Cliffwood Livestream AM Service 12 September

[Music] so so so [Music] well so so so so [Music] so so so so so well good morning welcome to cliffwood presbyterian church for our morning worship service it is good to have you with us today especially if you are visiting it is a delight to have you with us uh just by way of uh note we sing out of two song books the hymnal will be in the rack in front of you the salter will be at the edge of your pew and so you'll need to know where each of those books are so that you can participate in the worship service the hymnals are marked with a th in our bulletin so if you see a th in the bulletin we'll be singing from the hymnal if you see a ps in the psalter that is are in the bulletin that's singing from the psalter and you'll need to know again where both of those books are a couple of announcements before we begin uh this wednesday night we continue our video series at our wednesday night prayer and study we're going through a dvd series right now called puritan all of life for the glory of god and basically what we're doing is we're looking at a variety of either historical vignettes biographies and then also some theological studies uh as presented through the through the writings of of puritans and this week we're looking together at a historical overview of of the westminster assembly so as a presbyterian church we have the westminster standards the confession of faith the larger and the shorter catechism uh that is not the only thing that the westminster assembly did and so this is going to be kind of an overview over of all the works of the westminster assembly i think the video is 17 minutes long so it's it's you know it's a 30 000 feet kind of overview of what the westminster assembly did in 10 years but it'll give you a good snapshot about as to the work of of the westminster assembly the menu uh this week sandwiches and salads so you can sign up in the pause way or online if you're part of the email list then we'll have a good time of fellowship and and prayer and and um and study then uh the care package party was originally scheduled for this friday it's been postponed uh until october the first and if you're intending to go to that attend that you can contact karen cox her email and her phone number are provided in the bulletin also we have from the diaconate a church day scheduled the building committee organizing this workday for both inside and outside the church so if you well everybody has skills everybody has cleaning skills and work skills everybody has gifts that we can use on this day and so please come and participate in in the in the workday there's no there's never a shortage of things to do and lunch will be provided so that means since lunch is going to be provided if you could let one of the deacons know either lincoln or steve or joseph if you could let them know about your your intention of participating then we can make sure we have some kind of a head count to be able to think of lunch also this didn't make it in the bullets but i don't know is there a deacon's meeting this monday lincoln there is so there is a deacon's meeting on monday at 7 30 here at the church if you want to sit in and observe the work of the deacons you can do that this coming monday the last but not least we have the privilege today of having pastor gleason fill the pulpit that sounds maybe a little strange because i'm not filling the pulpit but my father is filling the pulp it's a great privilege for me to be part of this service with him he has been my pastor for almost uh 50 years uh he has been a pastor for 40 or so years currently after spending uh 24 some odd years in california pastoring grace presbyterian church in yorba linda he is now in bluffton south carolina where he is assisting in establishing covenant presbyterian church of the low country which is a church plant of the orthodox presbyterian church so we're grateful to have pastor gleason proclaim the word to us today with those announcements made let us now rise together for god's call to worship this morning this morning the lord calls us to worship him with the words of psalm 113 verses one through nine verse one through three psalm 113 verses one through three and we're called to worship with these words praise the lord praise o servants of the lord praise the name of the lord blessed be the name of the lord from this time forth and forevermore from the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the lord is to be praised and as we begin our worship let's turn to him in prayer almighty god father son and holy spirit we do gather in the name of our savior the lord jesus christ to give you praise your name is to be praised all of the day and at the beginning of this day of rest that you have given to us we gather to proclaim our love for you because you have loved us first to acknowledge the saving work of christ on our behalf to submit ourselves to your word to hear of the glorious truth that is contained in it and to be shaped and molded by its proclamation both in our in our thoughts but also in our deeds and so we pray oh lord god that your spirit would go before the preaching of your word that you would so fill us that we would be changed in our affections that when we leave this place we would be renewed in our zeal to glorify you that our gratitude to you would be deepened that in all of this you would have much glory for yourself and we pray it in jesus name amen as we begin our worship in song we'll sing first from the hymnal we'll sing together hymn 53 praise to the lord the almighty hymn 53 praise to the lord the almighty [Music] is [Music] is [Music] my is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] my praise the lord [Music] oh [Music] if you turn to the inside cover of our hymnal will recite together as our confession of faith this morning the words of the nicene creed this fourth century creed which summarizes the essentials of the christian faith so we will confess our faith together with the words of this creed by answering the following question as christians what do we believe we believe in one god the father almighty maker of heaven and earth of all things visible and invisible and in one lord jesus christ the only begotten son of god begotten of his father before all worlds god of god light of light very god of very god begotten not made being of one substance with the father by whom all things were made who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the holy spirit of the virgin mary and was made man and was crucified also for us under pontius pilate he suffered and was buried and the third day he rose again according to the scriptures and ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the father and he shall come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead whose kingdom shall have no end and we believe in the holy spirit the lord and giver of life who proceeds from the father and the son who with the father and the son together is worshiped and glorified who spoke by the prophets and we believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins and we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come amen please be seated today as we gather we make confession of our sin we should do so freely because we have the confidence of the promise of redemption in christ through faith and today we are called to confess our sin with a consideration of the third commandment deuteronomy 5 verse 11 says you shall not take the name of your of the lord your god in vain for the lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain the third commandment as a whole is considering the holiness of god and how as his people we should be about protecting the holiness of his