Cliffwood Livestream AM Service 19 September

[Music] mom can help you hmm hi jenny how are you there he is he's been busy hey good we got everything set up and and uh elise was the sunday school superintendent today yeah well i mean i don't know i don't know it's not leadership no it's it's service yeah yeah i know that's gonna be the next thing so in here definitely don't want the women i'm gonna do uh do a little talk next week we're starting with uh uh or i can do it before if you want to close off who you for the preaching of your word this morning people come with all sorts of pressures in our congregation recently as human beings living in a fall in a simple world and so we pray that this would truly be the time of refreshing for your people as we gather around your word as we lift up our prayers to you as we anticipate even the celebration of the second suffer tonight and that you would refresh us and wash us and cleanse us and make us to see the wonderful glory of the gospel and that the verse that we're considering today that every teardrop will be wiped from our eyes by youth help us to be comforted by that fill us with your spirit go before the preaching of your word i don't want to take my good morning it's so good to see you all here this morning to worship on this lord's day we have a few things to announce before we begin our worship this morning on this wednesday we will continue our dvd series on the puritans and this uh wednesday's lesson will be a consideration of the puritan view of church and the and worship of the church and worship so we would invite you and encourage you to join us for that the menu for this week will be fried chicken which the church will be supplying and we'll actually bring a side dish or a dessert to share and there's a sign up sheet outside the fellowship hall for that as always begin at 5 45 one of the ministries that uh this church has supported in various capacities over the years has been the augusta care pregnancy center and this is a crisis pregnancy center for women who are considering abortion and have decided not to or who are in various desperate situations um and they're having a banquet every year uh as a fundraiser for that organization and so cliffwood is sponsoring a table for that that'll be on october the 5th at 6 30 downtown at the marriott convention center and so if you're interested in supporting this this ministry in that way um please talk to josh lamb to sign up for that and i'm sure there'll be more details that come on that later on there's a guest speaker this year who will be a former representative from south carolina trey gowdy so if you're interested in participating in that please see josh lamb the care package party for our college students will be on friday october the 1st from 10 to 2 as we've been announcing over the last several weeks and so if you're interested in if you're a family with school age children and you're interested in participating in that please let karen cox know that you'll be there that's october the 1st from 10 to 2. the church work day is this saturday as well from 8 to noon and there will be lunch provided there's always a variety of things to be done both inside and outside the church depending on what your skills and abilities are so we invite you to to come and participate in that as well and and help us be good stewards of the property that god has given to us and blessed us with here and if you have any questions about that please see any of the deacons i can answer those questions for you and then finally tomorrow evening will be our monthly session meeting at 6 30 here at the building so please remember your elders and prayer as we meet to consider the many issues before the church and that's all i have by way of announcements um if please take a moment to silent your cell phone or any other noise making devices that you have and let's prepare to worship the god of heaven and earth i just want to add one announcement to to what what john said and that is has to do with the children's class that's hosted during the the sunday school hour so we have for the last i think it's been a year and a half we've been working through the the stories of the bible uh starting in genesis and and we've kind of just finished with acts now and so next week we're we're going to beginning uh we're we're going to be beginning a new series and it's going to be based on the shorter catechism now catechizing your children is a tradition that goes back hundreds of years uh in the in the reformed church and so it's a it's a way to uh teach your children by question and answer the the doctrines of the reformed church and so uh i would encourage you uh to participate so next week is the first week that we're doing that so it starts at 10 o'clock so if you have children that are aged i would say anywhere from six to 18 anywhere in that range then i would encourage you uh at least have one of your parents and you come to the sunday school class on on sunday next week because we'll we'll do a little bit of an introduction kind of how steve and i think that that will work out and how that will be implemented and because we're going to be asking families to invest some time in the catechism process that will be the only sunday that that you you need to be there you're welcome to be there for all of them let's uh if you could be at least have one of the parents there uh for next sunday morning as we as we at least introduce what we're going to be doing in with the catechism class so that will be in classroom one just just down the hall there so so far the announcements let us rise together for god's call to worship this morning this morning the lord calls us to worship him with the words of psalm 67 and the first three verses where it says may god be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us that your way may be known on earth your saving power among all nations let the peoples praise you o god let all the peoples praise you let's turn to the lord in prayer together almighty god father son and holy spirit we have gathered to praise your name that we reflect on who you are your glory and your splendor and your majesty and how you call sinful people rebellious people out of darkness and bring them into your glorious light not because of anything that they have done but because of your own kindness to them and so as we celebrate your compassion and we celebrate your goodness to us we remember that christ died for the ungodly while we were still enemies that he died that we would be free and that our freedom from death is sealed by his own resurrection and so we come with joy remembering his resurrection that we will be raised with him if we are joined to him by faith and so bless us as we reflect on this as we as we hear your word proclaimed as we are shaped by your spirit at work in us through those means and make us to be glad this day that that joy that we experience today that our hearts are filled with that would carry over to the rest of the of the days of this week that we would give you glory all of them in all our thoughts words and deeds we prayed in jesus name amen as we begin our worship in song we'll sing first from the hymnal we'll sing together from him 100 holy holy holy let's sing to god's praise of his glorious goodness from the hymn 100 from him 100 holy holy holy [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] see [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] uh [Music] our confession of faith together this morning the words of the nicene creed nice scene creed found on the inside cover of your hymnal we'll confess our faith in the lord god almighty with the by answering this 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 so as we come to worship god on this day of rest that he has provided for us we come very much aware of our sins and shortcomings we're made aware of our sin by considering the law you have to consider the law if you want to consider sin because sin is by its very definition a breaking of the law