Ascension Presbyterian Lord's Day Worship

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All right, let's take a couple of moments and prepare our hearts for worship, please.
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Couple of practical considerations. Everyone will need a bulletin. If you don't have one, please raise your hand that we might get one of those to you.
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Also, you'll need a red trinity hymnal, so if you need one, please raise your hand and we'll get one to you.
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Many of you have come today thinking about a summer, spring -type feast, but we have before that time a spiritual feast to enjoy, so let's prepare our hearts now.
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O Lord, we come to you with thanksgiving that we could have friends and fellowship, but we rejoice most especially that we have fellowship with you.
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I pray that you would prepare the hearts of these, your people, for worship and ask all of this in Jesus' name, amen.
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Please stand. Brethren, you have come to Mount Zion and the city of the living
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God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
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O come now, let us worship him. Please pray with me. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we joyfully, with great thanksgiving, heed your call and come into your presence to worship, to adore, to bow down, to rejoice in you.
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We pray that our worship would be pleasing in your sight and we have great confidence because we have a savior, a mediator, who is
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Christ the Lord, and in this we rejoice. O Father, Son, Holy Spirit, be glorified in this time, and we ask that you would build up and strengthen your people, the church, and we ask this in Jesus' name, amen.
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Our liturgy has a little bit of elements of participation you may not be accustomed to.
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We have now the confession of sin and our congregation does that from the kneeling position.
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There are kneelers in front of you. Please kneel for the confession of sin as you are able.
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Let us join together with one voice in confessing our sins. Jesus, forgive my sins.
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Forgive the sins that I remember, the sins I have forgotten. Forgive my many failures in the face of temptation, and those times when
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I have been stubborn in the face of correction. Forgive the times I have been proud of my own achievements, and those when
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I have failed to boast in your works. Forgive the harsh judgments I have made of others, and the leniency
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I have shown myself. Forgive the lies I have told to others, and the truths
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I have avoided. Forgive me the pain I have caused others, and the indulgence
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I have shown myself. Jesus, have mercy on me and make me whole, amen.
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Please stand. It is a sobering thing to come into the presence of a holy
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God, but we have confessed our sins and now we receive an assurance of pardon.
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He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.
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For if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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O people of God, take heart today. If you be in Christ, your sins are forgiven, amen?
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Amen. Please take up the hymnal and turn to number 235.
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All glory, laud, and honor. We'll be singing a cappella. All glory, laud, and honor.
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Let's begin. Do the tune of C4.
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Praise him, my Peter. For the reading of the word from the book of Revelation in chapter 17.
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Revelation chapter 17. Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me,
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Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on the many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with her wine of fornication.
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So he carried me away to the spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, which was full of names, of blasphemies, having seven heads and ten horns.
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The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, and the filthiness of her fornication.
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And on her forehead was the name, a name was written, Mystery Babylon, the great mother of harlots and of the abomination of the earth.
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I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, and when
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I saw her I marveled with a great amazement. But the angel said to me, Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.
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The beast that you saw was and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition.
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And those who dwell on earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the earth.
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When they see the beast that was and is not, and yet is, here is the mind which has wisdom, the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.
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There are also seven kings, five have fallen, one is, and the other has yet not come.
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And when he comes he must continue a short time. The beast that was and is not is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going into perdition.
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The ten horns which you saw are the ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast.
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These are of one mind, and they will give the power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the lamb, and the lamb will overcome them, for he is lord of lords and king of kings, and those who are with him are called chosen and faithful.
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Then he said to me, the waters which you saw where the harlot sits are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.
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And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
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For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill his purpose, to be of one mind and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the word of God are fulfilled.
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And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth. This is the word of the
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Lord. Thanks be to God. Let us confess our most ancient and apostolic faith in the singing of the
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Apostles' Creed. Let us begin. I believe in God the
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Father, almighty, great.
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Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the
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Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified dead, and he descended into hell.
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He rose again from the dead, and he ascended into heaven.
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I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe the
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Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body.
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I give honor to his name in the singing of Fairest Lord Jesus, number 170.
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Let us begin. Thank you, brother, for fixing that for us.
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It reads like a book. So just start on page one and proceed like a book to the back of the page.
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I bind unto myself today St. Patrick's Press Play. Let us begin.
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Please kneel as you are able for the prayers of the people. After this manner, therefore, pray ye.
