Ascension Presbyterian Lord's Day Worship

Ascension Presbyterian Church Longwood

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February 4, 2024

01:22: Well, good morning, my brothers and sisters in Christ grace and peace be unto you from God our
01:27: Father and the Lord Jesus Christ Welcome to the corporate worship of our God.
01:33: Please stand and Hear God call you to worship through his word
01:40: Make a joyful shout to the Lord all that you lands serve the
01:45: Lord with gladness Come before his presence with singing Know that the
01:51: Lord he is God It is he who made us and not we ourselves
01:57: We are his people and the sheep of his pasture Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise be thankful to him and bless his name
02:10: For the Lord is good His mercy is everlasting and his truth endures to all generations
02:20: Let us pray. Oh Lord, you are the king eternal immortal invisible the only wise
02:30: God you are the blessed and only sovereign the king of kings and lord of lords who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light
02:44: Whom no name has seen or can see To you be the honor and eternal dominion
02:51: We bless the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every blessing in the heavenly places in Christ We praise the glory of your grace that chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world
03:09: That we should be holy and blameless before him We thank you that in love you predestined us to adoption his sons through Jesus Christ We rejoice that we have been sealed in Christ with the
03:24: Holy Spirit of promise Who is given as a pledge of our inheritance? We worship and adore you father son and Holy Spirit open the eyes of our hearts
03:35: That we may know the hope of your calling the riches of the glory of our inheritance and the surpassing
03:43: Greatness of your power toward us in Jesus Christ All of this you have brought about in Christ when you raised him from the dead and seated him
03:55: At your right hand in the heavenly places receive our worship and Our praise to your glory up to the glory of your grace
04:04: And we ask all these things in the name of Christ Jesus our Lord Amen, please net kneel as you are able for the corporate confession of sin
04:29: Let us join together in confessing our sins Have mercy on me
04:36: According to your steadfast love according to your abundant mercy Blot out my transgressions
04:44: Wash me thoroughly And cleanse me from my sin
04:50: I know my transgressions Purge me with hiss up.
04:56: I shall be clean wash me and I shall be whiter than snow Create in me a clean heart
05:15: Renew my spirit within me ask me not away from your presence and take not your
05:22: Holy Spirit Please stand for the assurance of pardon our confession of faith of Sin was written by David and it is a great blessing when the
05:41: Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin That make we may come back to our Heavenly Father and confess our sins
05:48: Receive with joy these this assurance of pardon This is the covenant. I will make with them after these days declares the
05:56: Lord I will put my laws in their hearts and inscribe them on their minds their sins and their lawless acts
06:03: I will remember no more my brothers and sisters in Christ rejoice Your sins are forgiven
06:11: Amen Please take up the hymnal and turn to our first hymn 693 blessed assurance hymn 693
07:07: My Please take up the insert for our psalm of the week psalm 59
09:20: Free me my God Psalm 59 we had gone through the tune just before the start of the service
09:27: Brother when you are ready, amen, what a great last verse that was
12:48: Please remain standing for the public reading of God's Word from Revelation chapter 11 the word of the
13:04: Lord Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod and the angel stood saying rise and measure the temple of God The altar and those who worship there
13:13: But leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it for it has been given to the
13:19: Gentiles and They will tread the holy city underfoot for 42 months and I will give power to my two witnesses and they will prophesy 1260 days clothed in sackcloth these are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the
13:37: God of the earth and If anyone wants to harm them fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies
13:43: And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this man These have power to shut heaven so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy
13:51: And they have power over watchers to turn them to blood and to strike the earth with all plagues as often as they desire
13:59: When they finish their testimony the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them
14:04: Overcome them and kill them and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city Which spiritually is called
14:10: Sodom and Egypt where also our Lord was crucified then those from the people's tribes tongues and nations will see their dead bodies three and a half days and not allow their dead bodies to Be put into graves and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them
14:26: Make merry and send gifts to one another because those two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth
14:33: Now after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them and they stood on their feet and great fear fell on those who saw them and they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them
14:44: Come up here and they ascended to heaven in a cloud and their enemy saw them in the same hour
14:50: There was a great earthquake and a tenth of the city fell in the earthquake 7 ,000 people were killed and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the
14:58: God of heaven The second woe is past behold, the third woe is coming quickly
15:06: Then the seventh angel sounded and there were loud voices in heaven saying the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our
15:13: Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever and The 24 elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped
15:21: God saying We Give you thanks. Oh Lord. God Almighty the one who is and who was and who is to come
15:30: Because you have taken your great power and reign the nations were angry and your wrath has come and the time of the dead and that they should be judged and that you should reward your servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear your name small and great and Should destroy those who destroy the earth
15:48: Then the temple of God was opened in heaven and the ark of his covenant was seen in his temple and there were lightnings noises
15:55: Thunderings and earthquake and great hail. This is the Word of the Lord Let us now continue our worship by confessing our common
16:08: Christian faith and the singing of the Apostles Creed By the
16:32: Holy Spirit In the
17:22: Holy Catholic Church Please take up the hymnal once more and turn to him number 537 take time to be holy in 537
18:18: Oh Amen Please now make preparations for the prayers of the people.