of god or a failure to do what the law of god commands and so today we come to confess our sins in light of the conviction that is laid on our hearts by the fourth commandment found in deuteronomy 12 through 15 where it says observe the sabbath day to keep it holy as the lord your god commanded you six days you shall labor and do all your work but the seventh day is a sabbath to the lord your god on it you shall not do any work you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock or the sojourner who is within your gates that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you you shall remember that you are a slave in the land of egypt and that the lord your god brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm therefore the lord your god commanded you to keep the sabbath day so when you come to the fourth commandment you're coming to a day that is given to set apart god's people from the world and and we're going to be talking about that in the evening service exodus 35 verses one through three and uh we'll talk in much more detail there about the way in which this day is set apart as a public manifestation of being set apart unto the lord in the life of of the believer and it's a it's a day where we we publicly honor god in worship and that's unique because our worship is directed to the god of the bible not to any of the false gods that are that are in this world uh the the the sabbath day it sets us apart in in what we think about in the things that we consider the things that motivate us they say we are those people it is a public manifestation that that we belong to god now when it comes to our society when it comes to the church and when it comes to the most vigorous sabbatarian in the church our failings against this commandment are many and and they are great we neglect worship which is seen all across the country also in in our own congregation with the the attendance numbers for morning and evening being very different but even when we're present right we can be present physically but absent emotionally or absent in our minds our minds can wander we could have presence at worship morning and evening but then have the rest of the day be filled with failures to celebrate and to to keep the things that god is describing in in this commandments and all of that applies to all of us so i'm not trying to lift any one person up over against another what am i saying i'm saying the law of god shows us all the ways in which we fail to keep all of his commandments and the law of god then shows us our need for christ and our need for his perfect keeping of the sabbath to be applied to us and that's the privilege we have as christians this morning that when we're convicted by god's law that we have the promise that that there is a throne in heaven that we can approach with confidence talk to our father there not our judge but our father to seek forgiveness for our sins and and so that's what we want to do together right now as a congregation we want to approach the throne room of god acknowledging our failures and our sins against him and pleading with him that he would teach us what it means to live holy lives for his glory so let's do that right now almighty god and heavenly father your word sets a standard for us that we cannot keep because of the sin of our father adam we are corrupt there is no part of us that is pure and and so we cannot do the things that your law demands of us and so we come to you when it comes to the sabbath commandment and the privilege of this day of rest that we have that we so often forfeit we forfeit it physically we forfeit it in our minds we were preoccupied with with things that belong to the other six days of the week and we confess these things to you and we ask that you would be merciful that we pray o lord god that our sins would not be remembered that you would cast them from your own memory and that you would look only upon the righteousness of christ which is perfect and complete and apply to those who trust in him and so we pray for that righteousness to be applied to us as we cry out to you by faith we ask o lord god that our failures in keeping your commandments would not cause us to throw up our hands and neglect righteousness altogether but we pray that your spirit working in this body would make us to love holiness make us to love the the things that you call good and and teach us to walk in those ways to to do it more consistently than we have been doing it that you would sanctify us and and cleanse us and and make us righteous as more righteous as as time goes on as we anticipate the perfection of our righteousness when you call us home or when you return on the clouds and so we do not despair lord god we look to you in hope we we entrust ourselves to you the the cleansing of our souls is in your hands and the and the renewal of our minds is in your hands we pray that you would do these things that we would rejoice in being called by your name we ask these things in jesus name amen the assurance of pardon comes to us today from psalm 32 verse 5 where it says i acknowledged my sin to you and i did not cover my iniquity i said i will confess my transgression to the lord and you forgave the iniquity of my sin having confessed our sin and heard the assurance of pardon let's turn in our psalters now to psalm 89 c psalm 89 see behold how blessed the people are let's stand as we sing this psalm oh [Music] is [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] please pray with me almighty god and heavenly father we come to you your word gives life it is the way that you move the thing that you use to move in people's hearts and so we praise you for that that we have the privilege and the freedom of gathering around your word today to give our attention to it to see uh something of your glory to see something of the duties that you re require of your people and we do this not because it is it is a a cold drudgery for us we do this because of our gratitude our gratitude for the work of christ we would not love you if he had not loved us first if you had not loved us first and so we come to you with grateful praise asking that you would so bless us as we read that we would see your love on display and that we would love you in return we thank you for the many ways in which you have shown your kindness to us also in giving us what we need for our day-to-day living for some of us you have brought a little bit more comfort than we had yesterday for some of us you have made us to realize that that though we didn't know how this bill would be paid that you are the one who provides for some of us you have simply provided as you have for as long as we can remember for our whole lives you have given to us the meals that we need so that we never hunger you've given to us the clothing so that that we need so that we are never exposed and ashamed because of our nakedness you have given to us shelter so that we've never been uh exposed to the elements and the dangers that come with that you have given to us protection from illness you have given to us recovery from illness all of these things manifestations of your good kind love for us as your people of both of these things of your word and of your kindness to us in life we are undeserving recipients and so we pray that you would make us rejoice all the more because of what you have done and because of the things that you have given make us to love you deeply and unwaveringly because of these things establish yourself among us we pray and we ask it in jesus name amen please be seated the old testament reading this morning is psalm 119 verses 65 through 80. psalm 119 verses 65 through 80 and this can be found on page 513 in the pew bible we see again and again in this psalm a love for the law of god a delight in the law of god and blessing that comes from following the law of god and this shows us that the law of god is not only given to convict us of sin but also to show us how we are to live before god as his people and as our larger catechism says