name now the holiness of not god can never be taken away but because of who he is he is holy but sometimes by our behavior we can cause others to think of the lord in a way that is less than what is prescribed in scripture and the most obvious way that we can do that in our behavior is through our speech by using his name as a curse word that's one way to to malign the holiness of of god but we can also and and i trust that the vast majority of us are not doing that that we're not using the lord's name as a curse word and if we are using the lord's name as a curse where we need to repent of that immediately but there is also the the consideration of our actions it's also possible that our actions would cause others to think ill of god which is the same thing it's not your words but it is through your actions that the holiness of god is maligned uh your your neighbors who well any of your neighbors but especially your neighbors who know that you belong to christ do they see you acting in a christ-like manner your your profession of faith that you make when you recite the nicene creed here for example in those on sunday mornings is it verified in your behavior is it verified in action can can people who observe you in the street see that there's something different about you can they see that you belong to christ and that that your behavior is is shaped by him and and when it's not when when our behavior is inconsistent when we adopt the world and and we neglect a reflection of the holiness of god then we're sinning against the third commandment we're taking god's name in vain and so i want us to take time to confess that sin to the lord together this morning we do not confess our sins in a hopeless manner as god's people because the promise of the gospel isn't because we are sinless it is in order to remedy our sin and so we confess our sins freely to the lord with the confidence that through faith in christ we are surely forgiven so let's turn to the lord together in prayer and confess our sins almighty god and heavenly father we come to you this morning you say in your word that we are not to take your name in vain and we confess that we have perhaps even with our lips but certainly in the inconsistency of our action we have claimed your name and then we have maligned your name we have declared that your name is holy holy above all else that there's no other gods before you and then we have reduced you in significance by choosing our own ways or the world's ways over the ways that you have shown us in your word and so we pray that you would forgive us that you would be merciful to us that now that we have laid our sins before you that you would so encourage and comfort us that we would know the and remember the work of christ on on our behalf we also ask that you would sanctify us we do not only desire to be forgiven in the moment but we desire to be changed that we would not be those who take your name in vain that we would not do so in word or action we desire to be those who glorify you and who honor you and who present your holiness more now than than ever before and we pray that you would strengthen us to that task again we thank you for the forgiveness that you have promised in christ we pray that you would sanctify us and make us holy even as you are a holy we pray it in jesus name amen the assurance of pardon comes to us today from psalm 103 that we uh the the song that we sang at the beginning is based on that psalm 103 verse 10 and 11. he does not deal with us according to our sins nor repay us according to our iniquities for as high as the heavens are above the earth so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him with those words of comfort still ringing in our ears from god's word let's stand together as we sing from the psalter now we'll sing psalm 23 together selection a psalm 23 a the lord's my shepherd and let's stand as we sing together [Music] foreign [Music] three [Music] oh [Music] me [Music] is oh [Music] oh [Music] amen please join me in prayer almighty god and heavenly father as we come to you this morning we come to hear your voice as it is proclaimed from your word by your servant we come to hear your voice because we are by nature foolish we are wicked we are not deserving of this message of hope that you set before us every day and we are so quick to forget it and yet you call us you call us to worship you call us to hear you call us to listen and you remind us daily of the love that we have from you in christ a love undeserved a love not depending on our own performance a love entirely dependent on you and your good will and so we come to you today to bless your name to glorify your name to praise you for the way in which you have watched over us and the way that you feed us by your word we pray that you would give to us understanding as your spirit shines his light into our darkened hearts this illumination that you give to us as your people we pray that it would be rich in us today that we would be filled and strengthened and fed by the preaching of your word and that your love to us would be plain that we would see it and that we would remember it and that we would rejoice in it that we would praise your name all the more because of your love as it is recorded for us in your word you have been kind to us in many ways in giving us your word and also in the way that you have provided for us in this past week we are a people that is quick to take for granted the blessings that we have whether it be physical health or or material provision whether it be the houses that we live in the clothing that we wear all of these things are a gift from your hand we deserve none of it and yet you in your kindness and your grace you give it to the entirety of your creation the wicked as well as the righteous and we marvel at your patience in all the world in providing food and clothing and shelter to a world that is desperately in in need of them we think of the places in the world where they do not enjoy these things we have never experienced it we have never tasted famine and we praise you for that we ask o lord god that your kindness to us would continue and we ask that you would teach us not to take for granted the great blessings that you have given to us so make us to see your love for us in your word and in your provision and make us to love you in return and we pray these things in jesus name amen please be seated our old testament reading today comes to us from the book of psalms we're working our way through book of psalms we're looking together at verses 49 through 64 today psalms 49 verse 6 40 psalm 119 verse 49 to 64. and you'll find that in your pew bible on page 513. now when we come to our text today there's a couple things that you can pay attention to as we work our way uh through this text because they're in in this text there's going to be as there is throughout the entirety of the psalm of psalm 119 there is multiple references to the delight that this the him the psalm writer has in keeping the law of god and in having the law of god and in hearing the law of god and something to pay attention to as you read through all these expressions of delight is that these are always connected to the psalmist's relationship with the lord the psalmist doesn't delight himself in the law apart from the relationship that he has in the lord so the comfort that he derives from the law you can only talk about comfort being derived from god's law if you know of forgiveness through a mediator because apart from this promise of forgiveness in the media all the law will do is condemn and so there has to be an understanding of this relationship with god uh and and that's that's throughout the psalm as we think of the different