21:07: Let us pray together in unison Almighty and everlasting God in whom we live and move and have our being
21:16: We your beloved children Offer to you our humble praises
21:25: Especially Last week these mercies be blessed and magnify your glorious name
21:38: Humbly beseeching you to accept this our morning sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving
21:44: For this sake lay down Pray rose again for us your son our
21:51: Savior Jesus Christ Until now. Oh Lord our desires and petitions may be best for us
21:59: Granting us in this life And in the world to come life everlasting
22:06: I Ask your prayers for God's people throughout the world
22:12: For our denomination for this church and for all ministers and missionaries
22:17: Pray for the church. I ask your prayers for the poor the sick the bereaved
24:56: The burdened and for the widows orphans and prisoners Pray for those in any need or trouble
25:04: I ask your prayers for those who do not know
25:46: Christ and for those who seek a deeper knowledge of him Pray that they may find and be found by him
26:49: I ask your prayers for our children and future generations, which will be born to them
26:56: Pray that the knowledge of the Lord will fill the earth through them Pray that we may have grace to glorify
28:04: Christ in our own day Finding ourselves in agreement with all these things.
28:55: We join our voices together and say amen Please stand and take up the insert for our new
29:03: Psalm of the month Psalm 56 Be gracious unto me. Oh God Brother any words of encouragement or instruction?
29:39: Psalm 56 be gracious unto me. Oh God Amen, please turn in your
33:17: Bibles to the book of James and chapter 4 The epistle of James in chapter 4.
33:28: I would begin reading today in verse 8
33:35: This is God's holy and infallible Word James chapter 4 verse 8
33:47: Draw near to God and he will draw near to you
33:53: Cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double -minded
34:01: Lament and mourn and weep Let your laughter be torn turn to mourning and your joy to gloom
34:11: Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up Do not speak evil of one another brethren he who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law
34:29: But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge
34:35: There is one lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy Who are you to judge?
34:43: another Come now you who say today or tomorrow we will go to such -and -such a city spend a year there
34:50: Buy and sell and make a profit Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow
34:58: For what is your life it is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away
35:07: Instead you ought to say if the Lord wills we shall live and do this or that But now you boast in your arrogance
35:18: All such boasting is evil Therefore to him who knows to do good and does not do it to him it is sin
35:30: Let the Lord be pleased with our consideration of his most holy word. Please pray with me.
35:38: Oh Lord, we are a people of unclean lips Reflective of unclean hearts but we have
35:51: Christ and he washes us Lord we pray that that fresh water and praises would proceed from our mouth and that we would
36:03: Put away all the sins of the tongue and that we would say With our
36:09: Lord Jesus Christ not my will Oh Lord, but your will be done We ask all this in Jesus name
36:16: Amen, please be seated if you happen to read old
36:30: Christian literature and commentaries There will be a an ending at the end of letters that would say
36:38: DV a D a period and a V and you may wondered what that meant and that is the
36:46: Latin phrase deo volente and That means god -willing the people of God have
36:55: Historically recognized that that their lives are in the hands of God that he is the one who orders their steps
37:03: They make plans But he directs their steps The title of the message today is if it is the
37:12: Lord's will taken from the last part of verse 15
37:18: And I have a couple of points for you to consider for your outline if you have need of such a thing first Presuming upon the future number one of this outline would be presuming upon the future second a huge existential question found in verse 14.
37:40: What is your life? We will not get into the hugeness of the existentialism there, but a big question.
