June 19, 2022 – Sunday Service Live Stream

Ascension Presbyterian Church Longwood

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Good morning, and welcome to the corporate worship of our God. Please stand. Our call to worship comes from Psalm 99.

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The Lord reigns. Let the peoples tremble. He dwells between the cherubim. Let the earth be moved.

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The Lord is great in Zion, and he is high above all the peoples. Let them praise the great name, your great and awesome name.

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He is holy. The King's strength also loves justice. You have established equity.

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You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool.

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He is holy. Moses and Aaron were among his priests, and Samuel was among those who called upon his name.

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They called upon the name of the Lord. He answered them. He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar.

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They kept his testimonies and the ordinance he gave them. You answered them,

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O Lord our God, you were to them God who forgives. Through you took vengeance on their deeds.

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Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy hill, for the Lord our

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God is holy. Let us pray. Eternal, immortal, and invisible

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God, infinite in power, wisdom, goodness, dwelling in the light which no man can approach, where thousands upon thousands minister to you, and ten thousand upon ten thousand stand before you, yet dwelling with the humble and contrite, and taking pleasure in your people.

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You have consecrated for us a new and living way, that with boldness we may enter into your holy place, by the blood of Jesus, and have bid us to seek you while you may be found.

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We come to you at your call, and worship at your footstool. Look upon us in your tender mercies.

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Do not despise us, though unworthy. You are greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be held in reverence by all that are about you.

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Put your fear into our hearts, that we may reverence in awe, and awe we might serve you.

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Sanctify us that you may be treated as holy and honored by us, when we draw near to you.

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Give us the spirit of grace and supplication to help us in our weakness, that our prayers may be faithful, fervent, and effectual.

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Let your name be the desire of our souls. Let us draw near to you with our hearts, and not only with our lips, and worship you, who are a spirit in spirit and in truth.

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Let your word be spoken and heard by us as the word of God. Give us attentive, hearing ears, and open, believing, understanding hearts, that we may no longer refuse your calls, nor disregard your merciful outstretched hand, nor slight your counsels and reproofs.

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Let us be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools.

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Put your laws into our hearts, and write them in our minds, and let us all be taught of God.

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Let your word be for us, living and active and powerful, a discerner of thoughts and intents of the heart, mighty to pull down strongholds, casting down imaginations and reasonings, and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

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Let us magnify you with thanksgiving and triumph in your praise. Let us rejoice in your salvation and glory in your holy name.

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Open our lips, O Lord, that our mouths show forth your praise, and let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, through Jesus Christ our

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Lord and Savior. Amen. For those who are able, let us kneel and confess our sins before God.

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Let us join together in confessing our sins. Almighty God, we acknowledge and confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed.

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We have not loved you with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We have not loved our neighbor as ourselves.

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Deepen within us our sorrow for the wrong we have done. For the good we have done, we are full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger, implenteous in mercy.

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There is always forgiveness with you. Restore to us the joy of our salvation.

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Bind up that which is broken. Give light to our minds, strength to our bones, and rest to our souls.

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Speak to each of us, and let your word arrive on us until it has brought to us your holy note.

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Please stand for the assurance of poverty. 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 righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

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Brothers and sisters in Christ, rejoice that your sins are forgiven you. Amen. Let us join our voices together singing

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Psalm 32. Great is thy faithfulness, hymn 32.

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And as has been our custom, as our pianist and accompanist is out,

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DJ would you lead us brother? Let us take up the insert for our

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Psalm of the week. We are singing Psalm 124, but on the insert it'll say 239.

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Let Israel now say in thankfulness. DJ, any instruction for us before we get started?

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If the

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Lord rose to strive, we'd surely swallow raging streams.

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A beacon of his swelling glow is in God's holy name.

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Amen. Please continue standing for the public reading of the word from Jeremiah 18.

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Jeremiah 18. The word which came to Jeremiah from the

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Lord saying, Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear my words.

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Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was making something at the wheel, and the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter.

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So he made it again into another vessel as it seemed good to the potter to make. Then the word of the

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Lord came to me saying, O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter, says the

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Lord. Look, as the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

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The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom

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I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it.

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And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning the kingdom to build and to plant it, if it does evil in my sight, so that it does not obey my voice, then

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I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it. Now therefore speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, thus says the

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Lord. Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now everyone from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.

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And they said, that is hopeless. So we will walk according to our own plans, and we will everyone obey the dictates of his evil heart.

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Therefore, thus says the Lord. Ask now among the Gentiles, who has heard such a thing? The Virgin of Israel has done a very horrible thing.

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Will a man leave the snow water of Lebanon, which comes from the rock of the field? Will the cold flowing waters be forsaken for strange waters?

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Because my people have forgotten me. They have burned incense to worthless idols. They have caused themselves to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths and not on a highway, to make their land desolate in a perpetual hissing.

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Everyone who passes by it will be astonished and shake his head. I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy.

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I will show them the back and not the face in the day of their calamity.

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Then they said, come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah. For the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet.

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Come and let us attack him with the tongue and let us not give heed to any of his words.

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Give heed to me, O Lord, and listen to the voice of those who contend with me.

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Shall evil be repaid for good? For they have dug a pit for my life. Remember that I stood before you to speak good for them, to turn away your wrath from them.

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Therefore deliver up their children to the famine and pour out their blood by the force of the sword.

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Let their wives become widows and bereaved of their children. Let their men be put to death, their young men be slain by the sword in battle.