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Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
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Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.
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Amen. Pray that we may glorify God in all that we do as we live and work in the creation that displays his power.
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And be pleased to dispose all things to his own glory. Pray that Satan's kingdom may be destroyed and the kingdom of grace advanced.
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Ourselves and others brought into it and kept in it, and the kingdom of glory hastened.
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Lord, hear our prayer.
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Pray that God, for Christ's sake, would freely pardon all our sins.
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And we are encouraged to ask this because, by his grace, we are able from the heart to forgive others.
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Lord, hear our prayer. And I pray,
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Lord, that we would see the mercy that you have extended to us so that we might extend mercy to others.
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Especially those who are closest to us, our husbands and wives, fathers to their children, children to their parents, fellow church members, members of our neighborhood and our families.
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We pray, God, that you have mercy and that in this way we would have mercy. In Jesus' name we pray.
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Pray that God would either keep us from being tempted to sin or support and deliver us when we are tempted.
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Lord, hear our prayers. Our Father, taking encouragement and prayer from you alone, in our prayers we praise you, ascribing kingdom, power, and glory to you.
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And to testify of our desire and assurance to be heard, we say together, Amen.
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Please stand and take up the insert once more. This time find the side that says
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Psalm 51. Psalm 51 is the March Psalm of the month.
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Let us sing it heartily unto the Lord. Please take up your
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Bibles and turn to the book of Genesis in chapter 15.
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I'm going to read the first six verses of Genesis 15. Brethren, this is
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God's holy and infallible word. After these things the word of the
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Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, Do not be afraid,
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Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.
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But Abram said, Lord God, what will you give me, seeing I go childless and the heir of my house is
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Eleazar of Damascus? Then Abram said, Look, you have given me no offspring.
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Indeed, one born in my house is my heir. And behold, the word of the
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Lord came to him, saying, This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.
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Then he brought him outside and said, Look now toward heaven and count the stars if you are able to number them.
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And he said to him, So shall your descendants be. And he believed in the
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Lord and he accounted it to him for righteousness. May the
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Lord be pleased with our study of his holy word. Please pray with me now. Lord, nothing rivals communion with you.
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We were created for this very purpose. You have redeemed us for this end glorification.
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All the glories of heaven will be the perfect realization that we have communion with God.
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Communion with you by virtue of our union with Christ. Impress this simple yet almost fathomless depth of significance of what it means to be in communion with God.
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And we ask this in Jesus name. Amen. Please be seated. The title of the message today is communion with God.
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That phrase is going to be uttered dozens of times within the message.
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So I hope if if one thing stays with you today, it will be this notion of communion with God.
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Today, I would like to answer four questions. This will form the structure of my message and this will help you as we're going along.
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First, what is communion with God? What is communion with God?
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Second, how is communion with God broken? How is communion with God broken?
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Third, how and by whom is communion with God restored?
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And finally, what is required from you? What is communion with God?
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The preeminent English speaking and writing theologian has to be John Owen.
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And he gives us a very helpful, workable definition that will help us consider the subject of communion with God.
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Owen says our communion with God consisted in his communication of himself.
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Unto us with our returnal unto him of that which he requireth and accepted.
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Flowing from that union, which in Jesus Christ we have in him.
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Communion with God is God giving himself to his people.
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This is only accomplished by virtue of our union with the
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Lord Jesus Christ. If there be no union with the Lord Jesus Christ, there can be no communion with God.
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The basis and foundation of communion with God is this union with Christ.
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By God's grace, believers have been united unto him.
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Married to him who is the lover of your soul. He is your covenant king.
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As in all unions, there are mutual, there is a mutual communication.
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God gives himself to his people and they give themselves to him.
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He accepts our love, trust and obedience and faithfulness.
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These are pleasing in his sight. In this most glorious of all unions, this where our maker is our husband.
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He looks for and longs for the returns of love.
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I want you to look at the text that we started with today. This is an unusual message for me and that is more of a topical message, not an exposition.
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I want you to see something and it's very important and it is going to be found throughout all that we consider today.
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Look again at the second half of verse 1. It says, do not be afraid
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Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.
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That statement, your exceedingly great reward, the greatest gift that God would give to Abraham or to any man would be himself.
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We love the benefits of being reconciled to God. We love the forgiveness of sins.
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Every pagan who doesn't believe in God wants to avoid the consequences of his sin.