37:50: What is your life? third the title of the message deo volente if the
37:56: Lord wills and fourth there is a
38:02: Proper boasting that we should be doing There's a boasting we should not do and there's a boasting that we ought to do number one presuming upon the future
38:14: What's what is your life? If the Lord wills and a proper glorying and boasting as Has been repeated now dozens of times
38:28: James desires a genuine faith That is revealed
38:35: Demonstrated with good works that accompanies salvation He desires that his hearers and I believe the
38:43: Holy Spirit Obviously desires it of us as well that we would grow up to full maturity and completion that we'd lack no good thing in Christ and Here James is warning his hearers against particular sins of the tongue
39:01: Remember last week if you look back at verse 11, we learned of the impropriety of speaking evil of one another
39:11: Particularly those who belong to the household of faith Now we didn't reach the conclusion that we could never call out sin and sinners
39:21: We didn't go along with the culture and say we're not going to judge anyone But we are not going to take the place of God and pronounce condemnation upon those for whom
39:31: Christ has died. That's the great sin that James is warning against in that section we don't want to be judges of the law and in the arrogance of our folly if we were
39:47: Falling into that sin we'd be usurping the very authority at least attempting to the authority of God But today another sin is exposed
39:59: And we are warned against arrogant boasting and presuming upon the future
40:07: We are in danger of glorying in accomplishments that have not already been attained
40:17: And a proper application of James teaching today will give the believer an occasion for boasting and glorying but not in themselves
40:27: But in what the Lord himself has done We pursue vain glory
40:36: We were created and redeemed to pursue God's glory
40:43: Let us boast in his glory alone. Amen Let's consider the first point
40:52: Come now you who say today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city
41:02: Spend a year there buy and sell and make a profit the
41:08: Jews were scattered all over the Roman world and not only because of Persecution in the
41:15: Diaspora, but also because they were tradesmen and merchants They would travel with their wares and they would sell their goods and services in cities and they would find along the way
41:28: But it was it was good for business to stay in a place like Tyre or Sidon or some other place outside the realm of Israel and so this would be very common for them to say my plan is this year to Go to such -and -such a place
41:46: If we read the book of Romans, I don't think Paul ever made it to Spain.
41:52: He desired to go He doesn't ever get there. I don't believe So you and I make our plans my brother my friend who died recently
42:02: I listened to his last sermon He had many plans for the upcoming weeks in life of his church
42:10: And he didn't he didn't get to fulfill those We must recognize and this is a big problem for us
42:19: That God is in control of our very lives The breath that we take the heartbeats that we get the the brain
42:28: Activity the electrical charges all of that are in the hand of God You and I are by nature
42:36: Control freaks and we want to have everything go a certain way and we are not in control
42:44: Praise be to God, but our Lord is I'm gonna ask you to take up your hymnals now, and I didn't write the page numbers.
42:55: I have to find it really quickly. Forgive me Go to the back of the
43:02: Trinity hymnal and turn to page 851 to presume upon the future is to forget that God Governs his creatures and their actions by his decrees and providence
43:27: I'm going to read sections here from chapter 5 and this shows you maybe affirms somewhat of what
43:33: Mark was talking about the value of Scriptural teaching coupled with the confession in the interplay that would go between them.
43:41: This is on page 851 Chapter 5. I want you to listen carefully
43:49: God the great creator of all things doth uphold Direct dispose and govern all creatures actions and things
44:00: From the greatest even to the least now, I think we believe this propositionally
44:09: But what we need to believe it practically But we know this is true
44:16: But we have to live and act upon the fact in the reality That God governs all of his creatures and all of their actions
44:27: You and I are completely responsible for our behavior But we have to understand
44:34: God super intends all that comes to pass section 1 again
44:44: He does this by his most wise and holy providence
44:51: According to his infallible foreknowledge and the free immutable counsel of His own will to the praise of the glory of his wisdom power justice goodness and mercy
45:08: If I say I'm going to tire inside and that I'm going to go to Asia Minor and I'm going to sell my goods and services without a humble
45:18: Acknowledgement of God and his providence. I'm sinning We boast about tomorrow and tomorrow is not promised to us
45:30: How many times have you been on the highway and avoided an accident? Trees fall on houses when people sleep
45:39: They've done nothing over on the west coast a couple was in their home and a plane crashed on them and they died
45:47: They didn't do anything wrong. They weren't inviting the plane to land on their street.
