March 13, 2022 - Sunday Service Live Stream

Ascension Presbyterian Church Longwood

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

05:54

Grace and peace to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome to the corporate worship of our

06:01

God. Please stand. I was glad when they said to me, let us go into the house of the

06:22

Lord. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May they prosper who love you.

06:30

Peace be within your walls, prosperity within your palaces. For the sake of my brethren and companions,

06:37

I will now say, peace be within you. Because of the house of the

06:43

Lord our God, I will seek your good. Unto you, oh Lord, we lift up our eyes.

06:51

Oh, you who dwell in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look unto you, oh

07:05

Lord our God, until you have mercy on us. Have mercy on us, oh

07:10

Lord, have mercy on us. For we are exceedingly filled with contempt.

07:16

Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorn of those who are at ease with the contempt of the proud.

07:24

Oh Lord, have mercy on us, we pray. Please pray with me.

07:33

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we joyfully heed your call to come into your presence.

07:40

We sense our unworthiness, but even greater, Lord, we sense your love and your mercy for us.

07:48

We pray that our worship would be pleasing in your sight through the perfection that is in Christ.

07:55

And oh Lord, I pray that your people today would be strengthened and built up in the faith, that they would themselves and corporately as families build your kingdom for your glory and namesake.

08:07

And we ask all this in Jesus' name. Please kneel as we confess our sins.

08:21

Let us join together now with one voice in the corporate confession of sin. Almighty God, we acknowledge and confess that we have sinned against you and thought were indeed and the good we are full of, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy.

09:04

There is always forgiveness with you. Restore to us the joy and wind up that which is broken.

09:14

Give light to our minds, strength to our wills, and rest to our souls.

09:21

Speak to each of us and let your word abide with us until it is wrought in us your holy will.

09:31

Please stand. In Christ we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.

09:44

According to the riches of his grace which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence.

09:52

Rejoice today in Christ you are forgiven. Amen. Please take up the hymnal and let's turn to number 38.

10:04

Immortal, invisible, God only wise. Number 38. One of the great blessings of our

12:04

Psalm of the Month pattern is we get the chance to sing those as we come to them.

12:11

We have had this as our Psalm of the Month before. It should be familiar to you. Psalm 110.

12:16

Psalm 110. Jeremiah chapter four, these are the words of God.

15:01

If you will return, O Israel, says the Lord, return to me, and if you will put away your abominations out of my sight, then you shall not be moved, and you shall swear the

15:13

Lord lives. In truth, in judgment, and in righteousness, the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him they shall glory.

15:24

For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, break up your fallow ground and do not sow among thorns.

15:34

Circumcise yourselves to the Lord and take away the foreskins of your hearts.

15:40

You men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest my fury come forth like fire and burn so that no one can quench it because of the evil of your doings.

15:53

Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem and say, blow the trumpet in the land.

15:59

Cry, gather together, and say, assemble yourselves and let us go into the fortified cities.

16:07

Set up the standard toward Zion. Take refuge, do not delay, for I will bring disaster from the north and great destruction.

16:16

The lion has come out of his thicket and the destroyer of nations is on his way.

16:24

He has gone forth from his place to make your land desolate. Your cities will be laid waste without inhabitants.

16:32

For this, clothe yourself with sackcloth. Lament and wail, for the fierce anger of the

16:39

Lord has not turned back from us. And it shall come to pass in that day, says the

16:44

Lord, that the heart of the king shall perish and the heart of the princes, the priests shall be astonished and the prophets shall wonder.

16:55

Then I said, ah, Lord God, surely you have greatly deceived this people in Jerusalem, saying, you shall have peace, whereas the sword reaches to the heart.

17:07

At that time, it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, a dry wind of the desolate heights blows in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan or to cleanse.

17:21

A wind too strong for these will come for me. Now I will also speak judgment against them.

17:28

Behold, he shall come up like clouds and his chariots like a whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles.

17:37

Woe to us, for we are plundered. O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness that you may be saved.

17:46

How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you? For a voice declares from Dan and proclaims affliction from Mount Ephraim.

17:55

Make mention to the nations, yes, proclaim against Jerusalem that watchers come from a far country and raise their voice against the cities of Judah.

18:06

Like keepers of a field, they are against her all around because she has been rebellious against me, says the

18:13

Lord. Your ways and your doings have procured these things for you. This is your wickedness because it is bitter, because it reaches to your heart.

18:24

O my soul, my soul, I am pained in my very heart. My heart makes a noise to me.

18:31

I cannot hold my peace because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

18:39

Destruction upon destruction is cried for the whole land is plundered. Suddenly, my tents are plundered and my curtains in a moment.

18:50

How long will I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet? For my people are foolish.

18:57

They have not known me. They are silly children and they have no understanding.

19:03

They are wise to do evil, but to do good, they have no knowledge. I beheld the earth and indeed it was without form and void.

19:12

In the heavens, they had no light. I beheld the mountains and indeed they trembled.

19:19

And all the hills moved back and forth. I beheld and indeed there was no man.

19:24

And all the birds of the heavens had fled. I beheld and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness and all its cities were broken down at the presence of the

19:35

Lord by his fierce anger. For thus says the Lord, the whole land shall be desolate, yet I will not make a full end.

19:45

For this shall the earth mourn and the heavens above be blacked because I have spoken,

19:51

I have purposed and will not relent. Nor will I turn back from it. The whole city shall flee from the noise of the horsemen and the bowmen.

20:01

They shall go into thickets and climb up on the rocks. Every city shall be forsaken and not a man shall dwell in it.

