It belongs to the Lord. as we close out today worshiping together. It's our pleasure tonight to have Jay Krestar back with us. He'll be bringing the message tonight and leading us in. Uh Sacramental Communion, so Glad to have all of you here tonight and glad to have Jay and Wendy with us tonight.
Just a few announcements before we begin. We will be having our regular prayer and Bible study on Wednesday at 7 o'clock. and invite you to come be a part of that, to have classes as well for the youth and children. Then on Tuesday night, we continue what is a new ministry for us, for young adults. Jonathan Oldham and Brandon Cheney are working together leading a study of 1 John.
And that's at 7 o'clock on Tuesday evenings. And so encourage any young adults that you know to be a part of that.
Next Sunday, we will be having an ice cream fellowship following the evening service, so you want to come and be a part of that. And then Vacation Bible School is right around the corner now. In fact, there's a rehearsal after the service tonight for some of the folks that are involved in some of the Bible school's kids. Uh we we preparing for that throughout this coming week. And if you know of children that need to be a part of that, you can register online.
Um and uh so Make sure that you're praying for that. effort uh as we have Bible school this summer. Um If you have a uh Baby bottle that you haven't turned in yet, be sure we get that taken care of. That's uh to finishing up uh that offering for gate pregnancy. Uh today, so take care of that.
And then one final announcement, be in prayer this week. Our elders will be traveling to General Assembly this week. and our youth are going up to the ark for the ark encounter. And they're also going to come by and visit us on our business day on Thursday, I believe, for the General Assembly. Be in prayer for the youth and for our General Assembly this week.
Any other announcements before we uh begin our service together. All right. But let's go to the Lord in prayer. Lord Jesus, we thank you for the promise that whenever two or three are gathered in your name, There you are in the midst. Grant us grace to B conscious and aware of your presence.
That we When we Come Uh to a faith. enter into The very heavenly throne of God. Gathered there with the angels. with those who've gone before us. in the very presence of God.
and of our Lord Jesus. We thank you, Father, that because of your great love, you sent your Son. who came and lived A perfect life of obedience. who died in our stead. who was raised again.
that we might have new life in him. We thank you, Holy Spirit, that you have awakened us and quickened us and made us. Alive in Christ. And we pray that as we share tonight in singing and scripture and prayer. the teaching of your word.
That Your presence would guide and Bless all that is done. We welcome you, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Would you stand with me now as we have our call to worship from Psalm 27?
Yeah. Verses seven and eight. Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, Be gracious to me and answer me. You have said, seek my face. My heart says to you, your face, Lord, do I seek.
Our first hymn tonight is this. Psalm We sing together Psalm 15, a psalm that asks the question, who will dwell in the presence of God, in His holy place? And the promise is given that those who Yeah, do these things. We'll never be moved. It will be s Secure in the presence of God.
Let's sing together. Psalm Uh fifteen. Lord may stay within your presence to save the dwelling place and who above your holy hill may live before your face the world's only path who acts in righteousness and true Who will always run the heart since He passed those who are heavy one's make the world He has those life living His heart for sadhood on his throne He all the fools who live our Lord no I can he endure Those who behave in life like this in Osagree This recording is in the public domain. Jesus, my Lord, and righteousness, I knew thee on my glorious rest. His favouring worlds in peace are made with joy shall I lift up my.
Bold shall I stand in thy great pain for who artful thy charge shall end for you come sin and clear from guilt and shame when from the dust of death I rise to claim my match and in the skies even then this shall be all might be Jesus hath lived hath died for For me, Jesus be endless praise to thee, whose boundless mercy hath for me for me a full throne made an everlasting ransom pain. Oh, let the end now hear thy voice now in thy vanished fruits rejoice. It is echoious, Jesus, my Lord and thy justice. May be seated. Our gospel reading tonight is from the Gospel of Matthew.
Matthew chapter 10. Matthew chapter 10, we'll be reading verses 24. through thirty-nine. Matthew chapter 10. Verse 24.
