracious.
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But the lips of the fool shall swallow him up. Those who are thinking of Allah righteousness and rejecting grace and the salvation that is in Christ alone.
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Paul says their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have practiced deceit.
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The poison of Asps is under. Their lips.
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He who speaks evil of a brother. And judges a brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law.
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But if you judge the law, you see the cruel irony here.
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We do not judge the law. The law judges us. You are not a doer of the law, but a judge.
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You have circumvented the holy process. You have made yourself the judge.
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You are not a law keeper. You are not upholding the royal law of love of James chapter 2.
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You're not loving your neighbor as yourself in order to fulfill the royal law according to scripture.
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You're being prideful. Self -interested. When you violate this principle of scripture.
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Now verse 12. The commandment has some very terrifying consequences.
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There is chastening and correction for those who violate this principle.
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I pray the Lord will enable us to stop speaking against the brethren and other genuine
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Christians. That we would have true unity in Christ. It says there is one law giver.
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Jesus Christ is the law giver. And the sermon on the mount is the amplification of the ten commandments.
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There is a external way to obey the ten commandments. A conformity from without that looks righteous.
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And Jesus shatters that notion. And the sermon on the mount says these are matters deep within the hearts of the people.
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In order to obey the law, I can't have the outward performance. I have to have the inward reality.
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The substance of it. Thankfully, James 4, 6 is still in play.
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He gives more grace. There's a law giver.
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His name is Christ. And the law giver has amplified and expounded upon the word of God to give us the full understanding of what the law is.
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He alone is the one who is able to save and to destroy. He's the one who sits in condemnation.
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He's the one who strikes the gavel. Who are you to judge another?
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Well, it's not all bad news. There's some good news. The law giver, the law expounder, the law teacher is also the law keeper.
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This sounds like your study this morning. A bit. And if I in faith have been united to Christ, I have been reconciled to the law.
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I have been reconciled to God's holiness. On the cross, justice and mercy have kissed.
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And it has fallen in sweet places to you who know Christ. I think that's why
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James is so adamant. How could we go back against that? He has kept the law in our stead.
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We have been vitally united to him. We are alive in him. We have the punishments and penalties of the law have been removed because of the grace of God in Christ.
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I'm so glad he's the righteous judge and we are not. How could you judge another?
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Brethren, James has been very concerned that we have a genuine
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Christian faith, a faith that because it is so pure and true in its singular devotion and trust in Christ, it of necessity and by implication manifests itself in living a certain way.
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You and I today have to stop speaking evil of one another.
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We still need to cry out against sin in ourselves and in the church, but we cannot condemn those for whom
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Christ has died. I've talked about this many times and I'm in my old age.
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I'm getting known for being gentle. I have not always been gentle.
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And I can tell you with great certainty if you come against my bride or my children,
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I will probably respond with great ferocity toward you.
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How much more so the righteous indignation of Christ would respond to those who speak treacherously and condemning of his bride and his children.
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That's why it's so nonsensical for James that we could participate in such a thing.
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It goes against our very new nature in him. I wanted to I've told my children this a number of times.
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There are a lot of things that we focus on and care about.
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My friend is a very ambitious man. Very vision, mission oriented guy.
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He had a lot of plans. He's doing ministry in Honduras and ministry in Myanmar and feeding homeless people and witnessing.
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He made a lot of plans. Last Sunday he preached the word and led his church in worship.
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He went to bed on Monday night and woke up to his house on fire.
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He started getting his wife and his kids out and he ran upstairs to get the last two boys out and they didn't make it out.
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He didn't make it out. We need to cut through.
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All of it distracts us. There's one pressing and urgent need of the moment.
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The most important thing in the world is that you be united to Christ. Everything else is a far second.
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Today the only thing that matters for the Robinettes is that they know Christ. On the day of your death the only thing that will matter are you united to Christ.
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Everyone here I know I suspect believe you're Christians but this is the most important thing.
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This is the chief business of our lives because if the day of our death is to be sweeter than the day of our birth we have to know
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Christ. And since we know Christ and we've professed our devotion and love for Him and we're going to be united to Him again in this very tangible way in the sacrament it follows that we ought to live as those who are united to Christ.