20:11

And when you are plundered, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with crimson, though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, though you enlarge your eyes with paint, in vain you will make yourself fair.

20:26

Your lovers will despise you. They will seek your life. For I have heard the voice of a woman in labor, the anguish of her who brings forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion bewailing herself.

20:41

She spreads her hand saying, woe is me now for my soul is weary because of murderers.

20:49

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Let us now join together in confessing our faith through the singing of the

21:03

Apostles' Creed. It's the

22:31

Lord's day. 60, the most familiar hymn in the church would have to be this one,

23:01

Amazing Grace, 460. Remember the change there?

26:43

Once we get started, Alyssa's gonna play through the short first verse to get us started. Would you tell us about the two changes?

26:51

Yep, so verse one, just remember it's a half verse. Verses two through seven are the regular verses.

26:58

After verse seven, just take a pause for just a breath, and then we're gonna go into verse eight.

27:03

Verse eight, that's the one that changes tune, just for that verse. After verse eight, just take a pause for another breath, and then we go back to verse nine, which is the regular.

27:14

So the only one you have to really be conscious of is that verse eight.

27:19

At the end of verse seven, just mentally prepare yourself to switch gears, but all you're doing is just, again, pausing for a breath, and then, other than that, just be sure you're enough, exercise yourself, so say you can hardly project.

27:40

Thank you, brother. Let's practice this week again during the week at home.

27:47

Alyssa, whenever you're ready, thank you. Let's pray together now in unison.

35:39

Oh God, from whom come all holy desires, all good counsel, and all just works.

35:48

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

36:10

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

36:19

The Lord says, I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me.

36:27

Lord, have mercy on us, and incline our hearts to keep this your law.

36:57

You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.

37:05

Lord, have mercy on us, and incline our hearts to keep this your law.

37:11

Dear Heavenly Father, we ask that you would be with us. You shall not take the name of the

37:55

Lord your God in vain. Have mercy on us, and incline our hearts to keep this your law.

38:27

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Keep this your law.

38:36

For this

38:45

Sabbath day to come together and worship you. We pray, Father, that upon this

38:51

Sabbath day. Honor your father and your mother.

39:31

Mercy on us, and incline our hearts to keep this your law. You shall not kill.

40:03

Have mercy on us, and incline our hearts to keep this your law. Lord, we live so with you.

41:11

You shall not commit adultery. Keep this your law.

41:20

That you give us to examine our hearts to this sin.

41:38

This sin. Give us the grace by the spirit to purge our lives, our hearts, our thoughts and actions of any form of sexual immorality, whether it be lustful thoughts, lustful looking, fornication, adultery, pornography,

42:03

Lord God, all of it. We pray that you, by your grace and your mercy, would keep violence from our households because of this sin.

42:11

We pray that you would strengthen the church to wage a bloody war against sexual immorality.

42:22

In a time and age where there's war everywhere, we fail to see war in ourselves and in amongst sin and seeking to see it destroyed.

42:34

May we start this in our house, in our households, parents, with our children, seeking to train them in the way in which they are to have discipline and to love your law and to love purity and to save themselves for their husbands and their wives.

42:51

We pray, Lord God, in this your grace on sin. You shall not steal.

43:00

Lord, have mercy on us, and incline our hearts to keep this your law. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

43:35

Lord, have mercy on us, and incline our hearts to keep this your law. Gracious God and Father, we pray that you would grant us the grace to not think of ourselves more highly than others, that we would look upon our neighbor in the way that you have instructed us, leaves all things.

44:05

We pray, Father, that we would be charitable toward our neighbor. You shall not covet.

44:20

Lord, have mercy on us.

45:01

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul, mind, and strength. Lord, have mercy on us, and incline our hearts to keep this your law.

45:19

It's your holy, righteous, and perfect commandments which construct us into loving you, oh

45:26

Lord, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We pray, God, as we go about our day worshiping you, we pray that it will be acceptable in your sight through the works of the perfect Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

45:42

We pray as we go out throughout our week that we would continue on in what we do here, in our act here on this

45:49

Lord's Day worship service, that we would do all that we do in love for you, your

45:56

Son, and the Holy Spirit. Listen to your Son say, I'm afraid. Amen. Please stand and take up the

46:04

Psalm of the Month. Psalm 11. Because of your familiarity with it, let's just play a brief introduction.

46:16

Psalm 11. Please turn in your

49:06

Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 11. 2

49:13

Corinthians 11. I'm gonna be reading verses five through 21.

49:21

This is God's holy and infallible word. For I consider that I am not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles, even though I am untrained in speech, yet I am not in knowledge, but we have been thoroughly manifested among you in all things.

49:47

Did I commit sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge?

49:56

I robbed other churches, taking wages from them to minister to you.

50:02

And when I was present with you and in need, I was a burden to no one for what

50:07

I lacked the brethren who came from Macedonia supplied. In everything,

50:13

I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and so I will keep myself. As the truth of Christ is in me, no one shall stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia.

50:26

Why? Because I do not love you, God knows. But what

50:32

I do, I will also continue to do that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast.

50:44

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.

50:53

And no wonder, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.

51:00

Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

51:12

I say again, let no one think me a fool. If otherwise at least receive me as a fool, then

51:18

I also may boast a little. What I speak, I speak not according to the

51:24

Lord, but as it were foolishly in this confidence of boasting.

51:30

Seeing that many boast according to the flesh, I also will boast. For you put up with the fools gladly since you yourselves are wise.