to show us how much we are bound to christ because he fulfilled the law for us so whenever we hear the word of god we should listen to it attentively receive it with faith and love lay it up in our hearts and practice it in our lives so hear now the word of god you have dealt well with your servant o lord according to your word teach me good judgment and knowledge for i believe in your commandments before i was afflicted i went astray but now i keep your word you are good and do good teach me your statutes the insolents smear me with lies but with my whole heart i keep your precepts their heart is unfeeling like fat but i delight in your law it is good for me that i was afflicted that i might learn your statutes the law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces your hands have made and fashioned me give me understanding that i may learn your commandments those who fear you shall see me and rejoice because i have hoped in your word i know o lord that your rules are righteous and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me let your steadfast love comfort me according to your promise to your servant let your mercy come to me that i may live for your law is my delight let the insolent be put to shame because they have wronged me with falsehood as for me i will meditate on your precepts let those who fear you turn to me that they may know your testimonies may my heart be blameless in your statutes that i may not be put to shame the new testament reading is from matthew chapter 24 verses 32 through 51 matthew chapter 24 verses 32 through 51 and this is on page 830 in the pew bible here our lord continues to describe the coming destruction of jerusalem and the ending of the jewish sacrificial system and describes this as a day that can be that is known and can be predicted but our lord also describes his second coming and describes it as a day that cannot be predicted it's as a thief in the night he says and is known only to the father so the the precise time and date of the second coming of christ not being revealed to us is actually a blessing to us to encourage us to remain faithful to live in wisdom and to spend our time and energy doing good works and serving god in our neighbor so hear now the word of god from the fig tree learn its lesson as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves you know that summer is near so also when you see all these things you know that he is near at the very gates truly i say to you this generation will not pass away until all these things take place heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away but concerning that day and hour no one knows not even the angels of heaven nor the son but the father only as were the days of noah so will be the coming of the son of man for as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage until the day when noah entered the ark and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away so will be the coming of the son of man then two men will be in the field one will be taken and one left two women will be grinding at the mill one will be taken and one left therefore stay awake for you do not know on what day your lord is coming but know this that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming he would have stayed awake and would not have left his house be broken it would not have let his house be broken into therefore you also be ready for the son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect who then is the faithful and wise servant whom his master has set over his household to give them their food at the proper time blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes truly i say to you he will set him over all his possessions but if that wicked servant says to himself my master is delayed and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites and that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth the grass withers and the flower fades but the word of god will remain forever [Music] let us worship the lord together this morning in the giving of our tithes and offerings [Music] so crazy grace [Music] let's join together in the prayers of the church and the lord's prayer almighty god father in heaven we come to you the one who made us we are we have not made ourselves you have made us and so we belong to you we are your people we are the sheep of of your pasture and so we have gathered to our creator and also to our father to worship you to bow down before you to kneel before you to ascribe to you all glory and power and dominion as they belong to you you've made the world and everything in it and so all of the world should give you praise and we have gathered to do just that we have gathered to give you praise in humility we have not lifted ourselves up with high and lofty thoughts about ourselves because we are sinful people your word says that if we say we are without sin that we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us and so we lay before you not only our original corruption this guilt that we have in adam when we sinned in him and with him when he ate of the forbidden fruit but we also confess you all our acts our thoughts words and deeds that that add to this guilt that already belongs to us when we were born and we confess these things to you asking only that that you would remember your promise in your word when you say that if we confess our sins you are faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness so we do not desire to deceive ourselves and say we have no sin and at the same time we pray that you would refresh us in the reminder that in christ it is as if we have no sin that his righteousness is laid on us and and we walk in freedom because of his death his suffering his agony his humiliation so we praise you for these things and even in the despair that sometimes we feel about our sin and even in the callousness that we have towards our sin at times we pray that you would make our hearts soft and tender and that we would not that we would not stand in the presence of sin as if it doesn't matter that we would be humbled that we would see our own sin first that we would encourage each other towards love and good works here in this congregation but that we would rest in the mercy that you have promised to us in your son our savior the lord jesus christ we thank you for the promises that you give to us in your word because if you had not given them surely we we would despair surely we would be crushed under the weight of our sin and yet you have you have given to us this promises of relief and we thank you for that we thank you for the freedom we enjoy in this nation to gather and worship you as a result of the promises of the gospel we thank you for the way in which we we we gather without fear of of a reprisal without fear of those who hate your name coming and assaulting us physically as our brothers and sisters in other lands have to endure we thank you for the good health you have generally given to us in our congregation even in this last few months when we've endured much illness in our congregation yet we have been spared from much seriousness uh we re remember and recognize that that there are those who are ill in our midst but we recognize also that you have spared us much sorrow and and our circumstances could be much worse and and you have been merciful in sparing us from from those things but for those who who are ill those who are facing the uncertainty of diagnoses or relapses of illness or have loved ones who are enduring the same we pray that you would give the nearness of your presence in the comfort of your of your name that there would not be a a languishing in uncertainty but that there would be a great confidence in the certainty that we know about you that not only is your providence over all things but that you are a good god and that you are a kind god and that you are patient with your people all of these things cannot be separated from from your plans for us and so we rest in these things we rest in them knowing that that