A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher. and the servant like his master. if they have called the master of the house be Elzeville, how much more will they malign those of his household.
So I have no fear of them. For nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light. and what you hear whispered proclaim on the housetops. I do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul.
Rather, fear him. who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? and not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
Fear not, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows.
So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I have come to bring peace on the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
and a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me... is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it. And whoever loses his life for my sake We'll find it. The grass withers and the flower fades. But the word of the Lord endures forever. Amen.
Let's stand once again as we Prepare. ourselves to hear the word tonight. and sing this hymn of commitment, I am thine, O Lord. I am thine, O Lord, I have heard thy voice, and it took me. But I long to rise in the arms of faith and be caused unto thee.
Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to the cross where the hast line. Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to thy precious pleading side. Three. Tree. Lord, by the power.
Oh, praise Him. And I let my soul Look up to the steadfast hold, and my burning lost in thy drawing nearer nearer, blessed Lord, to the cross where thou hast died. Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to thy precious meaning sight. O the beauty light thou hast seen of before thy throne I stand when I kneel in prayer and with thee, my God, I command brethren. Draw me nearer.
Nearer, blessed Lord, to the pause where thou hast fight. Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to thy precious meaning sight. There are lips of love that I cannot go, till I cross the narrow sea. There are heights of joy that I may not reach, till I rest in peace with thee. Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to the cross where thou hast light.
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord. To thy precious meaning side. Amen. You may be seated. We have been in the evening services Going through The shorter catechism as we confess our faith together.
And so let's do that once again tonight as we come. Uh in the treatment of the Ten Commandments to the third commandment. I'll read the question and we'll together respond with the answers. Which is the third commandment. The third commandment is, thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. What is required in the third commandment? The third commandment requireth the holy and reverent use of God's names, titles, attributes, ordinances, word. and work. Amen.
Jake, come share with us. Good evening. It is good to be home.
So I I consider First Presbyterian a second home. Um for your What, 17 years we were here? Huh? Eighteenth. And It's been almost two and a half.
We've been gone. It seems like a day.
So it is a blessing to be with you tonight. I ask. You open your Bibles to the book of Daniel. We're going to turn to the first chapter there. And this evening we're going to look at the first two verses.
And I'd ask in honor of God's word to be preached that you would stand to receive the word. Daniel chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the LORD gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand. and some of the vessels of the house of God, and he brought them to the land of Shinar.
to the house of his gods. and place the vessels in the treasury. of his God. Let's pray. Lord, as we come this evening.
Your word is truth. We ask right now that the Holy Spirit just press down upon us. Lord, teach us your word, illumine our minds to the truth that you reveal. And cause us to be more and more conformed to the image of your Son, Jesus Christ. May you get the honor and the glory in all that is said.
And Lord, we just ask you to build us, and it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. When I went to First Presbyterian I prayed about what I should start my ministry on, and it was the Gospel of John. And we spent a little over two years working through the whole of the Gospel of John, and then a few months back.
I finished up the Gospel of John, and I was praying as we were coming to the close. Where's the place to go? And if you remember back to the end of the Gospel of John, we have the restoration of Peter. And in that restoration, Yeah. We have Jesus making the commands.
Uh for him to feed his sheep. And then he commands to follow him. How to live in this world. as a follower of Jesus Christ. And so I was thinking as I was reading and preparing those sermons.
What is it, Lord, that we need as a body? And what the Lord kept resoundingly sending me to was Daniel and the demonstration of how God's people live. In trial and exile. And so about two months ago, we began our walk through Daniel. And so this evening, I thought it would be good for grace for me to come.
And I never realized that I would have the gospel reading that I had. to direct us to the truth of what God has done and why we can rest there. We Called to follow Jesus Christ, given promises that you just read from Matthew. That he will lead, that he keeps. That it is his hand and Daniel's book.