51:42

For you put up with it if one brings you into bondage, if one devours you, if one takes from you, if one exalts himself, if one strikes you on the face.

51:54

To our shame, I say that we were too weak for that. But in whatever anyone is bold,

52:01

I speak foolishly, I am bold also. The Lord be pleased with our study of the word.

52:10

Pray that it would be nourished. Lord, it's such a privilege to be called by your name, to be your people.

52:24

I pray that today that we would see just how glorious it is to know

52:30

Christ, to know you, oh Lord. And that we would say with Paul that the truth of Christ is in me.

52:38

I ask all this in the name of Jesus. Please be seated. Paul has been defending his apostleship extensively throughout the book, and we continue in that in 2

52:54

Corinthians 11. There are a couple of things I'd like to draw out of it for your observation today.

53:02

First, this will be the first point for you to take notes, that Paul's humility was despised.

53:11

Paul's humility was despised. One, Paul's humility despised.

53:22

Number two, the title of the message, the truth of Christ is in me. Christ is in me.

53:31

The deception and danger of the false apostles.

53:43

Deception and danger of the false apostles. Fourth would be application.

53:51

So I'm going to read through those again pretty quickly, and we'll get started.

53:59

Paul's humility has, Paul's humility despised is number one. Paul's humility despised.

54:06

Number two, it's the same as the title of the message, the truth of Christ is in me. And three, deception and danger of the false apostles.

54:21

Deception and danger of the false apostles. Christ is the true

54:28

God and eternal life. To have an acquaintance with the real truth, you have to have an acquaintance with Christ.

54:41

It's funny today, in our time, in this culture, as it's been in every culture, though maybe for us who've lived through a couple of generations, there is a new attempt to create truth brought out of thin air and out of the wicked desires of men's hearts.

55:00

The reason this happens is they do not have Christ, therefore they do not have the truth.

55:06

If you have Christ, you have the truth. These things go together.

55:12

Let's look at our text. And this text in this section, as there have been a couple of these, is dripping with sarcasm.

55:22

And I'm not gonna devote a lot of time to that portion of it, but it's there everywhere in all of the language.

55:28

Paul has been called a fool and he embraces it in this kind of satirical response to them showing who the fool in the situation really is.

55:38

So he takes on the sarcasm probably originally generated from his opponents in Corinth.

55:47

He says, for I consider that I am not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles.

55:54

The super apostles are saying Paul's inferior. Paul says, no, I'm not inferior.

56:01

But then he goes on to say, even though I am untrained in speech, as you can imagine, the

56:09

Greek orators of the day were highly compensated individuals. They would come from miles around to hear a guy who spoke well.

56:19

It would seem that probably the super apostles, so -called, the false teachers, had taken on some of the worldly character of those great orators who were common in the

56:31

Greek culture and yet they preached Christ, so -called, through it. Now, I want to point out something very clear.

56:39

This is always true for false teachers. The false teachers preach

56:44

Christ as a means to an end. It's not Christ as the end, but he's a means to some other end, honor, wealth, riches, whatever it is.

56:56

That's true today. The televangelists, people like that, those cartoonish characters, they are in it for the money.

57:04

They're in it for the wealth. They're in it for other things. Christ is a means to another end.

57:10

For Paul and for us, I hope, Christ is the end. He's not a means to something else.

57:18

Christ is the end. Christ, the glory of Christ, the person of Christ, the work of Christ, union with Christ, that's the end for us.

57:26

We don't want to have, in gain, Christ, we might have a better marriage. We don't want it that we might be more successful in our career.

57:35

We want to have Christ himself. And if we have him, we have everything.

57:40

So our pursuit, our desire is Christ, not Christ for some other end, that he will bless our business, he'll give us nice children.

57:50

All of those things are nice, but they do not compare to knowing and being united to Christ, and that's

57:56

Paul's desire for the church at Corinth. Now, he says,

58:01

I am not untrained in speech, apparently well -documented in Corinth. They particularly thought little of him.

58:08

But he says, yet I am not in knowledge. Paul knew

58:14

Christ. You know, there's something I always thought was interesting.

58:21

My grandfather, he was acquainted with war in Korea, and I remember when guys would go, and I remember the time of the second

58:31

Desert Storm, Desert Gulf War, whatever it was called. Don't remember what it was called. People would kind of with glee in their eyes talk about war and how cool these things were.

58:43

My grandfather was acquainted with war, and his best friend was tortured by the

58:49

Koreans mercilessly, and he never had a twinkle in his eye when it came to war.

58:56

The guys who were going on deploying to war was exciting. They got to be G .I. Joe. They got to play soldier, and they got to kill bad guys.

59:05

But they did not yet know war. The man who knew war had an entirely different perspective on it.

59:15

Paul has a knowledge, a personal, intimate knowledge of Christ, and I think implied here, the false apostles don't have that same kind of knowledge.

59:27

It's interesting. The false teachers know about Christ, but Paul knows

59:34

Christ. The preachers today, we can speak historically. Sometimes you'll have a guy, and I remember in the

59:40

Jesus Seminar, they would talk so glowingly about the historic Jesus and be utterly rank, unbelieving pagans.

59:50

They don't know Christ. They know about him. They know historicity. They know facts. They know things.

59:57

He's a nice, moral teacher. He's the king of glory. He's the only savior.

01:00:03

There's a difference between knowing and knowing, and Paul knew Christ. In verse seven, we learn something of the conditions.