ways that he expresses his delight so let's look together psalm 119 verse 49 to 64. hear now god's word remember your word to your servant in which you have made me hope this is my comfort in my affliction that your promise gives me life the utterly derided me but i do not turn away from your law when i think of your rules from of old i take comfort o lord hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked who forsake your law your statutes have been my songs in the house of my sojourning i remember your name in the night o lord and keep your law this blessing has fallen to me that i have kept your precepts the lord is my portion i promise to keep your words i entreat your favor with all my heart be gracious to me according to your promise when i think on my ways i turn my feet to your testimonies i hasten and i do not delay to keep your commandments though the cords of the wicked ensnare me i do not forget your law at midnight i rise to praise you because of your righteous rules i am a companion of the of all who fear you of those who keep your precepts the earth o lord is full of your steadfast love teach me your statutes and the new testament reading this this morning comes from matthew 24 and we'll be looking at verses 15 through 31 matthew 24 verses 15 through 31 and you'll find that in your pew bible on page 829 in this text we have two different times that are in view the first verses 15-28 deal with the immediate reckoning of god's judgment against the people of israel which came to pass in a.d 70 with a sacking of jerusalem and the destruction of the temple which ended the sacrificial system of the jewish people but then in verse 29 we're going to see a shift where we move to the second coming and we've had the advantage of working our way through the sixth seal in the book of revelation and we have connected this that text with matthew 24 and so we can make that distinction uh fairly clearly um when it comes to verses 29 through 31 it's dealing with the second coming and the final judgment of christ so in the midst of the tribulation that is in view here as christ delivers it to the the jewish people but also the tribulations that we endure from day to day the promise that we have from this text is that god's people are safe in him but that his enemies will be condemned so there's the the promise of safety for god's people the the threat of condemnation for his enemies have we as we wait for the return of christ and the second coming so matthew 15 24 starting in verse 15 ending in verse 31 so when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet of daniel standing in the holy place let the reader understand then let those who are in judea flee to the mountains let the one who is on the house stop not go down to take what is in his house and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak and alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a sabbath for then there will be great tribulations such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now no and never will be and if those days had not been cut short no human being would be saved but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short then if anyone says to you look here is the christ or there he is do not believe it for false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders so as to lead astray if possible even the elect see i have told you beforehand so if they say to you look he is in the wilderness do not go out if they say look he is in the inner rooms do not believe it for as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west so will be the coming of the son of man wherever the corpse is there the vultures will gather immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken then will appear in heaven the sign of the son of man and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call and they will gather his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other the grass withers and the flower face but the word of the lord remains forever [Music] please [Music] let us worship the lord together now in the giving of our tithes and offerings [Music] so oh [Music] um [Music] let us turn to the lord together in prayer now almighty god and heavenly father we come to you you who are the true god the living god the one only living and true god and the everlasting king and we give you praise we worship you because you alone are worthy of worship we worship you because you have brought us into life out of death we worship you because you have given light to our souls where before there was only darkness we worship you because you have given us faith as a gift that we might trust in you that we we might know you that we might be known by you and we praise you for all of these things we acknowledge our unworthiness in this and we ask o lord god that you would be merciful to us that you would show your favor to us we pray that you would be gracious according to your promise because we know that only when we are in your favor do we have life otherwise your wrath burns against us and we know that there is only one way in which we can enter into your favor and that is through the blood of christ and so we praise you for your mercy and the sacrifice that you have before the foundations of the world determined to manifest your glory through it we we thank you for the way in which you call for yourself people out of this world and you make them new you give them new desires and and new loves and and we have experienced that in our own lives that you have made us new we desire that this renewal would continue that all the places where where we still sin and maybe even the places where we're ignorant of our sin that that you would make these plain that you would shine your light on them that we would see them that we would learn to turn from these sin as you work these sins as you work in us and that you would so sanctify for yourself a people we do give you praise o god we give you thanks because you are near because you have not turned your face away from your people but you have remembered steadfast love it's not the only time you have done this your steadfast love has been on your people for generations and generations for centuries for millennia and we praise you for that we thank you for all your wondrous deeds as you have manifested them among your people wondrous deeds that began with a promise after our father adam sinned in in the garden uh wondrous deeds that that continued when you brought abraham out of the land of ur of the chaldeans from an idolatrous family to make him the beneficiary of your promise that all the nations of the world would be blessed through him and he was a sinful man and his son isaac was a sinful man and his son jacob was a sinful man and yet your promise remained unaffected it is wondrous and it is a marvelous testimony of your mercy and your patience that you continue in your faithfulness to your people for all the many days that you have left us on this earth we remember the way that you over uh the centuries dealt patiently with israel and their kings and their priests and you sent them prophets to declare your word to call them back we we thank you for your patience in that regard we thank you for the way that you protected government and and yet you protected and preserved in fact you strengthened and you you grew and you spread and and the promise went from the jews and it exploded into the land of the gentiles through the preaching of the apostles i think especially of our brother paul and and the work that he did in proclaiming your word in hostile situations where the gospel went forth from jerusalem into judea and samaria and even to the very ends of the earth we thank you for the ways in