45:52: The plane lost power and it crashed The reality is
45:57: God Governs all of his creatures and all their
46:04: Actions look down at verse section 3. It says God in his ordinary providence maketh use of means
46:14: God uses hospitals and doctors to heal people He has a nurse running behind you in a marathon
46:23: Sometimes you have a heart attack and she revives you God uses means Yet he is free to work without above against them at his pleasure
46:38: There is a way that things go in the world. God has put things in place He uses means the ordinary way that men women and children grow up in the faith is the
46:49: Word Sacrament and prayer and life of the church the ordinary means of grace.
46:55: That's how people grow up in the faith But sometimes God in the power of his Holy Spirit enables someone to mature rapidly for some purpose section for the
47:09: Almighty power unsearchable wisdom An infinite goodness of God I should pause here these superlatives and about God's character and Attributes when we think about him we should live a life of trust his knowledge is perfect His will is perfect.
47:32: We put a lot of stock in our plans Your plans can be wrong gods are never wrong
47:41: It's arrogant, isn't it? We think this is how it should be Lord Well things would be good if things went this way and when they don't go that way we're gravely disappointed because our will was not the
47:52: Lord didn't listen to us and do it our way, but His ways better than ours.
47:58: So it should be a life of trust implicitly God and his prominence
48:06: Look down at section 5 This helps us when we think about our sin and our struggle against it
48:13: The most wise righteous and gracious God doth oftentimes leave for a season his own children to manifold temptations
48:23: In the corruption of their own hearts To chastise them for former sins or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts that they may be humbled and To raise them to a more close and constant dependence with their support upon himself
48:47: And to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin and for sundry other just and Holy ends what a great
48:56: Answer to the question about what about my continuing sin as a believer? The Lord would allow us to fall into temptation that we would ultimately be humbled and Have a greater and more constant close constant dependence
49:14: Upon him one other thing really quickly Now turn over to the shorter catechism just a few pages to the right
49:23: I want you to find question 11 What are
49:32: God's works of providence? And children you should know and parents you should know
49:39: These shorter catechism questions God's works of providence are his most holy wise and powerful preserving and governing all of his creatures and all of their actions
49:55: James is warning against an idolatrous neglect God's providence, so I pose the question to you
50:07: Have you failed to appreciate and accept the providence of God?
50:14: Moses is the meekest man because he saw the world and he understood these things
50:21: Happen because of the providence of God and he was comfortable with that. He was not bucking against it
50:27: He welcomed the twists and turns of life knowing that it was
50:33: God who directed all of these things You and I should not superstitiously but add to our plans
50:44: Today or tomorrow we're going to do this or that if the Lord is willing
50:49: I Believe this is the plan that God has given me
50:55: This passage of Scripture does not say to stop making plans
51:01: You would be unwise not to make plans in your life But it is saying do it in humble reliance upon and faith in our
51:11: God Knowing that he has a perfect plan that's being executed
51:19: All of the things that go wrong in our lives I think we respond improperly to them in many respects because they're contrary to our own control and plans
51:32: We think we know best for ourselves our family the church the world, but but we don't
51:39: But according to his holy and wise counsel Our God does that's the first thing to consider today verse 14 says
51:51: Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow Sufficient is the trouble of this day.
52:02: I would also argue Sufficient is the glory and the rest and the the joy and thanksgiving of fellowship of God and his people
52:10: There is trouble tomorrow on Monday morning But not today The people of God are resting in Christ The people of God today are taking a respite from all their ordinary business.
52:22: The people of God today are Trusting God in their faithfulness to work out tomorrow's problems
52:31: We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow point to the question for what is your life if I Opened it up to the room and we weren't thinking so intently about the
52:49: Bible. I'd say Ryan tell me about your life and then he would begin to rattle off the things
52:55: About his life. He's a husband. He's a father. He cares about these things. He's studying this
53:02: And I asked Jacob and his life now is he's got a baby a new baby in his house and that's gonna be dominant in his mind and David and Sada are going to have we're married now.
53:13: We're pregnant. There's a future. There's our mind. This is who we are Brethren, I'm here today again to tell you that your life consists of many
53:25: Subordinate things But Christ is your life
53:32: Colossians 3 We have no life Outside of Christ there is no salvation.
