GraceLife Church Worship Service - Sep 19, 2021

good morning everyone want to welcome you to grace life church and invite you to come in and find a seat as we prepare to worship our lord and savior together what a blessing it is to gather and to sing the praises of our great god and king as you know we opted to remain with a single service this week and we did that primarily for two reasons one with the uncertainty of what to expect this sunday we thought it might be just nice to keep things predictable for all of you and make it a little more comfortable as it were to be here today and and also we've got a number of ministries that just aren't quite yet ready to do double duty as it relates to two services and so we wanted to give them a little more time to work that out now by this point you know the drill that we're going to be taking things one week at a time and so you have to just bear with us as we give thought and consideration to how to navigate the future but you need to know that we are committed to moving to two services we really think that is necessary and beneficial for the health of our body and even to just improve what happens on a sunday and the fellowship that takes place and maybe even facilitating more fellowship because we're going to be able to stagger the the number of folks that are here at one time so we're still committed to that but obviously whether or not it comes to fruition is in the lord's hands and we'll keep you abreast of that as things grow and develop there really isn't much to bring to your attention today um i i looked at the bulletin and it's pretty blank i mean we've been making all kinds of announcements of late and uh there's just not a lot there so i don't know if someone has a wants to raise a hand and let me know if there's something i need to say i i haven't got a whole lot to bring to your attention we are here to worship our lord we're going to worship him in song in the reading of scripture prayer the preaching of his word we're going to worship in the fellowship that takes place following the service and we're just going to enjoy this day unto the lord he is good he is faithful he is sovereign and he is worthy and so let's bow before him now in prayer and give him thanks and ask him to bless our time together well father we are grateful to be here we thank you that you are the god that you are that you are sovereign and powerful worthy of all honor and glory father we come now to give you praise to worship you in spirit and in truth father we want to see your son be exalted this day and so we pray that by your spirit you would empower us to sing to worship to ascribe the honor and glory that your name is due in jesus name we pray amen please stand morning prepare to lift your voices as we worship our king [Music] who worship the king all glorious and faithfully save his power and his love [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] a [Music] and well we thought we would continue on in our reading of the book of deuteronomy we would love to complete our reading of this wonderful book and we find ourselves in deuteronomy chapter 22 and as is our custom we're going to read the entire chapter deuteronomy chapter 22 beginning in verse one god's word reads you shall not see your countryman's ox or his sheep straying away and pay no attention to them you shall certainly bring them back to your countrymen if your countrymen is not near you or if you do not know him then you shall bring it home to your house and it shall remain with you until your countrymen looks for it then you shall restore it to him thus you shall do with his donkey and ye shall do the same with his garment and you shall do likewise with anything lost by your countrymen which he has lost and you have found you are not allowed to neglect them you shall not see your countryman's donkey or his ox fallen down on the way and pay no attention to them you shall certainly help him to raise them up a woman shall not wear man's clothing nor shall a man put on woman's clothing for whoever does these things is an abomination to the lord your god if you happen to come upon a bird's nest along the way and any tree or on the ground with the young ones or eggs and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs you shall not take the mother with the young you shall certainly let the mother go but the young ones you may take for yourself in order that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days when you build a new house you shall make a parapet for your roof so that you will not bring blood guilt on your house if anyone falls from it you shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed or all the produce of the seed which you have sown and the increase of your vineyard will become defiled you shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together you shall not wear a material mixed of wool and linen together you shall make for yourself tassels on four corners of your garment which you with which you cover yourself if a man takes a wife and goes into her and then turns against her and charges her with shameful deeds and publicly defames her and says i took this woman but when i came near her i did not find her a virgin then the girl's father and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of the girl's virginity to the elders of the city at the gate the girl's father shall say to the elders i gave my daughter to this man for a wife but he turned against her and behold he has charged her with shameful deeds saying i did not find your daughter a virgin but this is the evidence of my daughter's virginity and they shall spread the garment before the elders of the city so the elders of that city shall take the man and chastise him and they shall find him a hundred shekels of silver and give it to the girl's father because he publicly defamed the virgin of israel and she shall remain his wife he cannot divorce her all his days but if this