which you preserve the truth though in history it seems like the light of your church grew so very dim yet you had saved for yourself those who had not bent the knee to the idols of their day we thank you for the men that you raised up to reform the church's worship and work to bring us back to the scriptures and the way in which you did that with with such patience and and such compassion again undeserving as we were you set before us your faithfulness and you held us close to yourself and you did not leave us for or forsake us even as you had promised that you would never do we thank you for the way in which you continue your with witness this day that your church continues to proclaim the gospel we are griefed because in some places where the gospel was sent forth for centuries now it is worldly and secular and and your name is not taken on the lips of the people of that land anymore the the nations that were evangelizers now are in need of evangelism and and that grieves us and yet we recognize that there are those who can go and evangelize those nations we we recognize that your word has not been extinguished and faith in you has not been extinguished but your word continues to be um to be put on a lampstand that the world might see it that they might see where salvation comes from and we thank you for your compassion in making it plain to us we also who are dull in our thinking and and slow to keep your commandments we are quick to forget we we do not remember the lessons that you teach us we we forget them almost within a matter of days sometimes it seems and and yet you're merciful to us you're patient with us you you give to us your word and we pray o lord god that this word would have its full effect that this would be the great way that we can see your compassion and your and your holiness for your people through your word and through your works and as we see it that our thanksgiving would abound all the more teach us not to be a people that take you for granted teach us not to be a people who presume on your favor but make us to see with fresh eyes every day again all the wondrous works that you have done on our behalf and even as you work today in this world we do ask that you would hear some of our supplications that we offer to you as your people we pray for our brothers and sisters in persecuted lands we pray for the persecuted church in north korea and india and nigeria and china and in other places where you can lose your life for professing faith in christ in afghanistan we pray for our brothers and sisters in those places that you would give to them a strength and an endurance and a boldness that you have never demanded of us in the sense of a practical outworking our faith can often be so weak and yet we have heard stories of of young people people who have young children people who have much to live for who gladly surrender their lives rather than denying your name and so we pray that that strength would continue in persecuted lands and that you would grant to us that kind of strength that we would not be living in this time of ease and comfort in a way that that denies the effect that your gospel should have on us and so we pray for the church in persecuted places for the strength and the endurance of our brothers and sisters there that they would be willing to stand firm and that the churches that work there would have the effect of changing the rulers of those nations and their neighbors that there would be conversions by the thousands that your church would explode in those places that you would overcome the darkness with the light there we pray for the church in lands where they they are free we pray for the church in in the western societies where religious worship is protected in many ways we pray that we would not lose our first love that we would not embrace the world and its ways that we would hold fast to the gospel and that the knowledge of the gospel and what we have been saved from would be sufficient to give us a zeal and an enthusiasm for you that is unmatched by anything else that might happen to us in this life we pray for brothers who go out into foreign lands as missionaries those who do the work of declaring the word in places where it hasn't perhaps been heard or it's been neglected for many years we think of our brother aaron halbert and in his ministry in honduras we pray for his work as it grows that his desire to establish a seminary to raise up more pastors for that area of the world that they would bear fruit and that you would give to him the resources that he needs the energy that he needs we pray for his wife rachel and their children that they would be kept safe and protected in a dangerous part of the world but most of all we pray that your gospel would go forth with power from this church we pray for for the evangelical and presbyterian church of england and wales specifically the sunderland congregation and that their needs would be supplied and that there would be unity in that denomination about how to respond to the civil magistrate with regards to gathering for worship and and all those kinds of difficult questions that they have to wrestle through we pray for one of their pastors josh rieger who is returning there after a time away to have his wife's cancer treated we know the frailty of men who go into the field they are prone to illness and they can falter and they can fall we pray that you would build up your servants in in the united kingdom and that you would make them faithful that this place that used to send missionaries would now recapture a sense of the glory of the gospel we pray for uh rich ernst in thailand and the missionary work that he does there in supporting and caring for those who who come there for rest and reprieve and to have some of their their sins addressed and their their fatigues addressed we pray for him his work as a as a supporter of missionaries in thailand bless him bless rachel and the boys and and bless rachel as she's carrying a little one in her womb i pray that you would give them the strength that they need living in a in a foreign culture bless them in all their days in all their labors we pray we ask that you would watch over our sister church in statesboro that you would be with trinity presbyterian church there we ask oh lord god that you would bless the work of the elders including pastors barnes and and bolio that their ministries as those who have oversight of the church that they would be blessed in their ministry i pray that you would bless the work of the deacons as they care for the needs of the congregation we pray for the counseling ministry that is associated with this congregation we pray for their school as well that all these things would be blessed by you that they would be faithful to you in these endeavors and that you would have much glory for yourself through through the work of this congregation these are these are our prayers oh lord god this morning we pray that you would hear them we pray that you would bless us even as we pray together the prayer you taught us to pray saying our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen let us give our attention to god's word now it is a delight to be with you some of you we know very well and some we know from california and but it's it's a joy to be with you in this congregation that i know serves the lord and loves the lord deeply if you if you have your scriptures with you and i trust that you do i would invite you to open them to our texts for this morning which is found on page 947 of the pew bible it's a short text but a very necessary text and after we read this together i'll give you a bit of a context to put things into perspective as we launch into the proclamation of