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Let a cry be heard from their houses when you bring a troop suddenly upon them. For they have dug a pit to take me and hidden snares for my feet.

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Yet, Lord, you know all their counsel, which is against me to slay me. Provide no atonement for their iniquity, nor blot out their sins from your sight.

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But let them be, but let them be overthrown before you. Deal thus with them in the time of your anger.

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This is the reading of the word. Please be seated.

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This is a special day in the life of the church and we are delighted to be baptizing

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Eleanor Anastasia Mahar. The sacrament of baptism is administered by the church in obedience to the command of Christ that the nations should be converted, baptized, and taught all that Christ has commanded.

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Baptism represents and seals our union with Christ, the outpouring of the

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Holy Spirit, and the resulting washing, regeneration, adoption, and cleansing from sin.

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By baptism, we are admitted into the covenant community and made members of the body of Christ.

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Underlying the diversity of the biblical administrations is a unifying and singular covenant of grace.

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Abraham had the gospel preached to him. He believed God. His faith was reckoned to him as righteousness.

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And he entered into covenant with God, signified by the sign of circumcision.

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Yet, he was commanded to apply this sign of his own adult faith to his infant child and all infant children thereafter.

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Why? Because of God's promise, Genesis 17, I will be

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God to you and to your children. The saving purposes of God include the children of believers because he is their

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God as well as their parents. The children also receive the sign of the covenant and are admitted into the fellowship of the church.

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At Pentecost, Peter said, for the promise is to you and to your children and all who are afar off, as many as the

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Lord our God shall call. Children have the same covenantal status in the new covenant as in the old.

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They are set apart as holy, 1st Corinthians 7, and are members of the covenant and recipients of the covenant sign.

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Psalm 103, 17, and 18 says this, The mercy of the

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Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him and his righteousness unto children's children to such as keep his covenant and to those who remember his commandments to do them.

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The mercy of the Lord, his favor and loving -kindness is from eternity past and it stretches to the eternity to come.

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Its foundation resides in the eternal decrees of God. Its security is in his purpose that where it is conferred, it shall not be withdrawn.

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It had no beginning and it shall have no end. There was never a time when it was not the purpose of God to save his people.

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There will never be a time in the future when it will be said that his saving mercy has ceased.

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In this psalm, the confirmation of God's divine decrees and the divine preservation of the saints is firmly established.

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The people of God are swept up into the everlasting mercy and loving -kindness of God.

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His promises are realized in the lives of all who believe in Christ. His purposes embrace the children and children's children of the righteous.

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They are included in this glorious covenant of mercy.

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But all here who are present be reminded of their own baptisms, of God's grace confirmed, of the privileges of the covenant into which they have entered and of their responsibility to live holy lives and to serve

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God with thanksgiving. Let the parents especially be charged to not neglect the means of grace.

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Be sure that you provide a godly example, that you pray with and for your child, that you instruct them in the

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Word of God, that you make use of the catechisms and all the teaching of the church, and that you bring them weekly to the public worship of the assembled saints at church.

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I ask now that you would pray with me. Lord, we give thanks to you for the gift of this precious child and for your covenant promises.

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We ask that you would grant the inward reality that corresponds to the outward washing, that this child will be received into the protection and care of Christ and his church, that even as you have been

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God of these parents, Zach and Alyssa, that you would be the

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God of this child, Eleanor, that Eleanor would be granted the gift of the

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Holy Spirit, that her heart would be renewed and regenerated, that she would grow up never knowing a day apart from Christ, that she would be like John, filled with the

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Holy Spirit from the womb, and like David, trusting in God while still nursing on his mother's breast.

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Oh Lord, we ask that the blessing of being a child of God would be ever -present in the life and mind of Eleanor, and that she would look back on this day that she will not remember with fondness knowing that you have loved her and you have showered her with grace and blessing, and that she is being raised in a

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Christian home and she has a church that loves her. Oh Lord, we pray that you would do mighty things through this precious life.

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We ask this in Jesus' name. I ask

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Zach, Alyssa, and Eleanor to come up front for those in the pew, you'll find that the baptismal vows are in the order of service.

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Do you acknowledge your child's need of the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ and the renewing grace of the

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Holy Spirit? Do you? Do you trust in God's covenant promises on their behalf?

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And do you look in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation as you do your own?

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Do you? Do you unreservedly dedicate your child to God and promise in humble reliance upon divine grace that you will endeavor to set before them

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Christ and his holy and his gospel, provide a godly example, that you will pray with them and for them, that you will teach them the doctrines of our holy faith, and that you will strive by all the means of God's appointment to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the

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Lord Congregation of Ascension Presbyterian Church, do you as a church body undertake the responsibility of assisting the parents in this

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Christian nurture of the child? If you do, please signify by standing. Christian name of this child.

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I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the

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Son. Let us pray.

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Our gracious God and Father, we thank you for the gift of our sister,

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Eleanor. We pray, Father, that as she grows in age, she may grow in grace and that through her future generations would be born and knowing the

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Lord, that through her, as we pray many times, that the world, the earth, would be covered with the knowledge of the

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Lord as the waters cover the sea. We pray, Father, that as she grows, that she would never remember a day where she did not believe in you,

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Lord Jesus, and called upon your name. We pray,

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Father, that as we have witnessed this, that we would be ever eager to assist her and her parents in raising

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Eleanor as a child of God. But Lord, we know that we need to rely upon your grace to be able to do this and we pray for that grace now, that you would strengthen our hands for this labor.