01:00:14

If it seemed to be Paul's practice to not take compensation from people when he originally would go and preach the gospel to them, and I think this is very wise because no one could charge

01:00:27

Paul with saying, well, he's come here to get money from us, but these super apostles, these false teachers are coming into town, and they're getting compensated handsomely, and what they said is if Paul were worth anything, he would at least get some money for his preaching.

01:00:45

He's an amateur. Look at him. They don't even give him any money, and Paul says, no, this is good because I preach the gospel of God to you free of charge.

01:00:56

Other churches, it says in verse eight, supported me while I was ministering to you, and I, when

01:01:04

I was with you and in need, I was a burden to no one. No one could say Paul came to Corinth to get the money for his own provision, and it turns out the

01:01:16

Macedonians, it would seem, not only are they so generous in leading the charge of relieving the saints in Jerusalem, they probably too are the ones who are largely supporting

01:01:25

Paul in his ministry. We know significantly in the church at Philippi, they were known for their generosity and their support of Paul and his companions in ministry, but he says in everything,

01:01:40

I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and so I will keep myself from being a burden.

01:01:49

Now, we go to the second point.

01:01:56

Paul doesn't sound the part. You remember that description I gave you in recent weeks of his physical appearance from apocryphal literature?

01:02:05

He doesn't look the part, but he has the substance. He has Christ, and he has the commissioning call of Christ to go and be the apostle to the

01:02:14

Gentiles. It's a very important thing. There are a lot of self -appointed apostles in the church today, but we have to go about things the proper way.

01:02:25

Paul came in as one abnormally born, he would say, but he himself was an apostle.

01:02:33

Now, we get to point two, and this is where I wanna spend most of our time, beginning at verse 10 and 11.

01:02:40

As the truth of Christ is in me, it seems like he's using this to talk about something else, but I think it's very central to his message in this part of 2

01:02:50

Corinthians. As the truth of Christ is in me, no one shall stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia.

01:02:58

Why? Why will he not stop boasting? Because he knows Christ. He knows the power of salvation.

01:03:07

He knows who he was without Christ. Do you remember who you were without Christ?

01:03:13

It's a time of reflection. Mark mentioned the time of his, and it had an adult conversion recently in Sunday school this week.

01:03:21

He talked about it. He remembers. I almost can't remember now that I was a pagan, but when

01:03:29

I think about it, it's unsavory in my mind to be that 20 -year -old that I used to be, but I'm now new in Christ.

01:03:39

Paul says, the truth of Christ is in me. Now, if you're taking notes,

01:03:45

I want you to write down a couple things just so you can think about this more clearly. The truth of Christ is in him, and it's evidenced by his great love for the

01:03:54

Corinthians. It's evidenced by his great love for the

01:04:00

Corinthians. We just prayed through the 10 commandments, and that summary statement is one of love, love for God, comprehensive, and love for neighbor.

01:04:12

Paul is showing his moral character has been transformed by the gospel and his union with Christ.

01:04:19

He has great love for the Corinthians, but I wonder if the false teachers really know this.

01:04:28

If you're a huckster and you preach Christ, do you really believe he is who he claims to be?

01:04:37

The second person of the Trinity, the only mediator, the creator himself, the only redeemer.

01:04:49

If you are in it for something else other than Christ, do you believe these things?

01:04:56

Why do all these heresies that have affected the church from its inception revolve around the person and work of Christ, the creeds, the councils?

01:05:06

The truth of Christ is found in who he is. There's something else, what he has done, atonement of sin, salvation.

01:05:18

He's brought in new life, and he's taken a bride from last week.

01:05:24

You get a sense of we are the betrothed to Christ. And they don't believe this about him, where he is, who he is, what he has done, or where he is.

01:05:38

He's seated at the right hand of God, enthroned in heaven, ruling and reigning.

01:05:46

Do you know, you and I consciously sin against our Lord. We either intentionally, willfully, or because of our lack of attentiveness, we forget where he is.

01:05:59

He's enthroned and all authority belongs to him. We act as though he has not that authority.

01:06:09

All authority is given to him, and we shake our fists at God as Ryan prayed, and we pursue some unlawful sexual thing.

01:06:18

Or we rob our employer, or we do some unsavory thing, we lie, we sully our neighbor's reputation.

01:06:25

We forget that he is on the throne, and he reigns, and he sees, and he knows. Paul says, the truth of Christ is in me.

01:06:38

Well, I'd like you to turn back just a couple chapters, because this theme has been a little bit veiled, but in 2

01:06:45

Corinthians already. Let's look at 2 Corinthians chapter four. Paul compared the ministry of death, is what is essentially apostate

01:07:02

Judaism in chapter three, contrasting that with the gospel of Christ, beginning in chapter four, verse one.

01:07:12

Therefore, since we have this ministry, we have received mercy, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth.

01:07:34

The false teacher is a lot of deceit, preaching things for itching ears.

01:07:41

The church today, preaching with itching ears. I almost hesitate for us to do any fun extra stuff on our picnic day, because what you draw people to is what you draw them with, and all of that back and forth together.

01:07:57

They're gonna expect, if we have a party every week, they're gonna say, well, this church is a church that parties. No, we're a church that has fellowship.

01:08:05

I want them to see that. We're gonna have a nice time, we're gonna have a great time, we're gonna play games, it's fine, but I want them to see the essence.

01:08:11

I don't want us to put on a show for them, I want them to see the essence of us, a fellowshipping people who love

01:08:17

Christ and love each other. Paul's ministry, a manifestation of the truth.