Just explodes in that truth. And so, if you haven't read the book of Daniel recently, we're only looking at the first two verses. I implore you to go and find the scripture and open it to Daniel and read through. Because those first six chapters especially are that truth. of how God's people live no matter the trial facing them.
But it starts in these first two verses. of Y.
So tonight I ask that we set our minds on this truth of who God truly is. And how God truly works, even in the worst of circumstances that we may see. Because he is faithful. And he keeps. At First Pres, we have two banners taken from Daniel.
One is. God is faithful in keeping his people. And the other is our response to that faithful keeping. is to live as he commands. to walk in the way that he calls us to walk.
With that in mind, I'd like to share three points tonight. First, we want to see Judah's divine appointment. Second, we'll want to see the sovereign keeping Through chastening. And finally, lastly, looking at the false understanding of natural man and how it is so opposite of God's people when they see God moving.
So the point is. The false understanding of natural man. But let's look at point one. Judah's divine appointment. Look down at verse 1 with me.
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. and besieged it. It is always helpful for us to take a moment and get background when we enter a new book. Uh or a new Uh Study for a sermon. And so I think it's just as helpful as we come here tonight.
What we read in verse 1 is occurring in 605 BC, and Jehoiakim is the king over Judah. Remember that the nation of Israel split in 931. Yeah. After the reign of Solomon and during the reign of his son Rehoboam. And we remember why it happens.
Solomon was a taskmaster. Rehoboam comes, and his elders say, ease on the people, but his younger. Counselors say no, push them harder. And when they do, they separate into the northern and the southern kingdom. The ten tribes of the north And in the south, we have Judah and Benjamin.
with Judah being the line of David and the throne still in Jerusalem. The north was ruled, you can look through the scriptures.
So often, as a king was raised in the north, we read he was evil in the sight of God. And this was mainly due to their abandonment of right worship. and their incorporating of the idols and ways of the other nations that influenced them. God did not leave the North without a warning. He sent them prophets, Amos.
Hosea, Micah, Jonah. To a degree, Isaiah were all sent by God to convince and convict. the people of their sin. Yet each was rebuffed, each was ignored, and in 722 the north was given over to Assyria. Judah, the whole time, has watched this.
They have their own prophets. They have their own warnings. They see. God keeping the truth of his promised covenant. If you keep it, Good blessings come if you fall away and don't keep the covenant.
then punishment, cha chastening will come. And Judah. having a mixture of good and bad kings. would have times of restoration. We remember Hezekiah.
And in the years of Hezekiah, Judah is restored to right worship to a degree. They are restored to following those things. But even in Hezekiah's time... In the around 701, we read of a Babylonian envoy. Coming in.
And Hezekiah taking them and showing them all the treasures of the kingdom. This event is recorded in Isaiah 39, 5 through 7. And God Through Isaiah. Tells the king What he has done. We read this, then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord of hosts.
Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house And that which your fathers has stored up to this day shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. And some of your own sons who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
So, roughly a hundred years before the events recorded in this evening's text, God reveals His sovereign decree. And what we find then is that he is faithful to his word. We have to remember what Daniel is writing here. The audience that it's written for, and why it is being put out. There is great prophecy in chapter 7 through 12.
That affects the whole of the church to this day. But one through six. Is written for an audience who's not only going to be in exile in Babylon, but they were going to continue. under tyrannical rulers even when they are established back in Jerusalem. And so, what Daniel's writings are, are those things that give us encouragement.
So, roughly 100 years before the events we're reading. Daniel now revealing what happens, and he is going to direct us to this divine appointed day that God decreed, and it is going to let. Those exiles and us know that God is true and faithful to what he decrees. You can rest upon God. You can trust what He has revealed because He is true.
to what he decrees. Jeremiah In 627. Shows us that God does not remove his grace even as he decreed it. Jeremiah is prophesying from 627, clear up till... Daniel being taken in 605, and we read this text from Jeremiah.
The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. Which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem for 23 years. From the 13th year of Josiah, the son of Ammon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened. You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the Lord persistently sent to you all his servants, the prophets, saying, Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, or provoke me to anger with the work of your hands, then I will do you no harm.