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We ask all of these things in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen. Please stand and let us join our voices together confessing our common faith in Christ through the singing of the

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Apostles' Creed. Christ is only begotten

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Son of the Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

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Born of the earth, was crucified, dead, and buried.

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He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead.

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He ascended into heaven to judge the living and the dead.

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I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body.

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And the life everlasting. Let us take up the hymnal again and open up to hymn 116 for the beauty of the church.

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116 Please prepare yourselves for the prayers of the people.

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Let us pray together. O God, from whom come all holy desires, all good counsel, and all just works, give to us, your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, that our hearts may be set to obey your commandments, and also that we, being defended from the fear of our enemies, may live in peace and quietness through the merits of Jesus Christ our

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Savior, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, God forever.

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Amen. For the church of Jesus Christ, that it may be filled with truth and love, and be found without fault at the day of your coming, we pray to you,

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O Lord. Lord, hear our prayers. For all ministers, missionaries, and the mission of the church, that in faithful witness the gospel may be preached, we pray to you,

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O Lord. For those in positions of public trust, that they may serve justice and promote the dignity and freedom of every person, we pray to you,

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O Lord. For the poor, the persecuted, the sick, and all who suffer, for refugees, prisoners, and all who are in danger, that they may be relieved and protected, we pray to you,

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O Lord. For this congregation, for those who are present, and for those who are absent, that we may be delivered from hardness of heart, and show forth your glory in all that we do, we pray to you,

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O Lord. Seek forgiveness.

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Go forth from here, from this service, every Sunday, to live out in the world in the worship of your name.

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Amen. Please let us stand and take up the insert again, and sing our psalm of the month,

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Psalm 3. Let us join our voices together. Psalm 3. I ask you to please remain standing and turning your

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Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 12. 2

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Corinthians 12. I'm going to begin reading in verse 11.

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I want to remind you that this is God's holy and infallible word.

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We come and we humbly sit under it, seeking to be instructed by the

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Lord. We have to to do that, to hear the word properly.

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We don't ever sit in judgment of the word. The word sits in judgment of us. Hear now the word of the

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Lord. 2 Corinthians 12 .11. I have become a fool in boasting, you have compelled me.

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For I ought to have been commended by you, for in nothing was I behind the most eminent apostles, though I am nothing.

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Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds.

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For what is it in which you were inferior to other churches, except that I myself was not burdensome to you?

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Forgive me this wrong. Now for the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be burdensome to you.

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For I do not seek yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.

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And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls.

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Though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. But be that as it may,

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I did not burden you. Nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you by cunning. Did I take advantage of you by any of those whom

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I sent to you? I urged Titus and sent our brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you?

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Did we not walk in the same spirit? Did we not walk in the same steps?

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Again, do you think that we excuse ourselves to you? We speak before God in Christ.

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But we do all things, beloved, for your edification. For I fear, lest when

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I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you as such as you do not wish.

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Lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults.

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Lest when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness, fornication, and lewdness which they have practiced.

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May the Lord drive home his word with a strong blow to our hearts today.

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May we receive it with gladness and joy and be built up in the faith. Please pray with me. Oh, Lord Jesus, we we come to you and we give thanks for your holy word.

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We thank you for your servant, Paul, and we thank you for the instruction we have received in 2

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Corinthians. We ask now, oh Lord, that that your love would shine through, that your gospel and your grace would be seen through all of this trouble, and that your people would be delighted to peer into the glorious eyes of Christ, crucified, risen, reigning for them.

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We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated. This section of 2

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Corinthians has been somewhat redundant and it is a harder section of scripture in these chapters to to preach and to read through and to meditate upon because we sometimes get lulled into saying, well, he's saying the same kinds of things that he's already said.

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But this is God's holy word and there is gold to be mined in passages that don't seem as exciting to us and we have to always discipline ourselves to peer deeply in the word that we might draw out all of the marrow, all of the the goods that God has for us in it.

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The title of the message today is Spent for You. And I hope to ask, answer,

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I should say, four questions that arise in the text. The first one is why is

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Paul compelled to defend his apostolic authority? I've asked that question at least 10 times in sermons.

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Why is Paul compelled to defend his apostolic authority?

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A new different little bit of a facet is revealed today. Second, coming out of the text, what did

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Paul seek? What did Paul seek? It's found in verse 14.

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What did Paul seek? Third, what was Paul's purpose?

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What was Paul's purpose? And that answer is going to be found in verse 19.

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What was Paul's purpose? And surprisingly, what did

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Paul fear? What did Paul fear?

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Number one, why is Paul compelled to defend his apostolic authority? Number two, what did

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Paul seek? Number three, what was

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Paul's purpose? And four, what did Paul fear?

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And if you wanted to have a number five, application will be drawn at the end will be point five.

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Paul's Christ -like love was demonstrated in giving his life in service to the church.

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He was poured out as a drink offering and spent for Christ and his people.

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Let's look at our text again. Why is Paul compelled to defend his ministry?

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Verse 11, I have become a fool in boasting. The Corinthians themselves should have commended

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Paul. He was their spiritual father. He brought them the gospel and and like a nursing mother nurtured them and brought them alive and got them going on the path to maturity.

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These false apostles come in and the Corinthians are swayed by them.

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The Corinthians must have commended. They should have commended Paul. They should have defended his good name and his sacred office.

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You'll remember Proverbs 27, let another man praise you and not your own mouth, a stranger and not thine own lips.

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Why is Paul having to defend himself? Because the

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Corinthians forgot who he was and forgot what he had done in their midst.