53:40: There is no hope for the future. There's no being a good husband There's no being a good wife.
53:45: There's nothing apart from us being alive in Christ Think about all the things that describe us what is our life and for men it's their vocation
54:01: For women it's often their family connections to their children their husband the answer to the question and James is
54:16: Halting and makes us to pause If I live to be an old man my life is essentially two -thirds over Feel like I'm a young guy.
54:26: I'm not I'm to my life is two -thirds, but I could die tomorrow What is?
54:34: your life My friend and his two sons went to bed and a 10 year old boy and a 17 year old boy
54:41: They had plans for their life and they didn't wake up. They died Maybe they woke up and found out and learned they were dying.
54:50: It's it's all terrible to think of What is your life?
54:56: It is even a vapor that appears for a little time And then vanishes away children.
55:05: I Want you to do something the next time maybe tonight or tomorrow night if your mom's making dinner for you
55:13: And she has occasion to boil water in a pot Maybe for a bowl big thing of pasta or something and there's a she fills up the water into the pot
55:24: She puts it onto the stovetop She turns up the heat to high and begins to boil.
55:32: I want you to do not too closely I want you to get a chair if you're not tall enough with the approval of your mom and dad nearby and I want you to trace the rolling
55:43: Bowl of water inside of the pot that's boiling and I want you to pick out one little spot of it
55:49: I want you to see what happens when the water molecules heated to that 212 plus degree temperature begin to rise out of the pot and the coolness of the air causes a
56:01: Condensation it causes that the molecules to form a solid Very briefly a wispy vapor of air and I want you to watch it go from the center of the pot until it disappears
56:18: That process and that timeline is picturesque of the language here our life is the extent of the eternity of the water molecule going from the water pot to vanishing into thin air as a vapor
56:39: In the antediluvian world people live to be 900 years old but Methuselah living to be 969 years has been dead for thousands of years 900 years is a very long time.
56:56: We don't live that long today But now it's been thousands of years since the death of Methuselah, it's all very sobering
57:09: Isn't it? Mark and Sheila how fast is it gone since you had little children in your house?
57:15: And now you have a lot of grandchildren a blink of an eye Every year goes a little bit faster
57:25: Get to the end of the toilet paper roll. It's going quicker. That's what life is like High school elementary school summer it took forever to come and to get here and now the years tick off and they're gone
57:41: You and I need to be circumspect in the way we live and we actually need to be living in such a way where we have the kingdom of God and Eternity in view.
57:51: What are you doing today for eternity? Caring for your children make sure that that is
58:00: Entirely sanctified to the Lord and you're thinking about Christ in his kingdom in the future when you talk with them
58:05: There is a practical nature to the work we do around our house And we can miss the the fleeting nature of our lives.
58:14: We have a limited window So Moses says in Psalm 90 that it's appointed for men to live 70 years and if by reason of strength 80
58:27: It's just really not a very long time What are you doing with your life?
58:33: Is Christ preeminent in your life? What is your life? What a question for a young man or woman child or even the aged among us for us to ask.
58:45: What is your life? It's but a vapor appears for a little time
58:57: That it vanishes away Ephesians chapter 5 verses 15 and following don't need to turn there says this
59:07: See then you walk circumspectly Not as fools
59:16: But as wise Redeeming the time
59:22: Because the days are evil Wherefore be not unwise but understand what the will of the
59:32: Lord is Seems to follow on nicely with what we're learning about today
59:39: Job chapter 8 verse 9 for we are but of yesterday and Know nothing because our days on earth are a shadow.
59:53: I remember The summer when school was out.
59:58: I remember being a young boy and Back, then we ran the streets.
01:00:03: Nobody knew where we were. There was no cell phones. We're riding bikes building forts. I remember standing and watching my shadow and watching it change
01:00:14: I'd be standing there is a long shadow and they would start to move and it would be altered. I'm standing in the same place
01:00:21: Job says it says in Job that our life is but a shadow. It's there
01:00:27: It's a mist. It's a vapor and then it's gone
01:00:34: The psalmist says in Psalm 102 my days are like a shadow that declineth and I am withered like grass
01:00:44: But thou O Lord shalt endure forever And your thy remembrance unto all generations the
01:00:58: Christian Recognizes with great sobriety that his plans may not align with God's and he's eager for his plans to align
01:01:07: With God's he recognizes that his life is short He has a limited opportunity for faithfulness and he diligently acts upon it
01:01:19: There are no second chances. He's got one life. He needs to be a good steward of it
01:01:28: There's another part of this that's very encouraging You and I can live our lives according to the
01:01:43: Lord's will I want to turn to Romans chapter 3.