charge is true that the girl was not found a virgin then they shall bring out the girl to the doorway of her father's house and the men of her city shall stone her to death because she has committed an act of folly in israel by playing the harlot in her father's house thus you shall purge the evil from among you if a man is found lying with a married woman then both of them shall die the man who lay with the woman and the woman thus you shall purge the evil from israel if there is a girl who is a virgin engaged to a man and another man finds her in the city and lies with her then you shall bring them both out of the gate of that city and you shall stone them to death the girl because she did not cry out in the city and the man because he was violated or because he has violated his his neighbor's wife thus you shall you shall purge the evil from among you but if in the field the man finds the girl who is engaged and the man forces her and lies with her then only the man who lies with her shall die but you shall do nothing to the girl there is no sin in the girl worthy of death for just as a man rises against his neighbor and murders him so is this case when he found her in the field the engaged girl cried out but there was no one to save her if a man finds a girl who is a virgin who is not engaged and seizes her and lies with her and they are discovered then the man who lay with her shall give the to the girl's father 50 shekels of silver and she shall become his wife because he has violated her he cannot divorce her all his days a man shall not take his father's wife so that he will not uncover his father's skirt this is the reading of god's word let's pray together well father god as we read this portion of scripture we are reminded of the reality that you are a god who desires truth and justice you long for justice to reign among a people and land and you certainly desired justice to reign among your people israel and we know father god that you are a god of truth that you desire for truth to be in the innermost being and as we survey this portion of scripture and see that commitment to justice and truth we're reminded that the very land in which we live is not characterized by these things we can look at what takes place in our world and in our country and province and we can see that there is so much injustice we can look at the slaughtering of children in the womb we can look at the injustice of government tyranny and oppression of the people we can look at a lack of truth that even governs that tyranny that drives it and dictates it and we can see that this land is a land that lacks truth and justice and so father we come as your people who are salt and light in this world and we pray father god that you would give us grace and strength to be those who stand for both truth truth and justice that we would be people of the truth sons and daughters of the light shining our light in the dark world and that father god you would give us grace to stand for justice and righteousness that even the community around us the people of this province both christian and non-alike would see us as those who are true salt and true light in this world father we consider all that is ahead of us all of the different pressures that are being foisted upon us and we know father god that we need grace for these things the cost of following christ is increasing and so we come to you father god and we pray that you would strengthen us and help us and assist us to walk in the footsteps of our lord and even now as we come we acknowledge that even as though as those who have come to saving faith in christ that there's an ongoing war with sin and so father we come and acknowledge our sin before you we confess that we have sinned and have fallen short of your glory whether it be in word or indeed we know that we have come short of your perfections and so father we come to you in this time and we acknowledge that sin we confess it as sin and in this moment lord god we turn from it and look afresh to christ who is the perfect sacrifice for our sin the one who has made full atonement and we ask that you would wash us anew in his blood that you would cleanse us even cleansing our conscience and that you would renew us fanning into flame the affections of our heart for holiness and purity that we would be obedient and bring honor and glory to your name father we thank you for this time to come before you together we thank you for the sober moment that we're in where all that we see in scripture is so abundantly clear and true and we worship you we confess your worth and we love your glory and so we pray that you would be glorified in jesus name amen let me be seated [Music] no list of sins i have not done no list of verbs no list of those i am not like can earn myself a place with you oh god be merciful to me i am a sinner through and through my only hope of righteousness [Music] [Music] no humble dress no further no lifted hands no tearful song no recitation of the truth can justify a single wrong my righteousness is jesus life my debt was paid by jesus death my weary lord was born in him [Music] no separation from the world no work i do no gift i give can cleanse my conscience cleanse my hands i cannot cause my soul to live but jesus died and rose again the power of death is overthrown my god is merciful to me and merciful in christ alone my righteousness is jesus light my dead was paid by jesus death my weary low was born by him [Music] and he alone can give [Music] please stand with us and join us in song [Music] jesus keep me near the cross bear a precious fountain free [Music] in [Music] till my random soul shall find [Music] near the cross [Music] near the cross a trembling soul love and mercy found [Music] me [Music] [Music] beyond the river [Music] near the cross oh lamb of god [Music] me help me [Music] [Music] river [Music] [Music] just beyond [Music] glory ever [Music] in [Music] rest beyond the river [Music] [Music] be the cross of [Music] a jesus to stand [Music] and wander at such mercy that calls me as i am four hands that should discard me hold me [Music] my unworthy soul is one [Music] believe the cross of jesus is my own one stranger's chasing selfish dreams how could i now dishonor the ones that you have loved [Music] see the children called by god [Music] [Music] believe the cross of jesus the path before the throne we [Music] his footsteps where promised hope is found [Music] how great the joy be for us [Music] to be his perfect bride [Music] beneath the of jesus [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you [Music] rises to rejoice our god seated on his throne come let us [Music] nothing can compare come let us [Music] who has [Music] [Music] who can teach the one who knows all things [Music] [Music] behold [Applause] come let us [Music] nails upon his hands god [Music] [Music] nothing can compare [Music] [Applause] [Music] forever [Music] [Music] [Music] you will reign forever [Music] nothing can compare [Music] seated on his throne [Music] come let us adjourn [Music] just the voices now behold [Music] [Music] nothing can compare [Music] amen you may be seated well thank you so much joe and team for leading us in song this morning it might be of encouragement to you to know that the network of pastors not just in canada but but here in our province is growing of men who are standing for the headship of christ over his church and so many churches in our province are going to be gathered today to worship the lord in accordance with his word and i think we would do well to just take a moment and pray for them pastor mike for example is going to be preaching psalm 94 this day and and so i would encourage you to look for that later on as it's going to be i think very practical and applicable to the current situation that we're in and we also want to be lifting up pastor tim stevens in fairview baptist church let's just pray before we come to the word and lift them up to the lord now father we are so thankful for the men in this province who are committed to the honor and glory of christ and who are committed to his headship over the church and so father we lift up all the congregations who are gathered today to worship be with them and bless their worship father god we pray give them courage and grace and resolve to be obedient to your word and we pray in a particular way for pastor mike and the crete this day that you would bless the preaching of your word and that you would use that preaching to sound yet another gong that would expose the folly of the time that we're in and so be with them and and that flock there in the creep bless their time together their worship and we pray for fairview baptist church and pastor tim stevens that you'd be with them this day that you would give pastor tim and his family comfort and courage as they endeavor to be faithful in this time and we just pray father god that you would protect them in a special way this day that they would be able to worship unhindered uninterrupted and that you ultimately would be glorified through that time and ministry and so father we commit all of these folks to you we know that there are churches all around the country that are gathered today and we pray you bless them as well we are so grateful for the way that this country the the true faithful men of this country are standing with their flocks for the honor and glory of christ we certainly pray for those who aren't that you would convict them of their what would really almost become now sin and that they would be granted repentance to turn from the air of their way and to shine their light and be a testimony of the grace of god to those around them so father we pray that you would do that we commit this into your hands and do so in christ's name amen well we now come to the preaching of god's word we're going to be in john chapter 12 verses 12 to 26. i want to begin our time by going ahead and reading this portion of scripture john chapter 12 beginning in verse 12. on the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast when they heard that jesus was coming to jerusalem took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet him and began to shout hosanna blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord even the king of israel jesus finding a young donkey sat on it as it is written fear not daughter of zion behold your king is coming seated on a donkey's cult these things his disciples did not understand at the first but when jesus was glorified then they remembered that these things were written of him and that they had done these things to him so the people who were with him when he called lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify about him for this reason also the people went and met him because they heard that he had performed this sign so the pharisees said to one another you see that you are not doing any good look the world has gone after him now there were some greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast then these came to philip who was from bessette of galilee and began to ask him saying sir we wish to see jesus philip came and told andrew andrew and philip came and told jesus and jesus answered them saying the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified truly truly i say to you unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies it remains alone but if it dies it bears much fruit he who loves his life loses it and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal if anyone serves me he must follow me and where i am there my servant will be also if anyone serves me the father will honor him as we come to the end of this portion of scripture that we just read we find some fitting and timely words from the lips of our lord the cost to follow him is increasing the world is trying harder and harder to press us into its mold and as time goes on it will become more and