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He says in the last half of verse 11, for in nothing was I behind the most eminent apostles.

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And in fact, if you put all the accomplishments of all of these other so -called apostles up next to Paul, they would be found wanting.

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They did not compare to Paul. But look at his humility at the end of verse 11.

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He says, though I am nothing, I ought to have been commended by you.

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My works precede me. They're well known in the Christian world.

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My service among you, well -documented, your very lives in Christ are no doubt a result from my faithful preaching, he would say.

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But now I have to be a fool and to boast about my own accomplishments. One Puritan commentator says it is a debt we owe to good men to stand up in defense of their reputation.

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And we are under special obligations to those whom we have received benefit by, especially spiritual benefit, to own them as instruments in God's hand of good to us and to vindicate them when they are falsely accused and defamed.

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The Corinthians were not standing up for Paul. Paul's love for them, sacrificial, not self -seeking, seeking their good and their growth in godliness, loving them with tears and labors and toils and tribulations, not reciprocated.

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Paul was their spiritual father. He preached Christ to them.

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Their faith is a direct result and a testimony to God's hand in making

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Paul an instrument for his glory and their good.

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Commentator continues in Paul's humility in his response of having to boast and then immediately pulling it back by saying,

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I am nothing. How much so ever we are or ought to be esteemed by others.

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We ought always to think humbly of ourselves. We see an example of this in the great apostle who thought himself to be nothing.

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I really believe this is not false humility. Paul so saw the glory of Christ.

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He peered into heaven's secret chamber. He knows Christ and he looks upon himself in the light of Christ's glory and he says,

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I am nothing. There is no room for my own boasting or pride.

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So far was he from seeking the praise from men, though he tells them their duty to vindicate his reputation.

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So far was he from applauding himself when he was forced to insist upon his own necessary self -defense.

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Paul had to defend his apostolic authority because of Christ and his gospel and the good of his church.

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Well, it takes us to our second point. What did Paul seek?

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These signs have been documented elsewhere. We've talked about all the things that Paul endured and all the things that were accomplished through him.

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They were not inferior to other churches except Paul had to rob other churches to minister to them.

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In verse 14, he says that a third visit is in the works.

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He's going to come to them. Look at verse 14. He says, now for the third time

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I am ready to come to you and I will not be burdensome to you. Paul's past activities, his present conduct, good indicator of future behavior.

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He is not going to be a burden to them. He did not seek their money.

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Other churches sponsored Paul's work among the Corinthians. They were very wealthy. He does not seek self -enrichment, but what does

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Paul seek? Look in the text. He seeks something very profound.

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Paul sought the salvation and sanctification of the saints in Corinth. He says

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I seek you, your entire person, I want to see glorifying

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Christ, walking in obedience to him, putting all of your trust in him. He sought their entire consecration to Christ in his service.

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He wanted them to enjoy the blessings from God that he has provided in Christ.

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John Knox's most famous quote is, give me Scotland or I die.

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We often think of this as possibly being an arrogant sort of prayer. It was not.

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It was a Christ exalting plea. He intensely, fervently desired the salvation and sanctification of the people of Scotland.

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It wasn't about John Knox. John Knox, I believe, borrows this kind of bold, courageous kind of praying from Paul.

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Paul wanted Corinth to believe in Christ. He wanted all of the nations.

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He wanted Asia Minor and Ephesus and Philippi and Thessalonica and Laodicea and all of those little places and villages along the way.

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He wanted them all to know Christ and to be united to him. You can see

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Paul saying, give me the world for Christ or I die. I have to preach

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Christ where he's not been known. I can't build on another foundation. I have to make

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Christ known in all of these places. Paul wanted for Corinth what his disciple

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John Knox wanted for Scotland. Maybe the first point of application for us, the question is, do we have this holy desire?

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Do we really earnestly seek the salvation and sanctification of our church, our families, our neighbors, and even the enemies of Christ?

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Is that something that we seek? I hope if we do not today that the Lord would wet our appetite and stoke the flames, the embers of this, that we might desire these things.

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Not only for ourselves and our family and our little community, but the reach of Christ would extend out to our neighbors.

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And the people today who are hating him and supporting crazy things, that they would praise the holy name of Christ.

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That should be our desire. An earnest longing to see the exaltation of Christ in every man, woman, and child in the community in which we live.

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Another thing that Knox less famously prayed, and it'll have some impact later in the message,

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I'm going to give it to you now so we won't have to come back to it. He said, Grant us, Lord, the perfect hatred of sin.

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And I almost like that as much as the other. Grant us, Lord, the perfect hatred of sin.

01:05:51

In Corinth, to diminish Paul was to diminish Christ in his gospel. To diminish

01:05:57

Christ in his gospel is to lose salvation in the hope of future glory. There was a lot at stake.

01:06:10

But what great love Paul had for his Corinthian children.

01:06:18

Look down at the next half of verse 14. For the children ought not to lay up for their parents, but the parents for their children.

01:06:29

Parents labor for the good of their children. Children, you will never understand how much your parents labor for you.

01:06:38

And I've told my children this. You will never understand the love that a child has for their parent will never eclipse the love a parent has for a child.

01:06:50

And that to me is some really good theology. I love Christ.

01:06:55

I love God the Father. I love the Holy Spirit with all of my heart, but I will never love them the way that they love me.

01:07:05

I will not begin to scratch the surface of the Father's love for a sinner like me.

01:07:11

I love him, but I don't love him in this way. The children don't lay up inheritances for their parents, but the parents for the children.