you will do all for your own glory and that is our desire we pray o lord god prayer of thanksgiving that you have given to us freedom from many of the sufferings that other people in this world endure freedom from hunger freedom from lack we pray that you would continue to bless us in this way we we do not view this as an evil thing to be ashamed of no we desire these things from your hand but we pray that we would receive them with the appropriate level of thanksgiving and with a generous heart with generous hands that you would so use us to comfort those in affliction as best we can and that where there are those who are outside of our reach and those who cannot be helped by us that you would be their helper that you would be the one who provides them with the things that we take for granted nations of great poverty poverty that's lasted for centuries we pray that you would give relief where there are those who who struggle and who do not even have enough food for their day we pray that you would provide it we do not desire to be those who simply wish on others that they would be well fed and then just send them on their way we pray that you would make us generous to the needs of the poor first among the people of god but also in the world that you would so glorify yourself through your church in a care for those who are truly destitute who are not able to help themselves we pray oh lord god for the establishment of your church in our nation it seems to me anyways in years past there was a a greater acknowledgement of your church maybe even a greater zeal for your church there was a refusal to speak ill of your people there was a recognition that in your people was a manifestation of your great grace and when we we look around that's that seems to be lost and yet we recognize that that we can very much be like those in the past who who thought that all was lost and yet you were preserving for yourself exactly the remnant that was necessary and so we pray that that would be the case that you would open our eyes to see your church prospering growing in love for you growing in knowledge of you growing in in a zeal for worship growing in a zeal for outreach and evangelism growing in their zeal to apply their christian faith in all different areas of life lord this is our prayer and to that end we pray for the health of your church we pray that where where your church is not proclaiming the gospel that you would so work in the hearts of the leadership of those churches that they would love to proclaim what is true in the full counsel of god where the leadership of those churches is is unwilling to change unwilling to do that we pray that you would remove them from pulpits that you would have godly men stand in in the place where of your appointment and that they would declare your word fearlessly fully and faithfully we recognize that the prayer for the need for prayer about healthy churches applies to our own we are weak we are we are sinful our own denomination struggles with sin as every denomination does our presbytery though there is much to be grateful for we struggle with sin we we make wrong decisions we we do not glorify you as we should and hear locally in this body as much as it pains us to admit it we we can be hypocritical we can be self-righteous we can we can set ourselves above everyone else and and and lord god we also are in need of your spirit to guide us your reforming work in our lives your sanctifying work in our lives show us the places where our thinking is in error show us the places where our lives are sinful defeat the areas of our lives where sin is ongoing lord we we cry out for these things and and we're helpless about these things because we are not able to reform ourselves and so as your spirit works among your people we pray that it would work among us as well that you would you would so prepare us to serve you that your name would go forward brightly and purely from this pulpit from the people who are members of this church that you would so glorify yourself in this place we pray for the work of institutions that prepare men for gospel ministry the seminaries in our country and other places where where men are being taught and prepared to assume pulpits we pray o lord god for professors and for faculty for seminary administrators who began with a great vision of educating the next generation of pastors for the church educating them faithfully keep them in that vision lord god help them to not lose sight of the thing they started out to do help them not to be burdened by a an unhealthy craving for more students but that they would trust you to bring those who need to be taught and that they would do that faithful work of of setting before young men older men the truth of the gospel that they would go out into churches and declare it as they should we pray for the effect of the gospel going forth out of the pulpits of your churches we pray that you would keep it from being only an agent of hardening we see that so much in our day we know your word always accomplishes its purpose and so often these days from our limited perspective anyways we see only a small small portion of people's lives when we interact with them but to us it seems like so often your word is being used for hardening it's used being used to add to the guilt of a of a soul we pray that you would use it in our sight also as that tool of joy this tool where it's used to convert where it's used to gather your saints out of the world it is our desire to see many come to know you many who have denied your name even blasphemed your name maybe that these people would be humbled that they would call out to you for mercy and that you would so glorify yourself in their lives that the change in them would be unmistakable and that it would be a cause of great celebration among your people we pray for our sister church for chapel in the gardens presbyterian church in in garden city we pray for their pastor darren russell the session the deacons we pray for the opportunities they have to share the gospel we pray for the congregation too as they're engaged in that ministry i pray that they would be truly strengthened in their congregation as you work among them by by your holy spirit god we pray for your church and we pray that you would lift her up and strengthen her that she would remember all your promises and that we together then would revel in your presence that that we together would express the joy that we have in you in our praying that you would make us to pray to you as a as an outpouring of joy that we have in our hearts do that work in us now 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's turn together in god's word this morning to revelation 7 and we'll be looking at verses 13 through 17 revelation 7 verses 13 through 17 and you can find that in your pew bible on page 1032. revelation 7 verses 13 through 17 where god's word reads as follows then one of the elders addressed me saying who are these clothed in white robes and from where have they come i said to him sir you know and he said to me these are the ones coming out of the great tribulation they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb therefore they are before the throne of god and serve him day and night in his temple and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence they shall hunger no more neither thirst anymore the sun shall not strike them nor any scorching heat for the lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd and he will guide them to springs of living water and god will wipe away every tear from their eyes so far the reading from god's word this morning may he add its blessing to our hearts well as of late and unfortunately in the next couple of weeks ahead feels like our series in revelation has become something of a of a shuttle run i don't know if you're familiar with a shuttle run uh it was that's what it was called when i had to do it in eighth grade it was a physical education fitness evaluation and you you started on one and you ran