more difficult to remain faithful to him there are threats of job loss there are threats of not being able to buy or sell and even the threat of being totally removed from society and as a result of that all of our lord's difficult teaching about the cost of discipleship all of his difficult teaching of what it means to follow after him seems far less theoretical far more applicable and yes even far more practical and so at a critical moment in the providence of god we are confronted with what it means to follow christ and the context is helpful in that it yields a stunning contrast because as jesus approaches jerusalem he is heralded as king by the masses just a few days from his own crucifixion how can they herald him as king in one moment and then call for his crucifixion in the next because their praise is superficial it's conditioned on an inaccurate notion about his coming they think he's coming to save by establishing the promised kingdom instead he's going to save by laying down his life for the forgiveness of sin they want kingdom glory but they have no interest in personal repentance and so a person can shout hosanna blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord but that means nothing if you don't hate your life and it means nothing if your life isn't marked by obedience it's just empty fickle and superficial praise and so as we come to this passage we wanted to serve really three functions one we wanted to test the integrity of your faith is your faith superficial or is it the real thing two we want to sharpen the the understanding that we have of the cost of discipleship what does it mean to be a follower of christ what does it mean to follow after him and three we want it to strengthen us for the road ahead you see by exposing ourselves to the cost of discipleship it will bring meaning and purpose to our suffering we will understand why it is that we must go through what we will go through and may it strengthen our resolve to stand firm and so what are we going to see we're going to see the superficial then the savior and then third and last the sincere and so if you're taking notes jot this down the superficial the superficial this comes out in verse 12 and following it says there on the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast when they heard that jesus was coming to jerusalem took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet him now we're less than a week away from the crucifixion of christ we're in what they often call passion week and john notes that this event took place on the next day so this is the day following the supper where mary anointed the feet of jesus and the last time i said this event took place on palm sunday it may have in fact been monday as you try and work through the way the the jews reckon days from sunset to sunset it's possible that this is actually palm monday and though we're not going to flesh out a a strict chronology of the events at this point in time we may as we continue to work through john's gospel but suffice it to say at this point in time it is the next day and as jesus approaches jerusalem the crowd gets word takes palm branches in hand and comes out to meet him palm branches were a sign of celebration they're typically connected with the feast of tabernacles but became very custom for all of the feasts the feast of passover and dedication and this was an incredibly large crowd this was thousands upon thousands big numbers have been estimated to to depict the number of people that would have been in jerusalem at this time but it's really thousands upon thousands they have made the the pilgrimage to jerusalem for this feast they have heard that jesus had risen lazarus from the dead and so now these thousands upon thousands come out of jerusalem to meet jesus on the way and to herald him as king the middle of verse 13 indicates they began to shout and this depicts a loud cry this is a an intensely loud shout as they begin to show middle of verse 13 again hosanna blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord hosanna is a shout of praise but it literally means help or save i pray so as jesus approaches jerusalem there are thousands upon thousands that are crying out to him save i pray help i pray in fact they're citing psalm 118 25 which says this o lord do save we beseech you o lord we beseech you do send prosperity that's the the verse right before the very next verse which declares blessed is the one who comes in the name of the lord and so they are they are citing a psalm as jesus approaches jerusalem heralding him to save them to deliver them shouting with a loud cry thousands upon thousands and they're doing so in anticipation that jesus is the promised davidic king that he's going to come and establish his throne and and overthrow israel's enemies look at that end of verse 13 even the king of israel they believe this is it they believe that this is the time that this is the time for the the promised one to arrive and to establish all of the the promises of the old covenant they believe jesus is going to assume david's throne and overthrow rome and allow times of blessing and prosperity to come there is kingly anticipation in the air and really it's so ironic they are seeing jesus come they are meeting him with palm branches thousands upon thousands are are crying out to him we beseech you oh lord do save and jesus was going to save but it wouldn't be through any kind of military conquest instead he was coming as the suffering servant to lay down his life for the forgiveness of sin and so the crowd is crying out for salvation and they need salvation but they fail to realize the kind of deliverance they really need they want a military conqueror but what they need is the sin bearing savior and that really makes the reference to psalm 118 all the more ironic since it also says this the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone that comes in the very same context of blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord they failed to realize the prophetic irony of the very psalm they're quoting as jesus approaches jerusalem and jesus seems to tamp down their military expectations because instead of entering jerusalem on a military war host war horse which he will in revelation 19 when he comes bolting out of heaven on a white a white horse but instead here he seats himself on a donkey verse 14 jesus finding a young donkey sat on it as it is written fear not daughter of zion behold your king is coming seated on a donkey's colt the apostle john writing by the holy spirit connects what's happening here to zechariah 9 9. here's what that says rejoice greatly o daughter of zion shout in triumph o daughter of jerusalem behold your king is coming to you he is just and endowed with salvation humble and mounted on a donkey even on a colt the fall of a donkey and so that jesus would would find a donkey and sit himself upon it was symbolic of both peace and humility he was approaching jerusalem humble and on a donkey symbolic of peace and and we know that even as he is about to accomplish the work that he is that to do so he would humble himself even to the point of death on a cross and that he would establish peace peace with god for all who would ever believe on his name and so jesus is bringing humility he is bringing peace it's just not the kind of peace that the crowd is expecting and so this is an epic scene it's full of excitement and exhilaration there is anticipation in the air and yet it's all based in confusion because the people don't understand the nature of the lord's coming in fact even the disciples missed some of it look at verse 16. these things his disciples did not understand at the first but when jesus was glorified then they remember that these things were written of him and that they had done these things to him look they understood that the people were heralding him as king because he is king they they know him to be the christ peter had confessed him to be the christ the son of the living god they they understood him to be messiah they knew he was the christ that was not at all in in confusion in fact even just prior to this in in luke 19 11 the disciples supposed that the kingdom of god was going to appear immediately so even the disciples were somewhat confused about the timing of the arrival of the kingdom and jesus gave them a parable to explain that it would be later there would be a gap between his first coming and his second but what they failed to understand was the connection to zechariah 9 9. and they failed to grasp the prophetic power of psalm 118 because after declaring the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone psalm 118 says this this is the lord's doing it is marvelous in our eyes and so it would be in hindsight after christ is glorified that the disciples would realize that the builders rejected the cornerstone and that they were the ones who would now understand that jesus is the very one that was promised he is the chief cornerstone and it's marvelous in their eyes as they look at israel's rejection of him his rejection was ultimately predetermined psalm 118 declares it verse 17 so the people who were with him when he called lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify about him for this reason all the people went and met him because they heard that he had performed this sign again it's so important to understand that when you read even the synoptics the the catalyst for the triumphal entry is the raising of lazarus that was the miracle of all miracles that that sped up the timeline for the the jewish leaders to put jesus to death and really it's difficult to fathom how this massive crowd could go so quickly from hailing jesus as king to calling for his crucifixion i mean we're just days away from them saying crucify him crucify him this was a fickle crowd and their fickleness is intensely instructive in their case they didn't want to miss out on the arrival of the kingdom and so they positioned themselves to be on its receiving end and then when things didn't quite unfold the way that they were hoping they might they ultimately rejected him and turned their back on him even though there was clear evidence that god had sent him the raising of lazarus being that obvious evidence and really there are people that are just like that today they make a profession of faith but it's ultimately conditioned on whether doing so improves their life or not whether or not jesus meets their expectations it's almost superstitious that if we if we confess jesus as lord that maybe our lives will begin to come to fruition the way that we want them to that is a fickle profession of faith there are even others who merely want christ for his benefits they want the forgiveness of sin they want life after death they want to avoid eternal hell but they don't desire the king himself there's no love for the king only a desire to inherit the benefits of being found in him and so they position themselves to have a share in his benefits without ever really committing themselves to him they they may come to church they claim to be a christian but it's all just in case just in case this actually proves to be true in both cases what you have is a fickle heart and the fickle have no share in the lord jesus christ and will be severely disappointed when they stand before him as we'll see in a moment real saving faith manifests itself in costly commitment to christ the kind of commitment that is the direct result of a new birth regeneration and so we can see the the superficial fickle crowd heralding jesus as king wanting a merely political kingdom failing to realize the purpose of his first coming second if you're taking notes jot this down the savior the savior this comes out in verse 19 and following it says there so the pharisees said to one another you see that you are not doing any good look the world has gone after him