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Not taking stock in our performance but drawing from the great love with which
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He has loved us and saved us. Brethren we're supposed to be known for our love.
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I wonder if some of the impotency of the gospel in our time is the culture doesn't say like they did and ask oh look how they love one another.
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They see us and they say oh look how they hate one another.
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Repentance is required for me and you and our church and every church. We need to continue to fight and to strive to have pure doctrine but we can't ever condemn those for whom
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Christ has died. Amen. Let's pray together. Oh Lord we we confess and I pray that you will bring to remembrance the ways in which we do this.
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We sit in judgment. We're so haughty. We're so idolatrous. We think so highly of ourselves.
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Oh God help us now to repent of speaking evil of your precious ones.
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Help us to see the the hubris the delusion that we would be sitting in judgment and usurping the ruling of our great judge the one and only lawgiver.
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Oh Lord Jesus I thank you that you've you've accepted us we who are slanderers and backbiters who sit in judgment of those whom we ought not and Lord you because of your great love and mercy and grace you have saved even us.
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Pray that you would draw out the source of venom in us that we might show the love and honor that is due your name by loving and serving our brethren.
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Lord we thank you that you have reconciled us to yourself and I pray that our time and communion will be sweeter today when we consider this great work you've done.
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We ask this in Jesus name. Let us continue our worship through the presentation of our tithes and offerings.
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Please stand and let us pray. Our gracious God and Father who has given us so much who has showered his blessings upon us like rain our cup truly runs over.
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We find that you've not only met all of our needs but many of our desires and wants as well when they conform to your will.
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And we are pleased Father that as part of your worship you have set apart a time where we may out of the bounty which you have given us may return a portion of that to the work of the local congregation and the ministry of the church.
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We pray Father that as we have been freely given to that we have freely given we pray
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Lord that these funds would be used to support this congregation and its ministry here in Longwood.
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We pray Father that you would give us the grace to continue this practice. In the name of Christ Jesus our Lord we pray.
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Amen. Let us glorify our great God by the singing of the glory of God. Glory be to the
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Father and to the Son as it was in the world.
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The Lord be with you. Also with you. Lift up your hearts. We lift them up to the
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Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord. It is right and a good and joyful thing that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to you
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O Holy Lord, Father Almighty, Everlasting God because you sent your beloved
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Son to redeem us from sin and death and to make us heirs in him of everlasting life that when he shall come again in power and great triumph to judge the world we may without shame or fear rejoice to behold his appearing.
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Therefore, with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we praise and magnify your glorious name evermore praising you and singing.
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Amen. Please be seated and let us pray.
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Almighty God you are the creator and Lord of all things you are the sovereign majesty whom we have offended you are our most loving and merciful
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Father who has given your Son to reconcile us to yourself who has ratified the
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New Testament and covenant of grace with his most precious blood and has instituted this holy sacrament to be celebrated in remembrance of him till his coming.
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Sanctify these your creatures of bread and wine which according to your institution and command we set apart to this holy use that they may be sacramentally the body and blood of the
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Son Jesus Christ. Amen. And the night in which our
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Lord was betrayed he took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them saying take eat this is my body which is broken for you.
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Likewise after supper he took the cup 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 as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the
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Lord's death until he comes. Therefore we proclaim the faith. Let us pray together.
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We do not presume to come to this your table O merciful
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Lord trusting in our own righteousness but in your manifold and great mercies we are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table but you are the same
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Lord who always shows mercy. Grant us therefore gracious Lord so to eat the flesh of your dear son
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Jesus Christ and the drink of his blood that our sinful bodies be made clean by his body and our souls washed through his most precious blood that we may evermore dwell in him and he in us.
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Amen. Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us the gifts of God for the people of God.
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Let us make this commitment together. Almighty and ever living
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God we thank you for feeding us with the spiritual food of the most precious body and blood of your son our savior
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Jesus Christ and for assuring us in these holy mysteries that we are living members of the body of your 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 the faith that is at work 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 the honor and glory now and forever.
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Amen. Please stand. Praise God. Blessings flow.
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Praise him all creatures here below. Praise him all heavenly and Receive the blessing of the
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Lord the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.