the word the text is found in romans chapter 11 and verse 22. paul has been discussing since chapter 9 the relationship of jews and gentiles and how mankind is saved and so we come to the 22nd verse that reads this way note then the kindness and severity of god severity toward those who have fallen but god's kindness to you provided you continue in his kindness otherwise you too will be cut off those last words were a stern warning to be cut off meant that you were out of the covenant you had nothing to do with god's kingdom and he's speaking these words both to jews and to gentiles that was the nature of the congregation in rome it was comprised of a jewish component as well as a gentile component it was very different in many regards from the church in ephesus and so the whole composition of the book of romans is also different in nature let me make a brief comparison if you look at the book of ephesians which is only six chapters you'll find that there is an even distribution almost between doctrine and the practical outworking of that doctrine so for example the first three chapters of the book of ephesians deal primarily with doctrine and if you're ever visiting in a congregation and the pastor says to you that you don't need doctrine i give you full permission to get up and walk out and the reason i say that is because we know from scripture and especially what we call the pastoral epistles first and second timothy and titus that in those three short epistles paul uses the words sound words sound teaching sound doctrine repeatedly to drive home his point i find it to be very interesting that the word sound that occurs in the greek text is the word from which we get our english word hygienic in other words doctrine sound words sound doctrine sound teaching is all hygienic so we've got the first three chapters of ephesians dealing primarily with doctrine 4 5 and 6 deal primarily with the practical application of that doctrine romans is different 16 chapters and the first 11 deal with doctrine it talks about how man is saved talks about how abraham an old testament patriarch was saved paul devotes an entire chapter chapter 4 to what was going on in abraham's life and how his faith was counted to him as righteousness chapter 6 is just a marvelous chapter on the union of the believer with christ and as i mentioned in the chapters 9 10 and 11 the theme is how does man get saved if one is a jew and how does man get saved if one is a gentile and not surprisingly the answer that's given there is the same way jews and gentiles are saved the same way there are things that we encounter in the scriptures at times that can sometimes shock us in american theology in a great part of american theology there is a notion that israel is a separate place and the church is the separate kingdom and so the old testament kingdom was saved by keeping the ten commandments and the new testament church is saved by grace if you have ever thought that i would like to encourage you to disavow yourself of that that's not the case so what we're going to be looking at this morning is what does paul mean after he's discussed over a long long period of time the way that man is saved chapters 9 10 and 11 and he comes to this particular verse where he speaks about something that it's almost as foreign to us as doctrine and that is the nature and the character of god a dear brother in christ that i was privileged to call friend was r.c sproul and sprole used to teach almost with every class the greatest gap in american christianity is that we no longer know the nature and the character of god we don't know who he is and because we don't know who is as often as not we create him in our own image it never has failed to strike me that when i talk with someone who says well my god isn't like that that by the time they begin to explain to me what their god is really like i come to the conclusion oh he's just like he's just like you he likes the same things you like he dislikes the same things you dislike but that's not what the scriptures teach us is it scriptures teach us that man is created in god's image and as such he is not only the creator he is the redeemer and he is the sanctifier and we owe him allegiance and we owe him the lordship that is due his name well i want to talk about three points in this sermon on the kindness and the severity of god this morning and i want you to to have your bibles open it's one thing for me to read you the text it's another thing for you to hear it and read it as well so let's start this morning we're going to start all the way back at the first chapter of the book of romans so if you'll turn to romans chapter 1 as you're turning there the first point is going to be the gospel is the power of god for salvation i was delighted to hear the other pastor gleason speaking this morning in his prayers about the gospel and we're going to come to that lord willing in the third point and what is the gospel but for now the gospel is the power of salvation romans 1 chapter 16 reads this way paul says for i am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of god for salvation to everyone who believes to the jew first and also to the greek now the first thing i want you to notice is how at the outset of the book of romans the jew and the greek are brought together under the power of the gospel it's the jew first and then the greek the jew has the covenants the jew has the oracles the jew has the whole history but paul it reiterates i'm not ashamed of the gospel why because it is the power of god and whereas you and i may at times feel very powerless the truth of the matter is it's not what we say or how we say it but it's the power of the gospel that comes to men and women whose lives are just a mess and that is the clear message that the holy spirit wants us to have to whom does it come it comes to everyone everyone who believes how does one believe and paul is going to do that and get to that point in just for in just a moment but right now what he's saying is that the gospel is for everyone and maybe you've been out witnessing you've heard people say to you well you don't know what my life is like no i don't but i don't need to what i need to know and to understand and to apply in my life as a believer is that the gospel is the power of god for salvation the gospel is the power of god that can break through all of the mess that we have made of our lives and change those lives dramatically and change those lives radically the next thing we're told is that the kindness of god is manifested in the fact that the proclamation of the gospel of god's kindness is observed in the fact that it's for everyone that's part of the kindness now if you read through the westminster standards and i'm thinking now especially of the westminster confession of faith you will find three terms that describe god that are used repeatedly by the westminster divines the first one is the wisdom of god the second one is the power of god and the third one is the goodness of god and i'm going to make the case that the goodness of god and the kindness of god are the same word they mean the same thing and we'll get to a definition of that in just a moment now when the gospel is brought to everyone it's quite possible that the gospel will not lead that person to repentance does the gospel fail then no the gospel doesn't fail because according to isaiah 55 11 the word of god will never return to him empty it will always accomplish the purpose for which god sends it if god means to soften the hardest heart the heart that is of stone the goodness and the kindness of god will shatter that hard heart if it is meant that this particular non-believer will hear the gospel and grind his or her