this is hyperbole this is a frustrated exaggeration they're looking at what's happening with jesus the way the people are responding to him and they're they're frustrated the whole world is going after him and really it was premature at this point in time to say that the those who were there at the feast were predominantly jews they would have been jews who had traveled to jerusalem for the feast itself they would have identified as having been jews so this wasn't a world scale event and yet it's almost prophetic because in the very next verse members of the world are mentioned look at verse 20. now there were some greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast these were gentiles we might call them god fears and they want to see jesus verse 21 then these came to philip who was from beside of galilee and began began to ask him saying sir we wish to see jesus this is significant gentiles were beginning to seek jesus out and this is foreshadowing the gospel going to all the nations even when the samaritans back in in john 4 had had come to understand jesus as the christ they confessed him as the savior of the world verse 22 philip came and told andrew andrew and philip came and told jesus and jesus answered them saying the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified and so this this coming of the greeks to jesus wanting to seek jesus out wanting to see jesus was a turning point in the gospel of john up until this point in time the chorus has been what his hour had not yet come his hour had not yet come when the the religious leaders wanted to take him and seize him and kill him his hour had not yet come well here jesus declares his hour has come it is now time for the son of man to be glorified and by that he is referring to his death resurrection and ascension when he will return to the father and will be seated at the father's right hand and so this is signaling that we have now reached the beginning of the end of his earthly ministry his hour had come he was just days away from his death resurrection and ascension having accomplished the the purpose of his first coming and jesus employs just an amazing analogy that pictures the effect of his glorification verse 24. truly truly i say to you unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies it remains alone but if it dies it bears much fruit you understand that right life is birthed out of death when a when a seed goes into the ground and dies it brings forth life and in a similar way jesus was going to die and his death was going to result in everlasting life for people from every tribe tongue and nation it's out of what are seemingly the darkest days that god does his most magnificent work and there is no day darker than that day when the perfect unblemished son of god suffered under the wrath of god for the sin of all who would ever believe on his name and so it was out of the darkness of that day that the glorious fruit of salvation was secured as jesus christ accomplished everything necessary for our salvation and even this moment right now is another moment for his work to receive the the fruit for which it's due for the the reward of the the reaping of that work to come to fruition have you not heard of the suffering savior that though you be dead in your trespasses and sins that there is there is extended to you an offer of eternal life that though you have sinned and have come short of the glory of god though you have broken his holy and righteous law there is there is forgiveness available to you in the lord jesus christ that the father sent him into the world to take upon himself human flesh to even live under the law obeying in all respects that he came and declared the truth declaring the gospel declaring his death and resurrection declaring his glorification as the means by which the world will be saved that he went to the cross and that on that cross he suffered bled and died suffering under the wrath of god for the sin of of his people and on that cross he atoned for that sin he drank up that wrath in full he made complete atonement and he died and he rose from the grave and he is now seated at the right hand of god and now it's offered to you that you would believe on him and receive everlasting life it's through his death of going into the ground like a seed that this new life is birthed everlasting life for all who would ever believe on his name and so you ought to believe on him he is the way the truth and life and no one comes to the father but through him and there's something else i have to point out here from here jesus is going to connect this analogy about his own death to the cost of following him following christ inevitably results in suffering and sacrifice indeed all who desire to live righteously godly in christ jesus will be persecuted second timothy 3 12. and when we lay down our lives for christ and the gospel we are following in the footsteps of our lord and it's through those acts of sacrifice as we lay down our life for his glory and for the gospel to go forth that god uses our lives to to bring people to him it's as we lay down our lives for christ in the gospel that we participate in his death reaping its full reward and you would have to look no further than the last year to see that we have chosen to follow christ we have chosen to obey him to to put his glory on display to herald his gospel from the mountaintop and as a result of what we've done here at grace life church there are people who have been saved they've come to a saving knowledge of christ the light is shining in the midst of darkness and it's it's participating in the the reward of the lord's work coming to fruition it's bringing forth fruit the fruit of everlasting life as people hear of the savior hear of his glory hear of his his saving work upon the cross and so as you stare your own personal suffering in the mirror right now you have to understand that it's through suffering that god works that