Yet you have not listened to me, declares the Lord, that you might provoke me to anger and with the work of your hands to your own harm. Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, because you have not obeyed my words. Behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the Lord, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant. And I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction and make them a horror.
A hissing and an everlasting desolation.
So here, At these verses, God, the faithful and true sovereign, working out his divinely appointed. chastening. That is what Daniel is sharing with us. This is the first of three incursions that are going to occur. This one being in 605.
Nebuchadnezzar will again siege Jerusalem in 597, and then ultimately in 587, he will overrun the city and destroy. The temple.
Now, what value is there for us when we read these accounts?
Well, first and foremost, that value is what I've already stated: seeing that God acts as He decrees. We can trust His Word. He is not a fickle God. Who changes, but rather an immutable God who is unchanging, God who will do what he has determined. To do.
Second, we see that he is gracious. in his sovereignty. He continues to call, to declare his truth, and he continues to hold before them and us the way for our righteousness before him. Finally, as we walk through these two verses, and if you read the whole of the book, we will see that he keeps his covenant promises with his people and ultimately is bringing about their restoration, even in what we see as trial. An exile.
Make no mistake as you enter the book of Daniel. These events are divinely important or appointed. And they are appointed to bring him glory. an honor. Not just from the Jews.
But when you read Daniel, understand. God is breaking into the Gentile world. We think of this exile as just a punishment. But when we Actually, read the whole of the text and see God declaring the truth. Of the Christ, of his kingdom coming.
He is preaching his word. to the pagan nations. He is Not just Keeping his word on how he keeps his decrees, but he is bringing the gospel to the Gentiles. Our second point this evening.
Sovereign keeping through chastening. This is a hard one for us. Who here wants to be chastened? Who wants to be disciplined by God? But yet that is what Scripture shows us, verse 2.
And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand with some of the vessels of the house of God, and he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his God, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his God. Little G. As Daniel records these events, he does so in a way that should instruct us how we should view the world around us, and folks, many times we don't in our times. Verse 1 revealed. that the human king comes against Judah and Jerusalem.
Verse 2 reveals that this human king unknowingly is victorious. Because he was powerful.
Now. Daniel records it because the Lord gave it into his hand. This is a difficult thing for us to see in our world at times. If you are like me. It is very easy.
to think that man or the culture. or the body politic. Is able to act and is able to overcome on its own. And that kind of thought process brings fear. And many times that fear even bleeds into the church.
Daniel's report. is given from the eternal perspective, from God's view, from that text of Matthew of what God has done and what God has promised. While the Babylonian press ran a headline. And they reported that the great and powerful king and his army successfully subdued Judah. God's people Daniel reports that it is his great God.
that has given over. Judah to Babylon. We will see. If you read You will see. If you read Daniel in chapter 9.
In Daniel's great prayer. He declares this truth. In verse 11 of 9, he says, All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out upon us. Because we have sinned.
against him. Brothers and sisters, I urge all of us to understand we must daily not view the world as the world calls us to view the world, but view it as God, the sovereign Lord. has declared. He is active and working. And he has called us to follow and obey.
to work for the sake of his glory. There is not an event. outside his declared will. I'm going to say that again. Even today, there is not an event outside his declared will.
Even the trials and tribulations that we must walk through. Here in Daniel's prayer, we see that God's giving into Nebuchadnezzar's hand is Him keeping. The promise of his word and chastening his people and chastening them to restore them back to them to himself, they have sinned. They have broken the law. They have broken the covenant, and he is faithfully keeping for restoration.
Daniel, while in exile, sees this truth. Why? Because he's God's child. He no longer looks only upon the physical. But he examines and sees through the truth of God's word and God's revelation.
of how God is acting. Oh, that we would begin to do this and rest upon him and him alone. No matter what the situation. we find ourselves in. In what Daniel will even call a calamity.