teeth and scrunch up their faces and hate god even more that is the purpose of god in this particular instance in romans chapter 2 and verse 4 we're told that as christians god's kindness has a specific purpose in our lives what is that purpose well let's look at the text romans 2 4 reads this way or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience not knowing that god's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance my wife and i had an interesting conversation recently and she said in our worship service when we have that time for our silent profession of sin to god do you find yourself sometimes praying the same request week in and week out i said it's almost invariable i pray the same things why is god so patient with us why does he do that it's because of his kindness and he wants to lead us to repent if you and i are praying that type of prayer weekly or frequently we ought to know that there's something that god is doing in our lives there and he's leading us to repentance and repentance does just doesn't mean to say i'm sorry it means to turn and take a new path with joy and thanksgiving in our hearts in second corinthians chapter 10 verse 4 paul talks about the gospel this way and he says for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds the kindness of god means that if you and i receive christ by faith with that we accept the gospel message that when we encounter these people in our lives and they have totally different views they are non-christians and maybe they are militant non-christians maybe they have a bull horn and we don't have a bull horn either but the purpose of the gospel is that we now have weapons of our warfare that are not of the flesh that have divine power to destroy satanic strongholds and if we're paying attention to what's going on in our country right now we certainly understand that we need to be making use of this because the curtain has been pulled back on evil in our time and we are lunging from one chaotic tumultuous crisis to the next in our country but we need not feel as if we are powerless in fact according to the word of god we are the ones who have been given this weapon of our warfare that's powerful it's of divine power and it's able because of its origin to destroy strongholds i think that in and of itself ought to be sufficient encouragement to every christian in the world to get involved in evangelism because it's not about what we say and it's not about how we say it but it's about the power of god and to salvation now thirdly i want us to notice at the very outset of paul's letter to the romans that he includes both the jew and the gentile in the reception of the gospel and in the salvation of god if jews and gentiles were to be saved differently this particular place in the book of romans would have been the place to mention it paul could have said oh and by the way i just want you to know that even though we are gathered together as a congregation and some of you are jews and some of you are gentiles this part is going to be saved one way and this part is going to be saved and done another way think with me theologically for a moment adam and eve transgress god's law and now everyone born is born with original sin and because we're born with original sin we commit actual sins theologically we call that being totally depraved how could a person who is totally depraved with the emphasis on the word totally ever keep one of the ten commandments let alone all ten how can anybody be saved that way paul doesn't say that in fact in the book of acts there are some very striking texts that say the same thing that paul is saying to the congregation in rome and by extension to the church today i invite you to turn to the 15th chapter of the book of acts and as you're turning there let me give us a brief context this is a chapter in scripture that speaks about the church council that took place in jerusalem among other things and presbyterians tend to go to this chapter rightly to explain what's going on so let's look at the first two verses of acts 15 together but some men came down from judea and were teaching the brothers unless you are circumcised according to the custom of moses you cannot be saved and after paul and barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them paul and barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question i think at times we are almost pollyanna-esque when it comes to the first century church and how things were you had jews and you had gentiles in the same congregation think of a simple example after service you decide to have a potluck or if you're a presbyterian a pot predestination and you do that and you go back and the table is arrayed there's potato salad there's coleslaw there's chips and everything else and the last item that you can pick up is a ham sandwich what do you think the jews would have said to that how could you possibly expect me to eat ham and so now we have these particular jewish people saying about the gentiles hey unless they are circumcised according to the custom of moses they cannot be saved circumcision saves you and that's the debate the debate is about how people are saved the jews argued that one had to be circumcised and paul and barnabas argue the opposite case and apparently it was intense fellowship there's no small dissension and debate that went on it was a back and forth so they decide we go to jerusalem we get this psalm so paul and barnabas we're told as we read through the text they pass through phoenicia and they pass through samaria and they as they do that they describe in some detail what has happened with the gentiles and all the believers there rejoice but then they arrive in jerusalem this is kind of the mecca at this particular time look with me at the verses 4 and 5. when they came to jerusalem they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders and they declared all that god had done with them but some believers who belonged to the party of the pharisees rose up and said it is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of moses i don't know how you do that but that was the mandate i order you to keep the law of moses and you have to be circumcised as well and once again the crux of the the discussion is how is a person saved and some insisted insisted that for anyone who was a male to be saved he had to be circumcised now let's look at the verses 6 through 12. the apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter and after there had been much debate peter stood up and said to them brothers you know that in the early days god made a choice among you that by the by my mouth the gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe and god who knows the heart bore witness to them by giving them the holy spirit look at those next words just as he did to us and he made no distinction between us jew gentile and them having cleansed their hearts by faith now therefore why are you putting god to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to hear but we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the lord jesus just as they will jews and gentiles are saved the same way look at the 12th verse i think the 12th verse is probably one of the biggest understatements in the bible and all the assembly fell silent i bet they did how are the hearts of both jews and gentiles cleansed they're cleansed by faith alone and when it talks about the goodness of god the kindness of god what that describes for us is god's gracious attitude and his gracious acts towards sinners it's kind of what paul will go on to talk about later in the bible in chapter 5 of romans he'll talk about where we were sinners while we were ungodly while we were god's enemies christ died