as you are faithful to christ in the midst of suffering it's through that that opportunities will arise for you to glorify god and proclaim the gospel that people will be saved and we get to do that congregationally together we get to to do this arm in arm in lockstep with each other staring all of the the coming suffering in the face knowing that as we submit ourselves to that god is going to use it to glorify his son that his son would receive the reward for which he's due and so this is your time to shine and as you do as you follow in the footsteps of christ you are following in the footsteps of not just him but a cloud of witnesses who have gone before us throughout the centuries who have laid down their life for christ in the gospel that should put courage in your bones it should give you reason and purpose to suffer it should help you understand that all of the pressure you're currently experiencing right now all of the potential loss that you're facing right now in this moment has a purpose and it's to bring honor and glory to christ so we've seen the superficial we've seen the glorious savior now 30 for taking notes jot this down keeping with words that begin with s the sincere the sincere 25 he who loves his life loses it what does it mean to love your life is to love your life to such an extent it's too precious to lose it's to want it for yourself it's to want to live your life how you see fit it's the love self-autonomy it's the love independence it's the love the prerogative to live your life on your own terms we could say it like this it's to love the world it's the love the lust of the eyes the lust of the flesh and the boastful pride of life which is a a life of pride lived independently from god it's to love self and live for self it's to love yourself it's to seek the advancement of self to seek self exaltation it's to make the the yourself the center of everything to to govern all of your life for the benefit of self the the building up of self the building up of your own kingdom and you can love your life all the way to the grave you can love your life all the way until your death here's the problem though you're going to lose it in the life to come it will cost you your life in eternity that's what it says he who he who loves his life loses it and so what you fight to hold on to now what you what you fight to keep in your hand now is going to be taken away from you later in contrast middle of verse 25 he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal now you're thinking hatred of life how do i hate my life we have to understand here this is idiomatic jesus is really setting things up for you to understand that you would you would hate your life to the to the extent that you would want to live it for christ live it for him it isn't calling for you to hate your life in an absolute sense it's calling for you to give up your life to have christ it's to renounce self autonomy it's to renounce independence it's to renounce the prerogative to live your life on your terms it's to hate this world to hate the lust of the eyes to hate the lust of the flesh the boastful pride of life is to see the folly of the world and beyond that to hate your life in this world is to live for the life to come to live for eternity to live for the honor and glory of christ is to be willing to lose it all for the sake of christ to be willing to suffer the loss of everything for his sake and notice the promise that if you give up your life in this world you'll keep it to life eternal commit your life to christ now lose your life now give your life to him now and you'll gain it back in eternity when it really matters you'll gain it back infinitely you'll gain it back everlastingly and jesus says this everywhere he was found his life will lose it and he was lost his life for my sake will find it matthew 10 39 for whoever wishes to save his life will lose it whatever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it mark 8 35. whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it and whoever loses his life will preserve it luke 17 33. and so this is incredibly counter-intuitive to save your life you have to lose it to live you have to die the way up is the way down and then jesus further clarifies what it means to hate your life in this world verse 26 if anyone serves me he must follow me and this will be better rendered if anyone should serve me it's what we call a subjunctive which means it's a step removed from reality there's a an uncertainty about whether one will in fact serve jesus in effect it's similar to what jesus says elsewhere if anyone wishes to come after me do you wish to come after jesus there's almost an invitation in this jesus is appealing to his disciples inclination towards serving him and the condition of service that must be met is following him it's a command he must follow me you say what does it mean to follow christ it means to obey him obeying christ and following christ are essentially synonymous to follow christ is to obey christ and so serving christ means going where he goes doing what he does living how he lives it requires keeping his word in fact he'll say later in john 14 15. if you love me you will keep my commandments obedience is the litmus test of love and so to follow him is going to call for certain things there are certain things that jesus is calling for what is he calling for he's calling for self-denial he's calling for self-sacrifice he's calling for the pursuit of personal holiness he's calling for you to put sin to death to saturate your life with the word of god to walk by the spirit to bear the fruit of the spirit he's calling to be devoted to prayer he's calling for total commitment he's calling for you to prioritize christ above everything he's calling for you to seek his honor and his glory he's calling you to say with the apostle paul to live is christ and to die is what gain that's what it means to serve and follow christ and