01:08:24

Committing ourselves, he says, to every man's conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the

01:08:36

God of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

01:08:48

The language that Paul uses in 2 Corinthians 11, he effectively calls, we're gonna see at the end, he calls them

01:08:55

Satan's ministers. He's saying, what he's saying in 2

01:09:01

Corinthians 4 is almost the same exact thing he's saying in 2 Corinthians 11.

01:09:06

And they're preaching themselves. Verse five, is Paul preaching himself? For we do not preach ourselves.

01:09:15

Again, I think this is the error that's coming into the church. A lot of teachers and pastors, all they do is talk about themselves and their lives and their experience and their stories.

01:09:26

That's all they talk about. Great storyteller. We preach Christ. For Christ Jesus is the

01:09:34

Lord. Ourselves, your bondservants, for Jesus' sake.

01:09:40

It is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

01:09:50

Paul knows that knowledge. He knows that glory. He knows intimately who

01:09:55

Christ is. And it's true for all of us who are believers in him.

01:10:01

I'd like you to turn to maybe one of the better statements that conveys this idea is found in John's writings.

01:10:09

Let's go to the first epistle of John, which my family and I have been periodically studying in our family devotions.

01:10:16

First John chapter five. This idea of light and truth is very characteristic of Johannine literature.

01:10:37

John talks about it a lot. He says in verse 20, this is at the end of first John chapter five, end of the book.

01:10:47

And we know that the son of God has come and has given us an understanding.

01:10:56

The son of God has come in the flesh. He's come in the power of the spirit. He's transformed lives, not only in the incarnation, but in his person, his work, his salvation, his crucifixion, his resurrection, in his sending out of the apostles and in bringing in, ushering in the kingdom of God.

01:11:16

He has given us an understanding. Why? That we may know him who is true.

01:11:25

And we are in him who is true, in his son,

01:11:31

Jesus Christ. I know a lot of people in the world. I have acquaintances,

01:11:38

I have friends, people I see every once in a while, but I really know those close to me.

01:11:45

I know my wife. I know my children. That's the same thing for you, isn't it? The knowledge that Paul refers to is this supernatural binding of the heart of Christ to his people and vice versa.

01:12:02

The church lovingly submitting to their head, Christ, who is Lord over all.

01:12:08

Christ has come that we would have an understanding, that we would know him who is true.

01:12:15

And that knowledge is even expanded, and this is expressed in things like the

01:12:20

Lord's Supper and our union with one another in Christ. We are in him, we are in Christ, that famous Pauline phrase that he uses so often.

01:12:31

What a joy it is to be in him who is true, in his son, Jesus Christ.

01:12:38

This is the true God and eternal life.

01:12:44

It's interesting, the concluding statement. If this be true, we prayed for this in our times of prayer today, little children, keep yourselves from idols.

01:12:58

There's a danger for those who have the knowledge of Christ and have been united to him to be tempted by idols.

01:13:05

We'll turn over to a book that never gets any attention, 3 John, turn over two pages or so to 3

01:13:12

John. We'll begin reading at verse one.

01:13:25

The elder, referring to John, to the beloved Gaius, whom

01:13:31

I love in truth. Kids, men will never give birth to babies.

01:13:42

It can never happen. Facebook, if they have any kind of algorithm, we'll remove the sermon from the thing if they can catch that.

01:13:53

Never, ever, ever, ever will a man give birth to a baby. It will never happen.

01:14:00

There will never be a legitimacy to a marriage between two same -sex partners. It will never be a marriage.

01:14:07

It will never be legitimized, ever, under any circumstances. Pass your fake legislation, pass your phony laws, get all of the pagans to believe it.

01:14:17

It will never be true. What John says about a little church, most likely, disciples of his, desire for every parent, every pastor, every denomination, is that their children would walk in the truth.

01:14:39

Verse two says, beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health just as your soul prospers.

01:14:49

For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth.

01:15:02

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

01:15:12

It seems to me that this truth is very important. It's life -giving.

01:15:17

It's the light of the knowledge of God shining. We need to be the people who love the truth.

01:15:26

Every jot, every tittle of this word is true. We have to live and act and operate as though it is.

01:15:33

I have to search out and know the scriptures and hide them in my heart that I might be able to apply

01:15:38

God's word to all the circumstances of life. Every drop of your life needs to be an acknowledgement and recognition of the truth.

01:15:48

The truth is found in Christ. There's a section of scripture that I think really conveys this, and this will be the last cross -reference

01:16:01

I go to in our time here. Let's turn to the gospel of John now in chapter eight. I'm going to read a sizable portion of this.

01:16:13

Appreciate your patience with that. You'll remember this is, some people think

01:16:23

John eight, the beginning, is a questionable part of scripture, whether it should be there or not. Source criticism, all textual criticism,

01:16:32

I believe 100 % is part of the scripture. This is the woman caught in adultery.

01:16:39

In this section, it's not as directly related to what I'm going to talk about. I just want to point this out.

01:16:45

Christ never excuses the sin of the adulterous woman. He never diminishes the law in John chapter eight, but he does point out the hypocrisy and the disingenuous nature of the

01:16:59

Pharisees in the matter at hand. That's what the real argument against them is there.

01:17:06

But then Jesus says this. This very important idea related to truth, light, darkness, good, evil, verse 12,

01:17:19

John eight. Jesus spoke to them again saying, I am the light of the world.

01:17:25

We're answering the question, who is Christ as a second person of the

01:17:31

Trinity? What has he done? Where is he now? He says,

01:17:37

I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.