for us he didn't wait for us to clean up our act a little bit he didn't say do this do this do this and oh by the way get circumcised and keep the law of moses he came to us the bible tells us when we were sinners when we were enemies when we were godless and he saved us from our sins and that denotes god's gracious kind good attitude towards sinners it's a kind of a summary term of the comprehensive fullness of christian salvation it speaks to us of god's nature because by nature god is kind and god is good to his creation and to his creatures but especially to his church the love of god for his church is immeasurable well that brings us that was the good news and now i bring us the bad news the severity of god and this too is part and parcel of god's truth there was a saying that went around a while back and you may remember it and maybe you've even used it in a certain context and the saying went like this you cannot fix stupid remember that the general notion with that statement is there just certain things certain events in our lives that you cannot fix no matter how much you want to fix them and that's hard for us as americans isn't it we fix everything the very very very difficult might take us a week and the impossible might take us 10 days but we'll get it done that's our attitude but there are certain things that you cannot fix we like to fix things we like to fix broken lives we like to fix broken machinery we like to fix broken finances and broken marriages and broken relationships between parents and children and all sorts of things but there are certain things you cannot you cannot fix again staying in the first chapter of romans when you come to the 18th verse of chapter 1 paul describes something there of i guess for lack of a better term we could call it a revolution and when paul uses the word god we need to know that paul is not talking about some kind of supreme being for paul god was father son holy spirit and so paul's argument in the verses 18 all the way to the end of the chapter in chapter one of romans is that everybody knows god everybody the real question is not does man know god the answer is yes he knows god the problem is that man knows god and he hates god and the real problem then is exacerbated by virtue of the fact that man then wants to push god out of the picture and i learned somewhere back in high school that nature hates the vacuum so something has to come in and take that place and as paul goes on to describe it it is a kind of revolution against god it's a kind of rebellion against god and this particular rebellion manifests itself intellectually and it also manifests itself sexually and this is an ongoing process we're told at the outset that these people suppress god's truth they push it down they know him but they did not honor him as god or give thanks to him and they exchanged his glory for idols did you know and i didn't until recently that in 2018 the temple of satan was allowed or petitioned to allow a winged goat devil idol to be placed at the capitol building in little rock arkansas and they did that because the ten commandments had been put there and the non-believers wanted an idol put there and we're told in this first chapter of romans that man the sinner exchanged the glory of god for idols they became futile it says worthless is the real word in their thinking and they willingly willingly and knowingly darkened their hearts they did it on purpose and then in the verses 24 26 and 28 there's a refrain and here's the way the refrain goes therefore god gave them up that's verse 24 verse 26 for this reason god gave them up 28 god gave them up and the rest of that verse 28 reads this way and since they did not see fit to acknowledge god god gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done what's a debased mind the new american standard version and the niv called it a depraved mind the new king james also says it's a debased mind there's a version called the asv may have never heard of it it was a version that was very popular around 1901 that version and the king james version say they had a reprobate mind futile thinking worthless thinking results in a depraved mind a reprobate mind a debased mind the greek word there means a mind that is that has failed to meet the test a mind that is worthless a mind that is disqualified a mind that is rejected a mind that has been proven false unfit and untrustworthy what is this then describing what is what are the verses 18 following in romans 1 describing for us they're describing something that you and i cannot fix we cannot it's describing something that you and i cannot alter and you and i cannot change but is that it's god's judgment it's god's judgment on unrepentant sin and that idea is not something that just popped up the day before yesterday this judgment that god announced in romans was nothing new it was the result of days and months and years and decades and centuries and millennia of disobedience historically we can trace how long this obedience occurred when we look at romans chapter 1 but it goes far beyond that as well it was around in the old testament it was around when the lord jesus walked the earth it was around in paul's day and it is with us today and it is with us today in spades god giving them up god giving them over means that unless there is repentance god's judgment will be absolute it will be inevitable you cannot turn it back is there any remedy for that can people who live this way extricate themselves from being given up by god is there ever really any hope that's an important question because when we ponder that we come to the conclusion that it is a life and death question and that eternally robert dabney was the southern presbyterian in 1863 which is when most of my kids think i was born and he preached a sermon in danville virginia and he preached a sermon where he in the course of the sermon he talked about how life begins at conception and i think for all of us we can say yes and i'm into that but he took it a step farther and i think it was a very very interesting point he said not only does life begin at conception but at conception an eternal soul is implanted by god in that conceived baby and he said that eternal soul will either spend eternity in heaven or in hell fathers how concerned are you to catechize your children and take teach them the things of god how concerned are we for as for one another as christians to talk about these eternal verities these eternal truths in our lives and in our families and when we gather together how important is that grandparents how important is that great grandparents if if you're like us how important it is that it's very important because eternity eternal destinies are hanging in the balance but thankfully there is a positive answer to that question and that brings me to my last point bringing the good news to a world under judgment what you and i called the good news is just one word in greek it's called the you angelion well what does that word mean well it's a compound word really it has a little prefix on it eu and then it has a root word now we think about these words all the time we if you have ever heard of the term euphemism euphemism is a word that we're we're really adept at as believers and as americans especially we talk about things like that euthanasia there's that prefix again comes from the prefix and the greek word for death is thanatos so euthanasia means a good or a soft death euphemistically we speak of people who commit adultery we say they had an affair or that they slept together apparently there are a lot of tired people in the united states these days the greek word is just one word what does the read the root of that word angelia mean what