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Everyone would pose with the question, do you love heaven or want to go to heaven or would you like to go to hell?
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Everyone would said, if there is such a thing, I'd like to go to heaven. Everybody believes those things.
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But few see the greatest treasure of this life and the life to come.
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Far exceeding without a rival is communion with God. Communion with God is the greatest gift, the greatest reward that a person can enjoy.
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And in fact, it is the essence of our created state in Adam.
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And we were created for this thing. We have been redeemed for this thing.
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Glorification will be the full realization of this thing. Face to face communion with God.
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We're going to survey very briefly some important characters in Scripture.
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And I'd like you not to turn with me to any of these, but just to pay attention. First, I want to consider
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Adam. The first man. God formed him from the dust of the ground and breathe into his nostrils the breath of life.
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And man became a living being. It's found in Genesis two.
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And it's an amazing thing. Children, I want you to imagine that God was like a sculptor of clay.
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The dust of the ground and that word Adam means earth or dirt or clay.
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And he scoops up the dust of the ground. And he builds the form of Adam.
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But Adam is not animated and is not alive until God breathes into his nostrils.
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And the clay sculpture is animated with life. And in this communication of himself to Adam, God creates
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Adam and breathes life into him. And Adam is now made to have fellowship and communion with God.
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A few verses before that in Genesis one. Certainly in controversial, but I believe in intra -trinitarian discussion.
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Let us make man in our image. According to our likeness.
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In theology, we call this the imago Dei, the image of God. Man is distinguished from all of the other creatures.
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He was created for communion with God. That's what we were created for.
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Is communion with God. Man in his created estate was made to walk with God.
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It seems that God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden in the cool of the day.
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And after Adam sinned, a great breach enters in a breach with God.
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The fellowship with God is broken. Walking with God is different.
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And they don't want to draw near to God. They're hiding in the bushes and the trees because of sin.
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Genesis three says they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.
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And Adam and his wife created for communion with God. Hid themselves from the presence of the
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Lord God among the trees. Of the garden.
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I've often wondered why the unbeliever wants nothing to do with God or his worship.
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For me as a believer, it's inconceivable that I could draw a breath without God. But what the answer is here in the pages of scripture.
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Our new fallen nature in Adam causes us to flee from the presence of God.
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We don't want to be in the presence of God because we don't like his holiness. Communion with God is no longer our highest aspiration.
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Communion with God is uncomfortable because of sin. In that startling narrative, the
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Lord calls out to Adam. Whom he made from the dust of the ground and breathed this supernatural life into him.
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He cries out and he asks him a rhetorical question because God knew where he was.
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He says, Adam, where are you? And all the scripture, all the guys who are in favorable relationship with the
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Lord say. Here I am. Your servant awaits you, Lord. Here I am.
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Speak to me. Adam says, oh, the consequences of sin.
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I heard your voice in the garden. And I was afraid because I was naked.
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And I hid myself. The Lord says, have you eaten from the tree?
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And notice immediately Adam's abdication of responsibility. Husbands, don't abdicate your responsibility.
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You love and cherish and protect and provide for your wife. Don't blame her for your problems.
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You're responsible. The man said, the woman whom you gave to be with me.
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She gave me of the tree and I ate. And the
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Lord God said to the woman, what is this that you have done? And the woman said, the serpent deceived me.
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And I ate. If communion with God is the great ideal of our.
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Primitive integrity in creation. Then it follows that Satan doesn't want that for us.
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And he enters in and he deceives. And the woman. Falls, but the greater fall was
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Adam himself. Into sin. Later in the chapter.
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Introduces something. There's a promise is very big about Jesus and Genesis 315.
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You're all familiar with that. But there's something I want to make much of because it helps us transition into the next person.
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And I'd like to consider. It says in verse 21. Also for Adam and his wife, the
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Lord God made tunics of skin. And clothed them. Adam has, he's the dominionist over creation.
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He's the vice regent of God. He is the one charged with managing the created order.
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He's hiding from his maker in the bushes. The one who is created to commune with.
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He hides from him. And God doesn't leave him in that state.
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He goes and rescues him and. Clothes him with skins and children.
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I don't know if you know this, but. Adam and Eve had a very. Warm and loving relationship with the animals of the garden and.
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Outside the garden. This is the first sacrifice for sin.