as fast as you can for 15 feet and you touch down and you have to run back and you have to touch down and it's a you never really felt like you were running you're always starting and so i'm afraid that it feels a little bit like that in our series of revelation right now where we have one week off one week on and and and so forth and so we have to remember where we came from a little bit more than than we usually might do the the text that's in front of us today it's a conclusion a conclusion of the sixth seal it began in chapter six verse 12 and and the last time we were in revelation together we we saw these two groups of people all both of which uh signify those who are in christ the those who are on the earth 144 000 symbolic number those who are in heaven this great multitude that no one could number all of them giving praise and and worship to god and and as the sixth seal comes to an end we remember the sixth seal as an opening of the judgment of god the judgment of god against the nations and so when we conclude it here in verses 13-17 the contrast that we've kind of seen all throughout this chapter throughout the seal is really coming to the forefront there is a contrast that is impressed on us simply by what is described for us in these last verses that describe the sixth the sixth seal the contrast that's before us is a crucial contrast we can't miss it we can't skip over it we can't read it quickly as we're tempted to do with with some parts of scripture that that are either very familiar to us or or that really stretch us in terms of our thinking we have to settle in on it and understand this contrast because it is crucial especially for us as believers it is a contrast in our text today that that helps us to understand the benefits of the covenant of grace it is a contrast that helps us to see what the gospel promises to unworthy sinners it's a it's a contrast in drawing it that is meant to refresh the people of god in the book of revelation they're suffering they're under much affliction tribulation even it's described and we're going to see plenty of that but always in the book of revelation there is a a circling it starts with the bad news and in the end you end up with good news the best news you could really imagine and that's what our text is doing today as well it is a text that is meant to refresh the church of any age any church in any age deals with tribulation and our text today through this contrast shows us the the great joy at the end of that tribulation now if the contrast that we will be considering together today is lost the gospel isn't the gospel isn't necessarily lost altogether but the gospel is cheapened the significance of the gospel is diminished it is a contrast as i said before that is significant for believers but it is actually significant for all people anyone who hears this contrast and considers it honestly and consists considers it in sincerity anyone who considers this contrast without pretense or without deflection it will affect them it will affect people who have all manner of relationships with god some people are hostile to god if they consider the con the contrast that is drawn in our text it should affect them it should fill them with dread and fear over the coming judgment of god if the kind of person is apathetic towards god this this contrast should make them see the significance of their relationship with god that the relationship with god is not something to simply be thought about you'll think about it 10 years down the road or or you'll think about it 15 years down the road and and for those who recognize their need for reconciliation to god when you consider this contrast it shows you the great joy that you have in christ a joy that is begun today but will be exponentially greater when you're with him uh in in glory for for all these different groups the the message of the need for reconciliation comes through the contrast that is drawn in this text the contrast the conclusion of the sixth seal that's that's what we're examining today and it teaches us that the mercy of god is seen in his removing of judgment for sin and replacing it with his comforting presence so the mercy of god is seen when he removes judgment for sin and replaces it with something so we don't only see the glory of the gospel in seeing what we're spared from we do see the glory of the gospel and that but we see the glory of the gospel also in what what the believer will receive which comes through god's comforting presence and to learn that lesson we want to first look at the contrast of people in our text we're going to look primarily in verses 13 and 14 for that and then we're going to see the contrast of god's works among those people in verses 15 through 17. so the contrast of people the contrast of god's works as we seek to learn that the mercy of god is seen in his removing judgment for sin and replacing it with his comforting presence so let's begin by looking at the contrast of people as it's found in this text the opening words of our verses they are those that make us to look back right the one of the elders the 24 elders comes and says who are these clothed in white robes well we've been introduced to those who are clothed in in white robes and it brings us back uh to uh verse nine of chapter seven this great multitude that no one could number standing before the throne before the lamb and they're clothed in white robes and as our text opens one of the 24 elders one of the elders that sits around the throne room of heaven he comes to john the apostle and he asks him who they are john he is eager to learn so he doesn't volunteer the answer he simply refers back to the elder he says sir you know and then the bible gives us an explanation of sorts of of who these these people clothed in white robes are they are the ones who come out of the great tribulation who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb so when the bible gives his explanation it's talking about those who have entered into heaven after enduring the great tribulation now in in matthew 24 we we just missed the verses in our new testament reading this morning we read them last week but in matthew 24 verse 21 it talks about the judgment of of god on israel 80 70 and it talks about that time as great tribulation it it it culminates this great tribulation it culminates in the destruction of jerusalem the burning of the temple the ending of the sacrificial system as uh john mentioned today already but when it comes to the context of our verses we know it's not just for the jewish people we're looking at verse 9 of chapter 7 as the thing that informs us there's a great multitude from every nation tribes peoples and languages and so we've seen that in the past as as a covenantal term there is the inclusion of the gentile among the jews and and so when the elder is talking to john here and explaining who these people in white robes are he can't be talking just about the jews who were in jerusalem at 80 70 because it's addressed to jew and gentile and the great tribulation that that they will endure so so then we have to look outside of matthew 24 so it's not just matthew 24 there are other places in scripture that talk about tribulation as well so for example we can go to romans 12 and verse 12 where paul is is turning from the truths that he's taught in the first 11 chapters and now he's talking about how those truths are to be lived out by the christian and he says to the christian church be patient in tribulation so paul is exhorting the church to be patient in the kind of local hardships that christian churches endured in that time and have endured since that time different instances of hardship that change over time where nations that are strong in with a strong christian presence can eventually lose that strong christian presence and can become can change from those who would evangelize the nations into those who need evangelism from the nations from those who would protect the persecuted into those who would persecute the church and