He knows and understands that it is for the good for those who are called. and love the Lord. If we read the whole of Daniel, it testifies the response of God's children in the midst of tribulation and trial. That response can only occur when we see and know. by and through the truth of God himself.
Now, today, it is even a greater joy we may walk in. Because we know Jesus Christ has come. We know that Jesus Christ has lived as we can't. We know that our sin has been nailed to the cross. And we know that He has risen from the tomb and He has ascended and He reigns with the Father.
So as Peter states in the understanding of those truths. Beloved, don't be surprised when fiery trial, when it comes upon you, to test you as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. Church We need to be a people that see and understand all things as coming from our sovereign God, and that these are all given to build us more and more into the image of his Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That brings us to our final point tonight.
the false understanding of natural man. Look again at verse 2, And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand with some of the vessels of the house of God, and he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his God, and placed the vessels in the treasury. of his God. As we come to the end of these two opening verses, Let us consider Sin's marring effect. On man.
This book gives a true picture of a spiritually dead man when we encounter Nebuchadnezzar. And I believe. As we see it worked out. In Nebuchadnezzar, to a degree, we see the power of God in bringing spiritual recognition and life. But in this first opening chapters, We see Nebuchadnezzar as a spiritually dead man.
We see here the effect of sin. and the effect of not knowing the true and living God. Here Daniel records the hubris. and the failure of natural man to recognize the true and living God. Verse 2 tells us that Nebuchadnezzar takes some of the vessels of the house of God and that he places them into the treasury of his God.
This act. is an act of declaring the Babylonian small g God Marduk as mu as the mightier of the gods in action. This act, if not viewed rightly, can bring great fear and depression to the people of the true and living God if they buy into the thought process set before them. If Jehovah is the great God, if he is sovereign, how could our temple have been raided? How could the things of worship have been taken?
How can they sit and rest in the temple of a false God? Would that not shake you? Thinking that way. And that is why it is so important that we see how Daniel keeps putting us into this understanding, Daniel's viewing it correctly as he rests that it is the living and true God that has allowed this. He knows the Isaiah passage that we read.
He knows the Psalm passages. He knows the promises God has made. But how easy is it for us when it appears that God has been stymied in our mind? Or that calamity comes before us, not to be affected by the false understanding of spiritually dead man because that old man clings to us still. And it pulls at our head.
Think how the world has declared false truth to us. I'm 57 years old. Right, right.
Okay. I'm 57 years old. In 1979, a Time magazine article, Big Bold, on the front. declared God is dead. And the articles in there went on to explain why.
Faith and Christianity and this pursuit of God was now a thing of the past. In 1994, the same magazine. Came with this. Man has proven. Evolution.
Oh no. What do we do? Small that In twenty twenty-five. Scientific America. Made this statement.
AI will bring the destruction of mankind. And I've had conversations with people and whether they're a Christian or not, that thought process resonates, doesn't it? It's easy to look back at 1979 and go, ha ha, or 1994, but in 2025, as we see this AI and what is going on, it is not abnormal for us to think, could this be the ending of mankind? How can we think that way? It is constantly these reports that come and these supposed evidences, and they can raise in us fear when we rely on our own mind and the temporal around us because we are not looking as Daniel looked.
We're allowing the old remnant of sin that rises up, and we hear the humor, the pride, and the fallacies of spiritually dead man, and we begin to fear. Why? When will mankind end? I want you to answer, when will mankind end? When Jesus Christ returns.
It will continue until God's decree is complete. When we sit and we're bombarded with climate change, and yes, I think the climate has changed. I'm sure it has throughout all of history. But are we going to stop having spring, summer, winter, and fall? No, why?
Because God looked at Noah. And he put a bow in the sky. And he said, I will never destroy again. And as long as. There will be spring, summer, winter, and fall.
Do we When we hear Oh. The stress And the worry of the culture and the society bombard us. Do we begin to fear, or do we turn and stand upon the rock? As we are too, because we're different, we've been changed. Sin Mar man is continually Fearful.