does that mean well it means this it means to tell or to proclaim or to declare in other words the root of this word has to do with speaking have you ever heard the words preach the gospel and if you have to use words if you have ever heard that or ever said that please don't say that again the gospel the good news is meant to be a spoken word and this the word that we call the good news is the root word from which we get our words to evangelize or evangelical we must speak the good news in scripture the gospel is always connected always connected to god's truth in christ by the power of the holy spirit now i'm going to give us some texts to look up and we'll close this morning let's start in the book of acts acts chapter 20. paul this is that very poignant scene where paul is leaving the ephesus and he's kneeling on the shore with the ephesian elders and they're having their farewell and he says there that i do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself if only i may finish my course and the ministry that i received from the lord jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of god paul wanted to end well and ending well meant finishing his course finishing his ministry by testifying to the gospel not just to the gospel but to the gospel of the grace of god that salvation how whoever you are or however you're living at any particular moment as the grace of god breaks into your life that is the most undeserved thing that could could happen to you and yet god's goodness and kindness and love toward you as an ungodly sinner as an enemy of god breaks into your life and saves you by his grace what a message to take to the world in the 15th chapter of the book of romans verse 20 paul says and thus i make it my ambition to preach the gospel that ought to be printed on every seminary door because we have been living in decades of time where it has not been the intent of many seminarians coming out of seminary to do that very thing make it their ambition to do nothing not to tell stories about their families not to tell cutesy tales not to be anecdotal but to preach the gospel and i have no difficulty at all saying to you that i know you will get that right here every sunday in first corinthians chapter 9 verse 16 paul says for if i preach the gospel that gives me no ground for boasting for necessity is laid upon me woe to me if i do not preach the gospel somebody said to me the other day you're kind of old school aren't you ron i said at 76 i'm old everything but in light of of all of that that is said there is this whole idea of woe to me if i do not preach the gospel what does that mean it means that is when you and i become christians by god's grace by this wondrous grace by his goodness and his kindness toward us that we understand that life is no longer about us is it when a person takes their vows to become a pastor the message is no longer if it ever was but it's no longer about them it's about christ and the glories of our savior second corinthians 11 4 for someone comes and proclaims another jesus than the one we proclaimed or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted you put up with it readily enough let's go along to get along live and let live paul says there's one gospel and he says that again at the very first chapter of the book of galatians where he says twice if someone comes to you and presents with to you a gospel different from the one that you heard from me let him be anathema in other words let him be accursed what is the gospel according to ephesians chapter 1 verse 13 that doctrinal statement there it says in him christ you also when you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation you notice how these two concepts are just brought together gospel and truth gospel and truth so many times in our current society we ask the question who can we believe who can we believe anymore you believe god you believe god's truth because god is truth paul goes on and explains later in his other writings it's also it's not just the gospel of truth it's also he says the gospel of peace he says that in ephesians 6. he also says in philippians let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of christ that's an important concept for christians let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of christ and just by way of information whenever you see that little word let in your english bible that's not something that's kind of iffy it is a command the word let in greek means you have to do as a command so the command is that our manner of life must be worthy of the gospel of christ colossians 1 3 through 5 says this we always thank god the father of our lord jesus christ when we pray for you since we heard of your faith in christ jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints because of the hope laid up for you in heaven of this you have heard in the word of the truth the word of the truth the gospel and finally you haven't gotten there yet but you will in revelation 14 verse 6. john writes and says then i saw another angel flying directly overhead with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth to every nation and tribe and language and people and eternal gospel what we need to understand as church is that the most important thing we can do right now is to be church it's to be the church for which christ shed his precious blood it's not our calling to fix bad marriages it's not our calling to fix disrespectful and disobedient children it's not our calling to fix broken finances it's not our calling to fix pain and suffering or anything else that we experience in the world although if someone truly embraces the gospel those things will definitely change and improve the first step however the most important step the indispensable and essential step is first and foremost to speak the gospel of truth and peace and to declare to a lost world that the liberator has come he's not a worldly liberator he is the liberator with a capital l he died for sinners he died for his enemies he died for the ungodly on the accursed tree and he brought with him to those who were lost an eternal gospel now let's go out let's speak that gospel to a lot to a lost and to a dying world that's under god's judgment please pray with me a dear and gracious good god and father in heaven what a privilege it is to be counted among your children to be included in your covenant that you have established with us that covenant that is established upon the twin pillars of your trustworthiness and your faithfulness we thank you that in our freedoms we may come unhindered into your house and hear your word proclaimed and we delight to hear of your goodness and of your grace and yet we would be remiss if we did not pray for this lost and fallen world we pray for many out there that we know are yours by grace and that just need to hear the gospel and we pray that you would lay it upon our hearts to bring that gospel to them in spirit and in truth well you pray this in the precious and the matchless name of the lord jesus amen i invite you to take the trinity hymnal and turn if you would please to him 128 god moves in a mysterious way and let's stand as we sing all six stances [Music] he treasures [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] receive the blessing now from the lord your god and go your way in peace may the lord bless you and keep you may the lord make his space to shine upon you and be gracious unto you may the lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace amen [Music] you

Channel: Cliffwood Presbyterian Church

Views: 44

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: IpA3Ru8mFoQ

Length: 103min 56sec (6236 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021