01:07:28

The inheritance that we leave, both physical and spiritual, is handed down. It's not handed up.

01:07:36

Faithful parents strive for blessings they will never personally see or enjoy.

01:07:44

We're striving. We're laboring. We're planting trees of which the fruit of which we'll never touch and eat.

01:07:53

We're laboring to set a foundation that our great -grandchildren, who we'll never know, will have something to build their

01:08:00

Christian life upon. This is the way of the

01:08:05

Christian world, and this is what's happening with Paul. Paul is the father of the

01:08:10

Corinthians. And his children are not responding well to him.

01:08:16

They're not submitting to his authority. Faithful parents strive for blessings.

01:08:26

And here we see Paul's life is being poured out as a drink offering.

01:08:32

It's, of course, a reference to Philippians chapter 2. In that it says, do all things without complaining and disputing that you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.

01:08:52

How true is that in Philippi? Maybe more so in Corinth. And how about for us?

01:08:59

What a crooked and perverse generation. But among whom, this crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life.

01:09:18

And he says, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.

01:09:29

Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith,

01:09:36

I am glad and rejoice with you all. He wanted the

01:09:44

Corinthians to be blessed. Paul's not really deriving any tangible personal benefit for suffering for them.

01:09:54

He's really not. He's faithful. He's obedient. It's not coming back to him as a return.

01:10:01

In Numbers 15 and Numbers 28, it's three times in the book of Leviticus. I might send you a little article for some

01:10:08

Sunday afternoon reading on the drink offering. I'm not going to get sidetracked too much on it. It's a really great subject to think about.

01:10:15

But in those five places, the drink offering is described. And the drink offering is an act of worship.

01:10:25

After the priest would sacrifice an animal on the altar, he would pour out wine on the altar, offering wine to God, as it were.

01:10:37

And this was symbolic of his dedication and his worship to God. Paul believed that his life was being poured out as an act of worship upon all of those whom he served.

01:10:54

His life was like a candle. Think about a candle.

01:11:02

Its purpose is to be burned up and consumed so that we might have light.

01:11:10

Paul views himself. This is the one of the greatest men who's ever lived. And he views himself like a candle that is poured out.

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I should say candle that is consumed, that burns out in order to give light to others.

01:11:25

It's a very powerful and a very different kind of love that Paul has.

01:11:33

We don't really sacrifice much for one another, even within our own families.

01:11:39

There's a lot of self -interest. You see a lot of selflessness in Paul, a lot of Christ -likeness, and we all should be striving to have a greater degree of selflessness in all of our doings.

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I'd like us to turn now to verse 14. I should say the very end of verse 14.

01:12:01

The children ought not to lay up for the parents, the parents for the children. And now the title of the message at this point.

01:12:10

I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls.

01:12:19

Paul's willing to give his very life. He's given his health. He's given his body to be beaten.

01:12:26

He's given his reputation to be scorned. He's going to give it all for the church at Corinth and every church that he ministered to.

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In the ancient Christian church, there was a bird that became prominent in a lot of Christian symbolism.

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It's the pelican. And the pelican became this symbol of Christ and his love for the church.

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I think it's also a fitting picture of Paul and his self -sacrifice in Christ's name.

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And this is the legend. This is the story. This is why it became such an important part of early

01:13:11

Christian symbolism. In times of famine, the pelican was known to tear at its own breast, draw blood, and from that blood to feed its young in order that they might have life.

01:13:28

It became a big picture of Christ and his relationship to the church. Paul is emptying his life.

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He's pouring his whole life out. He's a candle that's being burnt. He's the pelican that plucks at his own breast that his children might live.

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Now, I think moms understand the pelican imagery. They would do anything to make those children thrive and survive.

01:13:56

Paul has that same passion and zeal for a church that really doesn't like him very much.

01:14:03

Think how transactional you and I are. We like people who like us. If you like me,

01:14:10

I'll like you. We'll have a nice little relationship together. It's a quid pro quo. As long as you like me,

01:14:15

I will like you back. It doesn't seem to be the relationship that God has with his people historically throughout the dealings with and redemptive history of Israel.

01:14:28

It doesn't seem to be that the relationship that Christ has for the church, the enemies of Christ are won and brought in by his love.

01:14:40

And so, too, Paul would gladly be spent. He would gladly be sacrificed that the

01:14:53

Corinthians would live. Paul's lifeblood was being spilled through every form of persecution and punishment so that Christ may be preached, believed on, trusted, and worshipped.

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Familiarly, we can picture a mother sacrificing her body. And you mothers have sacrificed your body to bring children into the world.

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You suffer pain and hurts and injuries and you nurse them.

01:15:27

And you do all of these amazing things that help us to see more of what Christ has done for us.

01:15:33

We can picture a father laying down his life and his body to rescue his family.

01:15:40

I remember a story in the Midwest a few years ago of a man, a Christian man, who, when a tornado was hitting his house, saw the beam falling from the roof.

01:15:49

He dove upon his wife and children and scooped them under his hands. And the beam laid across his back and struck him and killed him.

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But his family survived. This all resonates with us. We all see, yes,

01:16:03

I would want to be that kind of man. I would like to do that. But in that natural realm, we see this happening in the context of reciprocal love.

01:16:19

For Paul, the more he sacrificed, the more he loved. Look at verse 15.

01:16:26

The more he sacrifices, he's gladly spending his soul. He's being spent for their soul.