01:17:48

The Pharisees make an argument from the law. They say, you bear witness of yourself.

01:17:53

Your witness is not true. And Jesus answered and says to them, even if I bear witness of myself, my witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from and where I am going.

01:18:14

I want you to think about this in light of the incarnation, which we referenced already. Christ knows what it is to be

01:18:23

God. He knows what it is to be conceived of the

01:18:30

Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary and to live this sinless life to this point.

01:18:36

He understands time, eternity, creation. He is the author of it.

01:18:46

You judge according to the flesh, he says, I judge no one. And yet if I do judge, my judgment is true for I am not alone, but I am with the father who sent me.

01:18:59

He makes himself one with God here. Blasphemy in the eyes of...

01:19:09

It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. I am one who bears witness of myself and the father who sent me bears witness of me.

01:19:21

He says, call the father as the expert witness. Am I the son of God or not?

01:19:27

And the father says, yes, you are my son in whom I am well pleased. Testimony is irrefutable.

01:19:37

No arguments can be made. Now, don't you know, if you know anything about this section in John eight, the speculation of the circumstances of Jesus' birth is still in the air.

01:19:51

They said to him, where is your father? We know about Joseph and Mary and all of that.

01:20:01

Jesus is thinking of the heavenly father. He answers, you know, neither me nor my father.

01:20:06

If you had known me, you would have known my father also. These words, Jesus spoke in the treasury as he taught in the temple and no one laid hands on him.

01:20:18

Then he says, I'm going away and you will seek me and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.

01:20:24

And the Jews speculate, will he kill himself? Because he says, where I go, you cannot come.

01:20:30

And he said to them, you are from beneath. I am from above.

01:20:38

Kind of goes nice with St. Patrick's press plate today. You are of this world.

01:20:44

I am not of this world. Therefore, I said to you that you will die in your sins.

01:20:50

For if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins. This is the question that everyone has to answer.

01:20:59

Every person in the world, do you believe he is the one who if you believe in him, you'll have salvation?

01:21:07

Or if not, you will die in your sins. In our pre -converted state that Mark mentioned today, not really thinking about these things.

01:21:16

But this is the reality. This is the real world. This is the essence of human existence.

01:21:24

And I said to him, who are you? Just as I have been saying to you from the beginning,

01:21:30

I have many things to say and to judge concerning you. But he who sent me is true.

01:21:35

And I speak to the world those things which I heard from him. They did not understand that he spoke to them of the father.

01:21:44

And now it starts to crystallize. Verse 28, when you lift up the son of man, then you will know that I am he, that I do nothing of myself.

01:21:54

But as my father taught me, I speak these things. He who sent me is with me. The father has not left me alone for I always do those things that please him.

01:22:04

As he spoke these words, many believed in him. Then Jesus said to those

01:22:11

Jews who believed him, if you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed.

01:22:17

And I'll pause here. That word abide is closely connected with the word obedience.

01:22:29

We say we love Jesus like we do, but there's no obedience in our lives.

01:22:37

We're not thinking rightly about this. If you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed.

01:22:44

It's not just that we read the scripture and have nice little devotions. We eat the word of God and we live the word of God in obedience to him.

01:22:53

That's what it means to abide in Christ. And he says, and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.

01:23:08

This causes there to be an uproar among the Jews. He's saying, you don't know the truth and you're in bondage.

01:23:16

That's what we're saying to all the people around us. All the people who believe in the nonsense that the culture espouses today, they do not believe the truth and they're in bondage.

01:23:26

Because Christ is the truth and he's the only way for liberty and salvation and freedom.

01:23:31

It's only found in Christ. They bow up on him. We are Abraham's descendants and never been in bondage to anyone.

01:23:41

How can you say you will be made free? They've been in bondage a lot and they've been in bondage currently to the

01:23:49

Romans. And it's interesting, they're looking for an idealized political Messiah who will just kick out the

01:23:56

Romans. But the King of Kings has actually come. The real

01:24:04

Messiah, not the Messiah of the Jewish construction at the time, but the real

01:24:09

Messiah has come. He says, most assuredly,

01:24:15

I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. This is kind of like the situation with Paul and the false apostles in our section.

01:24:24

They think Paul is the weak one. They think Paul's the sinner. The Jews think

01:24:29

Jesus is a blasphemer and he's a sinner. And actually he's turned the tables and said, you're the sinner, you're the blasphemer.

01:24:37

A slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.

01:24:43

The son shall make you free. You shall be free indeed. I know that you are

01:24:49

Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill me because my word has no place in you. I speak what

01:24:55

I have seen with my father and you do what you have seen with your father. And they respond,

01:25:00

Abraham is our father. Jesus said, if you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham, but now you seek to kill me.

01:25:11

A man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God, Abraham did not do this.

01:25:17

You do the deeds of your father. Testing my theory.

01:25:24

They said to him, we were not born of fornication, implying that Jesus was.

01:25:31

We have one father, God. Now this is about to reach the crescendo in just a moment, so stay with me.

01:25:39

If God were your father, you would love me for I have proceeded forth and came from God, nor have

01:25:45

I come of myself, but he sent me. Why do you not understand my speech?

01:25:52

Because you are not able to listen to my word. You're of your father, the devil, the desires of your father you want to do.

01:26:08

He was a murderer from the beginning, does not stand in the truth. Start the contrast, just like Paul.

01:26:15

Jesus is the truth. Satan is the great liar. Paul is a messenger of the truth.

01:26:23

He's a true apostle sent by Christ. The false teachers are ministers of Satan.