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God is going to kill the animals. He's going to let out the blood that there might be remission of sins.
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That there might be a covering for the guilt and shame. Of Adam and Eve. This premise leads us to the second person.
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I like us to consider today. And that person is
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Abel. The rest of these are going to go a bit quicker. Abel said in Genesis 4.
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We learn about Abel. That Abel is the second. Born son of Adam and Eve.
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Eve is longing for salvation. Hoping maybe Cain or even Abel would be the one who would be the redeemer to save her and Adam from sin.
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It says in verse 2 that Abel was a keeper of sheep and Cain was a tiller of the ground.
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In the process of time, it came to pass. That Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the
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Lord. It makes sense. He works in the fields. He's a farmer. It makes sense that he would bring the fruit of the earth.
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But I believe that Abel and Cain were instructed by Adam. He recounted to them the story of his corruption and falling into sin.
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And the need of a blood sacrifice. So Abel takes on this responsibility.
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I'm going to be the keeper of sheep. And I don't believe it's just for lamb chops and wool that Abel does this.
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I believe the primary motivation is that he could make an acceptable offering for his sins.
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And he could dwell in the presence of God with unbridled communion.
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Abel brought the firstborn of his flock. And the Lord respected
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Abel and his offering. But he did not respect
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Cain and his offering. We know how the tragic story ends.
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Cain would kill his brother Abel. Brethren, Abel, in a very profound way, sought the highest human end.
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He longed for communion with God. The story continues with a great figure,
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Enoch. Enoch lived 65 years and begot Methuselah. That name should be familiar to you for a very old person.
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After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years.
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And had sons and daughters. Now what's interesting here is
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I don't know why the structure of that sentence is that way. It could be just genealogy.
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But it sounds like something happened in the life of Enoch that transformed him around the time of the birth of Methuselah.
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That he would walk with God and communion with God in his presence for 300 years.
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And children, this part is very exciting. And it says, and Enoch walked with God.
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And that didn't mean that he just was casually interested in the
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Lord. It says in Amos, can two walk together unless they be agreed.
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Enoch loved to be in the presence of God.
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Enoch's compelling life story is one of union with Christ, communion with God.
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In Hebrews 11 .5 it said, by faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death and was not found.
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Enoch doesn't die, he's just taken up. God had taken him, it says in Hebrews.
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For before he was taken, he had this testimony that he pleased God. But without faith, it is impossible to please him.
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For he who comes to him must believe that he is, that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.
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Enoch's walking with God is his communion with God. Because of his great love and desire for God, God plucked him out of his earthly existence.
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And translated him to the heavenly realm. That he might have an even greater communion, an eternal face to face communion with God.
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I want to pause here because I want you to think about something as we continue. What's the great compulsion of your life?
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Why are you getting out of bed in the morning? Is it the accumulation of wealth?
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Is it the building of your family? There's a lot of good things, maybe neutral things that could...
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Do you wake up every day longing for communion with God? These great saints, it would seem that the preeminent thing of their life was communion with God.
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All the other blessings and benefits came after that. I think that what we'd like from God is for him to give us what we want.
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It's a natural man's approach to God. Everybody wants to be healthy and wealthy.
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The pagans want that. Do we desire the giver more than the gift?
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Enoch loved the giver more than the gifts, more than the benefits.
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Compelling figure is Noah. I'm not going to do every person in the Bible. Don't be alarmed.
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Genesis chapter six. Just want this simple idea to keep hitting us.
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This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man.
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Perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.
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Read the story of Noah. Noah is a preacher of righteousness and he's out by himself.
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Preaching righteousness and on a hundred year arc building project. He is maligned, made fun of.
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He is spat upon. No one respects Noah. But Noah walks with God.
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Noah is listening to one voice. He's listening to the voice of God. And he's walking in that righteousness.
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Well, now our central figure, at least in terms of our text, Abraham. Genesis 12.
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It says that Abraham was called. The Lord asked him to go out of his country.
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From his family and from his father's house to a land that I will show you.
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The Lord appeared to Abraham and said to your descendants, I will give this land.
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And we think about Abraham. We think about extraordinary wealth and the giving of land and the future posterity.
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But we fail to appreciate the gift. The biggest gift is
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God made it possible for Abraham to commune with him. What's lost in the land promises the descendants more numerous than the stars of the heavens that we read about is the greatest reward.