01:01:49: We have a little bit of time now turn to Romans chapter 3 We boast improperly and yet we don't boast enough
01:02:04: It's quite a little Irony, isn't it begin reading in Romans chapter 3 verse 21?
01:02:23: But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed being witnessed by the law and the prophets
01:02:33: Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe
01:02:44: For there is no difference I should pause your children in Your desire to be a good witness for Christ.
01:02:53: I would encourage you to know this little section of Romans chapter 3 Be very helpful for you when you try to tell people about Jesus Paul is confining all under sin verse 23.
01:03:08: This is referring to Jews and Gentiles For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God And here's why we have no cause for boasting when it comes to our salvation
01:03:23: Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption. That is in Christ Jesus Whom God set forth as a propitiation by his blood through faith to demonstrate his righteousness
01:03:41: God's providential care of his creatures Includes the salvation of sinners like you and me
01:03:50: It's a good plan a Covenant keeping God keeping his promises
01:03:58: In his forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed
01:04:04: To demonstrate the present time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of the one
01:04:12: Who has faith? in Jesus Where where is boasting then it is excluded.
01:04:29: Oh is your perfect law -keeping? You haven't The good works that that James and pours us as a response to salvation
01:04:42: Could we pile up your good works and can we say to God you must accept me because of these righteous deeds
01:04:48: I have done No cause for boasting Only by the grace of the
01:04:56: Lord Jesus Christ are we saved I can't boast anything
01:05:08: We conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law
01:05:20: There's another element. Our Lord has given I believe two extraordinary examples of deo volente
01:05:29: According to the will of God I first like us to turn because I believe it does have profound influence on James's epistle to Matthew chapter 6.
01:05:39: Please turn there quickly with me to Matthew 6 this is
01:06:00: The Lord's prayer Look at how central this idea of the
01:06:07: Lord's will is to the Lord's prayer Verse 9 of chapter 6 says this in this manner therefore pray
01:06:19: Our Father in heaven how it be your name a recognition of the
01:06:31: Father a recognition of his authority a bursting forth in worship worshiping howling valuing the name of God your kingdom come
01:06:48: This father has a kingdom and a kingdom that comes to the earth and We cry out to you
01:06:58: Oh God that your will be done your perfect will the works of creation and providence that your will be done on earth as It is in heaven
01:07:17: How many of you? middle and upper middle class Reasonably successful people have prayed
01:07:29: Thanksgiving Give us this day our daily bread. You say well, I've got it in the bank.
01:07:35: I don't have to worry about daily bread the rich man needs to pray Understanding the providence of God in that in order for him to be fed tomorrow it's not because he has money in the bank is because God is merciful and Generous to his people a very different way of living calls us to forgive those who have sinned against us and All of this you can see an answerable
01:08:12: In the will of God prayer does he want us to ask for his forgiveness for our debts?
01:08:19: Yes, does he want us to forgive our debtors? Yes Does he want us to be protected from temptation?
01:08:29: Yes Does he want to deliver us from the evil one? Yes That's how you pray in the will of God If you say
01:08:39: God I want to be a righteous upright man, I want to lead my family. Well, I want to walk in your ways
01:08:48: That's in the will of God The wife says
01:08:54: I want to be a godly wife and mother and I but but even more importantly I want to I want to be a lover of Christ and I want to be a righteous woman and I want to Worship at his footstool and I want to give him my life and glorify him in all ways
01:09:12: That's that's how you should pray that's That's the
01:09:17: Lord's will skip over to verse 25
01:09:26: He goes through of course that Fasting as hypocrites do laying up treasures on earth verse 25
01:09:39: Just before that serving God and money verse 25 says therefore
01:09:44: I say to you do not worry about your life Or what you will eat or what you will drink nor about your body what you will put on It's not life more than food in the body more than clothing
01:10:01: Look at the birds of the air for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns yet Your Heavenly Father feeds them
01:10:11: Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit?