We are not to be. Jesus Christ has come. Jesus Christ has lived. Sin has been overcome, and the grave is overcome. We need to stop.
As Christ's Giving in to the world's thought processes. And we need to rest. on the truth of a God. Who keeps his word? And he has kept it.
And he has shown it over and over. Brothers and sisters, you and I, then as you read Daniel, you will see that these are the truths Daniel stands upon. as he acts out or walks in a worthy manner. in the Spirit of God. And you and I are enabled by that same spirit, by that same God.
because he has saved us. And he keeps us, look at the table before us. Whose table is it? It's the table of our Lord Jesus Christ. And it declares a victory.
It says that when we participate tonight, we are declaring his death till when? Till he comes again. That is the truth we live and walk in. There is no need for fear. And so tonight I encourage you after Looking at these two verses, one.
Let us pray that the Holy Spirit causes us. To rightly see the truth God reveals and to see the way He keeps the promises of those truths. He is faithful even when we're unfaithful. And number two. that we continue to mortify that remnant of sin that we allow to look and say, oh no, this is happening in the world, or oh no, this is happening in the world, and right here, this is happening.
And God has made right all things through Jesus Christ. That's where we stand. Brothers and sisters, I pray. I pray that you and I. Walk strongly in the spirit, trusting.
The God. who gave over. but also restored. Let's pray. Lord, we come in your word.
Is a sweet word. It's a a Hard word at times. Tonight we read that we can be chastened by you, and that chastening can be difficult. But Lord, your word promises that even in that... That you are keeping and you are restoring and you are making right.
And so, Lord, I pray. I pray that as we enter this time at the table, I pray that as we leave here tonight, Father, I pray that the Holy Spirit strengthen us so that we may see with your eyes, that we may think with your mind, and that we may walk. the life that you have called us to walk not by our power but by yours. These things we ask in your Son's name. Amen.
Join with me now as we sing the doxology. Yeah. Uh Yeah. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.
Praise Him upon the heavenly moon. Praise God, the Son, and Holy Lord. You may be seated, but the elders come forward this evening for the Lord's Supper. Pastor Ken texted me. about a week back and he said Would you be willing to lead the Lord's Supper?
And I texted back if the session would allow me to do so. And he said it was a close vote, but they said that you could. And so I am I am privileged. to lead the supper tonight. Brothers and sisters, this is a privilege.
The Lord Jesus Christ commanded us. to this meal. And the Lord Jesus Christ prepared this meal because it is a representation. of what he gave. for the sake of your and my redemption.
And so it is not something to be approached lightly. But it is something to be approached with joy. This meal was introduced or instituted by Christ on the evening of his betrayal. And Paul shares this institution with the church. In Corinth, in First Corinthians chapter 11, because he is correcting.
The way in which they are coming to the table. And he says these words, For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way also, he took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death. Until he comes. In this same section. of this institution, Paul instructs us that we are to examine ourselves before we participate at this table, so that we do not eat or drink. judgment upon ourselves.
Therefore it is only right and proper that we take a moment. And examine ourselves and confess before the Lord any sin that we may be harboring. There is no one here. worthy of this table outside of Jesus Christ. But in Christ, you are all worthy because Christ makes us worthy, but it is still our call to examine and put our sin before the Lord, asking for forgiveness.
And asking that the Holy Spirit allow us to repent to turn away.
So I'd ask that you enter a time of silent prayer of confession, and then I will close us. In prayer. Father, we come to before you. Only by the blood of your Son Jesus Christ, but we. We come in that blood as your children, able to call you Father.
And Lord, though you have worked and you have Caused in us. Life in our spirit. Sin still clings, and all too often. We Fall in sin. Lord, I ask now that you forgive us.
We do not love you with all our heart, with all our strength, and with all our mind. We do not love our neighbors as ourselves, as we should. But yet, your grace, your mercy, your love, and Christ's blood. Atone. Father, we desire So many temporal things we chase after.