01:16:34

But these words are haunting. Though the more abundantly I love you, the less

01:16:41

I am loved. He was able to demonstrate the royal love, the royal law of love of Christ.

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And even the Corinthians disobedience is used of God for good.

01:17:00

They got to see what Christ's love looked like, that royal law, that new commandment

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Christ gives in John 13. We are called to love a new commandment as Christ is loved.

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That's entirely sacrificial love. We're all well rehearsed and well skilled in the other kind of natural love that is common in the world.

01:17:29

But now we're called to love sacrificially in the way that Christ has loved.

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And Paul demonstrates that here for us in his conduct and ministry, the church at Corinth.

01:17:43

What an incredible instruction for us. Every family, every gang, every affinity group has a favoritism kind of love, a quid pro quo love.

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Christ loves his enemies and makes them his own. Paul loved his disobedient, wayward children who loved him less and less as he labored and poured out his life in service to them.

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He gets to picture what real love, Christ's love is like. Well, in the interest of time,

01:18:19

I'm going to skip the transition and move right on to number three, Paul's purpose.

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He sent Titus and other brethren. All of their conduct has been honorable.

01:18:35

It's been Christ centered, Christ exalting, Christ is the content of their preaching. Everything has been the exaltation of Christ.

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Look at verse 19. Again, do you think that we excuse ourselves to you?

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We speak before God and Christ. And I should point out to you, I was listening to a very old sermon from Job Warcraft.

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And he reminded me in that message from 1990, a really long time ago. He reminded in that message that we live our lives like the table talk cliche, quorum deo, before the face of God.

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We all know that's true, but we don't live as though that's true. Paul says we speak before God in Christ.

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Everything's laid bare, our hearts, our intentions, our motivations, our agenda, the content of our preaching, our love for you, our thoughts for you are laid bare and open before God in Christ.

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And I should point out to you, your entire life, your secret life, your private life, your hidden life, everything that you are is bare and open and exposed to the

01:19:55

Lord. Do not be deceived. You're getting away with nothing. It's all there before him, right before his presence.

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So we ask the question, what is Paul's purpose in all of this? Is it the exaltation of Paul?

01:20:12

He calls God as a witness. We speak before God in Christ. It kind of ups the value of this kind of oath and vow type language.

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I'm speaking in the presence of God in my union with Christ. We do all of these things, beloved, for your edification.

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Paul desired the building up of God's spiritual house, the church.

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All of his corrective actions were not intended to tear down, but to build up.

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The foundations of God's house were under attack, and they always are.

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And like Peter, Paul recognized that the church is being built up into a spiritual house.

01:21:00

A holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

01:21:08

First Peter 2 5. Why was

01:21:13

Paul doing all this? So that the Corinthian church would be built up. He wanted the church to be sound.

01:21:23

He wanted the foundations to be sure. He wanted the work to continue until every man would be presented mature in Christ.

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What a great obligation and idea for us here at Ascension. That we would not sleep, we would not rest, till every person in our congregation is brought to full maturity in Christ.

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So that's the responsibility of the elders. That's your responsibility also. You are your brother's keeper in some measure.

01:21:54

You need to help one another grow in godliness and Christ likeness. This isn't work that someone else does.

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We all have to do it. Well, finally, point 4.

01:22:11

What is Paul's fear? Verse 20 says,

01:22:18

For I fear, lest when I come,

01:22:24

I shall not find you such as I wish, that I shall be found by you such as I do not.

01:22:30

You do not wish that there be contentions, that they would be filled with strife and striving against each other, betraying the unity of Christ's body.

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These sins, the list of these sins are present in every church in the world.

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We have to fight earnestly against these. So we don't have that here.

01:22:58

It's here and it's in your heart. Contentions, jealousy, seeking the glory individually, causes one to envy and despise another who seems to have more.

01:23:16

Outbursts of wrath, pride and self -interest, fuel the rage that comes out when people don't get their way.

01:23:25

Selfish ambitions, diatrophies love to have the preeminence among them. Selfish ambition is contrary to Christ and his church.

01:23:36

After all, Christ must have the preeminence in all things. That means we're always second, distant second.

01:23:45

There's backbiting. That's the act of slandering the absent.

01:23:51

It's destructive. It's self -exalting. The Corinthians were backbiters.

01:23:57

They they kissed Paul on the cheek when he was there and they appreciated him. Spoke ill of him when he walked out.

01:24:06

There's whisperings. I can always tell when a couple ladies who are strangers to me are in the public's parking lot gossiping.

01:24:15

They get a little bit closer and they lean in. They start talking really quietly. They have to conceal their whisperings, their gossip.

01:24:25

Tailbearing, the arousing of suspicions, speaking in a low voice, whispering in the ear.

01:24:33

All this kind of stuff happens in the church and it's disgusting. There's conceits, there's pride, hypocrisy.

01:24:44

Proverbs 3 says, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. There are two molts.

01:24:50

There's the agitation of a multitude stirring up strife. Brethren, we must repent of these sins.

01:24:57

We must call others to repent of these sins. They destroy Christian fellowship and unity.

01:25:06

Paul was afraid when he got to Corinth he would see all this. He has all the evidence in the world that this is happening.

01:25:14

It causes him to be afraid. Brethren, will you examine your life? Do you participate or promote these kind of stifling sins that quench the spirit and rob the people of God of joy?

01:25:28

Put it to death in your heart now. Finally, Paul is fearful of humiliation.

01:25:40

He views himself as nothing, but he is labored so hard. He has addressed the heinous sins of Corinth.