so paul's talking about that in romans 12 but the text is talking about the great tribulation so it seems to be more than just kind of the the localized hardships or even the nationalized hardships that that christian churches might endure in time what is this great tribulation well the great tribulation is hardship that is experienced by all tribes and peoples and languages as they are found in verse 9. that's all of those people who are in verse 9 clothed in white robes came out of the great tribulation and so it's describing a tribulation that is in a sense universal universal in the life of the church it's more than 80 70 in jerusalem it's more than the local hardships that churches endure no this text is describing a tribulation that is for christians in all times and places it is the great tribulation that we're going to become very familiar with in the book of revelation in later chapters we're going to see the rage of the devil and his beasts unleashed on the world against the church the great tribulation that we have in mind in our text is is the enmity of the world against the people of god that's that's what we're talking about it it's the kingdom of this world warring against the people of god the great tribulation those who are in heaven in these white robes they've come through that they've come through the outworking of the enmity that is established in genesis 3 15 when when when god promises a resistance a a hostility between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the of the woman it is this hostility that that takes shape in the world almost as soon as sin enters the world it is this desire for destruction that exists between the evil one and the people of god those who rebel against god and those who worship god those who seek god's face and those who seek to be hidden from his face it has worked itself out as soon as sin has entered the world seen first of all in kane's murder of his brother abel the beginning of the great tribulation it is this enmity that is expressed in action in the natural man this enmity that is embedded deep within his heart described in romans 3 verse 15 and 16 when it says that the natural man his feet are swift to shed blood and in their paths are ruin and misery that impulse is exercised against the church in all places in all times known as the great tribulation as the church waits for christ's return that great tribulation is ongoing and will continue until he does return so when the elder asks john who are these clothed in white robes he's describing everybody in all places and in all times who has transferred he's made their final church membership transfer from the church militant as described in chapter 7 verse 2 those living on the earth who have the seal of god on them the church militant to the church triumphant the church removed from the earth and and brought to heaven where they are perfected in their worship of god they are the ones who are clothed in white garments and they form the foundation for the contrast because when you read these description of these people and you see what they're concerned about and the desires of their heart and then you go back to chapter 6 and verse 15 where a different group is described the contrast is so very plain in chapter 6 verse 15 you have the kings of the earth you have the slave and everybody in between asking god or asking that rocks and mountains fall on them that they would be kept from the presence of god that they would not have to behold his face and you can contrast that to those who are clothed in white robes who've come out of the great tribulation who were faithful to god even at the cost of their own life there are those who flee from the lord and there are those who desire the lord that's the contrast in our texts and the difference is is anchored in a sense in verse 14. in verse 14 the main difference between these two groups of people is seen they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb so there are those who have garments that are white made white by the blood of the lamb and there are those who haven't there are those who hate the lamb and there are those who depend on the lamb there are those of the world and the people of god there are those who worship themselves or an idol or those who worship father son and holy spirit and the contrast of these people is found in their robes there are those who have polluted garments and there are those who have white garments there are those who live in the guilt of their sin and there are those who have been only found to be white through the cleansing blood of christ and that's the contrast of the people those are the two groups that exists in the book of revelation now we ask ourselves a question why does that matter why do we need to decide how many groups there are and who they are well the rest of our text really makes that plain when we think about the contrast of god's works towards these two different groups so the contrast between these two different people is in who they are but it is also in what they receive from god and we've already looked at revelation 6 15 and following where the kings of the earth and the slave and they asked to be crushed to be annihilated really rather than to face the the god who will be their judge and there's cause for them to be afraid because there's a history of how god works with the evil doer there is a history of of descriptions of illustrations of what judgment looks like in the world begins in in the flood account of genesis 6 doesn't it where where god wipes out the whole world except for eight people because the inclination of their heart was only evil all the time and it says in genesis 7 verse 4 that that god judges the world it's not an accident it's not [Music] it's not some some neutral force or some impersonal force causing the waters to pour out on the world this is god's act of judgment says there that god judges the world through the destruction of every living thing in the flood in the minor prophets there are many instances of of god's judgment against the world you could look at obadiah9 obadiah is prophesying against the nation of edom a proud nation rejoicing in the exile of israel rejoicing in the affliction of god's people and they're judged for that and it says that edom's pride is means that every man in that nation will be cut off by slaughter this is god's declaration of judgment against the for their pride against israel you could go to the new testament to jesus himself who tells the parable of the weeds and the wheat you remember that that account where at night the enemy of the farmer goes and sows weeds among the the wheat and and it grows up among it and they have to separate it well when they separate the weeds which represents the hypocrite when they separate the weeds from the wheat the weeds are thrown into a fiery furnace where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth which is a very common new testament expression that that that encapsulates the despair of life without god the despair of those who live under judgment but our text is not dealing with that aspect it's not dealing with judgment it's dealing with the glorious opposite so we can talk much about the judgment of the wicked and it is right when the text requires it that we speak of those things but but today's text is primarily speaking of the glory that will be given to the regenerate to the children of god to those who have who have faith in god what do they receive and it is and it is a contrast that is removed as far as the east is from the west if we can use that illustration contrasted to the the horrible terrifying judgment of the world is the is the wonderful joyful magnificent promise of god to those who are clothed in white robes who have their garments washed by the blood of the lamb this text is addressing what the saints might expect and it is good for us to familiarize ourselves with that as well what is to become of those who are by god's grace joined to christ what is to become of those who have