notice the promise middle of verse 26 and where i am there my servant will be also does that sound familiar it should can you think of a passage in john where jesus uses similar language look at john 14. verses 1 to 3. he's with his disciples he's in the upper room and he says to them do not let your heart be troubled believe in god believe also in me in my father's house are many dwelling places if it were not so i would have told you for i go to prepare a place for you if i go and prepare a place for you i will come again and receive you to myself that where i am there you may be also i mean this is a wonderful promise that if you're in christ he's prepared a place for you in the father's house and that when he returns he's going to receive you to himself that you will be where he is also and so this is a wonderful promise and where else would you rather be than with christ he's the pearl of great price but note there's another promise look at the end of verse 26 if anyone serves me the father will honor him what a promise that if you serve christ by following him in obedience then god the father will honor you can you think of anyone that you would rather be honored by i mean he is the the sovereign one over all things he's the one who spoke all things into existence through the son and the promise here is that if you serve christ he will honor you what does that say it says two things one the father deeply loves the son deeply loves the son and two the father takes great delight in those who honor him the father loves it when his children honor the son obey the son and follow the son and make much of the son and so what a promise that the father will honor you and so we can sense the the cost is increasing can't we the cost to follow christ is on the rise you may suffer the loss of all things you may lose your job you may lose your home you may lose your family you may be imprisoned you may lose everything and even aside from the benefits that come with believing on christ put aside for a moment the forgiveness of sin reconciliation with god put aside the hope of eternal life in the gospel you get christ christ is worthy is he not is there anyone that compares to him is there anything that compares to him to have christ as to have everything and so they can take away everything in this temporal life but you have all that you need for this life and the life to come already because if you have christ you have all things jesus on his own is compelling enough isn't he and not only do we get him but even as ephesians 1 3 says we are blessed with all of the spiritual blessings and the heavenly places in him he would be enough and yet we receive every spiritual blessing there is as the father honors those who honor his son so you just have a stunning contrast between the superficial who want to herald jesus for his benefits are anticipating the the coming kingdom and want to share in that kingdom and yet when push comes to shove they reject him and walk away from him with the sincere those who give up their lives lay their lives down are willing to lose everything to follow christ are willing to lose everything to bring honor and glory to his name and really we're entering times when the superficial are going to fall away proving they were never in christ to begin with so many christians if they haven't already are going to walk away they're going to fall away because the cost to follow christ is too great and the perceived benefits of this life aren't coming close to the cost what peter describes in first peter 4 17 for it is time for judgment to begin with the household of god the household of god is experiencing judgment right now if it begins with us first what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of god it will be much worse and so we need to remember the savior to keep our eyes on the savior to follow in the savior's footsteps and then after you have suffered for a little while the god of all peace who called you to his eternal glory in christ will himself perfect confirm strengthen and establish you amen let's pray together father we just thank you for the way that you are shepherding us through the gospel of john just the timing of these portions of scripture and how they speak to us right where we are minister to us right where we are all of the difficult teaching of our lord concerning discipleship is is coming to fruition we're seeing the rubber meet the road the cost is increasing help us to be faithful we confess that he is worthy he is worth the loss of everything father we would confess in this moment our willingness to suffer the loss of all things to have christ we understand that even in doing so we wouldn't suffer those things in order to earn him for we know we cannot earn him but we would be willing to suffer for his honor and his glory as evidence that we have him and with a view toward his death receiving and reaping a full harvest so father help us in the days to come give us courage give us strength we are so grateful that our lord reigns it's in his name we pray amen please stand jesus shall reign wherever [Music] till sun shall rise [Music] blessings about wherever reigns [Music] [Music] rising through eternal days dwell on his love will sweetest [Music] is [Music] let every creature every creature rise and bring his grateful honor [Music] again and earth repeat amen [Music] rising through eternal days just faithful he shall reign [Music] the eternal days just and faithful he shall reign [Music] it seems fitting for the final two verses in jude it says this now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory blameless with great joy to the only god our savior through jesus christ our lord be glory majesty dominion and authority before all time and now and forever and we all said amen enjoy your fellowship you

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Length: 88min 20sec (5300 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021