Desires and wants into the far country, but yet you chasten us and you call us back, and we praise your name. for your love and your care. We ask, Father, that you create in us a clean mind, a clean heart, and that you give us repentance. and cause us to be a repentant people. Lord, we rest on Christ.
His work and his blood alone. And it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. This evening, as we've come together to worship. We have affirmed the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
has and is working their eternal plan of redemption. The Father in His love has made us and sent us His Son. Jesus has faithfully and obediently fulfilled the demands of the law, all of them perfectly. He has borne our sins. shed his blood in order to pay the penalty of our sin debt.
And He, by and through the work of the Holy Spirit, has brought us to life. in himself This evening we praise God for this. and that He is making us right. and able to come. to the table.
Therefore tonight If you are in Christ by faith. Resting in His grace. Forsaking sin by the power of the Holy Spirit and in good relationship with the brethren, then this table is yours and enjoy. Rejoice.
However, if you're here tonight... And you are not in Jesus Christ. We would ask that you refrain from the table. Because the warning by Paul is true. Outside of Christ, to eat and drink, here you eat and drink the wrath, the judgment of God upon yourself.
but we ask you to sit and watch. For this is the redemption played out in a physical way to us. See grace, see mercy, as the bread and the cup are handed. Understand what they are and run to Christ. For grace can be found here tonight.
As we come to these elements. They sit on the table as bread and as juice. And I ask that we take a moment and pray that God takes These ordinary elements and set them aside to his. Service. Father, we come.
And we ask right now. That this bread that this juice or wine Common items be set aside, consecrated by you.
So that we may speak of them as blood. and body As you spiritually feed us Christ Jesus. Lord God, let us what we speak here as we act here. Let it be worship and honor to your name. for what you have accomplished.
on our behalf. And it's in Christ we pray. Amen. Thank you, the instructor to do his name, but just to be sick. The elders will pass out the bread first.
I ask you to hold till all receipt, and then we will eat together, likewise the cup afterward. When we turn in the Gospels to the declaration of the Lord's Supper, we read that Jesus on that night in the upper room was meeting with the disciples, and he took a piece of bread and he held it before them, and he held it up and he gave thanks. And he broke it before them, and he said, This is my body broken for you. Take me. Likewise, during the meal, Jesus raised the cup and he gave thanks once again and he looked at the disciples and he said some tremendous words.
He said, This cup is the new covenant in my Lord. I want us to think about that for a minute, that new covenant of Jeremiah 31. I will be their God, they shall be my people, and I will remember their sin no more. Why? Because Christ was the covenant.
As we receive the cup tonight, let us say, come here. We sing a hymn, and that hymn may ask the question, what can wash away my sin? And the response is, Jesus' blood, health, the new covenant, Savior. Let's pray. Father, we come this evening and this act of worship that you give us this table is a thanksgiving.
We come proclaiming the Lord's death until He comes again. We rest in the promise that He is coming, but we declare the truth that He has overcome the sin of our lives. He has overcome. Come death, and we live forever in Him, and we praise you, and we thank you. Lord, we just ask for your continued presence to go with us from here.
It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. The scripture shared that they left the upper room and they sang a hymn as they departed, and we will close this evening by doing the same. Let's stand as we sing together. When thy service of us of which the prince of glory by richest gain I count content on my bride forbid it, Lord, that I should hold save in the land of Of Christ my God, all the kings that join me boast I sacrifice them to his blood.
See from his head is hands his feet song for me older such love and sorrow meet O Thor. Scale. Pause sorry the whole nature thou so live in thy soul and thine own Jay, thank you for sharing with us tonight and for uh coming in. and bringing the word to us. And thank you for coming and being a part of this End of the day as we Share together in worship.
Study. Would you like to come and do the benediction? Amen. In light of the table. leave here tonight and go into this week.
praising and thanking God resting upon him.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us. To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations. Forever and ever. And all God's people said.