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It's as if God is saying to Abraham, I am your God. Commune with me.
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I am your exceedingly great reward. This is the greatest gift given to Abraham.
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And in fact, the covenant promises to Abraham are entirely based on communion with God.
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The promise of a people, a nation for the purpose of communing with God.
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Abraham's natural descendants are the ones who are entrusted with this communion in the old covenant.
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They were given a place in Canaan that they might commune with God there.
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It's just not to make Abraham rich. It's so that Abraham would be the father of the faithful and all of his descendants.
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See, the covenant promises is the communion with God that Abraham enjoys is going to be given to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.
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And all who follow after him in this pattern of faith and believing in God and trusting him.
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And having it accounted to them as righteousness. Abraham communes with God, so he's promised the descendant according to the flesh,
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Jesus Christ. The promised seed who comes to save. Brethren, why does
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Jesus come to save that man might commune with God?
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See, we the biggest thing. The most foundational thing to the gospel, the most foundational thing to us as the created ones in the image of God.
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The foundation of all of this is lost on us because we think about all the benefits.
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I would like to not go to hell. I'm so thankful for Jesus. But does our soul love the one who slays the dragon and enables us to be set free from his grip?
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It's a very different thing. No one wants to go to hell.
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But how many want none but Christ? Abraham would be an example for the
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Gentiles in faith. It's Jesus.
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The Lord says to him in Genesis 17. I am the almighty God. Walk before me and be blameless.
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And I will make my covenant between me and you and will multiply you exceedingly.
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My covenant is with you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you and their generations.
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For an everlasting covenant. To be
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God to you and to your descendants after you. God is so communing with Abraham that he consults with him and tells him about the impending destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
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And the Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?
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We read the scriptures and God is contemplating in this very way. And the scripture saying
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I need probably need to tell Abraham the one whom I am in communion with what I'm about to do.
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In the destruction and judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham communed with God and loved him so much that he was willing to offer his son
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Isaac the long promised heir.
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And God says, because you have not withheld your son Isaac, the promised one,
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I know that you love me. I know you love the giver more than the gift.
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In your seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because you obeyed my voice.
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I want you to listen to this because we hear the story and we miss the simplest phrase.
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I'm going to combine Isaac, Jacob and Joseph in this one for the purpose of illustration.
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And I want you to focus again on the idea of communion with God. Listen, this is from Genesis 39.
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Now, Joseph had been taken down to Egypt and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard in Egyptian, bought him from the
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Ishmaelites who had taken him there. Verse two, the
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Lord was with Joseph. We read over that. And we want to get on to the part where God makes him the prime minister of Egypt.
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God makes him the prime minister of Egypt and makes him the salvation of his family, who sells him into slavery is because the
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Lord was with Joseph. The Lord communed with Joseph. We want to go on to the secrets to his success.
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This is what we need to give more attention to. Think about how you would blow past that statement. The Lord was with Joseph.
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Jacob, when he blessed Joseph and his son, says this. This is all about covenant communion with God.
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God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked. The God who fed me all my life long to this day.
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The angel who has redeemed me from evil. Bless the lads. Referring to Joseph's sons.
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Let my name be named upon them. The name that represents communion with God.
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I want that to go on into perpetuity in my grandsons. And the name of my fathers, it continues,
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Abraham and Isaac, and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
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The blessing was asking
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God to commune with his people, with his descendants.
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I've only got one scripture I'd like to have you turn with me. Please turn to Exodus chapter 33.
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Thank you for your patience. But when communion with God is your all in all, we can sit here all day and do this.
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Exodus 33. These words are utterly astounding.
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Again, the singular thought is communion with God for us. The Lord said to Moses, depart and go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land which
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I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying to your descendants, I will give it. It's not just to make them rich, so that he might commune with them.
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And I will send my angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the Hittite and the
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Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey, for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff -necked people.
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The idea of communion with God is in jeopardy, because of their sin.
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Verse 5 says, the Lord said to Moses, say to the children of Israel, you are a stiff -necked people. I could come up into your midst in one moment and consume you.
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Now therefore take off your ornaments, for I know what to do. So the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb.
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Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting.
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And it came to pass that everyone who sought the Lord went out to the tabernacle of meeting, which was outside the camp.
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So it was when Moses went out of the tabernacle that all the people rose, and each man stood at his tent door and watched
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Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle. And it came to pass when
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Moses entered the tabernacle that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle.