01:10:20: to his stature Why do you worry about clothing consider the lilies of the field how they grow they neither toil nor spin
01:10:32: Yet I say to you that even Solomon and all his glory was not arrayed like one of these now if God so closed the grass of the field which today is and Tomorrow is thrown into the oven.
01:10:47: How much? more Will he clothe you? Oh you of little faith?
01:10:54: Therefore do not worry saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear for?
01:11:00: After all these things the Gentiles seek for your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things
01:11:08: But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things
01:11:14: Shall be added to you. Therefore. Do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about its own things
01:11:23: Sufficient for the day is its own trouble You and I need to live very much in the present make future plans according to his will
01:11:37: Seeking his guidance a daily intake of prayer in the word counsel
01:11:43: We are we're trying to order our steps in the way that the Lord would have us to go
01:11:49: But we come open -handed We don't know what tomorrow brings and the
01:11:58: Insecurity of an unknown tomorrow is overshadowed by the providence of a good
01:12:04: God who loves you I'll try to fix all the pieces and control all the levers
01:12:12: It's not possible it's arrogant to do so and finally
01:12:18: Lucky to turn to Luke chapter 22 When I was a new
01:12:29: Christian this verse Was a struggle for me and now it is one of the greatest comforts to me begin reading in Luke chapter 2 verse 39
01:12:56: Jesus coming out went to the Mount of Olives as he was accustomed and His disciples also followed him
01:13:08: When he came to the place, he said to them pray that you may not enter into temptation
01:13:14: And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw and he knelt down and prayed saying
01:13:27: Now I should point out to you that We have to have a proper understanding of the hypostatic union here in the humanity of Christ and the divinity of Christ this prayer of Jesus is a comfort of my soul because He saw the cup of God's wrath that he had to drink
01:13:51: No, righteous man would want that. This is perfect sinless humanity of Jesus Christ here
01:14:01: He doesn't want in his flesh his humanity to be
01:14:07: Put together with sin that for sin to be heaped upon him and he says
01:14:14: Father and this is how we should pray This is the opposite of the error in James Father if it is your will take this cup away from me
01:14:28: This is going to be the most horrific unpleasant unsavory of things
01:14:36: It's okay for you to pray that the Lord would take that hard thing from you, but the
01:14:45: Lord our Lord Jesus Christ says fulfilling all righteousness
01:14:53: Nevertheless No, not my will but yours
01:15:02: Be done mark alluded to this. I think a couple weeks ago in our
01:15:12: Sunday school Verse 44 it says in being in agony He prayed more earnestly than his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground
01:15:25: Our Lord Experienced hematidrosis, which is the explosion of his capillaries some of his veins
01:15:36: Under the duress of our sin and the just wrath of God He's experiencing that and in his
01:15:48: Righteousness he says not my will be done but yours be done and Because Christ goes through with the father's will
01:15:59: We have salvation and he has joy set for him as the people of God are reconciled to him
01:16:08: His plan is better his will his way
01:16:16: Is better Let's turn back to James really quickly Again, we believe it
01:16:28: Propositionally, but do we believe it? Practically I'm going to say verse 17 for next time.
01:16:39: I'm going to finish this little section here really quick This is how you ought to pray. It says in verse 15 instead
01:16:48: You ought to say If the Lord wills
01:16:55: We shall live And do this or that But now you boast in your arrogance
01:17:07: All such boasting is evil brethren, we've
01:17:13: We've boasted in our arrogance This language is very interesting in the original this boasting would be
01:17:25: What a quack would do when he is selling snake oil promising to heal all of your diseases
01:17:35: You can see right through it you and I need to boast more in the work that Christ has done and If I pray if it be the
01:17:51: Lord's will I'm going to do that Then at the end of it when God accomplishes it
01:17:56: I can boast and say look what God has done That circumvents this problem and sin of us
01:18:07: Seeking accolades for deeds not yet accomplished Deo volente to be the
01:18:16: Lord's will I'm going to do this What a great way to order your life and it also requires for application that you're praying more about decisions in your life on the front side
01:18:28: You're not just going by your gut. You're praying Lord direct my steps
01:18:34: This be your will well It's the
01:18:39: Lord's will I praise God that we have gathered today and We're going to in just a moment feast at his table.