their sins forgiven because the wrath of god for their sin was poured out on christ instead what has to happen to those who have been purified by his blood isaiah 53 and verse 5 talks about the suffering servant who is pierced for ours transgressions and with his wounds we are healed second corinthians 5 21 talks about christ says that christ knew no sin at all but that he was made to be i'm describing how we are washed white in the blood of the lamb because as we saw in our in our as we heard in our prayer earlier on this worship service if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and it is those who sin who face the judgment of god so how do we escape the judgment of god it's because the one who knew no sin was made to be sin the christ who was completely pure whose garment is radiant white by nature had all the imperfections of everybody else's garments all his servants poured out on him he suffered the agony that should have been ours first peter 2 says it this way it says he himself christ bore our sins and his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness that's how you were washed by believing in christ's works that by his the judgment of god poured out on him we might die to sin and live to righteousness and if you're not affected by that theological truth then there is still something else in our text that that helps you to see the glory of this contrast the the theological truth should be enough well the contrast really informs and shows that theological truth but we should be able to get from theology to a deep intense gratitude for god but but god is merciful and he knows our weaknesses and so at times he shows us the difference he he gives us examples that that we might be able to see the consequences of our theology in scripture and that's what's happening in our text here today there is in our text three basic things that the that the saints are able to expect to receive from god's hand because they have been cleansed by the blood of the lamb so so if judgment and condemnation of the worst kind waits for the world what is the expectation of the same three things first of all the saint can expect god's presence now if you are grown up in the church and and you hear talk about the presence of god a lot that that can seem like kind of an insignificant contribution to your future the presence of of god but the presence of god is the only thing that preserves anything good in this world the presence of god is the only thing that ensures any kind of positive experience at all and i don't mean that in a mystical way right what i mean is if you don't have the presence of god you have nothing think of christ at the height of his humiliation at the deepest part of his pain when he's hanging on the cross what is his cry my god my god why have you forsaken me the absence of god is the thing that terrorizes christ on the cross he never separated in his divine nature but as a man to have the face of god turned away from him is the greatest experience of the curse of god does the presence of god matter you might say to yourself i know lots of unbelievers they seem like pretty happy people to me well that is true but only because god restrains the fullness of evil there is some aspect of the goodness of god that remains present even the fallen corrupted nature of man but if you remove god from the equation if god is removed completely from the world which he will be in hell there will be no peace there will be no goodness there will be no kindness all of those things belong to god and if god removes himself from the from the equation you will have the depths of evil and the depths of evil only those who are washed in white there they have their robes washed white in the blood of the lamb they have the opposite to expect not the complete removal of god but but what we experience imperfectly today will be the fullness of our experience in heaven god's presence will be among his people it says even that he will shelter them in his presence he's the literal is he's going to pitch his tent over them like the tabernacle when he's present among the people of israel visible his is his the the the pillar of cloud in the day and the pillar of fire by night god present among his people perfected in heaven that's going to be the expectation of those who have their garments washed so that's the first thing god's presence the second thing that the people of god can expect in heaven is the removal of suffering and you see that in verse 16 they shall hunger no more they won't thirst anymore and the sun won't strike them nor any scorching heat the world in chapter 6 and verse 15 the world invited suffering rather than facing the lord they call on mountains and rocks to fall on them but but for the saints there is no more hunger and there is no more thirst the promise is you will not hunger again you will not thirst again so what does that mean that means the most basic level of suffering that the world endures still endures today is gone it's removed in the life of the saints some of what we read in our text is difficult for us to fully grasp because we have lived in such ease and comfort all our lives so for example when it talks about the sun not striking them for us why would that be a problem you just go inside you turn up the air conditioning that's not the society that he's writing to he's writing to a society where the sun could kill you when you were in the desert and the sun beats down on you it saps you of your strength and and you collapse under the weight and the oppression of the sun you know the talking to a society that where the supply chain was perhaps more fickle than ours even in this day is and the hunger and and seasons of famine that could affect a nation very much a reality that will never again be the experience of the saint when they are in heaven with the lord the most urgent ways that a man can suffer will be removed man's physical ill weakness will be overcome by the lord who provides for his people so the saint can expect god's presence and the removal of suffering and then finally the third thing that is promised to the saints is the removal of grief or the ceasing of grief in verse 17 the lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd he will guide them to springs of living water and god will wipe away every tear from their eyes of course verse 17 very much a reference to psalm 23 which is amazing when you think about it because you have the lamb the lamb here becomes the shepherd and the shepherd leads his people besides still waters in green pastures he restores my soul and so on the lamb fulfills what is talked about in psalm 23. that's the work of christ christ in john 4 at the well in samaria says to this immoral woman everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again but whoever drinks of the water that i will give him will never be thirsty again the lamb the shepherd of the people of god who who guides his people into comfort there is a picture of peace there is a picture of tranquility in these verses it's really the opposite of the striving that we experience in this life our lives are are filled with striving it's it's all over the world it's striving nobody escapes it there's always pain and there's always suffering and there's always hardship and then there's that culmination right at the end where it says god will wipe away every tear from their eyes the promise is that all grief will be gone god wipes away every teardrop the teardrops that that come when life is overwhelming because of sin maybe your sin maybe somebody else's sin may be both together maybe just the effect of the fallen condition of our world but sin causes pain sin causes grief and the promise to the saints those who have their their robes washed white by the blood of the lamb the promise to these saints is is that these these teardrops will be gone forever and so you have this contrast in our text two different people the righteous and the wicked with with two different experiences the the righteous they will