01:26:29

When he speaks a lie, it says again in John 8, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

01:26:40

But because I tell you the truth, you do not believe me. Which of you have convicted me of sin?

01:26:47

If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God hears

01:26:53

God's words, therefore you do not hear because you are not of God.

01:27:01

And the Jews answered and said to him, I wanna talk about some blasphemy. Do we not say rightly that you are a

01:27:07

Samaritan and have a demon? Jesus answered,

01:27:13

I do not have a demon, but I honor my father and you dishonor me. And I do not seek my own glory, there is one who seeks and judges.

01:27:24

Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he shall never see death.

01:27:31

And the Jews said to him, now we know that you have a demon. Abraham is dead and the prophets and you say, if anyone keeps my word, he shall never taste death.

01:27:44

Are you greater than our father, Abraham, who is dead and the prophets are dead? Who do you make yourself out to be?

01:27:52

Jesus answered, if I honor myself, my honor is nothing. And it's my father who honors me, of whom you say that he is your

01:27:59

God. Here comes this question again of their

01:28:07

Bible. I was reading something about the language of Satan in our text and Satan knows the

01:28:14

Bible, but he has always the intent of perversion and his use of it.

01:28:20

He's not embracing it as the truth, he knows it's the truth, but his wickedness demands that he twist it and pervert it.

01:28:28

Jesus is saying that about the people who can have the oracles of God, the caretakers of the truth, supposedly.

01:28:36

He says, yet you have not known him, but I know him.

01:28:45

And if I say, I do not know him, I shall be a liar like you. And here's where it is.

01:28:53

Children, I want you to think about this. And I do know him and keep his word.

01:29:00

Your father, Abraham, rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad.

01:29:09

Now, Jesus is born in Bethlehem. He grows up in Nazareth, spends most of his time around Capernaum.

01:29:17

They know who this guy is. They know that he's younger than them.

01:29:27

They respond, the Jews said to him, you are not yet 50 years old and have you seen

01:29:33

Abraham? And one of the most earth -shaking statements in scripture to me every time

01:29:42

I read it, because my love of Exodus and things like it just hits me so hard.

01:29:48

Pray the Holy Spirit would crush you appropriately so with it. He said, most assuredly,

01:29:53

I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.

01:30:05

Before there was an Abraham, there was a great I am. Jesus says, I'm him. I am

01:30:13

God in the flesh. You don't even know God. You're liars.

01:30:19

How shocking that must have been to them. So there's a difference of being acquainted with God, isn't there, and knowing him.

01:30:33

And they took up stones to throw at him. Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so pass by.

01:30:45

Let's go back to our text, 2 Corinthians 11. There's always an assault on the gospel.

01:30:55

There's always an assault on the person and work of Christ. But you know who he is.

01:31:04

You know he's the second person of the Trinity. You know he's the great I am. You know he's the agent of creation.

01:31:09

He is the preeminent one. He's the firstborn over all.

01:31:15

He's the only redeemer. You know that he's seated at the right hand of God and enthroned in heaven, ruling and reigning.

01:31:27

Paul also knows. Who was Paul without Christ, the greatest enemy of the church? Who is he now, its greatest champion?

01:31:41

The truth and love and grace of God in Christ conquers the hardest hearts.

01:31:52

He can also do that for our neighbors, our family members. Never forget that. This is a sober business, heaven and hell, life and death, eternity, very sober business.

01:32:02

But this glorious person, Christ, and his glorious gospel and his wonderful grace is able, because of the truth, because of who he is, he's able to conquer hearts.

01:32:18

Now, who are you without Christ? Who are you now, and is the truth of Christ in you?

01:32:29

Do you know him in this very deep? Takes us to the third point, it'll be very brief.

01:32:41

There's always deception and danger of the false teachers. The language is very harsh in our section.

01:32:49

Paul says they transformed themselves into apostles of Christ. He kept that language.

01:32:55

They were not legitimate apostles. They themselves transformed themselves, commissioned themselves, called themselves to be apostles of Christ.

01:33:05

He says emphatically, they're satanic, referring to Satan. Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of life.

01:33:13

Therefore, Satan's ministers transform themselves into ministers of righteousness.

01:33:20

We need to take the gloves off in the church. We need to punch these guys square on the jaw.

01:33:28

We need to call them out if they're not preaching the biblical gospel, if they're not preaching the biblical

01:33:34

Christ. We need to recognize they're not well -intentioned fools. They're probably instruments of the enemy against Christ and his church.

01:33:44

It's time for boldness and courage amongst God's people and the officers of the church.

01:33:51

And he continues, and he says basically, their works will be both manifested and judged.

01:33:58

Can you imagine being a guy, a huckster, who used the glory of Christ for his own honor, for his own wealth?

01:34:10

Remind you that as Christ is the perfect revelation of this truth, Satan is the counterfeit, and he reveals, there's a great psalm.

01:34:28

I can't remember the, maybe DJ will remember it. It says, teach me your ways, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth.

01:34:37

That's what we're asking the Lord to do today. Give us great discernment to spot error that we might not walk in the truth because Christ is the true

01:34:48

God, is the truth of Christ in you.

01:34:56

Let me give a couple words of application here. First, the Christian knows

01:35:02

Christ intimately, and so you and I need to say and ask ourselves, do we know about Christ, or do we know him personally, intimately?

01:35:14

The false teacher, the false professor, the false convert knows about him.

01:35:20

It's a big difference. Number two, you and I need to be humble when it comes to ourselves, but we need to be boasting about Christ.