01:18:47: Let's pray together now Lord, we we confess that we are
01:18:56: We're arrogant I pray that you would
01:19:04: Grant us as a gift greater humility and faith about the future Oh Lord, do not allow us to presume upon tomorrow but help us to make righteous plans and to fulfill your will that if Would be accomplished on earth as it is in heaven.
01:19:28: Oh Lord, I pray that you would grant us holy ambitions to do great and marvelous things, but not for our own vainglory, but for your glory
01:19:42: We were created to bask in Your glory and not to produce secondary glories for ourself
01:19:51: Oh Lord help us to Live a transformed life in this new way where we seek your glory and your righteousness and your kingdom above our own interests
01:20:03: Your will and your perfection is so superior to our self -will Oh Lord, wake us up from our folly that we might see that you are trustworthy we praise you
01:20:17: Oh Lord because You worketh good after the counsel of your own will
01:20:24: You decree it all and it comes to pass and we submit and give thanks in Jesus name
01:20:34: Amen Don't know where my bulletin is.
01:20:41: I don't need it let's continue our worship through the presentation of tithes and offerings
01:21:18: Please stand and let's pray together Oh Lord, we thank you for The work and the life you've given us the stewardship over time talent and treasure
01:21:30: We pray that these offerings and tithes we use for the advance of your kingdom
01:21:36: The accomplishment of your will we ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord Amen Now reflexively, let us give glory to God in the singing of the
01:21:48: Gloria Patria. Let us begin Oh The Lord be with you
01:22:26: Lift up your hearts Let us give thanks to the
01:22:32: Lord It is right and a good and joyful thing that we should at all times and in all places
01:22:41: Give thanks to you. Oh, holy Lord Father Almighty everlasting God Because you sent your beloved son to redeem us from sin and death and to make us heirs in him of everlasting life
01:22:55: That when he shall come again in power and great triumph to judge the world we may without shame or fear
01:23:02: Rejoice to behold his appearing therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we praise and magnify your
01:23:13: Glorious name evermore praising you and singing Please be seated.
01:24:31: I ask you to pray with me now. Oh Lord.
01:24:40: I love that you have Condescended to us
01:24:47: Not only in the incarnation But in the institution of your supper you have given bread and wine
01:25:01: And you have set them apart to this holy and sacramental use that they would confer to us the body and blood of Christ and him crucified and That this act of union with Christ in one another assures us that Christ has taken us to be his bride and become one with us and That he makes us one with him.
01:25:31: Oh Lord we rejoice in This good plan in this very practical way filled with mystery and benefit and blessings where your church is strengthened and nourished and We give thanks to you for your provision and we pray in Jesus name
01:25:51: Amen Our Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread and gave it to his disciples saying take
01:26:06: Likewise he took the cup after supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood
01:26:12: Drink from it all of you for as often as you eat this bread Therefore we proclaim the faith
01:26:30: We Should boldly approach the throne of grace because of Christ but we
01:26:40: Come with humility knowing we have no boast in ourselves. Let's approach the table now We do not presume to come to this your table merciful
01:26:50: Lord Trusting in our own righteousness But in your manifold and great mercies
01:26:56: We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table
01:27:01: But you are the same Lord who always shows mercy Grant us therefore gracious Lord Jesus To drink of his blood that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body
01:27:18: Our souls washed through his most precious blood and that we may evermore dwell in him and he and us
01:27:26: Amen Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us The gifts of God for you the people of God As A village of feasting at the table.
01:38:48: Let us now make this commitment together Almighty and ever -living
01:38:53: God we thank you for feeding us with the spiritual food In blood of your son our
01:39:02: Savior Jesus Christ for assuring us in these holy mysteries that we are living members of the body of your son and heirs of your eternal kingdom
01:39:14: And O Lord grant us this other benefit that you will never allow us to forget these things
01:39:20: But having them imprinted on our hearts Increase daily faith which is out work in every good deed and now father send us out to do the work
01:39:32: You have given us to You as faithful witnesses of Christ our
01:39:37: Lord to him to you and to the Holy Spirit The honor and glory now and forever.
01:39:45: Amen, please stand let's give glory to God God has welcomed us into his presence and he's not withholding good things from us
01:40:25: And he sends you out with his blessing receive it now The Lord bless you and keep you the
01:40:33: Lord make his face to shine upon you the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and Grant you peace