enjoy the presence of god the suffering of the righteous will end forever and and grief will be removed forever and on the other hand you have the wicked who will enter into this place where the face of god is removed forever and his his judgment is fear to such an extent and the intensity of his of it is so heightened that what they want is for mountains to fall on them and to rock for rocks to bury them that they would escape the presence of god and that is how wide the gulf is between what will happen to the people of god and the people of this world so what does that what does that mean for us two things first we must learn to take comfort in the promises of god and not skip past them it is so easy to skip past the most significant promises that god makes the promise that we receive especially at the end of verse 17 that god will wipe away every tear from their eyes that is a promise that can affect every man or woman boy or girl because all of those are affected by sin we all are affected by sin we're all touched by it in some way now apart from christ the grief of this world can overwhelm you it can crush you in in hopelessness and and and despair it can [Music] it can it can just bury you and and and make you so crushed that you can't even catch your breath the wickedness and the sorrow that we know today is exponentially multiplied in the eternity of hell but if you are in christ and if his blood washes clean your garments then the eternal expectation that you have is a joy a joy that comes from being in the presence of god today we don't see that joy fully because sin pollutes it and sin clouds it maybe it's better to say that sin clouds our vision our understanding of that joy because we live under the effects of sin but the promise is that there will be a perfect joy that comes from from being in the presence of god right now as we live under the condition of sin and misery the whole planet groans under it all people everywhere suffer under it in what way well we we face the effects of of sin even in the small petty arguments that we have in our homes where we hurt each other others feelings and and we are grieved ourselves it can come in the pain that we experience throughout our lives the older i get the more sadness i experience it doesn't become less it becomes more isn't that right my own sins cause sadness in my own home caused sadness in my own life the sadness of the sins done to me have at times made me so despondent that all i can do is cry out to god the the sadness over unbelief in a loved one makes your heart break and then makes your heart ache and it's all that you can do to just want to grab them by the by the shoulders and to shake them into the kingdom of heaven is that right and and we're anxious about our loved ones and and their lack of belief we have sadness over over death grandparents that have have gone to glory my father-in-law is in heaven been in heaven for almost 10 years for all of us we face those kinds of pains we face them in different parts of our lives with different intensities but all of us have occasion and moments for grief because of sin for some of us it is it is closer and it is it is more raw than than the rest of us can understand but all of us have it to some extent and if those circumstances wash over you without any remedy they will bury you in a flood but beloved if you are in christ the pain that you have today is temporary it's going to be replaced by a joy that is unspeakable to you right now this is not a contrast that we can just put in a chart and say oh well look at that the righteous have this and the wicked have that no this is a contrast that affects your eternity and the difference couldn't be greater and when you are in christ this is the assurance that you have every tear that you have ever wept will be wiped away from your eye not by an angel not by a saint who's gone before not by your spiritual heroes great pastors that you know from the pastor god himself will do it your father will do it he will wipe away every tear from your eye so we should take comfort in the promise of god and then we shouldn't wander past this promise i want to ask you today does this text affect you does this text make you stop and take notice i've never known life without the bible i've never known life without talking about the bible my parents were very faithful in family worship and we were always talking about the bible and so that can make me prone to just reading because i've read it before i've read the bible through cover to cover over 20 30 times it's the phrases are familiar this week past week when i was reading through this text i was preparing to preach it i came to god will wipe away every tear from their eyes and i must have read it 12 times to myself just put my my hand my head in my hands that god would wipe away every tear from my eyes he knows everything that i am he he knows what i've done he knows what i say he knows the temptations that are in this head he knows those things and yet if i cling to christ by faith and and if my garment is washed pure by his blood then the the promise that i have is not only that god will be with me but he will be with me in such a way that my comfort will be total complete there will only be joy don't walk past that promise let that promise sink in and let the full significant of that promise significance of that promise be known to you all the pain that you endure because of sin is removed and replaced with divine comfort beloved if you are in christ that promise must amaze you and if it doesn't amaze you then you haven't understood it do you lack thankfulness to god could it be that you haven't grasped this promise pray that the lord would impress it on your heart that it would overflow your heartwood overflow with praise because of this promise our text today is a wonderful testimony of all the good that god does for his saints it is a good that is done not because of anything in the saints of course it's it's done because of christ and and his work in purifying and cleansing their robes it's a good that comes from an absence of sin and christ alone accomplishes this absence of sin and so when god removes sin through the blood of the lamb what we end up with is a life that that really in some ways is not even imaginable to us today and so god gives us this contrast this contrast that we would understand the glory of the gospel the terror of the world contrasted with the goodness of the saints is it an adequate word in some sense it's a perfect word because god gave us the word but in another sense it's it's inadequate because words really aren't enough but they are enough for us to hold on to it is enough for us to hold fast to this blessing as god's people because it is the blessing of the forgiven it is the blessing of living in the presence of god without any hardship without any suffering and without any sorrow let's pray together almighty god and heavenly father we are comforted by your word and there are times when when we can read it too quickly and not think about the words that have been given we pray that these words we would not pass them by but that we would rest in them that the full weight of them would would would be applied to us that our joy would be so full that it would affect our countenance that it affect the way we speak the way that we act and and even the way that we think do this work in us by your spirit we pray in jesus name amen in response to the preaching of god's word let's turn to our hymnals we'll sing to him amazing grace let's stand as we sing from the hymnal of god's great works among his people him 460 amazing grace [Music] me [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] shall cease a light of joys [Music] [Applause] [Music] me and go your way peace lord bless you keep you lord make this faith lord lift up uh [Music] you

Channel: Cliffwood Presbyterian Church

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Length: 105min 55sec (6355 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021