01:35:34

Make your boast in Christ. Proclaim the excellencies of his names.

01:35:40

Boast a lot, but let your boast only be in Christ. Number three, the antidote to the deception and dangers of the false teachers is discernment.

01:35:57

This is possible, to have discernment is possible. When the truth of Christ is in you, as one who is in Christ, labor to be well -versed in the truth of Christ.

01:36:08

You've gotta know the scripture in and out. You've gotta be on your knees praying. You gotta give a lot of attention to the public gathering of the church.

01:36:18

You've got to be prepared and armed with the truth that you might discern the error.

01:36:29

And finally, think about what you have and what you know. Make the truth about Christ known, his person.

01:36:38

What an amazing story, the son of God became.

01:36:47

His glorious gospel, the good news that God saves sinners, doesn't leave them in their desperate estate.

01:36:58

The salvation, the deliverance he gives us. What about the hope he gives to us? We are joint heirs with Christ and we're going to reign with him forever.

01:37:08

We can endure anything this life has to offer us, any hardship because of that great hope.

01:37:15

What about this body that is failing? Some of you young men, you're starting to realize you can't do all the things you used to do.

01:37:22

You get tired and you're not as strong as you were and all those things. We believe in a bodily resurrection.

01:37:33

And I don't believe we're waiting for a day when Christ will reign and rule. I believe we're living in the day.

01:37:41

Well, that should give you a lot of confidence. And we also need to make the truth known of the ultimate, decisive, eternal final victory of Christ.

01:38:02

All of his enemies and ours will be vanquished. The process has already begun.

01:38:13

See, there's a lot when we say, we didn't even begin to scratch the surface of it that we know Christ and the truth of Christ is in me.

01:38:20

That's why Paul could stand alone against all of those guys because he knew Christ.

01:38:25

It's true for us. Let's pray together. Oh Lord, I pray that we would know the truth and the truth would set us free.

01:38:39

We recognize, oh God, that you have in Christ made the way, the truth, and the life.

01:38:49

Lord, forgive us. We have occasionally used you for other ends. Help us to see that you are the great end of our faith.

01:39:01

Oh Lord, help us to emulate Paul and to be humble and to serve you under the circumstances that you have ordained, that we would never despise the duties you lay upon us.

01:39:18

Oh Lord, I pray that your people today would revel in the truth that Christ is in them. Not only do they know him anecdotally or historically or reading pages on the book, but they truly and deeply know you.

01:39:37

Lord, help us to reflect on who you are and what you have done and where you are ruling and reigning today.

01:39:44

Help us to remember our former life without you, that we would have greater thanksgiving for the life that we now have with you.

01:39:53

And oh Lord, I pray that you would not allow us fall prey to the false teachers and their deceptions and their dangers.

01:40:03

Help us to call it what it is, satanic enemies of the gospel and of Christ.

01:40:10

Help us to see who they really are. We pray, Lord, that you would use your love even to conquer your enemies and make them your bride as well, that you would make them your friends.

01:40:23

May the greatest heretics in the land today repent and turn to you, oh

01:40:29

Christ. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Let's continue our time of worship, the presentation of tithes and offerings.

01:40:43

I'm gonna ask when the young men get to the front, you guys stand and we'll jump into the glory of Huttree. Please stand.

01:41:56

The stewardship of life you have given to us, we ask that your offerings today would be used for the advance of your kingdom, that we would see more and more of the glory of Christ and that we'd make more and more of the glory of Christ known.

01:42:12

We ask this in Jesus' name. The Lord be with you.

01:42:18

And also with you. Lift up your hearts. We lift them up to the Lord.

01:42:24

Let us give thanks to the Lord. It is good and right so to do.

01:42:29

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

01:42:37

Holy Lord, Father Almighty, everlasting God. Because you sent your beloved

01:42:43

Son to redeem us from sin and death and to make us heirs in him of everlasting life, that we shall come again in power and great triumph to judge the world we may without shame or fear rejoice to behold his appearing.

01:42:58

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

01:44:47

The Lord, we've prayed. We've had the privilege to sing.

01:44:55

A lot of these elements have called us to be bound to you, to be united to you.

01:45:03

We know that you have done this. And I ask, oh Lord, that you would bless your people with the feast, that they would be spiritually nourished when they put the small quantity of bread and wine into their mouths, that they would see more, experience more of their union with Christ, that they would recognize what you have done in reconciling us to yourself and to unite yourself to us.

01:45:38

We ask that your name would be hallowed and glorified and that your people would be nourished and strengthened.

01:45:44

I ask these things in Jesus' name. Our Lord Jesus, on the night in which he was betrayed, took bread, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, take, as he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood.

01:46:07

Drink from it, all of you. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the

01:46:13

Lord's death. Therefore, Christ is died,

01:46:21

Christ is risen, Christ will come again. Let's approach the table now by praying together in unison.

01:46:31

We do not presume to come to this door table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your manifold and great mercies.

01:46:44

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

01:46:51

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

01:47:00

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

01:47:19

Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast.

01:47:25

The gifts of God for the people of God. Thanks be to the Lord. Let's make this commitment together in unison.

01:56:40

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

01:56:51

Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, and for assuring us in these holy mysteries that we are living members of the body of your

01:57:02

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 has had work in every good deed.

01:57:22

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

01:57:31

Lord, to give to you and to the Holy Spirit the honor and glory now and forever.

01:57:38

Amen. Please stand. May the

01:58:28

Spirit of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. Amen.

01:59:58

Amen. Amen. Amen.