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And here it is. And the Lord talked with Moses.
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All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshipped each man at his tent door.
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So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend.
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Skipping down to verse 12. Moses said to the Lord, See, you say to me, bring up this people, but you have not let me know whom you will send with me.
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Yet you have said, I know you by name, and you have also found grace in my sight.
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I want you to pay very close attention to this. Now therefore I pray, if I found grace in your sight, show me your way that I may know you and I might find grace in your sight.
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And consider that this nation is your people. Moses likes the idea of deliverance from Egypt.
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He likes the idea of the forgiveness of sins and the sacrificial system being put in place.
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But it seems that the key thing for Moses is that he would know God. This is the treasure of Moses.
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And he says to him, if your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.
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If there be no communion with you, we can't go up free from here. For how then will be known that your people and I have found grace in your sight.
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Except you go with us. Something very interesting.
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I'm going to have you turn there in Psalm 103. In verse 7.
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I love Psalm 103 and I forgot about this. It says he made known his ways to Moses.
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His acts to the children of Israel. I think there's a distinction being made.
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Everybody wants salvation. Everybody wants blessing. But how many want to know me?
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God says. Moses wanted to know
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God's ways. Communion with God drives Moses to know God more intimately, longing to see his glory.
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Well, I'm going to skip David because of time and wrap us up here. In our definition from John Owen, this communion with God is only possible by virtue of union with Christ.
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But I sincerely have to ask the question of the people of God whom I know and love.
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And those of you who are guests today is communion with God the priority?
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The great people of the faith, as Zach prayed about the list of people in Hebrews 11, they're all characterized by this.
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This is the thing communion with God. Is that true for you?
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Christ has come in the incarnation. And if you know anything about this subject of communion with God, the only possible way that sinful man can be reconciled to a holy
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God is through a mediator. And we have a perfect mediator who is
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Christ Jesus the Lord. He is both God and man in one person.
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This high priestly prayer in John 17. He said I do not pray for these alone.
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But for those who will believe in me through their word that they all may be one.
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With us. The forgiveness of sins that the reconciling to God is brought to its teleological end.
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That the people of God might be one with God. That's the purpose of all of this.
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Created for it. Redeemed for it died for it.
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Salvation is for it. Glorification is for this end, so we possess it now.
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Why do we not esteem and treasure this notion of communion with God?
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He says, and as you father are in me, think of the perfection of that union between the
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Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That they also may be one in us.
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Communion with God. Verse 24, Father, I desire that they also whom you gave me may be with me where I am that they may behold your glory.
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Back in John 14. If anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my father will love him.
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Listen. It's everywhere in the scripture and we will come to him and make our home with him.
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Maybe your life feels a little disordered. Maybe you feel something's not right.
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It may be that you don't have communion with God, or if you are a Christian who has communion with God, maybe you've neglected this entirely.
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That would be source of a lot of strife, I believe, in your life. What about the church?
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You're no longer strangers and fellow citizens and members of the household of God built on the apostles and prophets.
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Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone in whom the whole building being fitted together grows into a holy temple in the
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Lord in whom you are also being built together for what? A dwelling place for God in the
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Spirit. This is the end of it all. Created for it, redeemed for it.
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It's what heaven is, is communion in the presence of God, our glorified state, the perfection of our communion with God.
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Last text, we started in Genesis. We hit a lot of other places. This is Revelation 21, and this will be our conclusion.
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The future. Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth.
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The first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also, there was no more sea.
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Then I, John, saw the holy city. Our call to worship was, you have come to Mount Zion.
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We started today with that. John sees the holy city, the new
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Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. Prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
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And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and he shall be, they shall be his people and God himself will be with them and be their
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God. This is one of the grandest and loftiest ideas in all of the scripture.
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And if you be in Christ, this is your present possession. A couple words of application will close here.
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If you have no desire for communion with God, I'd have to say you're still in your sins and you're hiding in the trees.
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You don't even know it. You don't want to be in the presence of God because of his holiness and your unrighteousness and you subconsciously, you don't even know it.
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You were created for communion with him and the breach of sin has broken. And if you don't have that today, come out of the trees.
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The father, the son and the Holy Spirit are at work in drawing sinners out of the trees that they might commune with him.
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If you're a Christian, you need to repent today because you have really wanted the gifts more than the giver.