01:25:47

I'll remind you of a few of them. They divided over church leaders. They had a sectarian spirit. You remember that,

01:25:53

Paul, Apollos, Cephas? They were so magnanimous and so loving in their toleration of gross immorality.

01:26:05

Such is not even seen among the Gentiles. A man had his father's wife. They were taking each other to court, the civil magistrate, and suing each other over minor disputes.

01:26:19

They were practicing and excusing sexual immorality, falsely believing it did not affect them spiritually.

01:26:29

It was faulty, kind of a dualistic view of things. They had misguided views of marriage and singleness.

01:26:38

Some sanctified marriage to a place that it shouldn't have been, and others sanctified celibacy and singleness to a place it should not be.

01:26:48

They were causing their brethren to stumble by eating food offered to idols. We learned from Paul that you cannot have fellowship with the body and blood of Christ and demons at the same time.

01:27:05

They came to the Lord's table and they abused it. They had disunity in the world's greatest display of unity, undermining the proclamation of Christ and his glory, coming with a divided spirit against those who were poor or they didn't like.

01:27:25

They prioritized certain spiritual gifts while failing to use those gifts to edify the body of Christ in love.

01:27:34

Some were even denying the resurrection, the centrality of the resurrection of Christ in our own future bodily resurrection.

01:27:43

It all sounds kind of hopeless, but there's a solution to all this.

01:27:54

It's Christ. The Corinthian church was an absolute disaster, but they had

01:28:02

Christ. They had his gospel. They were united to him.

01:28:09

They had his communion. They knew they had to obey his commands. Commands here.

01:28:17

Paul anticipates being grieved and mourning over those who have sinned and not repented.

01:28:25

We've kind of talked about repentance and some of the things that have happened in the past tense that they're to never be talked about again.

01:28:33

But Paul has a concern that they did not really repent.

01:28:40

Repentance not only addresses the external manifestation of these sins.

01:28:46

It deals with the matter in the innermost part of our being, the deep recesses of the heart.

01:28:55

We have to believe and love God's mind about the sin.

01:29:01

You say, well, I'm not going off into that area of fornication anymore. Repentance demands that you hate the idea and the notion of fornication.

01:29:11

So how's your repentance? You don't get drunk anymore, but you want to be probably haven't repented.

01:29:19

We have to repent all the way, not just a modification of behavior.

01:29:25

We have to, in the inward man, put it to death. Well, all of this made me think of third

01:29:34

John four, and he said, John says,

01:29:39

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

01:29:48

And that's really true. These were spiritual disciples of John. Gaius is leading the church, and he's,

01:29:55

I think, very happy with what Gaius is doing in leadership of the church. He sees the prosperity of that local body going forward.

01:30:06

I think Paul has a different take. He says, I have no greater grief than to hear that my children are not walking in the truth.

01:30:18

As a parent, I think we all could acknowledge how terrible that would be. We give some points of application.

01:30:30

We'll close here. First, defend the good name of those who are in Christ, particularly those who have been used of God for your spiritual benefit.

01:30:46

We should always seek the good of our brother's name, his good reputation. Number two, like Paul, we need to be characterized by humility.

01:30:58

We learned recently a couple of weeks ago that Paul's humility is a chief reason that the power of Christ rested upon him.

01:31:07

We are called to think highly of others and humbly about ourselves.

01:31:15

Remember, Paul said, I am nothing. Do you think highly of others? You can find all the faults in them, can't you?

01:31:23

It's our natural tendency. We see all the faults in our brethren. You think the best of your brethren, in turn, the mirror that Mark spoke of this morning, the mirror of God's word to yourself.

01:31:35

And be humble, because what you really know about yourself is far worse than anything you've seen in others.

01:31:46

Number three, do you, like Paul, earnestly desire the salvation and sanctification of your family, church, neighbors, and even your enemies?

01:31:58

This is the new commandment kind of love. Paul loved Corinth that way. We're called to love in this way.

01:32:07

Fourth, labor for a future harvest you will never see. Leave a spiritual heritage for future generations.

01:32:17

We have to look past our noses. Our lives are fleeting. The lives of our children are fleeting.

01:32:25

We need to have a much longer range view and live with a view to future generations.

01:32:33

Number five, I wonder if there are any who would be willing to pour out their lives as an act of worship to God and in service to the church.

01:32:45

Not just your martyrdom, but your comfort, your youth, your prosperity. Are you willing to pour out your life as an act of worship to God?

01:32:56

Number six, we're called to love in this text as Christ has loved. Paul loved the

01:33:03

Corinthians with a Christ -like self -sacrificing love, and he continued loving them even though it was not reciprocated.

01:33:13

He continued to love them more and more. Number seven, come to the church with a desire to build up your brethren.

01:33:23

Paul's aim, his purpose was to build up the church. Come on Sunday, ready to strengthen the saints, to bear their burdens, to see them grow into full maturity in Christ.

01:33:40

Number eight, repent of your every known sin. Examine yourself.

01:33:46

Have you merely turned away from sin externally while continuing to cherish them internally?

01:33:54

You have not repented, if that is the case. Five, and finally, all of the problems in Corinth and in your life are remedied by Christ.

01:34:12

Run back to him in faith. Rejoice today. Give thanks.

01:34:18

Christ loves you. He lived righteously for you. He died vicariously for you.

01:34:25

He triumphed over sin and death that you might be raised victoriously. That you would irrevocably be united to him and that you might enjoy him and his benefits for eternity.