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All the things that we care about. My wife gives me many blessings and good gifts, but I better love her for her most.
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Isn't that right? We better love God for who he is.
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All of this stuff of salvation is that we could have unbroken fellowship with him.
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We need to repent of our hard heartedness in our transactional way. We're like a wicked nephew who only calls his uncle when he wants money.
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May God help us to esteem communion with him. And may we as a church go out into the streets and share the good news that Jesus likes to take profane sinners and to clean them up and wash them and make them a resplendent, beautiful, full of glory bride.
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I was laughing recently and one of my kids was talking about a teenage awkward phase.
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I thought that was funny. Parents don't ever notice the awkward teenage phase of their kids because they love them so much.
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The church, maybe it has, it's in an awkward phase. It doesn't look very righteous and pure, but God loves us so much and Christ loves us so much.
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He sees past that and sees a glorious, unspotted, wrinkle -free, glorious bride, glorious church because he loves us so much.
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Let us continue our communion with God with the Lord's Supper in just a moment.
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Please pray with me. Oh Lord, this is the chief business of man.
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We were created for this. You redeem us for this.
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Help us to come out of the trees and find in you a welcoming
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Savior willing to forgive and to restore. Oh Lord, help us to long for this communion with you like these saints of old.
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And we ask that we would possess this in an ever increasing way until the day it is perfected in glory.
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And we ask all these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Let us continue our worship through the presentation of our tithes and offering.
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Please stand and let us pray.
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Our gracious God and Father, if we were to take a moment to reflect on all the blessings to which you have given us in our life, we would be busy for quite some time, in fact, for all eternity.
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Lord, you have indeed blessed us. You have given us many, many things.
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And we at this time are thankful, Lord, that we have as part of our worship service an opportunity to return a part of what you have given to us for the service of your church.
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We pray, Father, that those who have received these funds would use them wisely for the care of your people.
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We ask all these things in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen. Let us give glory to our great
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God through the singing of the Gloria Patri. Glory be to the
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Father, to the Son, and to the
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Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be.
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The Lord be with you. And 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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Hosanna, hosanna.
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Please be seated. We come now to the time of our worship service that we often refer to as the
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Lord's Supper. As my brother has just preached, it is also called communion.
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This meal is a covenant meal for the people of God. In it, we look back to the time when our
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Lord and Savior Jesus Christ instituted the Lord's Supper, but we also look forward to that time when we will be with him when he fully consummates his kingdom in the wedding feast of the
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Lamb. I would like to draw your attention to the back of the order of service, provide some instructions for those who may come and partake at this supper.
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It notes a brief statement of faith, a very broad, similar to the
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Apostles' Creed. It says that if you are a member in good standing of a
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Bible -believing evangelical church and not under any church discipline, prohibiting you from communion, that you may partake.
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We welcome you. But if this does not describe you, we welcome you to come up just the same, to be prayed for.
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We would be more than happy to pray that the Lord would work upon you. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but spiritual to the pulling down of strongholds and powers.
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They include this worship service, singing of psalms, the preached word, but they also include bread and wine.
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And we serve wine at our communion. So as now we prepare to approach the table, let us pray.
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Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, who of your tender mercy gave your only
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Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption, who made thereby his one oblation of himself once offered, a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world, and did institute in his holy gospel, command us to continue a perpetual memory of that his precious death until his coming again.
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Hear us, O merciful Father. We beseech you and grant that we, receiving these, your creatures, of bread and wine, according to your
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Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ's holy institution, and remembrance of his death and passion may be partakers of his most blessed body and blood.
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We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. In the night in which our Lord was betrayed, he took bread.
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And when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, 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,
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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 Lord, trusting in our own righteousness and in your manifold and great mercies.
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We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs unto 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 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.
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Amen. Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us eat the feast, the gifts of God, for the people of God.
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Jesus, the glory he will have.
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Amen. Let us make this prayer of commitment together.
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Almighty and ever -living God, we thank you for feeding us in the spiritual food of the most precious body and blood of your
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Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, and for assuring us in these holy mysteries that we are living members of the body of your
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Son and heirs of your eternal kingdom. And O Lord, grant us this other benefit, that you will never allow us to forget these things, but having them imprinted on our hearts, may we grow and increase daily in the faith which is at work in every good deed.
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And 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.
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Praise God. Receive the blessing from the
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Lord. Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the