01:34:44

It seems that Paul viewed all of this as an undertaking, a work worth being spent for.

01:34:55

And all the pursuits that we chase after in our lives, I think it'd be good for us to think about how can we spend our lives in service to Christ and his church.

01:35:06

Please pray with me. Lord, we thank you for redundant passages at the end of long books.

01:35:23

Thank you that you have given us an example in Christ and we see a faithful example in Paul about loving in this way, in a sacrificial way.

01:35:34

I pray that you would cause husbands to love their wives as Christ has loved the church.

01:35:42

That parents would see the great privilege and responsibility they have to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the

01:35:49

Lord. That children would look on their parents and be so thankful for the way in which they've been loved and how the sacrifice of their parents has meant so much to them even they don't know all of the implications.

01:36:04

Lord, I pray that you would fill the children with gratitude for all that their parents have done. Lord, I ask that you would make us a humble of people.

01:36:14

People who love indiscriminately, not seeking something in return.

01:36:21

We love each other so much because of the love that Christ has shown us.

01:36:26

Lord, would you do a great work in us. Lord, I pray that you would allow us and give us the privilege like your servant

01:36:34

Paul to be spent in service to you and to your church.

01:36:41

We ask this in Jesus' name, amen. Now let us prepare to give our tithes and offerings before the

01:37:09

Lord and as the young men approach the front, let us stand to pray. Please stand.

01:37:46

Let us pray. Our gracious God and Father, as you have freely given and that we have emulated that by freely given,

01:37:57

Lord, we ask that you would bless these tithes and offerings which we have given to be useful to your kingdom,

01:38:05

Lord, and to the church. That it would assist in the spread of your gospel throughout the world and that you through it then would bring many sons to glory.

01:38:17

We ask this in Christ's name, amen. Let us join our voices together singing the

01:38:23

Gloria Patri. May God be with you and also with you.

01:39:03

Lift up your hearts. We lift them up to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord.

01:39:11

It is right and a good and a joyful thing that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to you,

01:39:19

O Holy Lord, Father Almighty, Everlasting God. Because you sent your beloved son to redeem us from sin and death and to make us heirs in him of everlasting life, that when he shall come again in power and great triumph to judge the world, we may without shame or fear rejoice to behold his appearing.

01:39:41

Therefore, with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, we praise and magnify your glorious name, evermore praising you and singing.

01:41:15

Let us pray. O God, the father of all mercies and God of all consolation, grant your gracious presence and the effectual working of your spirit in us.

01:41:30

And so to sanctify these elements, both of bread and wine, and to bless your own ordinance that we may receive by faith the body and blood of Jesus Christ crucified for us.

01:41:44

And so to feed upon him that he may be one with us and we one with him and that we may live that he may live in us and we in him and for him who has loved us and given himself for us.

01:42:02

Amen. The apostle Paul, when he was writing to the

01:42:08

Corinthians, wrote down a memorial of what transpired on the night to which the

01:42:15

Lord was delivered up and betrayed. He wrote this, for I received from the

01:42:21

Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread.

01:42:30

And when he had given thanks, he broke it, saying, take eat in remembrance of me.

01:42:41

In the same way, he took the cup also after supper, saying, this is the cup of the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you.

01:42:55

As often as you drink it, do so in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the

01:43:07

Lord's death until he comes. Therefore, we proclaim the faith.

01:43:20

As we approach the table, let us join together praying this prayer. We do not presume to come to this your table,

01:43:28

O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your manifold and great mercies.

01:43:37

We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table, but you are the same

01:43:43

Lord who always shows mercy. Grant us, therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of your dear

01:43:51

Son, Jesus Christ, and to drink of his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, and our souls washed through his most precious blood, and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us.

01:44:09

Amen. Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the gifts of God for the people of God.

01:45:48

Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come, glorious gain of thine.

01:46:02

Jesus, I come to thee and song.

01:46:31

Jesus, I come to thee. Jesus, I come,

01:46:48

Jesus, I come, into thy blessed will.

01:47:27

Jesus, I come to thee.

01:47:36

Jesus, I come, into the joy of life.

01:47:56

Jesus, I come to thee.

01:48:52

O tender voice like thine, and peace of mind.

01:49:01

I need thee, O I need thee,

01:49:10

O Savior. I come to thee.

01:49:20

I need thee every hour. Stay thou nearby.

01:49:29

Temptations lose their pride. I need thee.

01:49:51

O bless me now, my

01:50:26

Savior. I come to thee.

01:50:36

Teach me thy good sense, and be loyal.

01:50:51

I need thee, O I need thee, every hour.

01:50:58

I need thee. O bless me now, my Savior.

01:51:03

I come to thee. O so holy,

01:51:16

O I need thee, every hour.

01:51:33

I need thee. O bless me now, my Savior.

01:51:39

I come to thee. Tune my heart to sing thy praise.

01:52:06

Streams of mercy never ceasing, all for songs of loudest praise.

01:52:16

Teach me songs sung by flaming tongues above.

01:53:18

O to grace how great a debtor, daily

01:53:24

I'm constrained to be. Let that grace now like a feather to thee.

01:53:55

Steal it for me. Amen. As we have been fed with these elements, let us now pray this prayer of commitment together.

01:54:11

Almighty and ever -living God, we thank you for feeding us with the spiritual food of the most precious body and blood of your

01:54:21

Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, and for assuring us in these holy mysteries that we are living members of your 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 hath 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. Let us stand and rejoicing sing the doxology. Now the benediction, the grace of our

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Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.